The Ukrainian military said Thursday its air defenses destroyed 25 of 33 drones that Russia used to attack the Sumy and Odesa regions overnight.  

Oleh Kiper, the regional governor of Odesa, said the Russian attack hit the Izmail area for the fourth time in five days, injuring one person.

Kiper said the attack also damaged port infrastructure facilities and an administrative building.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the Rostov region, as well as one in Bryansk and another on the outskirts of Moscow.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that debris from a downed drone landed in the Ramensky district but did not cause any damage or casualties.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced new Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on Thursday, saying “transparency and trust” are a priority.

Zelenskyy said he wants Umerov to “strengthen the ministry’s strategic and coordination functions for the entire defense sector, prioritize individual warriors and cut red tape, develop international cooperation and ensure Ukraine completes its NATO accession homework, and scale up the successes of specific units for all of our defense forces.”

Zelenskyy picked Umerov to replace Oleksii Reznikov, who helped secure Western military aid in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion.  The leadership shakeup followed allegations of corruption at the Defense Ministry, which Reznikov dismissed as a smear campaign.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the European Parliament on Thursday that Ukrainian forces are gradually gaining ground and breaching Russian defenses in their counteroffensive.  He pushed back against critics who say the counteroffensive has not been successful, citing the unpredictable nature of war and the need to stand by Ukraine through both good days and bad. 

“To support Ukraine is not an option, it is a necessity to ensure that to preserve peace for our members, for our countries, and to ensure that authoritarian regimes [don’t] achieve what they want by violating international law and using military force,” Stoltenberg said.

The NATO chief also said he expects Turkey’s parliament to ratify Sweden’s accession to the alliance “as soon as possible” when lawmakers reconvene in October.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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