MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. The Zelensky regime doesn’t want to lose its hold on power, so it is seeking to postpone holding a presidential election in Ukraine while it figures out a way to ensure its victory once one takes place, a Russian senator told TASS.
Earlier on Monday, Vladimir Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, bills on extending martial law and the mobilization campaign in Ukraine for 90 more days starting February 3. Zelensky, whose presidential term expired on May 20, 2024, is using martial law as a tool to delay presidential, parliamentary, and local elections in the country.
"Elections are fraught with systemic risks for the Zelensky regime. That is why the current authorities will continue trying to postpone elections by any means and figure out how to manage their results. <…> Any attempts to bypass this (ban on elections in Ukraine - TASS) require either lifting martial law or adopting a special law and creating a special voting mechanism, and this will impact the outcome in a negative way," said Alexander Voloshin, a member of Russia’s Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, from the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
However, in his words, elections could ultimately be organized, despite Zelensky’s position, if his Western sponsors bow to US pressure and create a united front. Bearing in mind the pressure inside Ukraine, Zelensky’s grip on power is tenuous, which, according to the senator, is why he carried out the drone attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence ahead of the New Year.