Home › Security › What did 9 January 2026 bring for Ukraine's security?
What did 9 January 2026 bring for Ukraine's security?
Summary
A review of the day of strikes on Kyiv and Lviv, and of two ministerial resignations announced the same day.
What happened in Ukraine's security picture on 9 January 2026? The day combined heavy Russian strikes with a shake-up in the government.
Russian drone and missile strikes hit Kyiv, killing four people and wounding 28 others. Several high-rise apartment buildings were targeted, and the Qatari embassy was also damaged in the attacks.
Farther west, Russia struck Lviv with its Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile. As reported at the time, the target was a critical infrastructure site. The use of that missile against a city in western Ukraine showed that the Russian attacks extended well beyond the front line and the capital.
Resignations in government
On the same day, Denys Shmyhal, the defence minister, and Mykhailo Fedorov, a deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation, submitted their resignations. Both posts carry weight for the conduct of the war and for the country's digital and technological effort.
Why the day matters
Taken together, the strikes on residential buildings in Kyiv, the Oreshnik attack on Lviv and the departure of two senior ministers made 9 January 2026 a day of pressure on both Ukraine's civilian population and its leadership. Damage to a foreign embassy in Kyiv added a diplomatic dimension to the attacks on the capital.
