Ukrainian Government Dismisses Six Deputy Defense Ministers

The Ukrainian government announced today, Monday, that it has decided to dismiss six deputy ministers of defense, including Hanna Maliar, who had been providing frequent updates on recent confrontations in the war with Russia. The government did not mention the reason for the dismissals. Maliar is a lawyer specializing in war crimes issues and has held the position of deputy minister of defense since 2021. She provided her last update on the war earlier today. She faced criticism last week after initially stating that Ukrainian forces had regained control of a village in the eastern part of the country from the Russian forces, but later said that her earlier statement was inaccurate and that fighting was still ongoing around the village. Ukraine had appointed Rustem Umirov as the new minister of defense earlier this month.