Zelensky shakes up Cabinet after week of devastating Russian attacks on civilian targets

KULEBA RESIGNS, ZELENSKY RESHUFFLES: As Russia continues to punish Ukraine with almost daily, deadly attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky is making significant changes in his government, with more than half of his Cabinet resigning to make way for new ministers to be appointed tomorrow.

“Our state institutions must be set up in such a way that Ukraine will achieve all the results we need for all of us,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address . “To do this, we need to strengthen some areas in the government, and personnel decisions have been prepared. There will also be changes in the office. I also expect that certain areas of our foreign and domestic policies will have a slightly different emphasis.”

LVIV HIT IN LATEST STRIKE: Overnight, Russian Iskander missiles and Shahed drones killed at least seven people in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, considered a refuge from the fighting, given its location in the far western part of the country. Ukraine claimed to have shot down 29 of 42 of the incoming projectiles, but a 14-year-old girl was among those killed when bombs hit a residential area.

The attack came a day after one of the deadliest attacks of the war, a strike in the eastern city of Poltava that killed more than 50 people when a ballistic missile hit a military academy and nearby hospital.

“I condemn this deplorable attack in the strongest possible terms,” President Joe Biden said in a statement . “This assault is a tragic reminder of Putin’s ongoing and outrageous attempts to break the will of a free people. But for two and a half years, the people of Ukraine have stood unbowed. And the United States will continue to stand with them — including providing the air defense systems and capabilities they need to protect their country.”

“Make no mistake: Russia will not prevail in this war. The people of Ukraine will prevail. And on this tragic day, and every day, the United States stands with them,” Biden said.

RUSSIAN STRIKES KILLS MORE THAN 40 UKRAINIANS

PENTAGON: ‘NO CHANGES TO ANNOUNCE’: As the bodies pile up, the calls for Biden to end his ban on the use of U.S. weapons to attack Russian launch sites grow louder.

“Russian strikes will be impossible if it is possible for us to destroy the occupier’s launchers where they are, along with Russian military airfields and logistics. Providing Ukraine with such permissions and such weapons is definitely the biggest step towards a real, just end to this war,” Zelensky said last night. “This is one of the key issues of this war in general. The issue of our long-range capabilities and the corresponding permissions from our partners, long-range shells and missiles that we could use.”

“I think what President Zelensky has to do is to inflict more damage upon those sites where the missiles and the drones are being launched,” former Secretary of Defense William Cohen said on CNN . “If that means going to Russian territory, so be it.”

“This administration, as they look over the horizon, is trying to say, look, at some point, the United States is going to have to have a relationship with Russia when this is over. And I think that’s what’s holding them back,” retired U.S. Army Maj. Mike Lyons said in a separate appearance on CNN. “So I do think that the Administration should let them hit those military targets. They’re doing it with drones that they’re creating anyway. We saw them hit infrastructure sites to the north of Russia. But as long as they’re military targets within the laws of land warfare, I don’t see why not we wouldn’t let them to do that.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin , who met with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov at the Pentagon to hear Ukraine’s case for hitting targets deeper in Russia, travels to Germany tomorrow for another meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a group of 50 nations that are supplying Ukraine with military and economic assistance.

“We’ll be very focused on again better understanding Ukraine’s security assistance needs and how best to meet those,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said yesterday . “As it relates to our long-range strike policy, I don’t have any announcements to make in terms of any change in policy.”

“The policy hasn’t changed,” Ryder said. “We remain committed to supporting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself and to protect its sovereign territory, as well as build its ability to deter against future Russian aggression.”

UKRAINE INTENDS TO HOLD RUSSIAN TERRITORY, ZELENSKY SAYS

Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre ( @jamiejmcintyre ) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie . Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com . If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre .

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE

HAPPENING TODAY: GAZA CEASEFIRE IMPERILED: There is growing pessimism that the ceasefire deal crafted by President Joe Biden, that was painstakingly negotiated over the last several months, is on the verge of unraveling over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel must control the the Philadelphi Corridor, a buffer zone running along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.

“I’m not going to get into a debate with the Prime Minister and what he said over the weekend about the Philadelphi Corridor,” John Kirby , national security communications adviser, told White House reporters yesterday. “The deal itself, the proposal, including the bridging proposal that we started working with… included a removal of Israeli Defense Forces from all densely populated areas, and that includes those areas along that corridor. That’s the proposal that Israel had agreed to, and again, we’re going to continue to work on this as hard as we can.”

“Netanyahu is focused on political survival, damaging relations with the U.S. while Iran edges closer to nuclear capability,” said opposition leader Benny Gantz , who resigned from Netanyahu’s war Cabinet in June at a Tuesday news conference. “The hostages must be brought back, even at a very high cost.”

“It’s very clear that Prime Minister Netanyahu is listening to his right wing and his government that’s been formed. They have threatened to abandon him, and as such, bring down the government should he, quote, negotiate with Hamas, so, as a practical matter, no negotiations, no discussions, no resolution,” former Defense Secretary Cohen said on CNN. “The problem is he has never laid out a situation where there is a political solution to what’s going on. He has never committed to having, quote, a two-state solution. So, if you’re the Palestinians, they have very little to lose. And if you have nothing to lose, then you resort to the kind of tactics they’re using now.”

“So, it’s very frustrating. We all can feel the rage, the sadness, the grief of the Israelis who have lost their family and friends, but it doesn’t seem that their protests are going to prove productive in the sense of changing anything that Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to do.”

BIDEN CHIDES NETANYAHU BUT FAILS TO PUT PRESSURE ON HAMAS: ‘POSTURE NEEDS TO COMPLETELY CHANGE’

HAMAS LEADERS CHARGED: The Justice Department has unsealed charges of terrorism, murder conspiracy, and sanctions evasion against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and two other senior leaders of Hamas.

In a video statement , Attorney General Merrick Garland said the criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City outlines Hama’s long history of targeting Americans. “As outlined in our complaint, those defendants armed with weapons, political support, and funding from the government of Iran and support from Hezbollah have led Hamas efforts to destroy the state of Israel and murder civilians in support of that aim,” he said. “In its attacks over the past three decades, Hamas has murdered or injured thousands of civilians, including dozens of American citizens.”

“In the early morning hours of Oct. 7th of last year, Hamas, led by these defendants, committed its most violent large-scale terrorist attack to date. During the attack, Hamas terrorists murdered civilians who tried to flee and those who sought refuge in bomb shelters,” Garland said. “They murdered entire families. They murdered the elderly, and they murdered young children. They weaponized sexual violence against women.”

The charges are seen as largely symbolic given that Sinwar is in hiding and three of the six accused are believed now to be dead.

DOJ CHARGES SINWAR AND HAMAS MILITANTS OVER ATTACK ON ISRAEL

McCAIN’S SON: TRUMP SHOULD APOLOGIZE: Jim McCain , son of late Republican Sen. John McCain , says former President Donald Trump should take a lesson from his father and admit his appearance at Arlington National Cemetery was a mistake.

In an interview on CNN, host Jake Tapper recalled that in 1999, McCain had a campaign video that showed him walking through Arlington Cemetery. After being called out on it, the senator called it a very bad mistake and apologized for it..

“You don’t spend that long in politics without messing up once or twice,” McCain said of his father. “So the main point is that he pulled it down, and he understood the solemn, sanctified nature of Arlington National Cemetery. So, if Donald Trump pulled it down and apologized, I mean, it would be the right thing to do.”

An independent for years, McCain — an army intelligence officer who served previously as a U.S. Marine — recently registered as a Democrat and plans to vote for Kamala Harris . “You know, what Trump said about my father is, you know, irreprehensible. I mean, I’ve never forgotten it,” he said. “I feel that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz embody a group of people that will help make this country better, that will take us forward. And that’s really what matters at the end of the day.”

JOHN MCCAIN’S SON ENDORSES HARRIS, HITS TRUMP FOR ARLINGTON CEMETERY VISIT

WALTZ: ‘THE GALL OF THE HARRIS CAMPAIGN’: Meanwhile, on Fox Business Network, Trump received a full-throated defense from Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), retired Green Beret and Colonel in the National Guard.

“I was there. I could tell you that the Trump campaign had no intention of having the photographers even out of the van at all, but the families asked for it and said, they wanted the world to see this moment and to see their loved ones being remembered,” Waltz told host Maria Bartiromo . “The gall of the campaign, of the Harris campaign. After three years, these families have not received a call. They haven’t received a visit. They haven’t received so much as even a mention in any type of public speech in three years, and now she’s going to come out publicly in this way against President Trump.”

“I visited Section 60 dozens of times in the 24 years since 9/11. I have Green Berets buried there. My fellow service members and I always take photos. We share those photos, we email them around, we send them to the family members, we post them online,” Waltz said. “And so, now for the hypocrisy of the media and the Harris campaign to say, oh, whoa, whoa, you can’t do this on your sites, President Trump, after the Biden and now Harris campaign at a highly produced video from a military cemetery in Europe hitting President Trump. It’s — this is probably one of the most despicable days I’ve seen in my time in office.”

DESANTIS DEFENDS TRUMP’S VISIT TO CONSOLE GOLD STAR FAMILIES: ‘HE WAS INVITED’

THE RUNDOWN:

Washington Examiner : Ukraine intends to hold Russian territory, Zelensky says

Washington Examiner: Biden chides Netanyahu but fails to put pressure on Hamas: ‘Posture needs to completely change’

Washington Examiner : Russian strikes kills more than 40 Ukrainians

Washington Examiner : Army combats recruitment crisis by offering free pathway to GED certificates

Washington Examiner : AI and military leaders raise alarm bells on China’s growing dominance in AI

Washington Examiner : Kathy Hochul’s former aide charged with acting as undisclosed agent for China

Washington Examiner : Beluga whale believed to be Russian spy found dead off coast of Norway

Washington Examiner : John McCain’s son endorses Harris, hits Trump for Arlington cemetery visit

Washington Examiner : DeSantis defends Trump’s visit to console Gold Star families: ‘He was invited’

Washington Post : As U.S. readies last cease-fire push, Netanyahu digs in on border demands

Wall Street Journal : Hamas Threats Complicate Negotiations

AP : UN nuclear watchdog warns conditions ‘very fragile’ at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant

Breaking Defense : Ukraine Lessons In Many Domains: What U.S. Military Intel Officials Are Learning

AP : Leaders of South Korea, New Zealand strongly condemn expanding North Korea-Russia military ties

Bloomberg : Why China Keeps Ramming Philippine Ships And Where That’s Headed

Wall Street Journal : Beijing-Backed Trolls Target Voters In U.S.

ProPublica : How Telegram Became The 'Center Of Gravity' For A New Breed Of Domestic Terrorists

AP : Salvagers Abandon Effort To Tow Burning Oil Tanker In The Red Sea Targeted By Yemen’s Houthi Rebels

Reuters : Finland To Spend More On Defence, NATO And Security

Navy Times : How Navy Chiefs Conspired To Get Themselves Illegal Warship Wi-Fi

AP : Commander of Navy warship relieved of duty months after backward rifle scope photo flap

Military Times : Inflation Has Some Military Families ‘Grasping at Pennies’

Defense News : Top Enlisted Leader Talks Pay, Priorities, and 1980s Fashion

The War Zone : Aerial Refueling Boom Pods That Could Go on F-15s in the Works

Air & Space Forces Magazine : Smaller, Better Battle Management Gets a Workout

SpaceNews : Space Force and Intelligence Agencies Seek to Streamline Satellite Imagery Delivery

