Mykhailo Fedorov, who was dismissed from his post as Ukrainian defense minister a month ago amid widespread protests, has called on the Ukrainian people in a video message to find a legitimate, secure, and realistic way to hold elections despite the war. Democracy in Ukraine must not depend on Russia’s actions, he warned. Commentators in the country take stock. The start of his own campaignJOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko analyses Fedorov’s motives in a Facebook post: Fedorov’s video message calling for elections effectively marks the former defense minister’s move into the opposition. In the current context, this is a reaction to the fact that any prospect of him returning to the post of defense minister is now definitively off the table. But there is more at stake now. Fedorov is essentially proposing that Ukrainians decide, in the foreseeable future – and that future is unlikely to be too far off – who is in the right in his conflict with Zelensky. This is not merely a personal conflict. Fedorov is directly hinting at a confrontation with the “collective Zelensky.” ... In a sense, this marks the start of his own election campaign. Criticism without clarity Writing on Facebook, blogger Serhii Marchenko accuses Fedorov of not daring to mention Zelensky by name: Mykhailo was not being sincere, because he kept talking about a system that resists reform, yet for some reason he never once mentioned the person who created and maintains that system. Fedorov’s cautious and evasive words convey the impression that this system emerged out of nowhere. ... Fedorov did not have the courage to name the sole source of power in the country, who wields the unrestricted powers of a monarch and thus also bears responsibility for everything that happens in the country at their behest.