Zelensky rejects rival’s call for vote, says it would ‘split’ Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected calls for an election during wartime, citing the risk of splitting Ukraine. According to the Qatar Tribune, Zelensky described the prospect of an election as a "huge risk".

The call for an election was made by Zelensky's former defence chief, Mykhailo Fedorov, who has been involved in mass protests and has publicly disagreed with Zelensky.

Zelensky has also spoken about Ukraine's military efforts, including a recent operation targeting Russian ballistic missile launchers near its borders. The Ukrainian president has highlighted the country's shortage of Patriot air-defence missiles needed to counter Russian ballistic attacks.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria, Punch, Qatar Tribune, Kyiv Independent, South China Morning Post — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.