Le Mans Crescent was packed with cameras, cast members and production crews as filming got underway for the iconic brand.

Actors promoting Jaffa Cakes mingled with performers in racing gear, who dashed through the crescent to the cheers of assembled crowds.

Filming for Jaffa advert in Le Mans Crescent (Image: NQ)

Colourful racers sprinted through the historic crescent while crowds cheered them on, creating a scene that was more Hollywood than Hobnob.

The campaign transformed one of Bolton’s most iconic locations into a film set, leaving passers-by with plenty to digest.

McVitie’s is one of the UK’s best-known food brands owning various biscuit favourites such as Jaffa Cakes, Hobnobs and Digestives.

The Bolton shoot forms part of a wider production being filmed across several locations throughout the UK, with crews scheduled to wrap up work in the town later today.

Location Manager, Chris, praised the support the production team received locally and said Bolton had once again proved itself an ideal filming destination.

Filming for Jaffa advert in Le Mans Crescent (Image: NQ)

He said: “We’ve had great support from Bolton Council with this because it was a very tight turnaround.

“I work in Manchester a lot and come to Bolton quite a bit and it’s always nice to come up here because the response we get from the people of the town is just great.

“It’s a lovely place to film.”

According to the team, viewers should be able to see the brand-new advert on TV screens very soon.

Passers-by stopped to watch the action unfold throughout the morning, with many curious to discover which company was behind the production.

The filming is just one of many shoots over the last few months as Bolton has been recently celebrated as the new ‘Hollywood of the North’ which has helped make £1.2m for the borough economy.

Le Mans Crescent in particular has become one of Bolton’s most recognisable filming locations.

The landmark setting has featured in a range of major productions over the years, including Peaky Blinders and Coronation Street, while the old Bolton Magistrates’ Court has regularly been used for courtroom scenes in television dramas.

Early in the month crews were spotted filming The Woods, a new Netflix programme by Harlan Coben with the popular streaming giant announcing it was adapting another one of the bestselling author’s novels.

According to the team, viewers should not have to wait too long before spotting the new McVitie’s advert on their television screens.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.

In Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Odysseus (played by Matt Damon) is lost not only at sea, but within his own memories. On the island of the nymph Calypso (Charlize Theron), eating lotus flowers offers him relief from the trauma of Troy, allowing him to forget the war, his comrades – and eventually even his wife and son.

While it’s a point of focus in Nolan’s film, the episode of the so-called “Lotus eaters” is, in the scheme of Homer’s Odyssey, very minor. Occupying scarcely more than 20 lines of verse in a poem of over 12,000, the story of the magical, memory-wiping fruit is no more than an unfortunate escapade.

The cyclops, in the economy of the poem, is far more significant. The famous trick, by which Odysseus makes the cyclops believe he is called “Nobody”, rendering the creature’s cries for help useless (“Nobody is attacking me!”), encourages Odysseus, at a safe distance, to reveal his name. The cyclops’ subsequent curse becomes a major motive force for the rest of the poem.

Christopher Nolan’s new film adaptation of the Odyssey has reversed this. Although the cyclops still represents the clash of civilisation and brutishness, the episode in the film is relegated to a symptom of a wider problem.

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Can we map The Odyssey? How ancient geographers and modern researchers have traced Odysseus’s travels

When finally reunited with his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), Odysseus confesses his guilt over the destruction of Troy. To trick a people into accepting a gift – the Trojan horse – which spells their doom, in the name of the goddess Athena, is to violate the divine sanctions that keep human behaviour decent. If the cyclops does not know “the laws of Zeus” (in Greek, xenia: the bonds of behaviour between guest and host), what of it? The Trojan war has collapsed any meaning these notions once had anyway.

Into the gap steps the lotus – in Nolan’s film it’s a flower, and not a fruit as in Homer’s poem. In Nolan’s film, the magic flower is used by Calypso to purge Odysseus’ trauma. What she unleashes is, however, a crippling addiction. Only through painstaking narrative can Odysseus slowly piece together the memory of his men, and only by touching an artefact from his past can his memory of his wife be restored. The whole first half of the film, then, is a lotus-induced dream.

The traumatic Odyssey

How are we to handle memories we do not like? If you could remove them, would you? For many, memories are so painful that chemical remedies are sought.

Among UK veterans of combat, 11% have reported alcohol misuse problems. In the US, some million veterans suffer from addictions to alcohol or drugs.

Nolan’s Odysseus is a commentary on this. Confronted with a world he has played a pivotal role in destroying, Odysseus loses himself in lotus addiction. Calypso’s motives are left tantalisingly ambiguous. Part nursemaid, part temptress (but somewhat sexless in comparison with Homer’s version), she regulates the supply of the drug she has introduced him to (we see her both encourage and forbid the use of lotus).

Both forgetting and memory have their pitfalls. Neither the bitterness of dwelling on a lost past, nor the blanking out of suffering, are the same as healing. In Homer’s Odyssey, a pivotal moment features Odysseus listening to a singer tell the story of the Trojan war at a banquet. It’s the only time Homer actually mentions the notorious wooden horse. Much is made of Odysseus’ response: he covers his face and he weeps. The song of the Sirens too introduces Odysseus to pain and regret, to memory both lost and betrayed.

In the film, unlike the poem, narrative therapy – the telling of the tale – does not suffice. The solution is rather the rediscovery of powerlessness – of a small human’s place in a vast world. Nolan’s Odysseus is a figure of controlling power, whether successfully, in the case of the attack on the Cyclops, or unsuccessfully, as Circe (Samantha Morton) implies when his men raid her home. Research has found that surf therapy can help veterans suffering with PTSD. In a similar way, Odysseus’s trauma is healed by understanding, and yielding to, what he cannot control after all.

Odysseus is described by Homer in the first line of the poem as polutropos: “of many turns”, “complicated”, “resourceful” – the word is notoriously untranslatable. Whatever this means, in Nolan’s imagination, Odysseus is not a warrior. He is a culture hero – a figure who changes the world – and it is responsibility for the downfall of a culture which has marked him with trauma.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Stanley Davison: A Decade in Paint at Hartlepool Art Gallery will run until Saturday, October 10, bringing together paintings produced by the self-taught Hartlepool artist over the past ten years.

The exhibition features a wide range of works inspired by the town and its history, with recognisable locations including Fish Sands, the old cemetery on the Headland, the derelict Steetley Pier and Hartlepool harbour all appearing in the collection.

An example of the work by Davison that will be on show in Hartlepool Art Exhibition. (Image: Stanley Davison, Hartlepool Art Gallery)

Many of the paintings on display are rooted in local life, drawing inspiration from family, friends and familiar faces from across Hartlepool.

A distinctive feature of Stanley’s work is his use of artists’ mannequins and shop-window figures instead of human subjects.

The recurring characters give the paintings a unique quality, creating scenes that range from playful and imaginative to reflective and thought-provoking.

The exhibition also includes inventive reworkings of famous paintings by artists such as Caravaggio, Velázquez and Cézanne, reimagined in contemporary Hartlepool settings and featuring local people.

An example of the work by Davison that will be on show in Hartlepool Art Exhibition. (Image: Stanley Davison, Hartlepool Art Gallery)

Stanley said: “I’ve been painting since I was ten years old and I’ve never really stopped, in digs, in the sitting room and in a box bedroom with the easel fixed to the wall.

“Everything I paint comes from this place and the people in it, family, friends, people I’ve worked with and drunk with over the years.

“I had my first exhibition here in Hartlepool in 1981 and it’s good to be sharing my work here again.”

Visitors to the gallery will also have the chance to buy any of the paintings on display.

Councillor Rob Darby, chairman of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Housing, Growth and Communities Committee, said the exhibition highlights both the town’s heritage and the talent of one of its artists.

