In a sweeping policy shift aimed at addressing long-overlooked health concerns among active-duty service members, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has formally announced a new mandatory screening program that will require all active-duty and reserve troops to undergo routine testing for testosterone deficiency. The rollout of the new initiative comes alongside a reaffirmation of the U.S. military’s longstanding ban on non-medical testosterone use, a rule that has been enforced for decades to maintain fair competition, preserve force readiness, and mitigate the serious long-term health risks associated with unsupervised hormone supplementation. Military health officials have noted that undiagnosed low testosterone has been linked to a range of performance and health issues that can directly impact troop readiness, including persistent fatigue, reduced muscle mass, impaired cognitive function, and poorer mental health outcomes. By introducing routine population-level screening, defense leaders hope to identify at-risk service members early, provide evidence-based medical treatment to those with clinically confirmed deficiency, and preserve the overall fighting capacity of the U.S. armed forces. The policy clarifies that only service members who receive a formal diagnosis from a military medical provider will be cleared to receive testosterone therapy, with strict monitoring protocols in place to ensure compliance with medical guidelines. Any service member found to be using testosterone without a valid medical authorization will face disciplinary action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, consistent with existing regulations governing performance-enhancing drug use. Defense analysts say the new screening program represents a growing recognition of the impact of hormonal health on force readiness, marking a key update to the U.S. military’s preventive health framework.
分类： politics
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Teenager accused of carrying out sabotage actions in Poland for Russia
In a high-stakes case that lays bare Russian efforts to exploit long-running historical fault lines between neighboring Poland and Ukraine, Polish prosecutors have formally charged an 18-year-old Ukrainian national with carrying out coordinated sabotage operations on behalf of Russian intelligence. The suspect, identified only as Illia K in line with Polish privacy regulations, is accused of committing 47 separate criminal offenses between November 2024 and his arrest in August 2025.
According to Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW), the core objective of the sabotage campaign was to stoke ethnic friction and undermine mutual trust between the two Eastern European countries, which have maintained a critical alliance in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The targeted acts included the deliberate desecration of memorials honoring Polish victims of the World War II-era Volhynia massacre, a 1943–1944 campaign carried out by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) that killed an estimated 100,000 ethnic Poles in territory that is now part of western Ukraine.
Prosecutors noted that while Illia K was motivated by financial gain rather than ideological alignment with Russia, all of his actions were executed to advance the interests of a foreign intelligence service. Beyond vandalizing historical monuments, the teen was also charged with plotting to fly a drone over Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s motorcade during the annual Polish Armed Forces Day parade held in Warsaw on August 15, 2024. He was taken into custody just three days before the scheduled event, authorities confirmed.
The ABW added that the suspect allegedly recruited other co-conspirators to participate in the sabotage operations, paying them through cryptocurrencies registered in Russia and China. Tasked by an unidentified handler via an encrypted messaging platform, Illia K was required to send photographic proof of completed acts back to his controller. In addition to Volhynia massacre memorials in the towns of Domostawa and Wrocław, the teen also vandalized the Monument to the Jewish Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland’s capital, placing pro-UPA glorifying inscriptions and symbols at multiple sites.
The legacy of the Volhynia massacre has strained Polish-Ukrainian relations for decades, with deep divisions over the historical legacy of the UPA. Tensions over the issue flared again in May 2024, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree naming a Ukrainian military unit after the “Heroes of the UPA”. In response, President Nawrocky stripped Zelenskyy of Poland’s highest state honor, the Order of the White Eagle — a step that had only been taken once before in three centuries of the honor’s existence.
Wojciech Konończuk, director of Warsaw’s Office for Eastern Studies, explained that the divergent national memories of the UPA create a permanent rift that can be easily exploited by outside actors. “For Ukrainians they are heroes because they fought the Soviets,” Konończuk noted in a recent interview. “Many years after the Second World War, the UPA were fighting the Soviet occupation, so Ukrainians only want to remember that part of the history of the formation after 1945. So they don’t know, or don’t want to know what were the UPA activities before 1945.”
