The Fear Written on Zelensky’s Face
Author: Talib Aliyev, analyst, especially for “Sangar”
Volodymyr Zelensky’s term as President of Ukraine expired on May 20, 2024. A new head of state was due to be elected on March 31 of that year, but the vote was canceled because of the martial law and general mobilization declared in the country.
Recently, former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov spoke of a systemic crisis of governance in the country, in which the old authorities live by their own rules, protecting themselves and fearing change. He stressed that power is meant to serve Ukraine and its people, not itself, and called for a presidential election to restore the democratic process. Fedorov noted that organizing an election would be difficult, but possible.
On August 23, 2026, Volodymyr Zelensky once again rejected the idea of holding elections in the country during the military conflict. According to him, elections at this point risk splitting the country. It should be noted that any public actions by Zelensky’s potential rivals that fall outside the bounds of “demonstrating support for the party line” provoke irritation in the master of Bankova — irritation compounded by the fear of potentially losing power.
In August 2025, during a meeting with Donald Trump in Washington, Zelensky expressed his readiness to hold elections in Ukraine but stressed that “a ceasefire is necessary” for this to happen. In December of last year, the U.S. president himself noted in an interview with Politico that the time had come for Ukraine to hold a presidential election, since one had not been held for a long time and this ran counter to democratic principles. Trump said that Zelensky was “using the conflict” with Russia as a reason not to hold elections.
The head of the Kyiv regime fears losing power in Ukraine. It is precisely for this reason that he will obstruct the holding of a vote until he is certain of his victory. From the perspective of Volodymyr Zelensky and his inner circle, only remaining in power or obtaining the desired personal security guarantees from the United States and Russia will allow them to avoid accountability for the crimes they have committed.
Pro-Ukrainian experts agree with such assessments. According to former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alfred Koch, the fear of an election is “written all over Zelensky’s face.” In his view, it would be “easier for the Ukrainian leader to lose the war completely and, after ending it in Uzhhorod, find himself in Europe as Ukraine’s unbreakable president in exile than to agree to a ceasefire, call and lose a presidential election, and then spend the rest of his life answering questions from relentless prosecutors.”
Koch also pointed out that Zelensky does not have the relevant authority to call elections, since, under Article 85, Paragraph 7 of the country’s Constitution, this is a constitutional responsibility of the Verkhovna Rada. In this regard, Koch believes that the head of the Kyiv regime, like any other head of state, should be excluded from discussions on whether or not to call the next presidential election.