“Stanley’s work captures the spirit, character and history of Hartlepool in a truly distinctive way,” he said.

“This exhibition is a fantastic opportunity for residents and visitors alike to enjoy, and even buy, the work of a very talented local artist whose paintings celebrate the town, its heritage and its people.

“We are delighted to welcome this major exhibition to Hartlepool Art Gallery, and I would encourage everyone to come along and see it.”

Entry to the exhibition is free.

Hartlepool Art Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

Fans are definitely enjoying the couple

Olivia Attwood has left fans “obsessed” as they catch another glimpse of Pete Wicks following their “hard launch”.

The 35-year-old TV star recently split from the footballer after two years of marriage, but Olivia has since opened up about the details which led to their split after over ten years.

The Loose Women star first met Bradley at a nightclub back in 2015. Olivia went on to star in Love Island in 2017, but Olivia and the footballer reconciled after her short romance with fellow Islander Chris Hughes came to an end.

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Bradley popped the question in Dubai in 2019 and the pair got married in June 2023 at the luxury five-star hotel Bulgari in Knightsbridge, and have since been living together in Cheshire.

Since the split, Olivia has been seen with good friend and Sunday Roast podcast co-host Pete Wicks. While their relationship status remains a secret from the public, photos of Olivia and Staying Relevant podcast host Pete emerged last month of them enjoying a romantic holiday at a resort in the south of France.

Now, the pair have been seen ditching the UK together again. Olivia is currently out in Ibiza and has been joined by Pete and her pals for the trip. But she’s also been surprised by her sister, Georgia, with her arrival on the party island kept a secret from the Loose Women star until her arrival.

Taking to Instagram, Olivia shared a video of the moment she was approached by her sibling, having no idea she would be joining them. The TV star screamed before she launched from her seat in shock, and that’s when the camera moved to show Pete sitting next to her at the table.

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Since then, Pete posted a set of black and white pictures showing off their sizzling romance. The first black and white snap saw them lying together on a yacht while sailing across the water, and another showed Olivia lying in Pete’s lap as he kissed the top of her head.

Discussing their latest trip together, Pete gushed: “It was wonderful to see her, it has been two and a half weeks…. so we had a fabulous time, I have really hurt my back, because I was backflipping off boats, we went for lovely dinners, we went to clubs, we drank a lot.

“It was magical, is probably the best way to describe it. Obviously, she’d been out there filming for a couple of weeks so I hadn’t seen her, so yeah, and I really missed her and it was lovely.”

Now that their relationship is seemingly public, fans have been excited over catching the odd glimpse of Pete as Olivia shares carousel images of her trip away.

One fan penned: “So obsessed with you two”, as another agreed: “I am loving this new chapter of your life so much (sic) obsessed with love xx”.

Wright, 61, of Haslemere, Surrey, Barker, 58, of Chiltington, West Sussex, 65-year-old Massey, of Brandhill, Shropshire, and 64-year-old Gregory, of Southampton, are accused of conspiring to implement artificial no-flow events at waste water treatment works between 2012 and 2017.

Police believe he was assaulted near Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church and after being found unconscious with a serious head injury, he was rushed to hospital where he passed away three days later

A Co Antrim man today denied a charge of assisting offenders arising from the death of Colin Crawley.

Connor James Mullen, 39, appeared in the dock of Belfast Crown Court where he was arraigned on the single charge.

From Glenville Court in Newtownabbey, Mullen was charged that on February 12, 2023 knowing other persons had committed manslaughter, he ‘did an act with intent to impede their apprehension or prosecution.’

When asked how he pleaded, Mullen replied “not guilty.”

The charge relates to the death of 40-year old Newtownabbey man Colin Crawley.

Police believe he was assaulted near Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church and after being found unconscious with a serious head injury, he was rushed to hospital where he passed away three days later.

Earlier this month, two men from Newtownabbey appeared alongside each other where they denied a joint charge of manslaughter.

