Even supporters of former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, gathered outside Ukraine’s parliament in Kyiv on Wednesday, Aug. 19, felt uneasy about his risky bet: entering the political fray with a call for wartime elections.A highly popular tech evangelist who pushed for reforms, Fedorov was dismissed in July in a divisive reshuffle that triggered unprecedented protests in his support.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.Riding a wave of popularity, Fedorov gave an address on Tuesday, Aug. 18, in which he slammed the government, sealing his dramatic break with President Volodymyr Zelensky.As parliament approved his successor, a few dozen people gathered in a last-ditch effort to voice discontent with Fedorov’s dismissal. But they distanced themselves from his political maneuvers.“I watched, and it disappointed me,” Yevgeniia, one of the protesters, said about Fedorov’s address.“What was good about Fedorov was that he was a manager, not a politician. And now he’s gone from being a manager to being a politician,” she told AFP.With the address, Fedorov cast himself as a political contender and challenged the consensus against holding elections during the war – a risky move in a country where trust in politicians is low, but Zelensky’s legitimacy as a wartime leader is largely unquestioned.The address, filmed a month after his dismissal, ended speculation about Fedorov’s future and ruled out potential cooperation with the government. The video, set to pulsing music, delivered a scathing critique of the system he once tried to reform.