“Fucked up reformers!” screamed the sign of 18-year-old Polina, the girl with the green hair. Her companion’s metaphorically shouted “CUNTS” in huge green letters. Teenage profanity filled every corner of the first large wartime protests engulfing Ukraine’s capital.

It could have been any Gen Z rebellion against the system. And in a way, it was—against a system where President Zelenskyy gutted Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies over just 72 hours. Except it was also a protest for a system—the one Ukraine dreamed up during the Euromaidan revolution in 2014.

“I don’t give a f*ck,” Polina snapped back at criticism over the protests’ expletive language. “Swearing allows you to express an opinion and is part of the freedom of speech. Get it?”

Prudes on Facebook scolded protesters like her: it was beneath Ukrainian national dignity to devolve to such unholy vocabulary.

Yet there she was, a first-year student of Ukraine’s top university, one uncle killed during the 2014 protests where Ukrainians rebelled against a pro-Russian president’s U-turn on EU integration, and another uncle killed fighting the Russian invasion, unapologetically demanding political accountability from Ukraine’s president.

“We know our history, we know why this happened. We are fighting for our freedom from Russia. We are against Ukraine turning into Russia from the inside. So, NABU should be an independent institution,” she said.

Polina encapsulated the main demand of the protests—that a law to bring Ukraine’s anti-graft agencies under the control of a presidentially appointed prosecutor is repealed.

Tens of thousands of people like Polina, holding a sea of cardboard signs, may have just saved Ukraine’s democracy.

The 20-somethings who organized a revolution in 24 hours

Twenty-three-year-old Zinaida Averina never expected to become the architect of Ukraine’s first wartime democratic uprising. When parliament rushed through legislation gutting anti-corruption agencies on 22 July, she created a Telegram chat for protesters that exploded to over 2,000 people within hours.

“The only person who filed an application with Kyiv city administration for the 23 July protest was my friend Sofi Wisdom, also 23,” posted activist Anastasiia Bezpalko. “None of the organizations or opinion leaders who called for protests did this basic work. The girls showed leadership in a crisis and took enormous responsibility.”

The chat became a masterclass in grassroots democracy. Participants debated protest demands, coordinated with police, organized snacks and water stations, and—uniquely for a political movement—created separate threads for memes and hookups. “What could be sexier than a clear civic position?” joked one organizer. “We need to solve the demographic crisis!”

Many signs cheekily declared “This cardboard is paid for”—a stab at conspiracy theories claiming Western funding behind the protests’ eruption.

But the most remarkable thing happened on the streets. “Two very young people, eyes shining with excitement, look at the crowd,” overheard researcher Anton Senenko. “Katya, this is our first Maidan!” one exclaimed, hinting at the protest pedigree of Ukrainians—each revolution happens on Kyiv’s Independence Square, Maidan Nezalezhnosti. They kissed.

That romantic moment captured everything about this movement. For Western teenagers, political engagement often means attacking institutions. For Ukrainian Gen Z, it meant defending them—while falling in love doing it.

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“I defended Zelenskyy against Trump’s dictatorship accusations. Now I can’t,” says Ukraine’s top corruption fighter

Why swearing terrified the authorities more than anything

Critics fixated on the protesters’ colorful language, missing why it was so politically effective. Oleksandr Rachev explained the strategy behind the swearing.

“When you tell authorities ‘you’re wrong,’ you stay within a model of respect that doesn’t frighten them,” he noted. “When you say ‘you’ve lost your fucking minds,’ it means questioning their very legitimacy. And that scares them.”

The profanity served another function: mass appeal. “Swearing is considered the language of ‘ordinary people,'” Ravchev continued. “University professors and activists don’t swear—that’s why they stay in their intellectual bubble. Swearing is a bridge between creative youth protesting and ordinary voters who actually vote.”

The slogan “I need a system that works for me” would be fine for intellectuals, he argued. But “Why the fuck do I need a system that works against me?” reaches ordinary people’s minds. “Because that’s exactly how they talk.”

