Ukraine's former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has called for a presidential election despite the continuing war with Russia, mounting the most direct political challenge yet to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's leadership since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

In a nine-minute video address, Fedorov said Ukraine needed a legal, safe and realistic way to restore its full democratic process while the war continued.

"Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia," he said.

"We are fighting precisely because we want to remain a free European state."

Fedorov did not announce a presidential candidacy or name Zelenskyy directly.

But he criticised the way the state is being run, saying Ukrainians could not indefinitely live without understanding why decisions were made, why some reforms advanced and others were blocked, and whether professional merit or personal loyalty was driving appointments.

Ukraine has not held elections since martial law was imposed at the start of Russia's invasion.

The country's law bars presidential, parliamentary and local elections while martial law is in force.

Zelenskyy was elected in 2019 for a five-year term that was due to end in May 2024, but he remains president under the wartime legal framework.

The question is politically sensitive but also practical.

Russian missile and drone attacks continue to threaten Ukrainian cities.

Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced or are living abroad, more than one million people serve in the armed forces, and roughly one-fifth of Ukraine's territory remains under Russian occupation.

Any vote would need to provide secure and credible access for soldiers, displaced citizens, people near the front line and voters outside the country.

Fedorov acknowledged those obstacles in his address.

"This is complex," he said.

"But complexity does not mean impossibility."

The 35-year-old served as Ukraine's digital minister from 2019 before becoming defence minister in January 2026. He had played a prominent role in the country's wartime expansion of drone and digital capabilities, and his six-month tenure at the Defence Ministry was associated with efforts to modernise military systems and reduce corruption risks.

Zelenskyy dismissed Fedorov in July after an unresolved dispute with the commander-in-chief, General Oleksandr Syrskyi.

The decision triggered weeks of protests, including demonstrations in Kyiv by supporters who viewed Fedorov as an effective reformer.

Syrskyi was later removed, but Fedorov was not reinstated.

A renewed rally in Kyiv on Sunday drew about 2,000 people, underscoring that his dismissal remains a source of public discontent.

One recent poll by the Socis Centre for Social Research placed Fedorov third in a hypothetical first-round presidential contest, behind Zelenskyy and Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former armed-forces chief who is now Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Such polling measures political sentiment, not an imminent election timetable.

Zelenskyy has formally nominated Yevhen Khmara, the acting defence minister, to take the post permanently.

Parliament is expected to vote on the nomination, while Fedorov's intervention has opened a rare public argument over whether Ukraine can protect both its security and its democratic legitimacy during an active war.