Zelenskyy fires more aides as Russia launches drones

Kyiv, March 30

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed a long-time aide and several advisers on Saturday in a continuing reshuffle while Russia unleashed fresh attacks overnight.

Zelenskyy dismissed top aide Serhiy Shefir from his post of first assistant, where he had served since 2019. The Ukrainian president also let go three advisers, and two presidential representatives overseeing volunteer activities and soldiers’ rights.

No explanation was given immediately for the latest changes in a wide-reaching personnel shakeup over recent months. It included the dismissal on Tuesday of Oleksii Danilov, who served as secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, and Valerii Zaluzhnyi as head of the armed forces on February 8. Zaluzhnyi was appointed Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK earlier this month.

Ukraine’s air force said on Saturday that Russia launched 12 Shahed drones overnight, nine of which were shot down, and fired four missiles into eastern Ukraine. Russia unleashed a barrage of 38 missiles, 75 airstrikes and 98 attacks from multiple rocket launchers over the past 24 hours, Ukraine’s armed forces said in social media posts.

Two persons were killed and one wounded in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk province, regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said Saturday. Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent days. — AP