Protests have erupted in Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov after just six months in the role, following a dispute between the reformer and Kyiv‘s top general.
Fedorov had sought to reshape Ukraine’s army into a more efficient fighting force and was credited with implementing positive reforms during his short stint in office.
The 35-year-old tech expert fell out publicly with the head of Ukraine’s armed forces General Oleksandr Syrskyi, whom he accused of stirring up intrigue, blocking his initiatives and sabotaging his work. He could be replaced by Ukraine’s current interior minister, Ihor Klymenko.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in the capital Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities to demand Fedorov be reappointed.
The crisis came as Sir Keir Starmer said the UK’s “cast-iron” support of Ukraine would “always endure” on his final visit to the country as Prime Minister.
The outgoing Labour leader arrived in Kyiv on Thursday morning, where he met Volodymyr Zelensky. The PM, along with Zelensky, laid a wreath to commemorate Ukraine’s war dead.
Russian soldiers last no more than 20 to 30 minutes on battlefield, CIA chief claims
The Russian soldiers fighting against Ukraine have an average life expectancy of 20 to 30 minutes on the battlefield, the Central Intelligence Agency chief John Ratcliffe said.
Speaking at a defence and innovation summit in Pennsylvania, the CIA director said: “What I would say is, our intelligence is consistent with some of the open-source reporting you may have seen in Ukraine. So the average life expectancy of a Russian recruit, right now, arriving on the battlefield in Ukraine, is estimated to be between 20 and 30 minutes.”
He attributed the higher attrition rate to AI-powered drones, calling them “specialised, low-cost killing machines”.
“And it’s why we’re now four and a half years into that conflict,” he said.
Zelensky fires Kyiv head of city military administration
Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Tymur Tkachenko, who was serving as the head of the Kyiv city military Administration, according to an official decree published on the President’s Office website.
Tkachenko, who has working on the Kyiv’s defence and military needs as the capital remains under nearly daily attacks from Russia, was relieved of his duties “in accordance with Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Legal Regime of Martial Law’,” the decree said.
It is not immediately clear why Tkachenko was dismissed and Zelensky is also yet to issue a comment.
13 killed as Russia and Ukraine exchange attacks
Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian areas in towns and cities, many on the front line of the more than four-year-old war, killed at least 13 people yesterday, local officials said.
A Russian guided bomb attack on Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed three people and wounded 15, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.
Reuters TV footage showed firefighters dousing the aftermath of blazes and crews sifting through the rubble of shattered buildings in the city, which has come under intensified attack in recent weeks.
Russian missiles struck the Black Sea port of Odesa, another frequent target of Moscow, killing two people, injuring six and damaging civilian infrastructure.
Outside the city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border, a Russian drone attack killed one person, the national emergency services said. Earlier in the day, a drone attack near the city of Kupiansk, farther east, killed three people.
In Donetsk region, the focal point of most fighting along the 1,200 km (775-mile) front line, the regional governor said one person was killed and five injured near Kramatorsk, one of the “fortress towns” where Ukraine has bolstered defences.
On the other side of the border, local officials in Belgorod Region said one person had died when Ukrainian forces shelled a settlement near the border.
And the Moscow-installed head of areas of Donetsk region under Russian control, Denis Pushilin, said one person died in an area held by Russian forces.
Kyiv will win this war, Starmer says in farewell trip to Ukraine
Prime mininster Keir Starmer has asserted his belief that Ukraine will win the war against Russia.
Sir Keir made his final visit to Ukraine as the outgoing British PM where he met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “I believe Ukraine will win this war.”
“What they’ve shown is that it’s not just the size of your army, it’s how you fight a modern conflict. And so they are probably the most effective fighting machine in Europe,” Sir Keir said.
He also assured that the change in power in the UK will not change the dynamics and bilateral ties between London and Kyiv.
“The fact that there will be a new prime minister in the United Kingdom, in the days to come, doesn’t change that dynamic at all,” he said. “The resolve of the United Kingdom remains the same, it will not waver.”
Starmer says UK will help fund 16 Gripen fighter jets for Ukraine
Prime minister Keir Starmer on Thursday pledged €300m (£254m) to help equip Ukraine with a squadron of 16 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets, making one of his final commitments to Kyiv before leaving office.
In June, Swedish defence equipment maker Saab signed a contract to deliver 16 Gripen E fighter aircraft to Ukraine in a deal worth about $2.5bn.
The package includes pilot and engineer training, simulators, spare parts and other equipment needed to operate the aircraft.
Britain said the investment would support about 5,000 jobs across more than 50 UK-based companies involved in the Gripen programme.
The government said the jets would also support efforts to modernise Ukraine’s air force.
Sir Keir, speaking during a visit to the Ukrainian capital, said Britain would work with Sweden to deliver the aircraft to help defend Ukraine against Russian attacks.
Britain said the funding would help Ukraine acquire a squadron of the Swedish-made Gripen E fighter jets by 2029.
Ukraine rejects Russian accusations over attack on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Ukraine’s foreign ministry has rejected Russia’s accusations over an attack that killed the chief engineer at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“No independent confirmation of the Russian version or evidence of Ukraine’s involvement has been presented, and information from Russian occupation authorities cannot be considered reliable,” the ministry said on Telegram.
It added that Russia was trying to use accusations to intimidate the international community with the threat of a nuclear incident.
The attack killed an engineer at the Zaporizhzhia power plant.
Zelensky appoints new defence chief in bid to quell political crisis
President Volodymyr Zelensky moved to extinguish a political crisis sparked by his dismissal of a reformist defence minister, tapping a security official who has overseen Ukraine’s long-range strikes against Russia for the post.
In a statement, Zelensky said he was appointing Yevhenii Khmara, acting head of Ukraine’s SBU domestic security service, as acting defence minister and would ask parliament to approve him permanently for the post.
“Yevhenii Khmara has gained extensive and, in many respects, unprecedented experience with technological combat operations,” he wrote on X.
“This is exactly where our defence efforts should be focused during this war.”
Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russia’s oil infrastructure and defence industry have helped weaken Moscow’s war machine in recent months, boosting Ukrainian morale at a critical moment in the more than four-year war.
Watch: Outrage in Ukraine as Zelensky sacks defence minister after six months
Ukraine buries its unknown soldiers with just a number and a cross
A brother and sister walk between the crosses at a military cemetery in Kyiv, holding a bunch of carnations. Each cross in that section reads: “unknown defender of Ukraine,” with an ID number below and a note that identification continues.
Yet there is one grave that stands out. Beneath the inscription is an attached photo showing Ihor Yalynych, a soldier last seen alive in 2022 in the Kharkiv region. After four years of searching, Stanislav and Oleksandra Yalynych found their father.
Identification of the dead is a reckoning that will stretch on for years, among the longest-lasting wounds of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Some graves may remain nameless forever, with the families left to wait.
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Comment: Putin is a ‘cornered rat’ – here’s why that’s bad news for Ukraine – and us
For the first time in years of war, the Russian regime looks as if it is on the verge of an internal split as the Kremlin’s political managers struggle to reconcile the voracious military need for money with maintaining social and economic stability. But there is extreme danger when an opponent is backed into a corner, writes Owen Matthews.
Source: independent.co.uk