Russian strikes kill 4 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy’s defence shake-up sparks anger

People gather to denounce President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decision to dismiss Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov after six months in the post, Thursday, July 16, 2026, Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight killed at least four civilians and wounded 20 other people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as he faces a political crisis after firing his popular defence minister.

Zelenskyy’s major reshuffle of his government on Thursday, which included the appointment of a new prime minister, unsettled the country’s military leadership and trigged a public outcry. It was an unwelcome difficulty after Ukraine has gained traction in its fight against Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion.

The surprise departure from the defence ministry of Mykhailo Fedorov, a youthful and popular member of the government, saw thousands of people demonstrate against his dismissal in cities across Ukraine on Thursday. Further street protests were expected on Friday.

Fedorov, 35, who was in the post for just six months, is widely seen as the driving force behind Ukraine’s swift and successful technological innovation and other measures, such as fighting military corruption, that have brought fresh hope in the war for Ukrainians.

Relations between Fedorov and Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces who started his military career in the former Soviet Union, had broken down, according to Zelenskyy, and made Fedorov’s position untenable.

Zelenskyy said he had asked Maj. Gen. Yevhen Khmara, acting head of the state’s security service and a highly regarded special operations expert, to take over the defence minister’s duties.

Zelenskyy said late Thursday he would ask Parliament to formally approve Khmara’s appointment as defence minister, as required by law. That step could be held up by bureaucratic hurdles, however. Ukrainian law requires the defence minister to be a civilian, so a serving soldier or security service officer must leave active service before being formally appointed. Also, lawmakers will be on summer recess through mid-August.

Khmara has been in charge of the SBU security service since January. He had previously led the SBU’s elite Alpha special forces unit and is known for being an architect of Operation Spiderweb, one of Ukraine’s most spectacular attacks when it struck Russian air bases last year. He joined the Alpha unit in 2011 and became its commander in 2023 before being promoted to major general the following year.

Moscow’s response to its battlefield difficulties and Ukraine’s targeting of Russian oil facilities, which has caused severe fuel shortages, has focused in part on relentless strategic bombing of civilian areas of Ukraine.

Two people were killed and 10 others injured, including children, in an overnight Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa, regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said. One of those killed was a woman who had been walking in a park with her children, who survived, he said.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, two people were killed and five more were injured in a strike, according to Zelenskyy. He said three people were injured as a result of Russian shelling in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Officials said more people were injured in Russian strikes on five other regions of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defences downed 243 Ukrainian drones overnight into Friday.

Three civilians were killed and seven others injured in Ukrainian drone attacks over the previous 24 hours, according to Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-appointed head of the Russia-occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region.

Illia Novikov, The Associated Press