MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to Vladimir Zelensky's chief of staff, said Ukraine is likely to extend martial law beyond its current expiration date in May, in a move that will stave off any chance of elections.

According to the official, US efforts to achieve a settlement in Ukraine have not yet yielded a result.

"There are no preparations for any elections underway," he said on Ukraine’s Channel 24 television. "It would be hard to believe, to put it mildly, if we say that martial law will be lifted on May 8 or 9 and elections will be held six months later."

Ukraine introduced martial law and general military mobilization on February 24, 2022, extending them several times since then. Amid shortages in military personnel, a law went into effect on May 18, 2024 to tighten mobilization rules. In recent months, mobilization efforts have often sparked violence. As mobilization-age men seek to avoid ending up at the battlefield, they try to flee the country in a variety of ways, sometimes at a risk to their lives. Ukraine most recently extended martial law and mobilization by another 90 days, until May 9, in early February.