Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv vows to step up counteroffensives as Russian strikes leave 100,000 without power – UK Times

A German nuclear fuel assembly plant has won regulatory approval to jointly produce fuel with Russian state-owned Rosatom, underscoring how the nuclear sector remains largely exempt from European sanctions on Russia.

A federal state regulator cleared Advanced Nuclear Fuels, part of French nuclear power company Framatome, a subsidiary of EDF, to produce fuel rods in Lingen, Lower Saxony, for Russian-designed nuclear power plants with Rosatom, Germany’s federal environment ministry said on Wednesday.

The federal ministry said it regretted the collaboration but added the regulator had legally no choice but to give its go-ahead.

There is so far no EU agreement on an extension of sanctions on Russia to the nuclear power sector but Germany was working towards that, a ministry spokesperson told Reuters.

Volodymyr Zelensky has sparked a major political crisis in Ukraine after sacking his popular defense minister just as Kyiv appears to be turning the tide on Moscow.

Mykhailo Fedorov, 35, was dismissed on 15 June during a wider shake up of the government, and amid reports of clashes with Ukraine’s top military commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Protests have broken out across the nation in the days since, with critics framing the dismissal as a vote for the staid, Soviet-era command structure of Syrskyi over the modern and inventive approach of Fedorov, who had helped transform Ukraine’s defence forces through technology, incentives and by cutting bureaucracy.

Fedorov emerged as Ukraine’s first minister of digital transformation in 2019 and became an advisor to Zelensky before the war. In January 2026, he was appointed defense minister and led a series of urgent reforms around fairness and retention in the military.

He is credited with modernizing the armed forces through drone-first warfare (making drones a core component rather than a niche capability), slashing red tape by bringing commercial tech firms into the fold on procurement, and championing Ukraine’s domestic defence industry.

Crucially, this comes at a time when Ukraine’s tactics appear to be working, despite talk of clashes in leadership behind closed doors. In the last few months, Ukraine has recaptured 700km2 of land from Russia and continues to pile pressure on with long-range strikes on energy infrastructure deep behind enemy lines.

Zelensky had appeared to back Fedorov’s rival, commander in chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, until protests sweeping the nation appeared to be getting out of hand. On Tuesday, he replaced Syrskyi with Mykhailo Drapatyi following meetings with military commanders.

Critics said Syrskyi represented the old, Soviet-style command culture, in contrast to Federov’s forward-thinking tactics.

Zelensky met with Fedorov on Tuesday and offered him what he called a respected position in government to unify the country’s tech sector. It was not immediately clear whether Fedorov had accepted the role, or exactly what it would consist of.

Fedorov did cool tempers by praising the appointment of Drapatyi, calling it a “new hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice” and “a voice for change that could not go unheard”.

Protesters have nonetheless given Zelensky until Friday to reinstate Fedorov as defense minister. It remains to be seen whether they accept the role offered to Fedorov.

What does it mean for the military?

Zelensky is expecting Drapatyi and other commanders to present an updated defense strategy, including continued reform of the corps system, faster weapons and drone deliveries, stronger air defense against Russia strikes, and a clearer mobilization plan.

Ukraine has now developed a vibrant defense industry and integrated drones across the military, and is unlikely to renege on the progress ushered in under Fedorov.

Ukraine continued to strike targets deep inside Russia on Wednesday, piling pressure onto Vladimir Putin to end the war.

Ukraine’s new top commander said on Wednesday that the armed forces have been told to press harder with their counteroffensives as Kyiv navigates the fallout of a major shake-up at the top of its military leadership.

“The President of Ukraine has set clear objectives for us: to continue and intensify offensive operations in all domains, to plan new operations behind enemy lines, to develop our military and its technologies, and to build up the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” commander-in-chief Mykhailo Drapatyi said on Wednesday, a day after he replaced sacked general Oleksandr Syrskyi in the role.

Syrskyi was let go on Tuesday following days of protests across the country calling for his removal, after president Volodymyr Zelensky ousted the popular defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov last week, who supporters credit with having modernized the military.

As Kyiv tried to steady its military leadership, Russia struck an energy facility in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, leaving more than 100,000 people without power.