“For Poles, the UPA were a criminal structure which was responsible for the mass killing of the Polish population,” he added. “At the same time the level of knowledge in Poland of the history of UPA after the Second World War — basically they were fighters against the Soviets — is usually non-existing knowledge in Polish society.”
The case comes amid a documented surge in Russian espionage and disinformation activity targeting Poland. The ABW reported in May that it had launched 48 active espionage investigations in the previous year, more than double the number recorded in 2024. Russian intelligence services have centered their efforts on discrediting Poland on the global stage and weaponizing pre-existing historical and ethnic divisions, most notably the long-standing tensions between Poland and Ukraine, the agency confirmed. If convicted, Illia K faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
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Protests erupt across Ukraine against defence minister’s ouster
Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a sudden political shakeup by President Volodymyr Zelensky has sparked rare public unrest across the war-torn nation, as thousands took to the streets this Thursday to denounce the ousting of popular reformist Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Fedorov, who was appointed to the defence portfolio just six months prior, had quickly built a reputation as an agent of change for Ukraine’s beleaguered military. Tasked with rooting out long-standing graft and modernizing armed forces strained by years of combat, crippling manpower shortages, and widespread fatigue, he led sweeping overhauls of military digitization, implemented open, transparent procurement processes, and accelerated the development and deployment of long-range drone capabilities that have recently become one of Ukraine’s most effective asymmetric tools against Russian forces. Under his leadership, the Ukrainian government also raised frontline soldiers’ salaries and introduced landmark plans for phased demobilization, a long-sought reform for troops who have been deployed for years.
But his aggressive push to upend entrenched systems put him on a collision course with top military leadership, culminating in his removal as part of a broader cabinet reshuffle announced by Zelensky this week. In a fiery post-ouster press conference in Kyiv, Fedorov delivered a blistering public rebuke to Ukraine’s newly appointed Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky, accusing the top general of sowing national division and issuing a formal ultimatum to Zelensky demanding his firing.
“Instead of focusing on how to defeat Russia through asymmetric tactics — that is the commander-in-chief’s core job — he has focused on splitting this country,” Fedorov told reporters, standing in front of a display of images of military drones. “In this configuration, I personally don’t know how to win the war.”
By late Thursday, thousands of Fedorov’s supporters had gathered in public spaces across major Ukrainian cities to protest the decision. In central Kyiv, AFP correspondents counted more than 1,000 demonstrators, who sang the Ukrainian national anthem, waved national and European Union flags, and chanted calls for Fedorov’s reinstatement and slogans decrying the decision as shameful.
“I believe that his dismissal is a slap in the face of the Ukrainian people,” 30-year-old Kyiv business owner Vlada Roman told AFP at the rally. “Zelensky is afraid of effective people. I hope after today’s rally, he will change his mind.”
Unrest was also reported in other major population centers including Lviv, Odesa, and Dnipro, a rare development in wartime Ukraine, where broad national unity in the face of invasion has mostly quelled public dissent against Zelensky’s leadership. In recent months, however, growing public frustration over high-profile corruption scandals, mismanagement of military mobilization and conscription, and the prolonged stalemate of the war has sparked intermittent waves of public outcry.
The political aftershocks of Fedorov’s ouster quickly spread, with Ukraine’s deputy air force commander Pavlo Yelizarov announcing his resignation in protest of the decision. Political analysts have framed the reshuffle as a clear win for Syrsky and entrenched military interests, noting that Zelensky opted to side with the uniformed leadership over an outsider minister pushing for systemic change.
“He fell out with various generals and with different established drone suppliers. In other words, he really did start implementing many useful reforms that threatened certain vested interests,” said political analyst Anatoliy Oktysiuk. He added that Zelensky’s decision to remove Fedorov has “undermined himself politically” at a critical moment in the conflict.
Supporters of Fedorov have described his removal as political retribution for his anti-corruption and modernization efforts. The shakeup also comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Ukraine’s war effort: after months of Russian territorial advances, Kyiv’s forces have recently managed to halt Russia’s momentum, and have launched consistent long-range drone strikes targeting Russian energy infrastructure and military positions, putting Ukraine in one of its strongest operational positions in months. Fedorov’s removal has cast uncertainty over the future of the military reforms that have supported these recent gains.
