Zelenskyy extends martial law — delaying parliamentary elections

Critics have claimed that Zelenskyy is using martial law to delay elections• 1 and remain in power — what they say undermines Ukraine’s democracy. But conducting an election during a war is “impossible,” experts say. Ongoing shelling makes it unsafe for every Ukrainian to vote, and under the law, the counting of ballots must take place in a single sitting in the view of all observers and committee members. The only safe place to do so during wartime is in a bomb shelter where security cannot always be guaranteed.

Zelenskky’s war time hero image has managed to rebuild political consensus in Ukraine• 2 , but that may change once Kyiv’s counteroffensive against the Kremlin ends, writes Oleh Haiko, a lecturer at the V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Growing dissatisfaction with how Zelenskyy’s government deals with nonmilitary issues, including corruption and lack of economic reforms, will come to the forefront, renewing criticism around his leadership, weakening voters’ support for him, and creating the demand for new political faces to rebuild Ukraine.

More than 12,000 men have fled Ukraine• 3 in an attempt to dodge general mobilization by attempting to falsify documents or bribing security personnel in order to leave the country. Some have also traversed mountains and seas to evade conscription. A Ukrainian man, who spoke with the Guardian, said he paid a “fixer”• 4 $5,000 worth of his savings to fake medical documents claiming he had a spinal injury and was unfit for mobilization. The man now lives somewhere in Europe.

Zelensky has described the incidents as “treason”• 5 –– vowing to clamp down on officials accepting cash bribes to help Ukrainians leave. Last week, the president fired every single military recruitment head in the country in a bid to sift out corruption. There are currently more than 100 criminal proceedings against officials who have been involved in drafting evasion schemes.