KYIV, Aug. 3 -- Mykola Azarov served as Ukraine's prime minister from 2010 to 2014 before fleeing to Moscow after the Maidan uprising that removed the government of President Viktor Yanukovych. He has lived in Russia since and regularly comments on Ukrainian political affairs for Russian state media. On Sunday, Azarov told RIA Novosti that President Volodymyr Zelensky is actively working to prevent presidential elections from taking place in Ukraine, citing large-scale government reshuffles and the removal of political rivals as evidence of deliberate power consolidation rather than wartime governance.

"He is doing everything to prevent these elections from taking place," Azarov said, assessing the possibility of early elections in Ukrai...