KYIV, Ukraine — At least four civilians lost their lives and 20 others were hurt in Russian overnight attacks on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced, even as his government faces a deepening political storm over the abrupt dismissal of his defense minister.
Zelenskyy carried out a sweeping government overhaul on Thursday, which included naming a new prime minister. The shake-up rattled Ukraine’s military leadership and set off a wave of public anger — a troubling development at a time when Ukraine had been making meaningful progress in its fight against Russia’s invasion, now more than four years old.
The sudden exit of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a young and well-liked government figure, prompted thousands of Ukrainians to take to the streets in cities throughout the country on Thursday to protest his removal. More demonstrations were anticipated on Friday.
Fedorov, who is 35 years old and had served in the post for only six months, is widely credited as the key force behind Ukraine’s rapid technological advances and anti-corruption efforts within the military — developments that had renewed hope among Ukrainians in the ongoing war.
Zelenskyy explained that a breakdown in the working relationship between Fedorov and Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi — the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, who began his military career in the former Soviet Union — had made it impossible for Fedorov to remain in his position.
To replace him, Zelenskyy said he asked Maj. Gen. Yevhen Khmara, the acting head of the state’s security service and a highly respected special operations expert, to assume the duties of defense minister.
Zelenskyy said late Thursday that he planned to formally ask Parliament to confirm Khmara’s appointment, as Ukrainian law requires. However, the process may face delays. Ukrainian law mandates that the defense minister be a civilian, meaning any active-duty military or security service member must first leave service before being officially appointed. Adding to the complication, lawmakers are scheduled to be on summer recess through mid-August.
Khmara has led the SBU security service since January. Before that, he commanded the SBU’s elite Alpha special forces unit and is recognized as a key architect of Operation Spiderweb — one of Ukraine’s most dramatic military strikes, targeting Russian air bases last year. He joined the Alpha unit in 2011, took command of it in 2023, and was promoted to major general the following year.
Russia has responded to setbacks on the battlefield and Ukraine’s targeting of Russian oil infrastructure — which has triggered serious fuel shortages — with relentless bombing campaigns aimed at civilian areas.
In Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa, a Russian missile strike overnight killed two people and injured 10 others, including children, according to regional military administration head Oleh Kiper. Among those killed was a woman who had been walking in a park with her children at the time of the attack; her children survived.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, two more people were killed and five others were wounded in a separate strike, Zelenskyy said. He also reported that three people were injured due to Russian shelling in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Officials confirmed additional injuries from Russian strikes across five other regions of Ukraine.
On the other side of the conflict, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that its air defenses shot down 243 Ukrainian drones overnight heading into Friday. Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-installed leader of the Russian-occupied portion of Ukraine’s Kherson region, said three civilians were killed and seven others injured in Ukrainian drone attacks over the previous 24 hours.