International observers and Ukrainian stakeholders have also raised questions about how the change will be received by Ukraine’s key Western backers, who have long pushed for greater anti-corruption and military modernization reforms in Kyiv. On Thursday, the European Union Ambassador to Ukraine publicly praised Fedorov, crediting him with securing a “victory in cognitive warfare” for Ukraine.
Current Interior Minister Igor Klymenko is widely regarded as the most likely candidate to replace Fedorov, though it remains unclear whether he will secure enough votes in Ukraine’s parliament to confirm the appointment. In a separate move Thursday, Ukraine’s parliament also confirmed Sergiy Koretsky, the former head of state energy firm Naftogaz, as the country’s new prime minister as part of the broader cabinet reshuffle.
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Fraud crackdown on Ghana ID cards makes digital checks compulsory – photocopies banned
Ghana has implemented sweeping new regulations requiring all businesses and public institutions across the country to verify the Ghana Card, the nation’s official biometric national identity document, through a dedicated mobile biometric scanning application, in a major push to strengthen national security and crack down on widespread identity-related fraud.
Previously, most organizations relied on superficial visual inspections or simple photocopying of the national ID card to record customer or visitor information. This lax verification system created critical loopholes that allowed criminal actors to successfully carry out identity impersonation, enabling fraudulent activities ranging from financial scams to unauthorized access to public and private services.
Under Ghana’s national identification framework, all citizens and legal foreign residents are required to hold the plastic biometric Ghana Card, which was rolled out progressively over the past 10 years. Today, the document has become an indispensable part of everyday life for Ghanaians: access to banking services, mobile SIM card registration, passport applications, and driver’s license issuance all require a valid Ghana Card.
The card stores detailed biometric information collected by Ghana’s National Identification Authority (NIA), including all 10 fingerprints, high-resolution iris scans, a portrait photograph, and the cardholder’s official signature. The new regulation replaces the outdated verification process with a mandatory digital check: any entity processing ID-based transactions must now use the official NIA mobile app to scan the card and cross-validate its embedded biometric data against the card’s presented details.
In an official statement, NIA Chief Wisdom Yayra Koku Deku confirmed that the old practices of photocopying or visually inspecting Ghana Cards for transaction verification are now criminal offenses. “Biometric verification is now mandatory,” Deku emphasized.
Penalties for non-compliance are strict: organizations that continue to rely on the old verification methods face prosecution and fines as high as 24,000 Ghanaian cedis, equivalent to approximately $2,100 or £1,550. Individual violators will face fines of up to 6,000 Ghanaian cedis, around $525 or £390.
The NIA has called on all institutions that have not yet completed onboarding to the official digital verification system to begin the registration and integration process immediately. Deku added that the Ghanaian government will host public briefings in the coming days to outline implementation timelines for the amended regulations and outline support measures to help organizations achieve full compliance.
This report was supplemented with additional on-the-ground reporting by Thomas Naadi in Accra. For more coverage of news across the African continent, visit BBCAfrica.com, and follow BBC Africa on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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Ukraine state energy boss Koretsky becomes new PM
In a move that has stirred political controversy across Ukraine, the country’s parliament has formally confirmed Sergiy Koretsky, the longtime head of state-owned energy giant Naftogaz, as Ukraine’s new prime minister. The appointment is the centerpiece of a sweeping high-level government shakeup ordered by President Volodymyr Zelensky, which has already drawn public pushback over the removal of a popular senior cabinet member.
At 48 years old, Koretsky comes to the prime minister’s office with a track record of steering Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure through extreme wartime pressure. Zelensky has framed Koretsky’s appointment as a strategic choice to prepare the nation for another harsh winter, a period that has consistently seen Russia intensify targeted attacks on Ukraine’s energy network to disrupt civilian life.
The reshuffle began earlier this week when former prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko stepped down on Tuesday. When announcing the leadership changes, Zelensky gave only a vague explanation, stating that Kyiv was adjusting its political strategy to match emerging new challenges and tasks. He has not yet provided a detailed public justification for the overhaul of the country’s top political leadership team.
