Sawt Falasteen - Kyiv's ex-defence chief makes risky bet by venturing into electoral grounds

A highly-popular tech evangelist who pushed for reforms, Fedorov was dismissed in July in a divisive reshuffle that triggered unprecedented protests in his support.

Riding on a wave of popularity, Fedorov on Tuesday gave an address in which he slammed the government, sealing his dramatic break with Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

As parliament approved his successor, a few dozen people gathered in a last-ditch effort to voice discontent with Fedorov's dismissal.

But they distanced themselves from his political manoeuvres.

"I watched and it disappointed me," Yevgeniia, one of the protesters, said about Fedorov's address.

"What was good about Fedorov was that he was a manager, not a politician. And now he's gone from being a manager to being a politician," she told AFP.

With the address, Fedorov cast himself as a political contender and challenged the consensus against holding elections during the war, a risky move in a country where trust in politicians is low but Zelensky's legitimacy as a wartime leader is largely unquestioned.

The address, filmed a month after his dismissal, ended speculations on Fedorov's future and ruled out his potential cooperation with the government.

The video, set to pulsing music, delivering a scathing critique of the system that he once tried to reform.

- 'Bid for opposition leader' -

Ukraine has been rocked with many corruption scandals, the latest of which saw a presidential aide fired on Wednesday.

Eradicating corruption "is a matter of our capability to survive," Fedorov said, adding "we have a systemic crisis of governance."

Fedorov had been a longtime Zelensky ally, having worked with the president since he took office in 2019.

For expert Volodymyr Fesenko, the video marked a clear departure from this alliance.

"This video address that came out last night is definitely a bid for the role of opposition leader," he said.

He added, however, that the challenge was not directed at Zelensky personally but "against what you may call the collective Zelensky".

The video even featured images of former presidential aide Andriy Yermak and parliamentary faction leader David Arakhamia, alongside blurred photographs of other figures within Zelensky's entourage.

The political move was risky in a country with low trust in politicians, especially in times of war.

"In all our surveys, people say they don't want politics right now," the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) executive director Anton Grushetskyi told AFP.

"People don't want politicians, people want some patriots fighting for Ukraine," he added.

And Fedorov went against the biggest red line in wartime Ukraine: holding elections.

Ukraine has suspended elections under martial law, a measure still widely supported by the population as the country focuses on fighting off the Russian invasion.

Only Russia and the United States have urged Kyiv to hold elections, a prospect Zelensky says he is committed to making possible, but only after hostilities end.

- 'Far from the public mood' -

Experts have cited a flurry of obstacles, including voting for soldiers, for millions of Ukrainian refugees and people from occupied territories, as well as disinformation threats from Russia.

KIIS regularly holds surveys on the matter.

Its latest opinion poll found only 15 percent believe elections should be held before the end of hostilities.

"We share a stable consensus," Grushetskyi said, "Fedorov's statements yesterday were far from the public mood."

Still, four and a half years into the war, criticism is multiplying over the lack of dialogue between society and the presidency, which critics say has become increasingly insular.

"We've been standing for over a month now, calling for dialogue," said 43-year-old Olya Rodionova.

"We want the government to talk to the people, to listen to the people. After all, it's us, the country that elected Zelensky".

P.Tamimi--SF-PST