Russia launches 45 drones as Zelensky continues cabinet reshuffle

Russian forces launched 45 drones over Ukraine on Sunday in a five-and-a-half-hour barrage, officials said, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continuing the reshuffle of his war cabinet as the war enters its third year.

In a statement, the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 40 of the Iranian-made Shahed drones over nine different regions, including on the outskirts of the country’s capital, Kyiv.

Another person was injured in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region when a fire broke out, caused by falling debris from a destroyed drone, said the head of the region’s military administration, Serhiy Lysak.

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Kyiv announced on Sunday that former deputy defence minister Lieutenant General Alexander Pavlyuk would become the new commander of Ukraine’s ground forces.

The post was previously held by Colonel General Oleksandr Syrsky, who was named on Thursday as the replacement for Ukraine’s outgoing military chief, General Valeri Zaluzhny.

New presidential decrees also named Yuri Sodol, the former head of Ukraine’s marine corps, as the new commander of Ukraine’s combined forces; Brigadier General Ihor Skibiuk as commander of Ukraine’s air assault forces; and Major General Ihor Plahuta as commander of Ukraine’s territorial defence forces.

Incoming commander-in-chief Syrsky has signalled that his immediate goals include improving troop rotation at the front lines and harnessing the power of new technology at a time when Kyiv’s forces are largely on the defensive.

In a statement on Telegram on Saturday, Zelensky said: “Now, people who are well-known in the army and who themselves know well what the army needs are taking on new responsibilities.”

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Ukraine’s military intelligence service said on Sunday that attacking Russian forces had been found using Starlink terminals to aid their attack. It released what it said was a recording of an intercepted conversation between two Russian soldiers as proof.

The Ukrainian intelligence officials published an audio file, said to originate from the Russian side of the front line, in which a male voice speaking in Russian can be heard saying: “Starlink works, there is internet.”

SpaceX said it would investigate cases in which Starlink terminals are being used without permission and would shut down the terminal if necessary.

Additional reporting by dpa