Et tu, Fedorov? The betrayal of Volodymyr Zelensky.

No, it was not the Ides of March. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could be forgiven if Aug. 18 felt like it.

Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s former defense minister and a longtime political ally of Zelensky, called for a legal way to be found for Ukraine to hold wartime elections, even though the nation’s constitution forbids it.

Fedorov’s symbolic knife, delivered via a post on his newly created YouTube account, was aimed straight at Zelensky’s back. Zelensky had sacked Fedorov over a leadership dispute with the now departed Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi. He had been the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s military.

Fedorov’s abrupt firing led to widespread protests in support of the 35-year-old, who had been widely credited with Ukraine’s turnaround on the battlefield and for expanding and accelerating the fight deep inside Russia, which is ravaging its oil and gas sector and its military supply chain while isolating Russian forces in occupied Crimea.

In making his bombshell case for wartime elections, Fedorov argued, “We must not let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin decide when Ukrainians can choose their government.” To say the least, that is a straw man argument.

Putin is not stopping Ukrainians from voting. Ukraine’s constitution is the obstacle. Article 83 clearly states that if the term of the parliament while martial law is in effect, then the parliament’s powers are automatically extended until after martial law is ended.

The Ukrainian constitution also prohibits constitutional amendments during periods of martial law. So the only way to hold an election would be for Zelensky to end martial........

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