Sean Cowler (37) from Abbeyglen Crescent and 31-year old Michael Coiley from Glenville Park were both charged with unlawfully killing Colin Crawley on February 12, 2023.

After the joint charge was put to them and when asked how they pleaded, both men said “not guilty” at same time.

Following Mullen’s arraigned today, Madam Justice McBride re-listed the case on September 18 when she said “all matters can be reviewed together.”

The senior judge then addressed Mullen and told him that as he was on continuing bail he could “leave the dock.”

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“I began my career in fashion in Dublin, so returning here feels deeply personal”

Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson has said it is a “dream come true” to be bringing Dior to Ireland.

Dior will present the Fall 2027 Show at Trinity College Dublin in December, marking the first time the Magherafelt-born fashion designer will present a collection in Ireland.

The collection will be unveiled against the backdrop of the university’s Old Library, an 18th-century building housing a world-class library and cultural institution – it is also the first time the fashion house will have had a show in Ireland.

Co Derry’s own Jonathan Anderson became creative director of Dior’s women’s, men’s and haute couture collections last year.

Anderson, who founded his own JW Anderson label before transforming Loewe into one of fashion’s most influential luxury brands, has become one of the industry’s biggest names.

Announcing the show, he said: “Showing at Trinity College Dublin is a dream come true. I began my career in fashion in Dublin, so returning here feels deeply personal.

“To present this collection in such an extraordinary setting – at an institution with such an important cultural history – is a real honour.”

The announcement imagery shows a shamrock along with a quote from Dublin-born Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of the American edition Harper’s Bazaar from the 1930s to 1950s, reading: “It’s quite a revolution, dear Christian. Your dresses have such a new look.”

This comes off the back of the news earlier this month that Anderson designed Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s custom Christian Dior Haute Couture wedding outfits.

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our What’s On newsletter.

This year’s birthday photo is more formal than last year’s, which had a rural setting and showed the prince in a countryside-style gilet and wearing a friendship bracelet in Norfolk.

The more grown-up look comes as George, now a teenager, gets ready to start secondary school in September.

The prince will follow in his father Prince William’s footsteps and go to Eton College, an elite private school where entry usually begins at the age of 13.

Prince William, interviewed when he was aged 18, had spoken of enjoying his time at Eton. The boarding school for boys is also close to where the Wales family live on the Windsor estate.

Prince George’s uncle, Prince Harry, and great uncle, Earl Spencer, also studied at Eton.

A woman was airlifted off her first-ever cruise after she suffered serious intimate injuries during a zip-lining shore excursion.

Kirsten Lindsey, 28, was catastrophically injured on a rope swing on day three of her Carnival Cruise in Honduras.

Horrifying footage of the incident shows Lindsey jumping off the platform, but instead of swinging out, the retrieval line tightened between her legs.

After a few moments of struggle, Lindsey released the rope and fell into the water.

Lindsey initially believed she had just been scratched in the accident, but hours after she returned to the dock, her injuries worsened. 

‘The swelling became severe, the pain became unbearable, and she eventually needed a wheelchair just to get back to our cabin,’ her boyfriend, Blake Ford, wrote in a GoFundMe campaign. 

Lindsey was taken to the ship’s medical center, where doctors spent 26 hours attending to her. Despite their best efforts, her injuries grew too serious to treat there. 

The 28-year-old’s pain became so severe that she was barely able to move. Medical staff were desperately trying to keep her awake because ‘she would stop breathing whenever she drifted off from the pain medication,’ Ford recalled.

Kirsten Lindsey, 28, was catastrophically injured on a rope swing during a shore excursion in Honduras. She jumped off the platform, but instead of swinging out, the zip line’s retrieval line tightened between her legs

Lindsey was taken to the ship’s medical center, where doctors spent 26 hours treating her. She was barely able to move and doctors were desperately trying to keep her awake because ‘she would stop breathing whenever she drifted off from the pain medication’

The couple evacuated the vessel in Costa Maya, Mexico, and were taken via ambulance to the airport through severe weather. 

