A coordinated wave of Russian ballistic missiles and drones targeted multiple cities across Ukraine overnight, killing at least seven people and prompting neighboring Poland to scramble fighter jets into its airspace.
The central city of Kryvyi Rih suffered significant casualties when a ballistic missile struck a private residence, killing six people, including two young girls aged 5 and 12, while injuring eight others.
In the capital city of Kyiv, falling debris from intercepted aerial targets ignited fires across non-residential sites in the Sviatoshynskyi and Obolon districts, resulting in one fatality as residents sought shelter underground.
Western Ukraine was also hit during the bombardment, with strikes damaging two residential apartment buildings in Lviv near the Polish border and injuring six individuals.
The strikes occurred hours after Ukrainian military warnings regarding an imminent, large-scale air assault prepared over several days by Moscow forces.
Former Defense Minister Discusses Dismissal
Separately, former Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov addressed his recent dismissal following a government political reshuffle.
"The reason is connected with procurement, tenders, to the fact that we began overhauling the processes in this area," said Fedorov.
Fedorov explained that his structural reforms within the ministry generated substantial internal friction among officials during his six-month tenure.
"This caused significant dissatisfaction among many people, who then started constantly exerting influence and spreading negativity, not just around the president but across the broader media space," he said.
The former minister highlighted that implementing a transparent bidding system was his primary objective upon taking office.
"Our task was to fix the root of the problem as quickly as possible," said Fedorov.
He noted that reforming leadership structures was essential to achieving long-term integrity in defense purchasing.
"First, launch tenders.
Second, restructure the management system in the Defence Ministry, and choose the people working there differently, based on the goals we came in with," he said.
Fedorov emphasized that external pressure was an expected component of challenging the institutional status quo.
"From all sides as part of the process. That meant you needed simply to rebuild the foundation and the issue will be resolved," he said.
In military developments on the front line, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed an F-16 fighter jet crashed due to a malfunction during an interception mission against Russian airborne targets, with the pilot successfully ejecting safely.
