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Kyiv's command shake-up and a week of strikes
Summary
A look back at 23 July 2026 and the days before it, when protests in Kyiv, a change at the top of the army and strikes on both sides shaped the security picture.
What did the security picture in Ukraine look like on 23 July 2026? It was defined by a change at the head of the armed forces, street protests in Kyiv and a run of strikes across the front line and beyond it.
A command change after protests
On 17 July, protests entered a second day in Kyiv near the Presidential Office Building. Demonstrators demanded the return of Mykhailo Fedorov as Minister of Defence and the resignation of Oleksandr Syrskyi as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The protests were linked to the dismissal of Fedorov.
On 21 July, the President dismissed Syrskyi from the post of Commander-in-Chief and replaced him with Mykhailo Drapatyi. The decision came against the backdrop of the protests calling for Syrskyi's removal. By 23 July, the army had therefore been under new leadership for two days.
Strikes at sea and inside Russia
The war continued alongside the political turbulence. On 19 July, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces struck a cargo ship flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau and carrying corn off Odesa. Ten crew members from India and Syria were killed. Eight others were rescued, and the vessel was still burning. Odesa and its surrounding region have been targeted repeatedly by Russian forces since the full-scale invasion began.
On 18 July, Ukrainian drone attacks hit Wildberries warehouses in Kotovsk, in Tambov Oblast, and Elektrostal, in Moscow Oblast. Moscow Oblast governor Andrey Vorobyov and the head of Tambov Oblast, Yevgeny Pervyshov, said seven workers were killed and 49 injured. Another strike ignited an oil facility. Ukraine said the warehouses supported Russian drone production.
Drones have been a critical part of the war, used by Russia against Ukrainian critical infrastructure and by Ukraine against military infrastructure on Russian territory.
The picture on 23 July
Taken together, the reports from 17 to 21 July show a country handling a contested leadership question at home while the air and maritime war went on. The new Commander-in-Chief took over amid public pressure, and the casualties at sea and in Russian warehouses showed that strikes continued on both sides.
