Ukraine a 'genuine', 'fragile' democracy: 'Internal political turmoil will weaken political system'

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: © France 24 07:14 Issued on: 20/08/2026 - 22:32Modified: 20/08/2026 - 22:47 Oliver Farry is pleased to welcome Dr. Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher, journalist, author and President of PEN Ukraine. According to Dr Yermolenko, Ukraine is confronting serious threats to its democracy. Suspending elections during wartime carries real dangers as political power is increasingly centralized around President Zelensky. Yet holding elections while cities remain under attack could unleash precisely the political turmoil Ukraine can least afford. The challenge is not simply whether Ukraine should choose democracy or wartime unity, but how it can preserve democratic accountability without allowing internal political conflict to weaken its resistance to Russia. Keywords for this article