Defence shake-up sparks rift at heart of Ukraine’s war effort

KYIV: Ukraine's ousted defence minister directed stunning public criticism at the army's top commander on Thursday, forcing President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for unity amidst signs of an emerging split in the military's top ranks.
Large protests erupted in several Ukrainian cities against the removal of popular defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who had been brought in six months ago to digitise and modernise an army fatigued after four years fighting off the Russian war.
Following Fedorov's removal, Zelensky announced on Thursday he had appointed Yevgeniy Khmara — head of Ukraine's SBU security service — as acting defence minister.
'Khmara has gained extensive and, in many respects, unprecedented experience with technological combat operations', Zelensky said in a Facebook post.
In the capital Kyiv, reporters saw hundreds protesting in support of Fedorov, singing Ukraine's national anthem and carrying placards.
'We saw results from his tenure, when strikes were effectively carried out against targets in Russia', said Viktoriia Osypenko, 24.
Meanwhile, Russia attacked two Ukrainian Black Sea port cities on Friday, killing three people, officials said, as Moscow intensifies pressure on Ukraine's key trade routes.
A Russian drone attack on port infrastructure at the southern ⁠city of Mykolaiv damaged three civilian foreign-flagged vessels, regional prosecutors said.
One of the ⁠strikes, early on Friday, killed two Ukrainians on board a foreign vessel, they added.
Another man was killed in a Russian attack on Odesa, Ukraine's biggest seaport, local officials said.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces ​had struck Ukrainian port facilities ⁠overnight in Odesa and Chornomorsk.
Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukraine's maritime ​export arteries during the war, but ‌the strikes have intensified in past weeks and focused on deepwater ports that handle much of the country's grain and ​other cargo — vital to its wartime economy.
Ukraine's seaports authority said on Thursday that Russia hit Ukrainian ports and civilian vessels several times in July, killing 11 people, including port workers and foreign crew members.
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. — AFP/Reuters