Zelensky ousts Ukraine’s military commander as major shake-up continues

Ukraine's president has used a speech at the Nato summit in Turkey to urge allies to deliver the air defence systems Kyiv urgently needs to protect it from escalating Russian attacks."We are capable of doing everything else ourselves, but when it comes to air defence, we need our partners' determination," Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday morning.Zelensky's call for help rings with extra intensity after Russian missiles rained down on the Ukrainian capital twice in less than a week, crashing into blocks of flats and killing more than 50 civilians.The summit in Ankara will also be a chance for Zelensky to hold a crucial meeting with Donald Trump and press home his case that Russia's "brutal" attacks are a show of weakness, not strength, and that Vladimir Putin should be pressured into talks towards a "dignified" peace.The latest strikes on Ukraine come as it has been stepping up its own long-range drone attacks against Russia, hitting oil refineries and military targets there and causing significant fuel shortages and power cuts.Underscoring that threat, Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said anti-air defences intercepted "most" of the 430 unmanned aerial drones fired by Ukraine towards the capital overnight. The severity of the damage was not immediately clear.Russian social media accounts are full of videos of people queuing for hours to buy petrol and fighting over what little they're allowed.Speaking before the summit, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has urged member states to "pull their weight" and ensure Ukraine gets what it needs "to defend its sovereignty".He underlined that Kyiv was "changing the dynamic on the battlefield", referring to efforts to stall Russian ground troops in the east.That's also about the recent drone strikes, apparently giving Ukraine an edge. ​The phrase of the month here is "window of opportunity".But as the war in the skies has intensified, Russia's ballistic missiles are causing Kyiv real problems.Ukraine's air force issues a daily tally of the weapons Moscow launches alongside the number intercepted.On Monday, almost all drones were blocked successfully but the failure rate for missiles was glaringly obvious.Ukraine did not stop a single ballistic missile in that attack.It isn't easy: they fly at several thousand kilometres an hour and there just aren't enough US-made Patriot air defence missiles in Ukraine to counter them."It is simply absurd that, in today's world, production has still not been scaled up to the level actually required to protect people from ballistic terror," Zelensky said, venting his frustration in a video address on Monday.He has been calling on European allies to hand over their own stockpiles of Patriot missiles, arguing that they're no good to anyone in storage when civilians are being killed now in Ukraine."Russia is placing its bets on ballistic weapons, and those who want peace must place their bets on protection against ballistic attacks," Zelensky argued on Monday, setting out his case for meetings in Ankara.But Patriot systems are in short supply worldwide and it's not clear how many would ever be enough if Russia were to escalate its ballistic attacks further.That's why Zelensky also talks about Ukraine producing its own equivalent, with Nato help.The Russian attacks, though, do suggest that Ukraine's deep strikes are getting under the Kremlin's skin.After years of Russia targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, including power stations in mid-winter, Moscow now accuses Kyiv of "terrorism" for hitting its oil refineries with drones.Zelensky calls it an "influence campaign" and he will be keen to share details with Nato allies.The aim is to pressure Putin into peace talks on terms that Kyiv could stomach – that doesn't include surrendering the entire eastern Donbas region, as Moscow still demands.The campaign targets have been high profile.An oil terminal in St Petersburg was hit with drones ahead of Putin's showpiece economic forum in the city in June. Th

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12 minutes agoHenry MooreNurPhoto via Getty ImagesZelensky was presented with the Order of the White Eagle by then-President Andrzej Duda in 2023Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has been stripped of Poland's highest state honour, the Order of the White Eagle, over Kyiv's decision to name a military unit after controversial World War Two fighters.Polish President Karol Nawrocki branded Ukraine's decision late last month to name the unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) "outrageous", "incomprehensible" and "deeply disappointing".Nawrocki stressed the diplomatic row would not impact Poland's support for Ukraine against Russia.Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha denounced Warsaw's move, calling it a "strategic mistake" and "disrespectful".Many in Ukraine regard the UPA, which existed in the 1940s and 1950s, as heroes who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Soviet Red Army as well as Nazi Germany and Polish authorities. So for Ukrainians the title "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army" is a major honour.Poland, however, accuses the UPA of carrying out a genocide of ethnic Poles in Volhynia (now Volyn in Ukraine) in 1943-45."For the overwhelming majority of Polish society, the UPA remains, above all, a formation responsible for the brutal crimes committed against citizens of the Republic of Poland during World War II," Nawrocki said in a video released on the president's official website."That is why the Ukrainian authorities' decision to glorify the UPA is not only outrageous, it is also incomprehensible and deeply disappointing," he said."It hurts not only our historical memory. It also undermines the trust built up over the years and in recent months," he added.The Polish president pointed to the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees welcomed into the country following the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022."Poles opened their borders, their homes, and their hearts to millions of Ukrainians," he said.ReutersPoland's President Karol Nawrocki (left) said the decision to strip Volodymyr Zelensky's Order of the White Eagle would not impact Warsaw's support for Kyiv against RussiaHe went on to say: "Ukraine's path toward European structures also requires a willingness to honestly confront the difficult chapters of its own history. "A united Europe was built on the rejection of totalitarianism and the cult of violence. These principles must apply to everyone. For those who do not understand this, there can be no place in the European Union, and Poland will certainly not allow it."Ukraine has ambitions to become an EU member state and attended the first phase of membership negotiations this week in Luxembourg.For Ukraine, the UPA is a symbol of resistance and struggle for independence, even though Warsaw says about 100,000 ethnic Poles were killed in the Volhynia massacres.The group's red and black flag is often used by Ukrainian troops on the front line today. That's why Zelensky said he would use the UPA's name for a military unit, "with the aim of restoring the historical traditions of the national army".The Polish Order of the White Eagle was bestowed on Zelensky in 2023 by then-President Andrzej Duda.Zelensky himself has not directly commented on the row. But Sybiha called it "a strategic mistake by the President of Poland, from which only Moscow benefits".He said as a result of the announcement, he would be returning an award he received from Poland in 2022."No president of another country will dictate our history to us," he said.