Ukraine suffers port attacks as protests persist over defence shake-up 

Russia carried out several deadly attacks in Ukraine, including reportedly killing two people aboard a foreign vessel, as Ukrainians took to the streets for a second day to protest against the removal of the defence minister.

Russian drones struck port infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv on Friday, damaging three foreign-registered vessels, according to local prosecutors. One of the ship attacks killed two Ukrainians on board, they said.

In Kherson, a Russian drone attack killed a woman and injured six other people, while a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine’s biggest seaport, killed a man, said local officials.

“The aggressor continues to terrorise civilians,” Serhii Lysak, head of the Odesa City Military Administration, posted on Telegram.

Ukraine and Russia have ⁠each intensified missile and drone attacks on ⁠vessels in the Black ⁠Sea and ⁠the Sea of Azov, which are vital for grain exports.

On Friday, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its ⁠forces ⁠had hit 24 vessels used by the Ukrainian ⁠military over the past week.

Kyiv’s drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said Ukraine struck 12 Russian vessels in the Black Sea on Friday, with Ukraine’s military identifying two targeted vessels as Russian tankers. Ukraine’s military also said it had struck a Russian oil ⁠refinery in the Yaroslavl region.

The latest attacks came as domestic tensions continued to flare in Ukraine over the controversial ousting by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov as part of a cabinet reshuffle.

The exit of 35-year-old Fedorov, who sought to modernise the ministry and has been partly credited ‌with Ukraine’s recent military successes, has exposed a bitter divide within Ukraine’s military establishment.

After being forced to resign, Fedorov harshly criticised military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, with whom he has been in dispute with, and questioned whether Ukraine could defeat Russia with him in charge of the army.

Protesters rallied for ⁠a second day outside Zelenskyy’s office in central Kyiv on Friday, demanding he reappoint ⁠Fedorov.

Pro-Fedorov supporters also rallied in the cities of Kharkiv, Ternopil, Mykolaiv, Chernivtsi and Lutsk, reported Ukraine’s Ukrinform news agency.

“I truly believe and hope that the authorities ⁠will, after all, listen to the people – that it will heed the people’s demands,” Valeriia Balenko, a 29-year-old protester who rallied outside Zelenskyy’s office, was quoted by Reuters.

“Because this is what the ⁠people want, for the sake of our soldiers’ lives and for the ⁠sake of the civilians who live under air attacks every day,” said Balenko.

Zelenskyy on Thursday named Yevgeniy Khmara – head of Ukraine’s SBU security service – as acting defence minister, saying he has “unprecedented experience with technological combat operations”.

Zelenskyy has since tapped former ‌Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko to chair Ukraine’s defence and security council.