Sacked Ukrainian defence minister raises corruption questions around Zelensky

Ukraine's sacked defence minister has said President Volodymyr Zelensky has "questions to answer" over corruption in his government. Mykhailo Fedorov made the remarks in an interview after a money-laundering investigation announced last week. He also used the interview to argue that Ukraine should begin discussing elections, despite martial law remaining in place.

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Fedorov said the investigation raised questions about whether Zelensky knew about possible corruption in his inner circle. He did not accuse the president directly of wrongdoing, but said the issue went to the heart of public trust. He also repeated the view that "democracy should not be the hostage of Putin", while stopping short of saying whether he intends to pursue his own political ambitions.

The comments come after Fedorov was dismissed last month following reports of a falling-out with the head of Ukraine's armed forces. He had been a prominent figure in the government, credited with modernising the armed forces and helping to pioneer drone warfare. Supporters held weekly protests in Kyiv after his dismissal, calling for him to be reinstated, before those demonstrations ended on Wednesday after his replacement was confirmed.

The row is unfolding at a sensitive moment for Ukraine, which has been under martial law since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Under that legal framework, elections are suspended, and Zelensky has said wartime voting would be too dangerous. In remarks released on Sunday, he said elections during the war would be "a huge risk" and warned they could split the country.

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Fedorov said it was his "moral right" to start a conversation about elections and argued that people should not be left without clarity over how decisions are made. He said that if elections were never held, Ukraine would no longer be a democracy. His comments add to pressure on the government at a time when it is managing both the war effort and scrutiny over corruption allegations.

The corruption issue is especially significant because it touches on the credibility of Ukraine's leadership during wartime. Zelensky has built much of his public standing on promises of reform and resistance to Russian aggression, so any suggestion that senior figures around him may be implicated in wrongdoing carries political weight. The fact that the allegations are being discussed alongside the question of elections makes the dispute more sensitive still.

Fedorov's remarks also reflect a broader tension in Ukraine between wartime unity and democratic accountability. Martial law has delayed any vote, but the debate over when and how elections could be held is now being aired more openly. That discussion is likely to continue as the corruption probe develops and as the government faces pressure to show that it is responding transparently.

What remains unclear is whether the investigation will lead to further official action or whether it will deepen political divisions inside Ukraine's leadership. It is also not clear whether Fedorov will continue pressing for an election debate or move toward a more direct political role. For now, the immediate focus is on the corruption probe, the president's response, and whether the controversy affects public confidence in the wartime government.

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