Koretsky used his first parliamentary address following his confirmation to highlight his record leading Naftogaz, the backbone of Ukraine’s national heating supply system. “We weathered the harshest winter and ensured an uninterrupted supply of gas to Ukrainians, despite significant losses of our own production,” he told lawmakers. “We have proven that government administration can and should be effective,” he added.
Koretsky was at the helm of Naftogaz during last winter’s widespread Russian assault on energy infrastructure, when Russian drone and missile strikes triggered mass blackouts and heating outages across the country amid subzero temperatures. His experience keeping energy systems operational under attack is widely cited as the key qualification Zelensky administration officials have highlighted for the new premier.
The most contentious part of the reshuffle has been the ousting of popular reformist defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov, which sparked public outrage almost immediately. Early Thursday, protests broke out in multiple Ukrainian cities, with demonstrators gathering to demand Fedorov’s reinstatement to his post.
The leadership overhaul comes at a critical juncture in Ukraine’s more than four-year war with Russia. Moscow has recently ramped up deadly ballistic missile strikes across Ukrainian territory, while Kyiv is moving forward with plans to begin domestic production of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles to boost its defensive capabilities.
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Poland charges man allegedly paid by Russia to inflame Polish-Ukrainian tensions
In a major development that highlights ongoing Russian hybrid interference in Central European relations, Polish law enforcement officials have filed serious charges of sabotage and diversionary activity against an 18-year-old Ukrainian national, alleging the man acted on direct orders from Russian intelligence. Authorities claim the suspect was paid through cryptocurrency to carry out a coordinated campaign of vandalism targeting World War II-era memorials honoring Polish citizens killed in wartime massacres carried out by Ukrainian nationalist forces, all as part of a broader plot to stoke deep division between Warsaw and Kyiv.
Poland has been one of the most vocal and unwavering backers of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, providing critical military aid, shelter for millions of Ukrainian refugees, and consistent diplomatic support for Kyiv’s bid to join NATO and the European Union. Even with this robust alliance, long-simmering historical tensions over World War II-era violence have recently boiled over, creating a opening that Russian intelligence has long sought to exploit to fracture the bilateral relationship. Anti-Ukrainian sentiment has slowly but steadily grown across parts of Polish society in recent months, a shift that Warsaw has repeatedly tied to deliberate Russian influence operations.
The recent dispute between the two nations reached its lowest point in late June, when Polish president Karol Nawrocki revoked the highest Polish state honor previously awarded to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The move came in response to Zelenskyy’s decision to name a Ukrainian military unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a mid-20th century paramilitary force that fought for Ukrainian independence against both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. While the UPA holds a complex place in Ukrainian nationalist history, it is widely accused by Polish historians and officials of perpetrating the mass killing of an estimated tens of thousands of Polish civilians between 1943 and 1944, primarily in the occupied regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.
According to official details released by Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW), the charged suspect committed 47 separate criminal offenses between November 2024 and August 2025. Beyond the vandalism of memorial sites, prosecutors accuse the young man of plotting a high-stakes drone sabotage attack that targeted the motorcade of the Polish president during the country’s annual August 15 military parade held in central Warsaw. The suspect was taken into police custody by ABW agents before the parade could begin, preventing any attempt to carry out the attack. Investigators confirmed the suspect was recruited remotely through online channels, with all payments for his activities made in untraceable cryptocurrency.
In a public statement announcing the charges, the ABW emphasized that the case lays bare the systematic operating model of Russian intelligence services, which work to advance Moscow’s geopolitical goals by fueling historical and social conflict between neighboring states. This recent disruption of a Russian sabotage plot comes as Poland and the Baltic states have issued repeated warnings in recent months that Moscow is preparing a range of limited military and hybrid provocations targeting NATO’s eastern flank. This is not the first Russian-linked scheme uncovered in Poland this year: back in late June, the ABW announced it had dismantled another Russia-financed network designed to co-opt members of the large Ukrainian refugee community in Poland to organize anti-government protests and deepen social unrest across the country.
