MOSCOW, September 19. /TASS/. A coup may take place in Ukraine if the country's President Vladimir Zelensky remains in office and the authorities fail to hold elections, opposition lawmaker of Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) Alexander Dubinsky said.
"A coup is possible <...> if Zelensky, who has done everything contrary to the interests of Ukraine, remains in power bypassing the elections. Surely no one will tolerate this," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Zelensky's presidential powers officially expired after May 20. Ukraine is still facing the question of the legitimacy of power in the absence of parliamentary and presidential elections, which cannot be held during martial law. The concern of Kiev's Western partners about this fact was recognized by the former Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, Vadim Pristaiko. Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Ukraine was now glossing over its own Constitutional Court's May 2014 ruling that the presidential term cannot be extended. As Putin said, this means that Zelensky’s presidential term had "expired together with its legitimacy, which cannot be restored by any tricks."