Russian strike kills 3 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy faces pressure at home

What the report says

Russian forces launched a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, shortly after midnight on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera’s report, killing at least three people and injuring 20 others. Ukrainian officials said at least 14 of the wounded were hospitalized. The strikes hit multiple districts in the capital, including Sviatoshynskyi, Solomianskyi and Shevchenkivskyi, and caused damage to homes and other buildings. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a nine-storey residential block collapsed and burned in Solomianskyi, while a children’s hospital in the same district was also damaged. Air raid warnings were issued as the attack unfolded, and residents were urged to stay in shelters.

The assault came amid fresh political tension in Ukraine. Al Jazeera reported that parliament had just confirmed a new defence minister, Yevhenii Khmara, by a wide margin after the removal of his predecessor, Mykhailo Fedorov, following a rupture with the armed forces leadership. Khmara, a career intelligence official, said he would work to strengthen Ukraine’s defence and reduce Russia’s war capability.

The article said the leadership changes and debate over wartime governance were feeding a wider domestic crisis for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Fedorov had recently called for discussion of elections, which are suspended under martial law, and protesters gathered in Kyiv to support that idea. Under Ukrainian law, elections are not held during wartime, a rule that has remained in place since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.