Ukraine names new military chief as deep strikes disrupt Russian fuel and retail

Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Tuesday the appointment of Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi as Ukraine’s top military commander, replacing Oleksandr Syrskyi. The late-night television address followed intense political friction and street protests over the recent dismissal of defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

The leadership change guarantees no shift in Kyiv’s strategic posture against Russian infrastructure. Zelenskyy insisted that defence operations must continue steadily and confirmed that strike programmes will be carried out with absolute precision.

Drapatyi, a joint forces group commander who has fought since the 2014 Donbas incursions, is widely viewed as an ally of the tech-focused Fedorov. Fedorov, whom Zelenskyy offered a prominent position to appease protesters demanding his reinstatement by Friday, called the appointment a breath of fresh air bringing new hope to the struggle.

This military continuity directly impacts Russian corporate and retail sectors through sustained targeting of logistics. The Kremlin lamented recent Ukrainian attacks on warehouses belonging to Wildberries, an e-commerce giant that Kyiv accuses of supplying drone components for the war effort.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged the commercial damage to the retail sector. He described the situation as difficult due to the losses suffered by the company and smaller businesses.

Beyond retail, Ukrainian drone campaigns against oil refineries and shipping are forcing severe domestic reallocations within the Russian energy market. Traders told Reuters that gasoline from the Urals and Siberia, alongside Belarusian imports, is being redirected to the Moscow region to replace lost production.

The Achinsk refinery in the Krasnoyarsk region is among the facilities now supplying the capital. This highlights how strikes are draining fuel from Siberia to protect Moscow, the centre of Russian elite support.

While these strikes strain the Russian economy, the humanitarian toll inside Ukraine continues to escalate sharply. The UN human rights office documented 1,396 civilian deaths and 7,978 injuries in the first half of 2026, marking a 37 per cent increase from the previous year.

This surge is driven by long-range ballistic missiles, glide bombs and drones. The violence persisted on Tuesday when a Russian guided-bomb attack on Zaporizhzhia killed three residents and left seven floors of an apartment block engulfed in flames.