Behind those Facebook posts scolding protesters about “pure language,” Ravchev detected real fear: “The authorities are terrified that profane protest slogans will reach mass voters and sweep them away.”

Academic Volodymyr Kulyk found himself shouting “The Office fucked up” despite never swearing in front of his wife in 35 years. The moment surprised him—but he understood what was happening.

The youth had “finally desacralized power, which can now be addressed without picking words, at least when it deserves it,” he wrote. When even a polite academic starts cursing at the government, something fundamental has shifted.

The war’s children with gray hair

But there was a deeper reason behind the raw language. These weren’t typical teenagers. Tetiana Troshchynska noted: “My hairdresser tells me about all the gray children she gives haircuts to. 12, 13, 16 years old. Half-gray heads, gray streaks, gray like salt. I tell some, not others, because they’re sad and crying. I don’t know where they’re from, what they’ve experienced, who they’ve lost.”

The Kapranov Brothers added: “Swearing is a consequence of war, exactly like ruins, minefields and trenches. Just as we’ll have to demine forests and seas from Russian mines after the war, we’ll have to demine heads from swearing. But—after the war.”

These weren’t kids who idealized the two anti-corruption agencies, NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau) and SAPO (Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office). Most protesters readily admitted both agencies had problems—corruption scandals, slow investigations, bureaucratic failures.

“They’re trying to get rid of essentially the only anti-corruption mechanism that Ukraine has,” Marco, a 25-year-old who lived in Chicago for a decade before returning to Kyiv, explained to Euromaidan Press. “By doing that, they’re trying to integrate it into the actual government, which makes it so the people in government who are corrupt decide whether they themselves are corrupt, right? So, it’s a little counterintuitive.”

NABU and SAPO, whatever their flaws, were the first real separation of power in Ukraine—bringing it closer to a functioning democracy and further from the likes of the autocracies in Russia and Belarus.

More in our editorial

Editorial: Zelenskyy opens a second front—against his own people

Poetry on cardboard: When protest signs became literature

But focusing on the swearing missed the real cultural phenomenon. Most signs weren’t profane—they were poetic. Ukrainian cultural observers noted that these cardboard creations represented “real poetry, with all its nerve and broken form. Something in the tradition of Ukrainian futurists—short, with broken lines, unconventional syllable division.”

Signs mixed Latin script with Cyrillic, quoted Taras Shevchenko alongside modern poets, featured portraits of Lesya Ukrainka next to Zelensky caricatures. “Do cattle low when NABU is whole?” parodied Ukraine’s most famous poem. “Nations don’t die of heart attacks—first their NABU and SAPO are taken away,” riffed on national poet Ivan Franko.

“If you want to know where modern poetry is in Ukraine—here it is, on these cardboards,” one literary critic observed. “Poetry as a weapon is something very Ukrainian.”

This was Ukraine’s first Twitter-era protest movement, where anyone could express themselves in short, punchy statements.

Yet paradoxically, it produced some of the most sophisticated political poetry seen on Ukrainian streets:

• “Do cattle low when NABU is whole?”—parodying a 19th-century Ukrainian novel by Panás Myrnyi, which basically says that cattle (people) don’t complain when they’re well-fed
• Nations don’t die of heart attacks—first they lose their NABU and SAPO”—riffing on modern poetess Lina Kostenko, “Nations don’t die of heart attacks—first they lose their speech”
• or the blunt “Why the fuck do I need a system that works against me?”

The unspoken wartime contract, broken

The protests revealed something deeper than anger over specific legislation. As wounded veteran and protester Sabir explained: “We had an unspoken social contract: we don’t criticize the authorities during war, but they don’t pull any bullshit. But they kept pulling bullshit. Now they decided they could allow themselves more. People showed they couldn’t.”

The speed of the legislation shocked even seasoned political observers. Bills typically languish in parliament for months. This one passed in hours, with Zelensky signing it the same evening as protests erupted outside his office.

“When you pass such a law in one evening, it looks very much like fear of losing power,” said IT worker Olena Danyliuk, 31. “They’re trembling at the thought they might have to give up power.”

