Ukraine's recently ousted defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections Tuesday, warning of a governance crisis as he mounted the most significant internal challenge to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since 2022.

Fedorov's call, ​delivered in ⁠a video address posted on YouTube, is the first such demand by a major Ukrainian political figure since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The law in Ukraine prohibits the holding of elections during wartime.

The 35-year-old Fedorov was a longtime ally of Zelenskyy's until his unexpected firing from the defence ⁠ministry ⁠in July, just six months after he had been appointed, vowing sweeping reforms.

"Democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia," Fedorov said. "We must find a legal, safe and realistic mechanism which will allow Ukraine to renew its full democratic process even in the conditions of ⁠a long war."

In what appeared to be an open challenge to Zelenskyy, Fedorov said that Ukraine faced ​a "systemic crisis of governance."

"The old system lives by its ​own rules too often. It protects itself. It is scared of change," he ⁠said.

Without ‌naming ‌names, Fedorov hit out at official corruption, ⁠which he said hurt ‌Ukraine's war effort. The ex-minister recently said he believed ​that his reform ⁠of the defence ministry's procurement processes, ⁠responsible for purchasing billions of dollars of equipment, ⁠contributed to ​his sacking.

Zelenskyy's office had no immediate comment on Federov's statement.