Ukraine's parliament has approved Yevheniy Chmara as the country's new defence minister, a leadership change announced amid a night of intensified Russian bombardment that struck a regional police headquarters in Zhytomyr, killing two officers and wounding at least 20.
The overnight wave of violence also included a drone attack in Kherson that killed four people, and air-raid alerts swept across most of Ukraine as the air force warned of incoming ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones. The Kyiv strikes, which followed earlier attacks that killed five in the capital, also destroyed windows at a children's hospital and damaged educational facilities.
In a separate development, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Deputy Chief of Staff Iryna Mudra after an anti-corruption bureau raid on her home. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine exchanged 103 prisoners of war on each side. North Korea's Kim Yo Jong denied reports that Pyongyang would send troops to support Moscow.