MOSCOW, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday there were deep divisions in ‌Ukraine's leadership, in its first reaction to ‌a call from the ousted Ukrainian defence minister for wartime ​elections.

Ukraine's former defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said on Tuesday the vote was needed as Kyiv faced a "systemic crisis of governance" over corruption — in the biggest ‌internal challenge to ⁠President Volodymyr Zelenskiy since the start of the full-scale conflict.

Ukraine's government has long ⁠said it cannot hold elections while it is under martial law and defending its territory.

Kremlin spokesman ​Dmitry Peskov ​told reporters Russian President ​Vladimir Putin had repeatedly ‌said there was a need for elections in Ukraine — and that in lieu of such a vote, Zelenskiy lacked the legitimacy necessary to negotiate directly with Russia.

"The Kyiv regime and this quasi-political ‌arena of the Kyiv regime ​are extremely heterogeneous. We ​can see that ​many there are, naturally, trying to ‌fish in troubled waters," Peskov ​said.

"Some invoke ​democracy and democratic norms. Others do not even attempt to do so. But de jure, ​the situation is ‌exactly as President Putin has repeatedly stated."

(Reporting ​by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; ​editing by Andrew Heavens)