Russian attacks kill four as Zelenskyy's defence shake-up sparks protests

Kyiv,UPDATED: Jul 17, 2026 15:44 IST

Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight killed at least four civilians and injured 20 others, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday, as he faced a political crisis after removing his popular defence minister in a major government reshuffle.

The shake-up, which also included the appointment of a new prime minister, has unsettled Ukraine's military leadership and triggered public anger. The move came at a time when Ukraine had been gaining traction in its fight against Russia's more than four-year-old invasion.

The surprise exit of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov led thousands of people to protest in cities across Ukraine on Thursday, with more demonstrations expected on Friday. Fedorov, 35, had been in the post for six months and is widely seen as a key force behind Ukraine's rapid technological innovation and other measures, including efforts to fight military corruption, that had raised fresh hope among Ukrainians during the war.

According to Zelenskyy, relations between Fedorov and Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine's armed forces, had broken down, making Fedorov's position untenable. Zelenskyy said he had asked Maj Gen Yevhen Khmara, the acting head of the state's security service and a respected special operations expert, to take over the defence ministry.

Zelenskyy said late on Thursday that he would ask Parliament to formally approve Khmara's appointment, as required by law, though the process could be delayed by bureaucratic hurdles. Under Ukrainian law, the defence minister must be a civilian, which means a serving soldier or security service officer must leave active service before taking up the post formally. Lawmakers are also on summer recess until mid-August.

Khmara has headed the SBU security service since January. He previously led the SBU's elite Alpha special forces unit and is known as an architect of Operation Spiderweb, one of Ukraine's most notable attacks in which Russian air bases were struck last year. He joined the Alpha unit in 2011, became its commander in 2023 and was promoted to major general the following year.

Russia's response to its battlefield difficulties and Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil facilities, which have caused severe fuel shortages, has partly centred on sustained strategic bombing of civilian areas in Ukraine. In the southern port city of Odesa, a Russian missile attack overnight killed two people and injured 10 others, including children, regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said. He said one of those killed was a woman who had been walking in a park with her children, who survived.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, two people were killed and five others were injured in a strike, according to Zelenskyy. He also said three people were injured in Russian shelling in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Officials said more people were hurt in Russian strikes on five other regions of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 243 Ukrainian drones overnight into Friday. In Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine's Kherson region, three civilians were killed and seven others injured in Ukrainian drone attacks over the previous 24 hours, according to Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-appointed regional head. The latest attacks came as Ukraine dealt with both continued Russian strikes and growing unrest over changes at the top of its government and defence establishment.

With PTI Inputs

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