Russia’s defense ministry also said on Wednesday that its forces had captured two settlements in Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Ukraine has attacked two more warehouses of Russian online retailer Wildberries, its boss said on Wednesday, extending a series of drone strikes on a company at the heart of Russia’s consumer economy.

Tatyana Kim, the co-founder and head of Wildberries, said warehouses had been attacked in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk, both in southern Russia.

Social media footage, verified by Reuters, showed a huge plume of smoke rising into the air in Krasnodar. The regional governor said a young woman had been killed and three other people were being treated in hospital.

Wildberries, often described as Russia’s Amazon, is one of the country’s biggest employers. Its shares are not publicly traded, but those of its rival Ozon were down 2.3% on Wednesday afternoon, recovering somewhat from earlier lows, on concerns it too could become a target.

The attacks on Wildberries’ massive warehouses mark a new stage in Ukraine’s campaign of deep strikes inside Russia to undermine Moscow’s war effort and bring the conflict home to ordinary Russians.

The MV South Star oil tanker was boarded by European Union forces on Monday after being suspected of sailing under false flag in breach of international maritime law, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, said on Wednesday.

Kallas said the move was aimed at targeting Russia’s “shadow fleet,” a series of vessels that are said to circumvent sanctions to ship Russian oil to international markets.

Germany denied online reports that it was conducting nuclear-weapons research, dismissing them on Wednesday as Russian propaganda aimed at discrediting Berlin’s efforts to support Ukraine.

“The German Government regards these statements as part of the usual Russian propaganda. The allegations made are simply unfounded …it is an attempt to discredit Germany as Ukraine’s strongest supporter,” a government spokesperson said.

Kyiv’s historic Lukianivka neighborhood has become one of the Ukrainian capital’s most frequently targeted areas during Russia’s war, yet residents continue to live and work there despite the constant threat.

Russia has refused to back down in an argument with India over a deadly strike on a cargo vessel in the Black Sea, saying it will not stop targeting shipping to and from Ukraine.

Four Indian sailors were killed in a suspected Russian cruise missile attack on a ship leaving Ukraine’s Odesa port earlier this week, prompting New Delhi to summon a Russian envoy in a rare display of discord between the two long-time allies.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian forces would continue targeting ships they suspected of transporting weapons for Ukraine, adding that Moscow had explained its position to Delhi.

Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi was named the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces late on Tuesday as President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to reset his military strategy in the war with Russia.

Drapatyi, the commander of the joint forces responsible for the Ukrainian defences in the northeastern direction, is described by his colleagues as a general of a new generation whose career was shaped in combat against Russian troops.

During his 26 years in the army, he rose through the ranks from a tank lieutenant to one of Ukraine’s most effective combat commanders. Last week, in a rare public post, he said the Ukrainian army needed changes and new rules.

Drapatyi has fought Russian troops in Ukraine for more than a decade. He became famous in 2014 during fighting in the Donbas when he shouted “Go!” at the driver of an armoured fighting vehicle in Mariupol and tore through a Russian barricade on a mission to rescue besieged police officers. That same year, he led an encircled force that fought its way through Russian territory to freedom.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Drapatyi became the go-to commander for areas of the front where the situation was most dire and in need of a swift turnaround. In summer 2024, he stopped a Russian incursion near the city of Kharkiv, stabilised the front line, and soon after became the youngest-ever commander of the Ukrainian land forces, one of the most senior posts in the Ukrainian army.

Ukraine renewed its strikes on Russian business on Wednesday, injuring several people, amid a widening drone campaign causing massive disruption deep behind enemy lines.

Regional governor Veniamin Kondratiev also said that 10 people were wounded in an attack on a storage complex, while drone debris has damaged two high-rise apartments in Krasnodar, where no one was injured.

Blackouts were meanwhile reported across occupied Crimea after two electric substations in Masandra and Yalta were hit by Ukrainian drones, according to Telegram monitoring channel Supernova Plus.

Power outages were reported in occupied Alushta, to the south, after being hit by Ukrainian forces, the Kyiv Independent reported. Strikes on energy infrastructure in recent weeks have left much of the peninsula with limited access to food, running water and electricity.

Behind the scenes, Ukraine’s military leadership was still battling a fresh political crisis after Volodymyr Zelensky late on Tuesday sacked the head of the armed forces and named his successor.