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Ukrainian law bans elections during wartime, a measure that had gone unchallenged until former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov made the first public demand for a vote earlier this week.
list 1 of 4Russia says ready for ‘new ideas’ on Ukraine war that match Putin’s goals.
list 2 of 4Russian expert warns of impending social crisis as Ukraine death toll rises.
list 3 of 4Russian drone attack on busy shopping centre kills 15 in Ukraine.
list 4 of 4Russia, Ukraine trade attacks as Putin warns of ‘far more destructive’ hits.
Zelenskyy rejected the call during a wide-ranging briefing with reporters on Saturday.
The 35-year-old Fedorov – a popular figure in Ukraine – held his post for just six months until Zelenskyy fired him in July, prompting protests across the country.
On Tuesday, he posted an explosive nine-minute video on YouTube claiming that Ukraine’s democracy “cannot be held hostage by Russia”.
Experts have told Al Jazeera, however, that any wartime election would be practically impossible amid logistical and safety challenges, a reality that most Ukrainians agree with.
Kyiv tackles missile launchers, Starlink.
Zelenskyy’s domestic political crisis is playing out as his government seeks more ways to curtail Moscow’s deadly air strikes.
Another eight people, including a child, were wounded in a drone attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv that burned at least two residential buildings, the service said.
Meanwhile in the Odesa region, a Russian drone hit a passenger train travelling from Zhytomyr to Odesa, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing Ukrainian Railways CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi.
Amid the attacks, Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Ukraine is especially focused on hitting Russian ballistic launchers as Moscow ramps up its use of missiles – which effectively can only be destroyed by US-designed Patriot systems.
Ukraine has received just 264 Patriot missiles in 2026, down from 364 in 2025 and 675 in 2023, he said.
Ukraine is seeking to produce Patriot missiles domestically after receiving political blessing from United States President Donald Trump.
The Ukrainian president also said Moscow and Kyiv are building their own versions of Starlink, the satellite system used for battlefield communications that is controlled by US tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Russia’s alternative, developed “together with the Chinese”, is expected to be operational by December, Zelenskyy said.
He added that Ukraine would not “just sit and wait for Russia and China” and was “implementing a similar project with a European country”.
Ukraine has reached an agreement with France for at least one SAMP/T air defence system this year, Zelenskyy said, and with Germany on the supply of about 600 PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors through 2028.
Fontes
Informação baseada em material público de Al Jazeera, reescrito pela redação ULTRA NOTÍCIAS.
