President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law early on Feb. 24, 2022, under Kyiv skies still tinged black by the smoke from Russian missile strikes.
Three years later, the ravaged nation is still living under the extraordinary powers granted to the government in order to sustain its defensive and existential war against President Vladimir Putin’s invading Russian forces. Powers that Russia is wielding to undermine the country’s wartime leader.
Under the Ukrainian constitution, elections — whether presidential or parliamentary — cannot be held while martial law is in force.
Moscow has for months been seeking to weaponize Ukraine’s democratic freeze, with Putin and his allies framing Zelenskyy as illegitimate and therefore unsuitable to take part in peace talks.
President Donald Trump now appears to be lending his weight to the Kremlin’s campaign.
