Ukrainian foreign minister resigns after airstrike

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday submitted his resignation, parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said. Kubela’s resignation came just hours after Russian missiles pounded the Ukrainian city of Lviv in an overnight attack. The strike killed and wounded civilians whom the Kremlin targeted while they were sleeping in their homes, Kuleba said in a social media statement. Among the five killed in Lviv was a 14-year-old girl, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement of his own on Wednesday. More than 30 others suffered injuries, Zelenskyy added.

What was the reason for Kuleba’s resignation? Kubela did not provide a reason, but it came after the resignations of several other officials over the past day, according to Stefanchuck’s Facebook page. The Ukrainian parliament would consider the resignation letters at its upcoming meeting, Stefanchuck said.

What are Russian officials saying about the attack? Russian forces targeted military production and repair facilities in Lviv, Russian state-run media outlet TASS reported Wednesday. The attack included both drones and hypersonic missiles, TASS said.

Both Kuleba and Zelenskyy called on the West to give Ukraine more air defenses following the attack. The strike also came just a day after Zelenskyy pleaded with the West to provide Ukraine with missile defense systems. He promised he and other Ukrainian officials were taking steps to make more use of the air defense systems the country already had. But providing the Ukrainian military more air defenses would help bring about a just end to the war, Zelenskyy said. Russia has substituted terrorist attacks for good strategy on the front lines to win the war and put pressure on Kyiv, Zelenskyy said.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift on Russia recently using missile strikes against the Ukrainian power grid as winter approaches in the region.