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Hong Kong official says booksellers should ensure titles won’t harm national security after arrests
In the latest high-profile police operation focused on independent booksellers in Hong Kong, five individuals connected to two local bookstores were taken into custody on Wednesday, marking the third mass arrest targeting independent book retailers in the city within just four months. The next day, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Security Chris Tang defended the enforcement action during a press briefing at the city’s legislative building, pushing back against growing public criticism over vague boundaries for permissible content and threats to long-held free expression rights in the special administrative region.
Tang emphasized that the requirements of Hong Kong’s national security legislation are clear and unambiguous, drawing a parallel to common consumer protection rules to frame the responsibility of book vendors. “If you are a bookseller, you have the responsibility to make sure the books you sell won’t endanger national security. It’s equal to, for example, when you are selling food, you need to ensure the food won’t cause a stomach ache and is not either poison or illegal,” Tang told reporters.
When pressed on whether authorities would release a public, standardized list of banned publications to give vendors clear guidance, the top security official rejected the proposal, arguing that a pre-approved list would undermine enforcement efforts against materials intended to undermine national sovereignty. “We will not let criminals off the hook like this,” Tang added.
Wednesday’s operation targeted two distinct independent book outlets: Have A Nice Stay, a relatively new shop founded by a collective of former local journalists, and Greenfield Book Store, a long-standing independent retailer that has operated in Hong Kong for years. Police confirmed in an official statement that the five arrestees face allegations of displaying and distributing seditious materials that are designed to stir up widespread resentment and hatred toward the Hong Kong government, the city’s judiciary, and local law enforcement institutions.
In what serves as a striking precursor to the raid, Have A Nice Stay had already publicly announced plans to permanently cease operations on August 30. In a social media post shared ahead of the police action, the bookstore cited two core reasons for its closure: persistent financial struggles, and the uncertainty created by an unclear “red line” defining acceptable content. The shop’s management noted that it lacks the resources and institutional capacity to vet every title it carries for compliance with national security standards, leaving it unable to operate without constant risk of penalty.
This week’s arrest operation is the third crackdown on independent booksellers since March, when police detained the owner and multiple staff members of Book Punch, another independent Hong Kong bookstore, also on suspicion of selling seditious publications. Among the titles that reportedly drew law enforcement attention in that case was a biography of Jimmy Lai, the former pro-democracy media tycoon who was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison following a high-profile national security trial. A second round of arrests followed in June, when police took two booksellers into custody on charges of selling seditious publications and receiving illegal funding from foreign political organizations.
Critics of the ongoing enforcement actions argue that the broad, flexible definition of seditious content and the refusal to issue a clear public list of prohibited titles creates a chilling effect on free expression in Hong Kong, forcing independent book retailers to self-censor broadly to avoid legal consequences, and eroding the city’s tradition of open access to diverse political and social commentary.
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Donald Trump is running out of options in Iran
Eight weeks after a temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran took hold, large-scale armed conflict has erupted once again in the Middle East. On July 8, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the June truce was formally terminated, and immediately ordered the U.S. military to launch a wave of intensive airstrikes targeting Iranian positions, alongside the full reimposition of a crippling economic blockade on the Islamic Republic.
In addition to military strikes, the Trump administration has revived a series of hardline threats first issued earlier in the ongoing conflict. Among these menacing warnings are suggestions of deliberate strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure and a potential military seizure of Kharg Island, the critical hub that hosts the vast majority of Iran’s oil export and processing infrastructure.
The conflict, initially launched in partnership with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the stated goals of curbing Iran’s nuclear program and potentially toppling the country’s ruling regime, has seen its strategic center of gravity shift dramatically over time. Today, hopes inside the White House for a negotiated agreement to resolve Iran’s nuclear activities have all but faded. Instead, Trump has framed his latest escalation as a pressure campaign to force Tehran to abandon its claimed control over the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which roughly a fifth of global oil supplies transit daily. The U.S. aims to restore the pre-war status quo of unimpeded free passage through the waterway, a move Trump claims would stabilize jittery global energy markets.
But analysts warn this rebooted strategy faces the same fatal flaws that derailed U.S. efforts from the start of the conflict: none of the pressure tactics Trump is now employing delivered acceptable outcomes for Washington in the past, and there is little evidence they will succeed this time around. Trump’s reliance on the same failed playbook lays bare just how narrow the administration’s viable options have become to resolve the crisis it created.
Today, the Strait of Hormuz has displaced nuclear concerns as the central flashpoint of the conflict. Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has asserted that future transit through the strait must operate under “Iranian arrangements,” meaning commercial vessels would only be allowed passage on terms set by Tehran. This demand is categorically rejected by Washington, which remains committed to restoring open, unregulated passage.
To understand why Washington has failed to achieve this goal after months of conflict, it is necessary to examine the limitations of the three main levers of U.S. power: military, diplomatic, and economic. Militaey analysts note that no single power can ever exercise full, uncontested control over the 21-mile-wide strait, which is surrounded by Iranian territory and a contested space where multiple global powers project military force. For Iran, however, full territorial control is not required to advance its strategic goals. Tehran only needs to maintain a credible enough threat to commercial shipping to deter insurers and vessel operators from transiting the waterway.
Iran retains a large, well-concealed stockpile of anti-ship missiles, attack drones, and fast attack craft well-suited for harassing commercial and military vessels, a supply the Central Intelligence Agency confirms remains abundant despite months of U.S. strikes. Eliminating these capabilities entirely would require the U.S. to seize and occupy large swathes of Iranian coastal territory, a mission that would almost certainly result in heavy U.S. casualties with no guarantee of long-term success.
A move to seize Kharg Island, while feasible in an initial invasion, would also carry enormous long-term risk. Any U.S. occupation force stationed on the island would remain highly vulnerable to retaliatory Iranian missile and commando attacks, and a prolonged occupation would almost certainly produce steady American casualties, making it impossible to hold the island as a lasting negotiating leverage.
While deliberate strikes on civilian Iranian targets would violate international law and carry significant ethical costs, Trump appears to be gambling that this pressure will force Tehran back to negotiations. But the far more likely outcome is a wave of devastating Iranian retaliation targeting energy infrastructure and civilian sites across the Persian Gulf, which would only deepen regional instability and drive global energy prices even higher.
The well-documented risks and high probability of failure of these military options pushed the Trump administration to explore diplomatic solutions over the past several months, but those efforts have also come up empty. Diplomatic outcomes almost always reflect the balance of power on the battlefield, and with Washington lacking a viable military option to roll back Iran’s influence over the strait, Tehran has no incentive to concede its core strategic demand. Mohsen Rezaee, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, recently described Iran’s strategic influence over the strait as “more important than dozens of nuclear bombs,” a comment that underscores the centrality of the waterway to Iran’s national security calculations. Control of the strait gives Tehran irreplaceable leverage over Washington, and it will not abandon that advantage without significant concessions that the Trump administration has so far refused to offer.
On the economic front, a prolonged full blockade of Iran’s ports represents the most effective tool the U.S. has to inflict pain on the Iranian government. Months of economic pressure have already fueled widespread domestic discontent: high inflation and widespread supply shortages sparked a wave of mass unrest across Iran in early 2026, which the Iranian regime put down with brutal force. The Trump administration is betting that further economic strain will erode public support for the regime enough to force concessions.
But the economic blockade inflicts pain on both sides. As long as the blockade remains in place, Iran will continue to disrupt oil and gas transit through the strait, pushing up global energy prices and creating significant domestic political headwinds for Trump ahead of upcoming elections. The blockade also imposes massive sustained costs on the U.S. military, requiring a permanent large deployment to the Gulf that strains American military resources already stretched thin by competing commitments in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. It cannot be maintained indefinitely. When the blockade is eventually lifted and U.S. forces draw down, Iran’s geographic proximity to the strait means it will immediately be able to resume disrupting shipping, erasing any gains the blockade achieved.
In the end, Trump’s escalatory moves have left the United States backed into an inescapable corner. For all of America’s overwhelming conventional military power, there are hard limits to what military force can achieve in this conflict. In a war of his own making, Trump is now running headlong into those limits, with no clear path out.
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Protesters rally in Kyiv as Zelenskyy moves to oust Ukraine’s defense minister
KYIV, Ukraine – As Ukraine’s prolonged defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion nears its four-and-a-half year mark, a sweeping government reshuffle initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sparked public unrest and emerged as an unexpected test of the president’s political authority. On Thursday, hundreds of demonstrators assembled in central Kyiv, the same day Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, gathered to vote on a new prime minister as part of the restructuring.
At the center of the controversy is the impending departure of 35-year-old Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a reformist leader widely credited with leveraging his technological expertise to drive measurable improvements in Ukraine’s military performance against Russia’s larger, better-resourced armed forces over recent months. Fedorov has only held the defense minister post since January this year, just six months before his anticipated exit.
Zelenskyy has not publicly shared any official explanation for Fedorov’s removal. Unconfirmed reporting from Ukrainian media has pointed to escalating friction between Fedorov and Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s 60-year-old armed forces commander. Syrskyi, a veteran military leader who organized Kyiv’s successful initial defense shortly after Russia’s 2022 invasion and later led a game-changing 2022 counteroffensive that reclaimed large swathes of the Kharkiv region, has been a polarizing figure among segments of the Ukrainian public.
Protesters, most of whom were young Ukrainians, gathered in downtown Kyiv chanting Fedorov’s name in a show of public support, while directing sharp criticism toward Syrskyi. Demonstrators called for Syrskyi’s resignation and chanted slogans demanding a NATO-aligned, modern military for Ukraine. The protest spread beyond the capital, with demonstrations also organized in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro and the southern Black Sea port of Odesa.
Bohdan Huryak, a Kyiv resident who attended the downtown protest, told the Associated Press he was deeply shocked and angered by the decision to remove Fedorov. “I’m not deeply invested in the internal political debates, but this is a person who shows results on the battlefield, we see results, we feel the fighting spirit and confidence in victory rising,” Huryak said. “And then, six months later, he is removed from office? Come on.”
This is not the first time public protests have forced a course correction from Zelenskyy since the 2022 full-scale invasion. In July 2023, large-scale street demonstrations broke out over a controversial draft law that would have restricted the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdog bodies. At the time, the public outcry marked the first major threat to Zelenskyy’s leadership stability, prompting the president to quickly reverse the policy.
Long before taking over the defense portfolio, Fedorov built a reputation as a progressive modernizer leading Ukraine’s digital transformation agenda. He gained widespread public popularity for spearheading the rapid development and deployment of innovative drone technology that has become a critical asset on the front lines, as well as rolling out widely praised e-government platforms that streamlined public services.
After taking the defense minister post, Fedorov launched ambitious plans for sweeping military reform. In his opening remarks, he publicly disclosed the scale of long-standing challenges within the military, acknowledging roughly 200,000 troop desertions and an estimated 2 million cases of draft dodging that had weakened Ukraine’s fighting capacity.
In a series of social media posts confirming his dismissal late Wednesday, following days of unconfirmed media speculation about his exit, Fedorov laid out his key achievements during his short tenure. He wrote that he made the risky decision to reallocate budget funds originally earmarked for military salaries toward expanding mid-range strike capabilities, long-range fiber-optic drones, advanced reconnaissance systems and other critical battlefield technologies.
Fedorov also highlighted progress on expanding domestic and international drone procurement, finalizing contracts for additional Patriot air defense systems, completing Ukraine’s first successful domestically developed ballistic missile tests, and overhauling the country’s opaque and inefficient military procurement system.
Even as he celebrated his progress, Fedorov admitted he had been unable to complete all of his planned reforms. He wrote that he failed to finish the full organizational restructuring of the Defense Ministry to align with NATO standards, shift all military procurement to open competitive bidding processes, and embed a widespread culture of accountability across the department. He added that while he had removed dozens of obstructive officials from their posts during his tenure, “it was necessary to dismiss even more people who were hindering the changes.”
As part of the broader government reshuffle, Zelenskyy has nominated Serhii Koretskyi, the current chief executive of Ukraine’s state-owned energy giant Naftogaz, to take over as prime minister, parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk confirmed in a Wednesday social media post. Zelenskyy argued Wednesday that Koretskyi is the best fit for the role because the government’s top priority ahead of the coming season is preparing Ukraine for another difficult winter of potential Russian energy infrastructure attacks, citing Koretskyi’s decades of experience in the energy sector.
