Kremlin says ousted Ukrainian minister’s call for elections shows splits in Kyiv

MOSCOW, Aug 20 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Wednesday there were deep divisions in Ukraine’s leadership, in its first reaction to a call from the ousted Ukrainian defence minister for wartime elections.

Ukraine’s former defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said on Tuesday the vote was needed as Kyiv faced a “systemic crisis of governance” over corruption — in the biggest internal challenge to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy since the start of the full-scale conflict.

Ukraine’s government has long said it cannot hold elections while it is under martial law and defending its territory.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly said there was a need for elections in Ukraine — and that in lieu of such a vote, Zelenskiy lacked the legitimacy necessary to negotiate directly with Russia.

“The Kyiv regime and this quasi-political arena of the Kyiv regime are extremely heterogeneous. We can see that many there are, naturally, trying to fish in troubled waters,” Peskov said.

“Some invoke democracy and democratic norms. Others do not even attempt to do so. But de jure, the situation is exactly as President Putin has repeatedly stated.”

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Andrew Heavens)