DISINFO: Zelensky wants to catch his rivals off guard with early elections in July
SUMMARY
Volodymyr Zelensky has begun preparations for possible presidential elections in Ukraine, which, according to The Economist, may take place in the summer of 2025 after a ceasefire with Russia is reached. The vote is planned for as early as July, minimizing the time available for opponents to campaign. However, the legitimacy of the elections remains in question — martial law, in effect since 2022, is officially extended by the Verkhovna Rada, and its cancellation is a mandatory condition for organizing the vote. Since Kyiv and Moscow have not yet agreed on a ceasefire and negotiations remain frozen, the elections appear more like a political maneuver than a genuine step toward democratisation.
RESPONSE
This is a deliberate distortion of facts aiming to discredit Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation.
Ukraine’s constitution is straightforward: no elections can be held during wartime and the President of Ukraine exercises his powers until the assumption of office by the newly-elected President. The continuity of government institutions is one of the key principles of the Constitution.
While the date 20 May 2024, five years after President Zelenskyy taking office, has arose some domestic controversy in Ukraine, almost all observers consider regular elections unfeasible as there are millions of refugees abroad, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians serving on the frontlines and a significant part of Ukrainian population lives under Russian occupation. There are also multiple funding and infrastructure problems that can hardly be addressed while the war is ongoing.
In November 2023 all factions of the Verkhovna Rada have agreed that elections — both parliamentary and presidential — should take place not earlier than six months after the end of the war — that is, only after martial law is lifted.
Holding elections in July is absolutely impossible, including for the reason that, under the Ukrainian presidential election law, the duration of the presidential campaign (not just campaigning, but the entire process) is 90 days. The 60 days mentioned by The Economist's source apply to parliamentary elections.
In order for the campaign to proceed, it is also necessary to update the voter registry — the most complex and technically challenging part of election preparation. The current data in the registry is from before the war, and much has changed since then.
Ensuring the ability of millions of Ukrainians currently living abroad to vote requires preparation — both technically and through amendments to the electoral legislation. And these are just the most critical issues that must be resolved to organize the elections.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Zelenskyy is illegitimate and therefore Russia is directly fighting the West, that the prolonged war allows Zelenskyy and his junta to maintain their positions of power, that Zelenskyy and the Kyiv junta need to continue the war against Russia to enrich themselves with Western aid, or that Zelenskyy staged a coup d'état for fear of losing the 2024 presidential elections.