EU officials were reportedly shocked when they learned of the legislation. Brussels had planned to secretly fast-track Ukraine’s accession talks, but the anti-corruption law threatened that timeline. Perhaps Ukraine was following Georgia’s trajectory—offering high hopes but ultimately succumbing to pro-Russian authoritarianism?

Not so fast, said the youngsters with their “silly” signs.

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EU had a secret plan to bypass Orbán. Zelenskyy blew it up instead.

When Gen Z rebellion goes right

The contrast with Western youth movements couldn’t be more vivid. While American and European teenagers often target democratic institutions themselves—demanding to tear down systems they see as irredeemably corrupt—Ukrainian Gen Z fight to preserve and strengthen democratic institutions against authoritarian capture.

This difference reveals an ironic truth: Western youth don’t know how good they have it. They’ve never lived without independent courts, free press, or anti-corruption agencies. They can afford to attack these institutions because they’ve never experienced their absence.

Ukrainian twenty-somethings have gray hair at 16 and dead relatives in their family trees. They know exactly what happens when democratic institutions disappear. They are, actually, dying for a stab at a democratic future, not the one that Russia offers—where opposition figures end up dead or imprisoned, where corruption flows unchecked because there’s no independent oversight.

As veteran protester Ivan Chyhyryn, who lost his leg rescuing a wounded comrade, told reporters: “My parents were on Maidan in 2014 when I was very young. Creating independent anti-corruption institutions was one of their goals. What my parents fought for is now being thrown away.”

His generation inherited revolution in their DNA—the Orange Revolution in 2004, the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, and now resistance to democratic backsliding in 2025. But unlike previous generations who had to build democracy from scratch, these youth were defending institutions they’d grown up with.

The cardboard revolution’s victory

By Wednesday evening, Zelensky announced he would submit new legislation preserving anti-corruption agencies’ independence. “We heard the street,” he said—the same president who’d ignored international criticism and parliamentary opposition.

And this illustrated the main difference between Ukraine and Russia: Russian opposition complains it can’t change anything while Ukrainian teenagers flood the streets with “Fuck corruption” signs and win.

“I genuinely believe that if this happened in Russia, police would have just come in and beat everybody up,” Marco told Euromaidan Press. “In Ukraine, though, we really are freedom-loving and we will show the government that we are the ones in charge, not them.”

Even Russian independent media called these protests a “political crisis.” For Russians, street demonstrations represent a system breakdown. For Ukrainians, they represent the system working—checks and balances moving from the streets into the political fabric.

As protester Polina put it: “Only we can fight for our best future. That’s why we’re all here.”

Not bad for a generation whose main political tools are Twitter, Telegram, and magic markers.

Explore further

Explained: why Ukraine nuked its own anti-corruption agencies

Ukraine’s response to recent Russian attacks on civilian cities will be swift. On 26 July, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the enemy will inevitably feel the consequences of their actions. 

Ukraine will not leave strikes unanswered, says Zelenskyy

The Ukrainian president stated that Russia will face retaliation for the killings.

“There are wounded as a result of the Russian strike. Unfortunately, there are also casualties. My condolences,” he wrote on Telegram.

He also emphasized: the response will be precise and daily.

“Russian military enterprises, Russian logistics, and Russian airports must feel that their own war has real consequences for them. The accuracy of our drones and the daily nature of Ukraine’s responses are among the arguments that will definitely bring peace closer,” Zelenskyy said.

Moscow lies, as always: they targeted people, not military targets

Russia’s Defense Ministry justified the attack by claiming it targeted Ukrainian defense enterprises. In reality, the missiles hit residential buildings and an electronics repair store.

“The objective of the strike was achieved,” it reported. 

Earlier, the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence said that a Su-27UB combat training jet caught fire overnight on 26 July in Russia. The incident happened at the Armavir airfield in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, which lies more than 850 km from the Ukrainian border. 

Ukraine’s Intelligence: Russian jet used to train war pilots suddenly bursts into flames in Krasnodar Krai

It is intended for training pilots for the war against Ukraine, while retaining the combat capabilities of the base aircraft: speeds of up to 2,500 km/h.

