Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba resigns as Russian airstrikes kill 7 in Lviv

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, one of Ukraine’s most recognizable faces on the international stage, resigned Wednesday ahead of an expected Cabinet reshuffle. Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes killed at least seven people in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, a day after one of the deadliest rocket attacks since the start of the war.

Kuleba, 43, did not give a reason for his resignation, and his resignation will be discussed by lawmakers at their next session, parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on his Facebook page. President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested a Cabinet reshuffle was imminent last week as he tries to bolster the government after 2½ years of war.

During Russia’s war in Ukraine, Kuleba has been second only to Zelensky in conveying Ukraine’s message and needs to international audiences, whether through social media posts or meetings with foreign dignitaries. In July, Kuleba became the highest-ranking Ukrainian official to visit China since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. He has been foreign minister since March 2020.

More than half of the current Cabinet will undergo changes, said Davyd Arakhamiya, leader of Zelensky’s party in the Ukrainian parliament. The ministers will resign on Wednesday, and new appointments will be made on Thursday, he said.

Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes killed at least seven people and wounded 35 others in an overnight attack on Lviv, Mayor Andrii Sadovyi said Wednesday morning. The dead included a child and a health worker, while others were in critical condition, he said.

As reported on Wednesday morning by the head of the region, Serhiy Lysak, five people were also injured in the night attack in Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky’s hometown.

Zelensky responded to the attacks by calling on Ukraine’s allies to give Kiev “greater reach” to use Western weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory.

The attack came a day after two ballistic missiles destroyed a military academy and a nearby hospital in Poltava, Ukraine, killing more than 50 people and wounding more than 200 others, Ukrainian officials said, in one of the deadliest Russian attacks since the beginning of the war.

The shells hit the heart of the main building of the Military Communications Institute in Poltava, causing several floors to collapse.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the rockets struck shortly after an air raid alert was announced, as many people were rushing to a bomb shelter, calling Tuesday’s attack “barbaric.”

Poltava lies about 350 kilometres (200 miles) southeast of Kiev, on a major highway and rail route connecting Kiev with Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, near the border with Russia.

The attack came as Ukrainian forces sought to curtail their influence in the Kursk border region with Russia following the surprise Ukrainian invasion that began on August 6, with the Russian army pushing deeper into eastern Ukraine.