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Russia launches 45 drones in mass barrage of Ukraine

Russian forces launched 45 drones over Ukraine on Sunday in a five-and-a-half-hour barrage, officials said.

The attack came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued the reshuffle of his war cabinet with the conflict entering its third year.

In a statement, the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 40 of the Iranian-made Shahed drones over nine different regions, including on the outskirts of the country鈥檚 capital, Kyiv.

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Burnt-out cars in a residential area of Kharkiv after a Russian attack (Yevhen Titov/AP)

They said a strike in the Mykolaiv region had injured one person, sparking a fire and damaging nearby residential buildings.

Another person was injured in Ukraine鈥檚 Dnipropetrovsk region when a blaze broke out due to falling debris from a destroyed drone, said the head of the region鈥檚 military administration, Serhiy Lysak.

The strikes came as Mr Zelensky continued his shake-up of military commanders in a bid to maintain momentum against attacking Russian forces.

Kyiv announced on Sunday that former deputy defence minister Lieutenant General Alexander Pavlyuk is to become the new commander of Ukraine鈥檚 ground forces. The post was previously held by Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, who was named on Thursday as the replacement for Ukraine鈥檚 outgoing military chief, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

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Firefighters extinguish a blaze after a Russian attack on a residential neighbourhood in Kharkiv (Andrii Marienko/AP)

Incoming commander-in-chief Col Gen Syrskyi has signalled that his immediate goals include improving troop rotation at the front lines and harnessing the power of new technology at a time when Kyiv鈥檚 forces are largely on the defensive.

Meanwhile, Ukraine鈥檚 military intelligence service said on Sunday that attacking Russian forces had been found using Starlink terminals to aid their attack.

It released what it said was a recording of an intercepted conversation between two Russian soldiers as proof.

Starlink terminals, which use a series of satellites run by Elon Musk鈥檚 company Space X to provide high-speed communications, have been vital in giving Ukraine鈥檚 military an edge over invading Russian troops.

Russia Ukraine War
Firefighters extinguish a blaze after a Russian attack in Kharkiv (Yevhen Titov/AP)

They prompted Space X to release a statement on social media on February 8, saying it does not 鈥渄o business of any kind with the Russian government or its military鈥.

However, Western tech components have regularly been found among Russia鈥檚 arsenal as Moscow has become more skilled at evading sanctions, often importing goods via third countries.

In a statement on Telegram on Saturday, Mr Zelensky said he hopes to 鈥渞eboot鈥 the upper levels of Ukraine鈥檚 armed forces with experienced combat commanders.

鈥淣ow, people who are well-known in the army and who themselves know well what the army needs are taking on new responsibilities,鈥 he said.

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