A private medical jet then flew them to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Lindsey underwent a series of tests and emergency surgery.

Doctors removed a ‘baseball-sized clot’ during the surgery, Lindsey’s mother, Tara McKinney, revealed on social media.

On Friday, the day after her surgery, the couple embarked on an 18-hour drive back to their hometown of Bossier City, Louisiana. 

After they finally made it home, Lindsey had to be readmitted to the emergency room. 

‘They were completely shocked she was even discharged from the last hospital so early but now thank god we’re home and with OUR doctors and not the ones Carnival sent us to!’ Ford wrote in a Facebook update on Sunday.

‘Everyone that’s seen the injury has never seen anything like it but they are doing everything they can to prevent permanent damage to her.’

Lindsey faces a long road to recovery and the couple are facing mounting medical bills. The air flight alone cost them $50,000 and they were charged around $3,500 for services provided on the cruise ship.

It was Lindsey’s first ever cruise, and she went on it with her boyfriend Blake Ford 

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The couple evacuated the Carnival Cruise ship in Costa Maya, Mexico, and were taken via ambulance to the airport through severe weather. A private medical jet then flew them to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Lindsey underwent a series of tests and emergency surgery

‘The financial impact has been overwhelming. Between emergency transportation, medical expenses, travel, lodging, lost income, and the unexpected costs of getting ourselves and our vehicle back home, the expenses continue to grow,’ Ford wrote.

Lindsey also said that she is grateful for the outpouring of support, prayers and donations that they have already received. 

‘Thank you to everyone for all the thoughts & prayers & everyone who has reached out, donated, etc. It’s very much appreciated. I feel so loved,’ she wrote on Facebook.

‘Long road ahead as far as recovery. But I’m so thankful for everyone who has prayed & donated.’

A Carnival spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘We are aware of reports regarding a guest who was injured while independently exploring Honduras. 

‘After returning to the ship, the guest was promptly cared for by our onboard medical team, which provided treatment and facilitated access to additional medical resources. 

‘While the incident did not occur on a Carnival-sponsored excursion, we remain concerned for the guest’s recovery. The safety and well-being of our guests is always our top priority.’

A bitter power struggle is engulfing Ukraine, spilling from the corridors of power onto the streets as President Volodymyr Zelensky faces mounting public anger.

The crisis has already claimed two of the country’s most senior military figures. 

Last week, Zelensky abruptly dismissed Mykhailo Fedorov, the mastermind behind Ukraine’s devastating drone campaign after a feud with the army’s more conventional military leadership, triggering one of the biggest political backlashes of the war.

The decision sparked mass protests in Kyiv and other cities, with thousands taking to the streets in support of the popular official, whom many credit with transforming Ukraine’s battlefield fortunes through innovative drone warfare after years on the defensive.

Demonstrators were gathered outside the presidential office from Thursday carrying signs reading ‘Hands off Fedorov’ and ‘Stop sabotaging victory!’, while chants of ‘Shame!’ echoed through the capital as protesters demanded Zelensky reverse course.

Zelensky’s government reshuffle and dismissal of Fedorov, after just half a year in office, stirred concerns among analysts that Ukraine’s recent battlefield momentum could be lost. 

And as pressure mounted, the Ukrainian president bowed to the growing unrest and on Tuesday dismissed Soviet-trained army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, nicknamed ‘The Butcher’ for his ruthless reputation and widely blamed for heavy losses on the frontline. 

In his place, Zelensky appointed the younger and widely respected battlefield commander Mykhailo Drapatyi, a move welcomed by Fedorov.

People protest against the dismissal of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov

Former Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and former Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi

The feud erupted after Fedorov, 35, accused Syrskyi of blocking reforms needed because ‘the war has changed completely’ due to new technology like drones.

