We've just had the same problem, on multiple VMs running in Azure.

In the dpkg log we can see that systemd was indeed updated (times in UTC):

2022-08-30 06:31:18 status unpacked udev:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:18 status half-configured udev:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:19 status installed udev:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:19 status triggers-pending initramfs-tools:all 0.130ubuntu3.13
2022-08-30 06:31:19 trigproc man-db:amd64 2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:19 status half-configured man-db:amd64 2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1
2022-08-30 06:31:19 status installed man-db:amd64 2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1
2022-08-30 06:31:19 trigproc ureadahead:amd64 0.100.0-21 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:19 status half-configured ureadahead:amd64 0.100.0-21
2022-08-30 06:31:20 status installed ureadahead:amd64 0.100.0-21
2022-08-30 06:31:20 trigproc libc-bin:amd64 2.27-3ubuntu1.5 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:20 status half-configured libc-bin:amd64 2.27-3ubuntu1.5
2022-08-30 06:31:20 status installed libc-bin:amd64 2.27-3ubuntu1.5
2022-08-30 06:31:20 trigproc systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:20 status half-configured systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:20 status installed systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:20 trigproc initramfs-tools:all 0.130ubuntu3.13 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:20 status half-configured initramfs-tools:all 0.130ubuntu3.13
2022-08-30 06:31:34 status installed initramfs-tools:all 0.130ubuntu3.13
2022-08-30 06:31:37 startup archives unpack
2022-08-30 06:31:38 upgrade libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status triggers-pending libc-bin:amd64 2.27-3ubuntu1.5
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status half-configured libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status unpacked libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status half-installed libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status triggers-pending man-db:amd64 2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status half-installed libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status unpacked libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status unpacked libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:38 upgrade libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status half-configured libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status unpacked libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status half-installed libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status half-installed libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status unpacked libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status unpacked libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:38 upgrade systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status half-configured systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:38 status half-installed systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:39 status triggers-pending ureadahead:amd64 0.100.0-21
2022-08-30 06:31:39 status triggers-pending dbus:amd64 1.12.2-1ubuntu1.3
2022-08-30 06:31:39 status triggers-pending dbus:amd64 1.12.2-1ubuntu1.3
2022-08-30 06:31:39 status half-installed systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:39 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:39 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 upgrade libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status half-configured libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status half-installed libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status half-installed libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.53
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 startup packages configure
2022-08-30 06:31:40 configure libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status half-configured libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status installed libsystemd0:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 startup packages configure
2022-08-30 06:31:40 configure systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status unpacked systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:40 status half-configured systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:41 status installed systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:41 configure libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:41 status unpacked libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:41 status half-configured libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:41 status installed libnss-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:41 configure libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:41 status unpacked libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:41 status half-configured libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:42 status installed libpam-systemd:amd64 237-3ubuntu10.54
2022-08-30 06:31:42 trigproc libc-bin:amd64 2.27-3ubuntu1.5 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:42 status half-configured libc-bin:amd64 2.27-3ubuntu1.5
2022-08-30 06:31:42 status installed libc-bin:amd64 2.27-3ubuntu1.5
2022-08-30 06:31:42 trigproc man-db:amd64 2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:42 status half-configured man-db:amd64 2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1
2022-08-30 06:31:44 status installed man-db:amd64 2.8.3-2ubuntu0.1
2022-08-30 06:31:44 trigproc dbus:amd64 1.12.2-1ubuntu1.3 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:44 status half-configured dbus:amd64 1.12.2-1ubuntu1.3
2022-08-30 06:31:44 status installed dbus:amd64 1.12.2-1ubuntu1.3
2022-08-30 06:31:44 trigproc ureadahead:amd64 0.100.0-21 <none>
2022-08-30 06:31:44 status half-configured ureadahead:amd64 0.100.0-21
2022-08-30 06:31:44 status installed ureadahead:amd64 0.100.0-21

syslog also shows that systemd was reloaded after the update:

