{"slug": "ukraine-war-briefing-russian-soldiers-survive-no-more-than-30-minutes-on-the", "title": "Ukraine war briefing: Russian soldiers ‘survive no more than 30 minutes on the battlefield’", "summary": "Russian soldiers survive no more than 30 minutes on the battlefield due to AI-powered drones, CIA chief John Ratcliffe said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov after a public dispute, appointing Yevhenii Khmara as acting minister. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer pledged €300m for Swedish Gripen jets during his final visit to Kyiv.", "body_md": "# Ukraine war briefing: Russian soldiers ‘survive no more than 30 minutes on the battlefield’\n\n- President\n[Volodymyr Zelensky](/topic/volodymyr-zelensky)dismissed Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov after six months, following a public dispute with General Oleksandr Syrskyi, which led to protests in Ukrainian cities. - Zelensky is appointing Yevhenii Khmara, acting head of\n[Ukraine](/topic/ukraine)'s SBU domestic security service, as acting Defence Minister, highlighting his “experience with technological combat operations”. - Sir Keir Starmer, on his final visit to Kyiv as Prime Minister, reaffirmed the UK's unwavering support for\n[Ukraine](/topic/ukraine)and pledged €300m (£254m) to help acquire 16 Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets. - CIA chief John Ratcliffe said that Russian recruits on the Ukrainian\n[battlefield](/topic/battlefield)have an average life expectancy of 20 to 30 minutes, attributing this high attrition rate to AI-powered drones. - Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian areas in towns and cities killed at least 13 people yesterday, local officials said.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ukraine-war-briefing-russian-soldiers-survive-no-more-than-30-minutes-on-the", "canonical_source": "https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/ukraine-war-latest-protests-defence-minister-b3016631.html", "published_at": "2026-07-17 06:40:53+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-17 06:58:01.827485+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-ethics", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Volodymyr Zelensky", "Mykhailo Fedorov", "Oleksandr Syrskyi", "Yevhenii Khmara", "Ukraine", "Keir Starmer", "John Ratcliffe", "CIA"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ukraine-war-briefing-russian-soldiers-survive-no-more-than-30-minutes-on-the", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ukraine-war-briefing-russian-soldiers-survive-no-more-than-30-minutes-on-the.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ukraine-war-briefing-russian-soldiers-survive-no-more-than-30-minutes-on-the.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ukraine-war-briefing-russian-soldiers-survive-no-more-than-30-minutes-on-the.jsonld"}}