Ukrainian lawmakers began debating the full slate of cabinet changes this week, ahead of parliament’s scheduled summer recess set to begin Saturday. The outcome of the reshuffle and the public response to Fedorov’s dismissal will serve as a key indicator of Zelenskyy’s political standing as Ukraine enters a new phase of its war with Russia.
Dan Bashakov and Dmytro Zhyhinas contributed reporting to this article.
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Starmer on final trip to Ukraine as PM pledges UK’s ‘cast-iron’ support
As Keir Starmer prepares to step down as United Kingdom Prime Minister, he is making one last high-stakes trip to Ukraine to cement the long-standing bilateral commitment to the war-torn nation, pledging that Britain’s “cast-iron” backing for Kyiv will not waver under his successor. Starmer is scheduled to hold formal talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday, just one day before Andy Burnham, Starmer’s incoming successor as leader of the Labour Party, is officially installed and set to take over the office of prime minister on Monday.
In pre-departure remarks, Starmer paid tribute to the extraordinary resilience of the Ukrainian people, arguing that their unbroken fortitude in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in February 2022 has done more than defend their own borders — it has preserved the collective security of the entire European continent. The outgoing prime minister also highlighted the major milestones of British support for Ukraine during his two-year tenure in Downing Street, most notably the historic 100-year bilateral partnership signed by the two nations, designed to deepen integrated defence cooperation and expand bilateral trade ties. He also noted his leadership in building global consensus around the creation of a dedicated multinational peacekeeping force to secure long-term stability once a formal peace agreement is reached.
“When I entered Downing Street as prime minister, I made a commitment that the UK would not just offer temporary solidarity with Ukraine during the immediate heat of conflict — we would help lay the solid foundations for its long-term security and lasting success,” Starmer said in his official statement. He added that under his government, the UK has expanded its own defence investment and positioned itself as a global leader in developing next-generation combat technologies needed for modern battlefields. “We have also rallied partners across the globe to join us in this commitment. As the recent G7 and NATO summits made clear, the United Kingdom and our allied nations remain completely united in opposing Russian aggression,” he added.
Zelensky’s recent push for increased military support comes amid an intensification of Russian air strikes across Ukrainian territory. Speaking at last week’s NATO summit hosted in Turkey, the Ukrainian president called on allied nations to prioritize expanding supplies of advanced air defence systems to counter the ongoing bombardment. Shortly after that appeal, U.S. President Donald Trump granted Ukraine approval to domestically produce Patriot air defence missiles, a capability that will significantly boost Kyiv’s ability to intercept Russian ballistic missile attacks targeting population centers and critical infrastructure.
In the latest British military contribution to Ukraine, a £61 million contract with defence giant BAE Systems will deliver 150 British-manufactured artillery barrels to help strengthen Ukrainian frontline defences, adding much-needed firepower to Kyiv’s counter-offensive operations. “I am incredibly proud of everything Britain has contributed to Ukraine’s fight. This work will continue, and our unwavering, cast-iron support for Ukraine will always endure,” Starmer said.
Starmer’s visit coincides with renewed Russian offensive operations targeting the strategic southern Ukrainian port of Odesa. The Kremlin has confirmed that its forces struck port infrastructure it claims is used for unloading petroleum, oil and lubricant supplies for the Ukrainian military. Recent Russian attacks on Black Sea oil tankers have killed eight people, adding to the rising civilian and military toll along the critical Black Sea trade corridor.
On Wednesday, during Starmer’s final appearance at the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch publicly praised Starmer’s diplomatic and policy work on Ukraine and his close personal friendship with President Zelensky. As he bid farewell to fellow members of parliament, Starmer recalled a defining emotional moment from his tenure: welcoming Zelensky to Downing Street just days after the Ukrainian leader’s high-profile public disagreement with U.S. President Donald Trump during a 2025 visit to the White House. “I sat down with him then to make clear: in the United Kingdom, we will always stand with him and the people of Ukraine,” Starmer said.