Air & Space Forces Magazine : New USSF Officer Training Program Aims to Make ‘Guardians First, Specialists Second’

Breaking Defense : Air Force to Add Back over a Dozen MH-139 Helos in FY26, Averting ‘Critical’ Cost Breach

Air & Space Forces Magazine : Air Force Investigates 7,000-Gallon PFAS Spill at Cannon

Defense One : NGA Deepens Push into AI with Country’s Largest Data-Labeling Effort

Air & Space Forces Magazine : SDA More than Doubles GD’s Contract for Ground Ops, Integration

National Security Journal : Ukraine’s Kursk Offensive: One Giant Blunder?

National Security Journal : The F-35 Fighter Is Here To Stay

National Security Journal : Russian Ground-Based Electronic Warfare: Assessing the Real Threat Versus the Hype

National Security Journal : Virginia-Class Block IV: Best Attack Submarine Ever?

National Security Journal : AH-64E v6: The New Apache Helicopter That Could Be a Game Changer

THE CALENDAR:

WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 4

8:30 a.m. 1250 S. Hayes St., Arlington, Virginia — Defense News in-person and virtual conference with Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein ; Army Secretary Christine Wormuth ; Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife; Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Andrew Hunter ; Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear ; and Army Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. John Morrison https://conference.defensenews.com

8:30 a.m. 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Korea Studies and the KDI School of Public Policy and Management conference: "U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) Relations” https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events

9 a.m. 2425 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Virginia — Association of the U.S. Army Hot Topic symposium on "Decisive in the Air-Ground Littoral,” with Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, commanding general of the Army Aviation Center of Excellence; Maj. Gen. Lori Robinson , commanding general of Army Aviation and Missile Command; and Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus https://www.ausa.org/events/hot-topics/aviation

10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: "Houthi Aggression and a Roadmap for Peace in Yemen," with Maged Al-Madhaji , chairperson and co-founder of the Sana'a Center for Strategic and International Studies https://www.csis.org/events/houthi-aggression-and-roadmap-peace-yemen

2 p.m. —  Government Executive Media Group virtual discussion: "Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Defense," with Marine Corps Capt. Christopher Clark , deputy commandant for information at the Service Data Office; and Matt Marsden , head of customer engineering for defense at Google Public Sector https://events.govexec.com/ai-for-defense/

2 p.m. —  American Security Project virtual discussion: "Fighting Military Obesity in 2024," with Lydia Alexander , practitioner of obesity medicine at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Weight Management Group; Tracy Zvenyac h, director of policy strategy and alliances at the Obesity Action Coalition; Richele Corrado , associate program director of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's Internal Medicine Residency Program; and Stuart Piltch , president of Risk Strategies Consulting https://www.americansecurityproject.org/event/experts-weigh-in

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 5

4 a.m. Ramstein Air Base, Germany — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. host an in-person meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group https://www.defense.gov/News/Live-Events

8:30 a.m. 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Korea Studies and the KDI School of Public Policy and Management conference: "U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) Relations” https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events

12 p.m. — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs discussion: "Leadership in National Security," with Aaron Jay , director, Cooperative Threat Reduction Policy Office, Department of Defense https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/leadership-in-national-security

FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 6

5 p.m. Orange, California — House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” with Lanhee Chen , American Public Policy Studies, Hoover Institution: Danny Chen , founder, Green Maple Law Group: and Harry Lin , founder, Harry C. Lin, CPA A Professional Corporation https://www.youtube.com/live

MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 9

4:30 p.m. House Triangle — Press conference on Rollout of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Afghanistan Report, with Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX)

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 19 10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW— Center for Strategic and International Studies International Security Program and the U.S. Naval Institute for a Maritime Security Dialogue in-peron and virtual discussion: “America’s Warfighting Navy,” with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti ; Seth Jones , CSIS senior vice president and ISP director; and retired Navy Capt. Bill Hamblet , USN (Ret.), editor-in-chief, Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute https://www.csis.org/events/americas-warfighting-navy