MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky is an illegitimate president who has created a police state to stay in power, Anna Skorokhod, a member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament), said.

"I believe that Zelensky is an illegitimate president under the Constitution. <...> This is the truth that has to be accepted. <...> Zelensky controls law enforcement agencies and courts. I think I have made it clear why there are so many cowards here, or, to be more precise, why there is no one in the Verkhovna Rada who has the power and the voice and why we have an illegitimately legitimate president. Our country is a police state," she told the MayakUA YouTube channel.

Zelensky’s presidential term formally expired on May 20, 2024, but the Kiev authorities chose not to hold an election, claiming that it’s impossible while martial law was in effect. Meanwhile, rumors continue to circulate in the country about the unannounced start of preparations for elections. A number of opposition politicians are openly talking about a legitimacy crisis facing the country’s government. Zelensky himself has made contradictory statements on the matter, at times asserting he is ready to call an election provided Western partners fund the process and "ensure security," while at other times saying elections are premature. Opinion polls show that former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian armed forces Valery Zaluzhny and head of Zelensky’s office Kirill Budanov (designated in Russia as a terrorist and extremist) have higher trust ratings than Zelensky.