Zelensky's office dismisses possibility of holding elections in Ukraine

TASS · 🇺🇦 public Ukraine · Aug 20, 2026 · 193 words

Political legitimacy Ukrainian Governance

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What to know about Political legitimacy

Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to President Zelensky, stated that holding elections in Ukraine is currently impossible due to security concerns and ongoing hostilities. This follows comments from former Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov regarding a governance crisis and claims from Vladimir Putin that Zelensky's presidential legitimacy has expired.

Propaganda risk 30%

Claims checked 5

Techniques found 2

Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center88%

Right12%

8 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to Vladimir Zelensky’s office, has responded to former Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov's statement on the need for elections in Ukraine by declaring that holding them is currently impossible.

Why it matters

"Frankly speaking, there are other spending priorities today.

Common ground

There are no conditions today to guarantee the holding of the vote," Podolyak said in an interview with La Repubblica.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Selective Omission: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Political legitimacy story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Fedorov published a video on his YouTube channel in which he declared a systemic crisis of governance in Ukraine and the need to hold elections in the country?
How does this story connect Political legitimacy with Ukrainian Governance over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://tass.com/world/2175601

analyticsAnalysis

30%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 90%

Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Selective Omission 70% confidence

Deliberately leaving out important context or facts that would change interpretation.

Why it matters: Recognizing selective omission helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 5 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 2

verified Verified By Reference 1

verified Verified 1

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “Fedorov published a video on his YouTube channel in which he declared a systemic crisis of governance in Ukraine and the need to hold elections in the country.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (Meduza and other web search results) confirm that Fedorov posted a video on YouTube calling for elections and citing a crisis/corruption within Zelensky's team.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 24 February 2022, during the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, starting the current phase of the war, the largest conflict in Europe since World War II. By Apri…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukrai…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Protests against the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov, sometimes called the pro-Fedorov protests, began on 15 July 2026 after Mykhailo Fedorov, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, was dismissed from his …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_the_dismissal…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Russo-Ukrainian war began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia occupied Crimea and annexed it from Ukraine. It then supported Russian separatist armed…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Ukrainian_war

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 2: “Zelensky’s presidential term officially expired on May 20, 2024”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Both Britannica and Wikipedia (Next Ukrainian presidential election) confirm that Zelensky's five-year term was due to expire in May 2024.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On February 28, 2025, U.S. president Donald Trump and U.S. vice president JD Vance held a highly contentious bilateral meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy inside the Oval Office at th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Trump–Zelenskyy_Oval_Offi…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since assuming office in May 2019, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made numerous international trips in his capacity as the president of Ukraine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_presiden…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 3: “Kiev has not held regular elections, claiming that this is impossible as long as martial law stays in effect.”

VERIFIED

Strong evidence from Wikipedia and other sources confirms that martial law has been in effect since February 24, 2022, and that the Ukrainian government/Zelensky have cited this law as the reason why elections cannot be held.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Ukraine won't hold presidential elections as long as martial law is in place, President Zelensky declared. The Ukrainian president’s five-year term is set to expire in May 2024.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Eo7L9sYX5Y

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web search NEUTRAL — Zelensky himself has previously cited martial law as the reason for the extension of his mandate, arguing that no presidential elections can be held during wartime. Ukraine’s Martial Law Act does proh…
https://anr.news/politics/ukraine-should-review-zelenskys-le…

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web search NEUTRAL — Modern-day martial law has been introduced two times in Ukraine; in 2018 for 30 days and an ongoing period since 24 February 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started on that da…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law_in_Ukraine

info

Claim 4: “Podolyak said in an interview with La Repubblica... [that] there are no conditions today to guarantee the holding of the vote”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the general sentiment that elections are impossible is corroborated across multiple sources, the specific detail that this was said in an interview with 'La Repubblica' is not explicitly confirmed by the provided evidence snippets, which only mention the general response to Fedorov.

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web search NEUTRAL — Mykhailo Mykhailovych Podolyak is a Ukrainian politician, journalist and negotiator, serving as the advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykhailo_Podolyak

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web search NEUTRAL — Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to Vladimir Zelensky’s office, has responded to former Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov's statement on the need for elections in Ukraine by declaring that holding them is …
https://tass.com/world/2175601

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Podolyak reminded that the Constitution of Ukraine and international law directly prohibit the transfer of sovereign lands to another state. Separately, he commented on the discussion regarding securi…
https://unn.ua/en/news/podolyak-no-territorial-exchanges-nat…

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Claim 5: “Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to Vladimir Zelensky’s office, has responded to former Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov's statement on the need for elections in Ukraine by declaring that holding them is currently impossible.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the Office of the President, responded to Mikhail Fedorov's call for elections by stating that holding them is currently impossible.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In early June 2023, during the Russo-Ukrainian war, Ukraine launched an offensive (commonly, although technically incorrectly, referred to as a "counteroffensive") against Russian forces occupying its…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Ukrainian_counteroffensiv…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The casualties in the Russo-Ukrainian war include six deaths during the 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, 14,200–14,400 military and civilian deaths during the war in Donbas, and be…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrain…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In February 2022, SpaceX activated their Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, to replace internet and communication networks degraded or destroyed during the war. Starlink provides critical…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink_in_the_Russo-Ukrainia…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.