Aug 30 06:31:01 provisioning systemd[1]: Starting Daily apt upgrade and clean activities...
Aug 30 06:31:17 provisioning systemd[1]: Reloading.
Aug 30 06:31:17 provisioning systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network-online.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:17 provisioning systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:17 provisioning systemd[1]: Starting Message of the Day...
Aug 30 06:31:18 provisioning 50-motd-news[13975]:  * Super-optimized for small spaces - read how we shrank the memory
Aug 30 06:31:18 provisioning 50-motd-news[13975]:    footprint of MicroK8s to make it the smallest full K8s around.
Aug 30 06:31:18 provisioning 50-motd-news[13975]:    https://ubuntu.com/blog/microk8s-memory-optimisation
Aug 30 06:31:18 provisioning systemd[1]: Started Message of the Day.
Aug 30 06:31:18 provisioning systemd[1]: Reloading.
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network-online.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: Reloading.
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network-online.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopping udev Kernel Device Manager...
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopped udev Kernel Device Manager.
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: Starting udev Kernel Device Manager...
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: Started udev Kernel Device Manager.
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: Reloading.
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network-online.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:19 provisioning systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:20 provisioning systemd[1]: Reloading.
Aug 30 06:31:20 provisioning systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network-online.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:20 provisioning systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:39 provisioning dbus-daemon[1096]: [system] Reloaded configuration
Aug 30 06:31:39 provisioning dbus-daemon[1096]: message repeated 15 times: [ [system] Reloaded configuration]
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning systemd[1]: Reexecuting.
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning kernel: [6452333.017505] printk: systemd: 36 output lines suppressed due to ratelimiting
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning kernel: [6452333.025951] systemd[1]: systemd 237 running in system mode. (+PAM +AUDIT +SELINUX +IMA +APPARMOR +SMACK +SYSVINIT +UTMP +LIBCRYPTSETUP +GCRYPT +GNUTLS +ACL +XZ +LZ4 +SECCOMP +BLKID +ELFUTILS +KMOD -IDN2 +IDN -PCRE2 default-hierarchy=hybrid)
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning kernel: [6452333.026024] systemd[1]: Detected virtualization microsoft.
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning kernel: [6452333.026029] systemd[1]: Detected architecture x86-64.
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning kernel: [6452333.119296] systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network-online.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning kernel: [6452333.119301] systemd[1]: dev-disk-cloud-azure_resource\x2dpart1.device: Dependency Before=network.target ignored (.device units cannot be delayed)
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopped Wait for Network to be Configured.
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopping Wait for Network to be Configured...
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopping Network Service...
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning systemd-timesyncd[759]: Network configuration changed, trying to establish connection.
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopped Network Service.
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning systemd[1]: Starting Network Service...
Aug 30 06:31:40 provisioning systemd-timesyncd[759]: Synchronized to time server 91.189.94.4:123 (ntp.ubuntu.com).
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-networkd[20642]: eth0: Gained IPv6LL
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-timesyncd[759]: Network configuration changed, trying to establish connection.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-networkd[20642]: Enumeration completed
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Started Network Service.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Starting Wait for Network to be Configured...
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopping Network Name Resolution...
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopped Network Name Resolution.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Starting Network Name Resolution...
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-networkd-wait-online[20649]: ignoring: lo
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-timesyncd[759]: Synchronized to time server 91.189.94.4:123 (ntp.ubuntu.com).
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-networkd-wait-online[20649]: ignoring: lo
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-timesyncd[759]: Network configuration changed, trying to establish connection.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Started Wait for Network to be Configured.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-timesyncd[759]: Synchronized to time server 91.189.94.4:123 (ntp.ubuntu.com).
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-resolved[20653]: Positive Trust Anchors:
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-resolved[20653]: . IN DS 19036 8 2 49aac11d7b6f6446702e54a1607371607a1a41855200fd2ce1cdde32f24e8fb5
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-resolved[20653]: . IN DS 20326 8 2 e06d44b80b8f1d39a95c0b0d7c65d08458e880409bbc683457104237c7f8ec8d
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-resolved[20653]: Negative trust anchors: 10.in-addr.arpa 16.172.in-addr.arpa 17.172.in-addr.arpa 18.172.in-addr.arpa 19.172.in-addr.arpa 20.172.in-addr.arpa 21.172.in-addr.arpa 22.172.in-addr.arpa 23.172.in-addr.arpa 24.172.in-addr.arpa 25.172.in-addr.arpa 26.172.in-addr.arpa 27.172.in-addr.arpa 28.172.in-addr.arpa 29.172.in-addr.arpa 30.172.in-addr.arpa 31.172.in-addr.arpa 168.192.in-addr.arpa d.f.ip6.arpa corp home internal intranet lan local private test
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd-resolved[20653]: Using system hostname 'provisioning'.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Started Network Name Resolution.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopping Network Time Synchronization...
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopped Network Time Synchronization.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Starting Network Time Synchronization...
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Started Network Time Synchronization.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning kernel: [6452333.564134] systemd[1]: Stopping Journal Service...
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning kernel: [6452333.564676] systemd-journald[434]: Received SIGTERM from PID 1 (systemd).
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopped Flush Journal to Persistent Storage.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Stopping Flush Journal to Persistent Storage...
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning kernel: [6452333.754503] systemd[1]: Stopped Journal Service.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning kernel: [6452333.756181] systemd[1]: Starting Journal Service...
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning kernel: [6452333.791287] systemd[1]: Started Journal Service.
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Starting Flush Journal to Persistent Storage...
Aug 30 06:31:41 provisioning systemd[1]: Started Flush Journal to Persistent Storage.
Aug 30 06:31:44 provisioning dbus-daemon[1096]: [system] Reloaded configuration
Aug 30 06:31:47 provisioning python3[1141]: 2022-08-30T06:31:47.178650Z INFO EnvHandler ExtHandler EnvMonitor: Detected dhcp client restart. Restoring routing table.
Aug 30 06:31:47 provisioning python3[1141]: 2022-08-30T06:31:47.179058Z INFO EnvHandler ExtHandler Configure routes
Aug 30 06:31:47 provisioning python3[1141]: 2022-08-30T06:31:47.179171Z INFO EnvHandler ExtHandler Gateway:None
Aug 30 06:31:47 provisioning python3[1141]: 2022-08-30T06:31:47.179278Z INFO EnvHandler ExtHandler Routes:None
Aug 30 06:31:47 provisioning systemd[1]: Started Daily apt upgrade and clean activities.

PID 1141 is the Azure agent.

As we're using custom DNS resolvers, the work-around does not work. But a reboot made the issue go away as the system would re-initialize its network configuration using DHCP