Ukraine war live: Zelensky sparks outrage after sacking popular defence minister

Protests have erupted in Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov after just six months in the role, following a dispute between the reformer and Kyiv's top general.

Fedorov had sought to reshape Ukraine’s army into a more efficient fighting force and was credited with implementing positive reforms during his short stint in office.

The 35-year-old tech expert fell out publicly with the head of Ukraine’s armed forces General Oleksandr Syrskyi, whom ⁠he accused of stirring up intrigue, blocking his initiatives and sabotaging his work. He could be replaced by Ukraine’s current interior minister, Ihor Klymenko.

Hundreds of people took to the streets in the capital Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities to demand Fedorov be reappointed.

The crisis came as Sir Keir Starmer said the UK’s “cast-iron” support of Ukraine would “always endure” on his final visit to the country as Prime Minister.

The outgoing Labour leader arrived in Kyiv on Thursday morning, where he met Volodymyr Zelensky. The PM, along with Zelensky, laid a wreath to commemorate Ukraine’s war dead.

Watch: Kyiv will win this war, Starmer says in farewell trip to Ukraine

Russia hit Ukrainian ports 23 times in July, seaports authority says

Russia hit Ukrainian ports 23 times and carried out 17 strikes on civilian vessels in the first two weeks of July, Ukraine's seaports authority said on Thursday.

The strikes ‌have led to ⁠a partial halt in grain shipments and an almost complete suspension ‌of grain ​purchases ‌at port terminals, ⁠traders ⁠and analysts say.

Who is Ukraine's new prime minister Sergii Koretskyi?

Ukraine's parliament approved top energy executive Sergii ​Koretskyi as the country's new prime minister, the third wartime head of the government appointed in a wider reshuffle announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Koretskyi is a ‌widely respected senior energy executive with more than 20 years of experience in oil production and refining, energy retail, wholesale management, ‌and international financing.

Since May 2025, he has ‌been CEO of one of Ukraine's biggest state companies, Naftogaz, the oil and gas giant, which runs much of Ukraine's gas production, imports and ⁠supply.

Prior to that, he headed Ukrnafta, Ukraine's largest oil company and a part of Naftogaz group.

Before moving to the state-owned energy companies, he headed the Western Oil Group, and served as CEO of the Continuum Group and one of the biggest filling station chains in Ukraine, WOG.

Born in Ukraine's western ‌city of Lutsk, Koretskyi had also founded a coffee ​chain business.

Who is Mykhailo Fedorov? Everything you need to know about Ukraine’s sacked defence minister

Rare wartime protests erupted in cities across Ukraine on Thursday, following the dismissal of defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov just six months after his appointment.

Fedorov, 35, is the last remaining minister to have held positions in all of Zelensky’s governments, with the tech-savvy reformer remaining close to the president since his election in 2019.

Parliament is now set to vote on his replacement by Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, with it unclear as to whether Fedorov will be given another government job.

His supporters pointed to his role in turning battlefield momentum in Ukraine's favour this year, through ramping up drone purchases and a crucial intervention to cut Russian units off from Starlink internet services.

Russian soldiers last no more than 20 to 30 minutes on battlefield, CIA chief claims

The Russian soldiers fighting against Ukraine have an average life expectancy of 20 to 30 minutes on the battlefield, the Central Intelligence Agency chief John Ratcliffe said.

Speaking at a defence and innovation summit in Pennsylvania, the CIA director said: "What I would say is, our intelligence is consistent with some of the open-source reporting you may have seen in Ukraine. So the average life expectancy of a Russian recruit, right now, arriving on the battlefield in Ukraine, is estimated to be between 20 and 30 minutes."

He attributed the higher attrition rate to AI-powered drones, calling them “specialised, low-cost killing machines”.

“And it's why we're now four and a half years into that conflict," he said.

Zelensky fires Kyiv head of city military administration

Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Tymur Tkachenko, who was serving as the head of the Kyiv city military Administration, according to an official decree published on the President's Office website.

