Ukraine’s new defence minister takes office as popular predecessor calls for presidential vote

Ukrainian lawmakers approved former top special forces operative Yevhenii Khmara as the country’s new defence minister Wednesday, just hours after his predecessor Mykhailo Fedorov called for fresh presidential elections. Elections have been banned in Ukraine since President Volodymyr Zelensky declared martial law following the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. Read our liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded.