Mykhailo Drapatyi Appointed Ukraine's Top Commander

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Tuesday that Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi would replace Oleksandr Syrskyi as the country's top military commander. The change came after a major political row accompanied by street protests. Zelenskyy stated that operations of Ukraine's defense forces will continue, and long-range and medium-range strikes against Russia will be carried out with absolute precision.

Drapatyi is a seasoned commander who has been fighting Russian forces since 2014, when Russia attempted to take over the Donbas region. He is known for driving an infantry fighting vehicle through a barricade set up by pro-Russian militants in Mariupol. Drapatyi is considered an ally of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who was fired last week in a shock move that sparked protests demanding his reinstatement by Friday. Fedorov welcomed Drapatyi's appointment as a "breath of fresh air" bringing "new hope to the struggle of free people for freedom and justice."

The Kremlin lamented Ukrainian attacks on warehouses of Wildberries, a chain similar to Amazon that Kyiv says supplies drone parts and other technologies for Russia's war effort. Russian authorities have diverted fuel from Siberia to Moscow to compensate for losses from Ukrainian drone strikes, which have caused fuel crises in various regions. One trader said the Achinsk refinery in Siberia has been supplying fuel to Moscow.

The UN human rights office reported that civilian casualties in Ukraine increased by 37% in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, reaching 1,396 killed and 7,978 injured. The escalation was driven by long-range ballistic missiles, drones, and glide bombs. On Tuesday, a Russian guided-bomb attack on Zaporizhzhia killed at least three people and injured more than a dozen. Seven floors of a nine-story apartment block were engulfed in flames following the strike.