RUSSIA LAUNCHED 45 drone attacks on Ukraine last night, according to Ukrainian authorities.

However, Ukraine blocked the majority of the drones, which attacked over a five hour period during the night.

The Ukrainian air force issued an update stating that Russia had launched 45 attack drones overnight over nine regions, including on the outskirts of Kyiv, but 40 were shot down.

The attacks targeted agricultural facilities and coastal infrastructure. A strike in the Mykolaiv region injured one person and sparked a fire, as well as damaging residential buildings.

Another individual, a 39-year-old man, was injured in the Dnipro region due to falling debris from a destroyed drone.

Elsewhere, in the Kharkiv region, aerial guided bombs targeted the village of Vodyane, killing a 56-year-old woman.

The day before, seven people were killed in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, when a Russian drone attack set a petrol station on fire. 

Everyone who works to rescue people and provide aid after the strikes deserves immense gratitude. Those who devote their days and nights to ensuring that everyone is saved.

All of our regions and communities in need of protection receive it from Ukrainian State Emergency Service… pic.twitter.com/4ZhfZZpfy0

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 11, 2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is currently reshuffling his war cabinet of military commanders as the two-year mark since Russia commenced its invasion approaches.

Former deputy defence minister Lieutenant General Alexander Pavlyuk is to become the new commander of Ukraine’s ground forces. The outgoing commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, will replace Ukraine’s outgoing military chief, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

New appointments have also been made to the commander roles of Ukraine’s combined forces, air assault forces, and territorial defence forces.

Incoming commander-in-chief Col Gen Syrskyi has indicated that his priorities are to improve troop rotation at the front lines and leverage new technologies.

In a statement on Telegram yesterday, Zelenskyy said he hopes to “reboot” the higher levels of Ukraine’s armed forces with experienced combat commanders.

“People who are well-known in the army and who themselves know well what the army needs are taking on new responsibilities,” he said.

Additional reporting by Press Association and AFP