Zelensky Names New Ukraine Army Chief Amid Protests
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- President Zelensky appointed 43-year-old Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi as Ukraine's new army chief and Maj. Gen. Ihor Skybiuk as chief of the General Staff, replacing Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, and ordered an updated defence strategy covering faster weapons delivery and stronger air defence.
- Street protesters in Kyiv and other cities demanded reinstatement of fired defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov; demonstrations are expected to continue Friday despite Syrskyi's exit, with veteran Dmytro Koziatynskyi warning the second demand must not be forgotten.
- Mykhailo Fedorov's future is unresolved after Zelensky offered him what he called "a respected position" unifying Ukraine's technology sector — an offer Fedorov had not publicly accepted, though he noted receiving job overtures from global defence tech companies.
- Outgoing commander Syrskyi claimed Ukrainian forces recaptured 743 square kilometres of Russian-occupied territory this year and said he was handing his successor an army that is defending and conducting offensive operations; the figure could not be independently verified.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the reshuffle as evidence of internal strain — "Kyiv's regime is trembling from within" — and said Russia's demands stand: Ukrainian withdrawal from four eastern regions, renunciation of NATO membership, and sharp cuts to army size.
- Russia attacked Ukraine with 4 missiles and 216 long-range strike drones overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, killing a woman in Odesa when a drone hit her apartment building; Ukrainian drones struck two Wildberries warehouses in Russia's Krasnodar and Stavropol regions, four days after earlier Wildberries strikes killed eight.
Why it matters: Zelensky's leadership swap comes with Russia's maximalist demands still on the table and no diplomatic resolution in sight — Peskov's dismissal of the changes as internal weakness, combined with an overnight barrage of 216 drones and 4 missiles, signals Moscow sees political turmoil in Kyiv as an opening, not a deterrent. The unresolved demand to reinstate Fedorov means protests could escalate Friday, complicating the very stability Zelensky's reshuffle was meant to restore.