Tkachenko, who has working on the Kyiv’s defence and military needs as the capital remains under nearly daily attacks from Russia, was relieved of his duties "in accordance with Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine 'On the Legal Regime of Martial Law’,” the decree said.

It is not immediately clear why Tkachenko was dismissed and Zelensky is also yet to issue a comment.

13 killed as Russia and Ukraine exchange attacks

Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian areas in towns and cities, many on the front line of the more than four-year-old war, killed ⁠at least 13 people yesterday, local officials said.

A Russian guided bomb attack on Ukraine's southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed three people and wounded 15, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said ⁠on Telegram.

Reuters TV footage showed ​firefighters ⁠dousing the aftermath of blazes and crews sifting through the rubble of shattered buildings in the ⁠city, which has come under intensified attack in recent ​weeks.

Russian ⁠missiles struck the Black ‌Sea port of Odesa, another frequent target of Moscow, killing two people, injuring six and damaging civilian infrastructure.

Outside ‌the city of Kharkiv, near the ‌Russian border, a Russian drone attack killed one person, the national emergency services said. Earlier in the day, a drone attack near ⁠the city of Kupiansk, farther east, killed three people.

In Donetsk region, the focal point of most fighting along the 1,200 km (775-mile) front line, the regional governor said one person was killed and five injured near Kramatorsk, one of the "fortress towns" where Ukraine has bolstered ‌defences.

On the other side of the border, ​local officials in Belgorod Region said one person ‌had died when Ukrainian ⁠forces shelled a settlement near the border.

And the Moscow-installed ⁠head of areas of Donetsk region under Russian control, Denis Pushilin, ‌said one person ​died in an area held ‌by Russian forces.

Prime mininster Keir Starmer has asserted his belief that Ukraine will win the war against Russia.

Sir Keir made his final visit to Ukraine as the outgoing British PM where he met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.

Speaking to Sky News, he said: “I believe Ukraine will win this war.”

“What they’ve shown is that it’s not just the size of your army, it’s how you fight a modern conflict. And so they are probably the most effective fighting machine in Europe,” Sir Keir said.

He also assured that the change in power in the UK will not change the dynamics and bilateral ties between London and Kyiv.

“The fact that there will be a new prime minister in the United Kingdom, in the days to come, doesn’t change that dynamic at all,” he said. “The resolve of the United Kingdom remains the same, it will not waver.”

Starmer says UK will help fund 16 Gripen fighter jets for Ukraine

Prime minister Keir Starmer on Thursday pledged €300m (£254m) to help equip Ukraine ⁠with a squadron of 16 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets, making one of his final commitments to Kyiv before leaving office.

In June, Swedish defence equipment maker Saab signed a contract to ⁠deliver 16 Gripen E fighter aircraft to Ukraine in a deal worth about $2.5bn.

The package includes pilot and engineer training, simulators, spare parts and other equipment needed to operate the ‌aircraft.

Britain said the investment ​would support about 5,000 jobs across ‌more than 50 ⁠UK-based companies involved in the ⁠Gripen programme.

The government said the jets would ‌also ​support efforts to modernise ‌Ukraine's air force.

Sir Keir, speaking during a visit to the Ukrainian capital, said Britain would work with Sweden to deliver the aircraft to help defend Ukraine against Russian attacks.

Britain said the funding would help Ukraine acquire a squadron of the ‌Swedish-made Gripen E fighter jets ‌by 2029.

Ukraine rejects Russian accusations over attack on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Ukraine's foreign ministry has rejected Russia’s accusations over an attack that killed the chief engineer at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

“No independent ​confirmation of ⁠the ‌Russian version or evidence of Ukraine's involvement ‌has been ‌presented, and information from Russian ⁠occupation authorities cannot be considered reliable,” the ministry said on Telegram.

It added that Russia ‌was trying ​to use ‌accusations ⁠to intimidate the ⁠international community with ‌the ​threat of ‌a nuclear incident.

The attack killed an engineer at the Zaporizhzhia power plant.