A Ukrainian soldier checks a voting booth at a bomb-damaged school in Zagradivka, Ukraine, on May 8, 2022. (John Moore/Getty Images)With his latest statement, former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov appears to have reinvigorated a dangerous debate about elections in wartime Ukraine."We must not let Putin decide when Ukrainians can choose their government," Fedorov said, adding that democracy is "part of what we are fighting for today."The principle is difficult to dispute. Yet a prolonged war of attrition places extraordinary strain on both the state and society, demanding that Ukraine's political leadership exercise the utmost caution when contemplating the prospect of elections under wartime conditions.Instead, some of the country's most prominent leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelensky and Fedorov himself, continue to operate in what appears to be a peacetime political mode, without fully reckoning with the potentially devastating consequences of their mistakes.Fedorov frequently describes himself as a visionary and speaks at length about strategies, missions, and visions for the future, but without concrete action, these words neither heal nor create added value.Neither Zelensky nor Fedorov has done enough to prepare Ukraine's security system for what could become the most difficult and consequential elections in the country's history. At the same time, when it comes to societal expectations, elections remain a deeply sensitive and controversial issue.