Fedorov said he was willing to work with Syrskyi, ‘but we encountered a situation in which all the initiatives we proposed began to be blocked.’

‘Under this arrangement (with Syrskyi as commander), I personally do not know how the war can be won,’ he said.

Zelensky initially defended his decision, saying he was forced ‘to choose between sides [when honestly] what I want most is unity’.

But after days of protests, the Ukrainian leader eventually relented, choosing to fire Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi and offer a ‘prominent position’ to the young defence minister he previously sacked.

Zelensky said on Tuesday that he offered him a ‘decent post’ to oversee the technological component of the state, but the former minister has previously said that he only wants his old job back.

Before becoming defense minister in January, Fedorov headed Ukraine’s digital transformation policies. 

He won popularity by spearheading the rapid development and deployment of drone technology and introducing several successful e-government platforms.

As minister, he moved to combat corruption, an issue that carries particular weight with Ukrainians who have repeatedly protested graft. 

Fighting corruption meant working against the interests of groups that had long profited from programs within the ministry, he said in interviews.

He was seeking to overhaul weapons procurement to make it more transparent.

He also promised sweeping military reforms, saying the military had faced about 200,000 desertions and draft-dodging by some 2 million people.

The mostly young protesters who took to the streets of Kyiv and other cities to support Fedorov made crude remarks about the current military commander, chanting, ‘Syrskyi go away!’ and ‘A European army for a European country!’

Kyiv resident Bohdan Huryak said he was ‘deeply outraged’ by Fedorov’s exit.

‘I’m not deeply invested in the internal political debates, but this is a person who shows results on the battlefield, we see results, we feel the fighting spirit and confidence in victory rising,’ Huryak told The Associated Press. ‘And then, six months later, he is removed from office? Come on.’

Last week, Zelensky chose Yevhenii Khmara, who was acting head of Ukraine’s domestic security service, to become acting defence minister. 

‘We all want the same thing: to defeat the enemy and create the conditions – on the front line and through pressure on Russia – that would allow us to force Russia into peace,’ Zelensky added.

The changes come as Ukraine today targeted logistics centres belonging to the Russian equivalent of Amazon, with the drone strikes early Wednesday sparking huge infernos.

Warehouses of the country’s largest online ‌retailer ⁠Wildberries were attacked in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk, said ​Tatyana Kim, the ​head and co-founder ⁠of ⁠the company.

Kim said employees had been evacuated before the strikes, but several people were still wounded.

‘I wish you a speedy recovery, and we will definitely provide all the necessary assistance,’ she wrote on Telegram.

Footage circulating on social media, verified by Reuters, shows gigantic clouds of black smoke rise up into the sky above the burning warehouses.

Ukraine has recaptured 270 sq miles of ​its territory this year, a defiant Syrskyi said on Wednesday defending his legacy after his ousting, confirming he was leaving the top military job.

‘I am handing over to my successor ​an army that is not only holding ​the defence but is also on the offensive,’ ⁠Syrskyi said in a statement on Telegram.

‘I am not authorised to talk about some of the operations we carried out over these years, even today. History will tell about them,’ he added.

After firing chief of staff Syrskyi, Zelensky replaced him with Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43, a respected and experienced commander who led the country’s land forces from 2024 to 2025 and is described as a general of a new generation.

Ukraine has been trying to gain the upper hand in the war by heavily striking Russia’s energy sector – its main source of budget revenue – and logistics.

‘The operations of the Ukrainian Defence Forces are ongoing and must continue steadily. Ukraine’s plan for long-range sanctions and our program of middle-range strikes will be carried out with absolute precision,’ Zelensky said as he introduced Drapatyi.

Drapatyi, whose career was shaped fighting Russian troops for more than a decade, is seen as a voice of change.

Meanwhile, Syrskyi played a key role in Kyiv’s defence in the early days of the war and has been in his post since early 2024.

But he has also faced harsh criticism for a rigid command style which some service members have said resulted in unjustifiably high troop losses.

For a while, Zelensky – seen as mistrusting of those with political ambitions – had relented pressure to sack Syrskyi, a career military man.

Analysts said that Syrskyi was not a threat to Zelensky, unlike his predecessor, the ultra-popular Valery Zaluzhny, who was also removed.

But Syrskyi was criticised for not caring about the scale of human losses and stalling reforms to procurement, equipment and mobilisation.

Voices against him have surfaced periodically, but last week’s reshuffle brought out into the open the deep divisions in the Ukrainian defence leadership.

Critics had accused Zelensky of favouring Syrskyi over Fedorov in a conflict between the two, and analysts questioned whether Ukraine could win the war, now well into its fifth year, under Syrskyi’s leadership.

‘I will work responsibly, with full focus, and with respect for the people who are defending our country today,’ Drapatyi said on Facebook.

Drapatyi has now become Ukraine’s third commander-in-chief since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Fedorov, whose return to office was one of the protesters’ main demands, welcomed the appointment.

‘This is a breath of fresh air and a new source of hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice. It is the voice of change that could no longer be ignored,’ Fedorov said on X.

Thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets to protest President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to fire his popular defence minister

Deputy Commander of the Joint Forces, Brigadier General Mykhailo Drapatyi,

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, his predecessor General Oleksandr Syrskyi, and Acting Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara

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Ukraine has targeted logistics centres belonging to the Russian equivalent of Amazon, with the drone strikes early Wednesday sparking huge infernos

Peter Dickinson, Editor of the Atlantic Council’s UkraineAlert Service, said: ‘I think it is now clear that Zelenskyy’s decision to remove his defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov was a disastrous mistake, but he appears committed to correcting this error.

‘The removal of commander in chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and his replacement with 43-year-old Mykhailo Drapatyi is something many Ukrainians have been demanding for years and goes a long way to repairing the damage done by ousting Fedorov.

‘However, it remains unclear whether Fedorov can return to government as he is currently insisting on reclaiming his old job as defence minister, which may be too much of a U-turn for Zelenskyy to swallow.

‘Unless Fedorov is back in a senior position, many Ukrainians will still feel that their security has been weakened for no clear reason. This will fuel speculation that Fedorov’s removal was primarily meant to safeguard corruption and entrenched business interests within the defence sector. ‘

Oleksandr Monchak, 38, sergeant in Ukrainian army and military journalist, added: ‘Drapatyi is a living legend. He’s been fighting Russia since 2014 and has worked his way up through the ranks to where he is today. That is extremely impressive. Over the years, he’s built a stellar record.

‘In 2014, he took part in the operation to free the hostages in Mariupol and managed to get his unit out of the encirclement. 

‘In 2022, he helped stop the Russian advance towards Kryvyi Rih and played a key role in liberating parts of the Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

Monchak lauded Drapatyi for being the ‘chief architect’ of the defence of Dnipro in 2023, adding that he was ‘straightforward, competent, a good friend to the people around him, easy to work with, not confrontational, and tactically sound.’

‘In general, the younger generation of officers has always been much more down-to-earth than the old Soviet-school generals. That’s why the people who know him trust him. Whether he can unite the army and lead it to greater success depends on a lot of things, not just on his own abilities as a commander,’ he added.

‘But the soldiers in the trenches are definitely more hopeful now. They believe the war could be fought in a more modern way, with fewer unnecessary casualties.

‘What does this mean for the Russians? First of all, it’s deeply demoralising. They were cheering for the removal of Fedorov, but now they see what’s happening in Ukraine and know they don’t have anything comparable.

‘They’re still stuck with the same old faces, people like Gerasimov and Shoigu. They understand that this kind of renewal, the possibility of bringing through a new generation of commanders, simply doesn’t exist in the Russian army.

‘As long as the war continues, they’ll remain hostages to what you could call the ‘Gerasimov caste.”