KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, one of Ukraine’s most recognizable faces on the international stage, submitted his resignation Wednesday, ahead of an expected sweeping government reshuffle. Meanwhile, Russian strikes killed seven people in a western Ukrainian town, a day after the attack. one of the deadliest Rocket attacks since the war began.

Kuleba, 43, did not give a reason for his resignation. His resignation will be discussed at the next session of parliament, parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on his Facebook page. Four other cabinet ministers have submitted their resignation late Tuesday, making the cabinet reshuffle likely to be the biggest since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hinted last week that a cabinet reshuffle was imminent. The war is entering a critical phase, and the 1,000-day mark of the war will be approaching in November.

Zelensky must maintain Ukraine’s morale amid the grueling war of attrition with its big neighbor and strengthen the country’s resolve for another harsh winter. Russia has Destruction of the Ukrainian power gridknocking out about 70 percent of electricity generation capacity and disrupting heat and water supplies. And Wednesday’s deadly attack on Lviv – a city near the border with NATO member Poland and far from the front lines – underscored how vulnerable the whole of Ukraine is to Moscow’s long-range capabilities.

The Ukrainian army is risky incidence into the Russian border region of Kursk nearly a month ago buoyed Ukrainian spirits and counterbalanced months of grim news from the front line in eastern Ukraine. The ultimate goals of the incursion are unclear, although Zelensky says Ukraine wants to create a buffer zone there that would prevent cross-border Russian attacks.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin remains determined to push his army deeper into eastern Ukraine. The Russian attack on Donetsk, where Ukraine is under-strengthened with troops and air defenses, and the long-range missile attacks that continue to hit civilian areas in Ukraine show that Putin will remain uncompromising and relentless in his efforts to break Ukrainian resistance.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Tuesday that Putin was convinced that Russia could “slowly and indefinitely bring Ukraine under its control through arduous advances and that it could achieve its goals through a war of attrition against Ukrainian forces and through prolonged Western support” for Kyiv.

Zelensky is also keeping an eye on the US presidential election in November, which could lead to a postponement of key US military support for his country.

During the war, Kuleba was Ukraine’s second-highest representative after Zelensky in communicating Ukraine’s message and needs to an international audience, whether through social media posts or meetings with foreign dignitaries. In July, Kuleba became the highest-ranking Ukrainian official to visit China since the Russian invasion. He has been foreign minister since March 2020.

Kuleba’s successor has not yet been decided, but is expected to be announced on Thursday. Several Ukrainian media outlets reported, citing anonymous sources, that Kuleba’s deputy, Andrii Sybiha, will become the country’s top diplomat.

The new foreign minister is expected to accompany Zelensky to the UN General Assembly in New York next week and use the opportunity there to seek support from heads of state and government around the world.

More than half of the current cabinet will see changes, said Davyd Arakhamiia, a leader of Zelensky’s party in the Ukrainian parliament. Ministers will resign on Wednesday and new appointments will be made on Thursday, he said.

Zelensky’s five-year mandate expired in May. He remains in power under the provisions of martial law.

Meanwhile, 52 people were injured and seven killed in the nighttime attack on Lviv, the Ukrainian emergency services said. The attack was carried out using a Kinzhal missile and drones and targeted defense industry enterprises, the Russian news agency Tass reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

Local authorities denied the claim that it was an attack. Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi and the Ukrainian Catholic University published a photo of a family whose mother and three daughters were killed in the attack on their home. The father survived but was in critical condition, Sadovyi said.

The eldest daughter, 21-year-old Yaryna, was a program manager at the European Youth Forum, a platform for the continent’s youth organizations, her colleagues wrote on Facebook. “We will neither forget nor forgive the attack,” the post said.

In another Russian attack, five people were injured in Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky’s hometown, said regional head Serhiy Lysak.

Kuleba said the attacks in Lviv and Kryvyi Rih showed that Ukraine needs more Western support. “To put an end to this terror, Ukraine’s partners must immediately deliver the promised air defense systems and ammunition, as well as strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities and enable us to launch long-range strikes on all legitimate military targets in Russia,” he wrote on X.

Zelensky responded to the attacks by calling on Ukraine’s allies to give Kyiv “more room” to advance deeper into Russian territory with Western weapons.

The attack came a day after two ballistic missiles struck a military academy and a nearby hospital in Poltava in eastern Ukraine, killing 53 people and wounding nearly 300 others, Ukrainian officials said.

The rockets struck deep into the main building of the Poltava Military Institute of Communications, causing several floors to collapse.

Poltava is located about 350 kilometers southeast of Kyiv on the main highway and railway route between Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, which is close to the Russian border.

___

Burrows reported from London.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine