Ukrainian drone attacks on logistics warehouses deep inside Russia killed at least eight people and injured dozens more on 22–23 July, according to Russian regional authorities, marking the highest single-day civilian toll on Russian territory since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. The strikes hit two distribution centres of the online retailer Wildberries in the Tambov and Moscow regions, which Ukrainian officials later said were used to manufacture military drones. Separately, overnight drone raids on Voronezh and annexed Crimea killed three civilians, including a three-year-old child, and set an energy facility ablaze in the Ulyanovsk region. Russia’s defence ministry stated that air defence units intercepted 223 Ukrainian drones overnight, while acknowledging damage to multiple sites.

The Ukrainian long-range campaign has escalated in parallel with sustained Russian missile and drone barrages against Ukrainian cities. Between 18 and 21 July, Russian strikes killed at least 20 civilians and wounded hundreds in Kyiv, the eastern Donetsk region and the southern port of Odesa, where port infrastructure was repeatedly hit. The United Nations recorded 1,396 civilian deaths and 7,978 injuries in the first six months of 2026, a 37 per cent increase on the same period last year and the highest rate since 2022. The UN also verified 250 civilian deaths inside Russia during that period, reflecting the conflict’s growing reach beyond the front lines.

The military escalation unfolded as Kyiv was gripped by its most serious political crisis in months. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a technocrat widely seen in Ukrainian society as an effective reformer who had driven the army’s modernisation and drone strategy, after what the presidential administration described as a breakdown in relations with then-commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky. The decision triggered six days of street protests in Kyiv and regional capitals, with demonstrators demanding Fedorov’s reinstatement and Syrsky’s removal. On 22 July, Zelenskyy replaced Syrsky with Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, a frontline officer known for resigning earlier this year after a Russian strike killed Ukrainian soldiers at a training ground—a move widely interpreted in Kyiv as a signal of accountability. The prime minister also resigned and was replaced by Serhij Koreckyj, a former state energy executive. Zelenskyy framed the command change as a wartime necessity, while promising Fedorov a new senior post.

Viewed from Western capitals, the twin developments—an intensifying long-range strike campaign and a leadership shake-up forced by public pressure—underscore the strains on Ukraine’s war effort as the front lines remain largely static. US-led ceasefire negotiations have stalled, with diplomatic attention shifting to the Middle East, according to officials briefed on the talks. Moscow continues to insist that Kyiv cede territory as a condition for peace. The new military leadership is expected to pursue reforms to the recruitment system, long plagued by corruption allegations, while the post of ambassador to Washington remains vacant after former prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko reportedly declined the appointment.