Russia has canceled its main naval parade of the year. Saint Petersburg has suspended the event scheduled for 27 July 27 in Saint Petersburg, the Center for Countering Disinformation under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council reports. 

Symbols of power disappear

Due to the cancellation, the traditional passage of ships along the Neva River will not take place, and the salute from the Peter and Paul Fortress will remain a memory this year.

The Center for Countering Disinformation claims, “The Kremlin can no longer pretend that the war does not affect the Russian rear. The war impacts all spheres of life in Russia, even symbolic and loud events like the naval parade.”

Russian ships don’t feel safe even in their own ports

The parade cancellation may be linked to the military leadership’s fears due to real losses suffered by the fleet. An event meant to demonstrate Russia’s power now risks having the opposite effect, causing discouragement and fear.

Against this backdrop, the decision to scrap and send Russia’s only aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, to the scrapyard is particularly telling, further highlighting the problems of the Russian fleet.

After a law limiting the independence of anti-corruption bodies came into effect, one of them, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau or NABU, announced the completion of investigations of long-term cases. Four high-profile criminal cases were closed in one week by the agency, Glavkom reports.

This surge in anti-corruption activity coincided with a public statement by the new Prosecutor General, Ruslan Kravchenko, about his intention to intervene in certain cases that NABU had been investigating for years.

“In such cases, I will raise questions and possibly create a joint investigative group with other employees,” said Kravchenko.

For comparison: in January 2025, NABU did not report about the number of cases brought to a conclusion. According to the Center for Countering Corruption, the agency completed one in May and three in March, Texty reported. 

Billion-dollar fraud at PrivatBank

Finally, NABU completed the investigation of one of the largest cases involving the embezzlement of over $225 million from PrivatBank before its nationalization. According to the investigation, the money was funneled through a scheme of fictitious loans registered to controlled entities.

The case involves six suspects, including oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, who has been in custody since 2023.

Undeclared assets of AMCU head

Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Antimonopoly Committee, is charged with failing to declare significant property, including several apartments in Kyiv and Uzhhorod, a residential house of over 220 sq.m. near Kyiv, two land plots, two garage boxes, six parking spaces, three non-residential premises totaling over 190 sq.m., and a BMW X3 car. Additionally, a separate case regarding Kyrylenko’s alleged illegal enrichment amounting to over $1.75 million is under review and has already been transferred to the High Anti-Corruption Court.

Fictitious rulings for draft dodgers in Odesa Oblast

Regional judges systematically issued fake rulings allowing men to avoid mobilization. The most common reason was the status of “sole parent.” According to the investigation, $3,500 was charged for such rulings. A total of 1,040 similar rulings were issued over the past year.

$300,000 for impunity

Another case was completed, and this time against an SBU officer who, according to the investigation, demanded $300,000 for destroying materials related to the illegal smuggling of men abroad. If refused, he threatened to initiate criminal prosecution under more serious charges.

The world demands the truth. International response to Russia’s brutality is growing stronger, as the Netherlands and 40 other OSCE countries initiate an independent investigation into the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The Moscow Mechanism launches a mission for truth

The investigation will be conducted under the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism.

Systematic crimes of Russia will be documented

Since the start of Russia’s all-out war, this mechanism has been used to document war crimes, the deportation of children, torture of civilians, and widespread human rights violations, reports Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. 

The new investigation will establish facts regarding the torture of Ukrainian POWs, and this evidence will become the basis for convictions in Ukrainian courts, the International Criminal Court, and a tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

“He said we deserve genocide”: Journalists unmask Russian “Dr. Evil” torturer of Ukrainian POWs

The goal is justice, not revenge

“The Netherlands and its partner countries are working to uncover the truth and ensure accountability for Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine,” says Dutch Foreign Minister Kaspar Veldkamp.

As noted by Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, this process is critical to ensuring that no act of cruelty goes unpunished.

Previously, a special OSCE monitoring mission operated in Ukraine to observe the situation during Russia’s 2014 invasion of Donbas. In mid-2022, Moscow blocked the extension of the SMM’s mandate, and the mission ceased operations.

Since then, the OSCE has continued to support Ukraine through other programs, including an extra-budgetary assistance initiative, though without a direct monitoring presence in active combat zones.

The Ukrainian Defense Intelligence reports that Su-27UB combat training jet caught fire overnight on 26 July in Russia. The incident happened at the Armavir airfield in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, which lies more than 850 km from the Ukrainian border.

The training range on fire

The aircraft was a Su-27UB, a twin-seat training version of the Soviet multirole Su-27 fighter. It is intended for training cadets while retaining the combat capabilities of the base aircraft: speeds of up to 2,500 km/h.

The fighter jet can to carry both unguided FAB-250/500 bombs and guided bombs such as the KAB-500-OD and KAB-1500KR. On the front lines, such aircraft are also used for patrols, air cover, and precision strikes on Ukraine.

Industry geared for war

Moscow plans to increase the production of guided aerial bombs by 50%, to 75,000 units in 2025, by upgrading conventional munitions with planning and correction modules. The installation of the modules turns them into high-precision weapons with extended strike range.

Currently, Ukraine does not have a solution against such missiles. The most effective remains the destruction of fighter jects at airfields. 

Sabotage or precision strike?

Following the explosion, local residents reported a loss of communication, which may indicate attempts to conceal the scale of the incident. Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence reminds: “Every crime against the Ukrainian people will be properly avenged.”

Unexpected results from a social survey have stunned observers. According to research by the SCIO agency in cooperation with the portal Rozhovory so Šimonom, 14% of Slovaks surveyed openly want to join Russia, and another 18% consider this possibility.

The idea is most supported by students and the unemployed, which, according to SCIO analyst Martin Klu, rather reflects economic instability and disappointment with the country’s Western course than genuine loyalty to the Kremlin.

Attitudes toward military neutrality

Respondents were also separately asked about military neutrality. Here, 32.5% opposed neutrality if it led to a decline in living standards. Meanwhile, 15% support neutrality under any circumstances.

Socio-economic distribution of views

The least support for the ideas of “neutrality” and “Russian integration” is observed among people with higher education, urban residents, and citizens with above-average incomes. Analysts believe this is linked to the economic stability and better prospects of these groups.

Ukraine will receive only part of the fourth tranche of financial assistance under the Ukraine Facility mechanism. The reason is the failure to implement three out of sixteen key reforms stipulated in agreements with the EU, says Guillaume Mercier, European Commission spokesperson, European Pravda reports. 

If Kyiv had implemented all 16 reforms, Ukraine would have received €4.5 billion. But according to Mercier, the European Commission assessed only 13 indicators as fulfilled, and therefore proposes a reduced tranche of €3.05 billion.

Which reforms were not implemented?

The three reforms that remain unfulfilled are:

• decentralization
• reform of ARMA (Asset Recovery and Management Agency),
• transparent selection of judges for the High Anti-Corruption Court.

Ukraine submitted a request to the EU for a partial payment back in June 2025.

The Ukraine Facility program envisions providing Ukraine with up to €50 billion over several years, conditional on the successful implementation of reforms. Each tranche is tied to specific steps. 

Day 1249

On 25 July, the biggest news comes from Europe.

New sanctions from the United Kingdom and the European Union are tightening the noose around Russia’s shadow fleet, the covert network of tankers that has long helped Moscow dodge oil export restrictions. This time, enforcement is not only more coordinated but also more surgical, and the effects are beginning to show across the broader infrastructure of Russia’s war economy.

Most recently, the United Kingdom unveiled its latest sanctions package, which directly targets dozens of tankers suspected of transporting Russian oil in violation of the G7 price cap, operating under flags of convenience and obscure ownership structures to avoid detection. London has now imposed asset freezes on over 100 shadow fleet vessels and sanctioned several front companies that provide critical insurance, financing, and logistical support, embedded in global maritime hubs. Beyond targeting individual vessels, the UK’s restrictions also prohibit any UK-based companies from interacting with ships or firms linked to sanctioned oil trade, thereby closing off access to a broad range of legal and financial services that have long sustained the shadow fleet.

In parallel, the European Union has adopted its 18^th sanctions package, with new measures aimed at undermining the legal and logistical foundations of shadow fleet operations. The package introduces enhanced penalties for any port offering services to re-flagged or disguised Russian tankers, creates a public blacklist of vessels involved in price cap violations, and extends sanctions to intermediaries that provide false documentation regarding the origin of cargo. Perhaps most importantly, the European Union now authorizes penalties against third-party countries, companies, and organizations that facilitate Russian circumvention efforts.

This move places significant pressure on states such as Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates, which have quietly hosted the fleet’s support infrastructure. Taken together, the actions of the United Kingdom and the European Union amount to the most comprehensive assault yet on Russia’s oil export system.

The effects of this crackdown are already being felt in the water. Earlier this year, a Russian-affiliated tanker docked in Belgium, and was only later identified as part of the shadow fleet, triggering internal reviews across European ports and prompting the introduction of stricter inspection protocols. Since that incident, insurance firms have come under increased scrutiny, maritime monitoring has intensified, and cooperation between European customs and naval forces has expanded. This makes it significantly harder for Russian tankers using falsified or re-flagged registrations to access European ports or services, forcing the fleet into riskier, longer, and more expensive trade routes.

These constraints are showing the effect of a deeper financial crisis. Russia is no longer able to rely on stable dollar-denominated transactions and has instead turned to trading with strategic partners, paying Iran 104 million dollars in gold for Shahed drones and offering weapons and industrial components to North Korea in exchange for artillery shells and frontline soldiers. As covered in a previous report, the Kremlin has also resorted to using cryptocurrency and shell companies based outside of Russia to hide the nature of arms deals and payment transfers. These improvisations may help Moscow stay afloat in the short term, but they reflect how their economic system is losing access to hard currency and struggling to sustain even the most basic elements of war finance.

The geographic consequences are just as significant. With the Baltic Sea under increasing surveillance and the Black Sea heavily contested, Russia has shifted some of its shadow fleet activity to Arctic ports such as Murmansk; however, these are a last resort, as they remain ice-free for only seven to eight months of the year. Yet even these fallback routes are becoming less viable, as the United Kingdom and Norway have increased maritime patrols in the Barents and North Seas, regions where they maintain logistical and geographic naval advantages. The result is a tightening noose around the shadow fleet: as evasion options shrink and enforcement improves, Russia’s ability to maintain oil flows and convert the revenues into weapons faces a steadily rising cost curve.

Overall, the clampdown on Russia’s shadow fleet marks a shift from symbolic pressure to systematic disruption. As enforcement expands from financial tools to maritime routes themselves, Moscow faces a narrowing horizon, where every export, workaround, and transaction becomes harder to hide, more expensive to maintain, and less capable of sustaining the war.

European Parliament lawmakers are pushing to accelerate the EU’s ban on Russian gas imports by one year, moving the deadline from January 2028 to January 2027, Reuters reported on 25 July.

The EU vowed to reduce its dependence on Russian gas following the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The bloc cut imports by more than half since 2022 through diversification to other suppliers and increased LNG (liquefied natural gas) purchases.

The recent proposal comes from deputies representing the Parliament’s largest political group, the European People’s Party, and the Greens, who favor a tougher stance than the European Commission’s June proposal. 

Vaidere has also proposed requiring governments to impose penalties on companies that violate the ban, “potentially including by revoking licences for energy trading,” Reuters reported. Niinisto wants a full ban on Russian oil imports from January 2027, which the European Commission did not propose.

The European Parliament will vote in autumn to confirm its negotiating position with EU countries. The final measures require approval from both Parliament and a qualified majority of EU member states. It means that Hungary and Slovakia cannot block the decision despite their continued imports of Russian pipeline gas and opposition to EU-wide bans.

Under the Commission’s original proposal, the EU would begin phasing out Russian gas imports under new and short-term contracts from January 2026, with complete elimination by January 2028.

Russian gas supplied about 19% of Europe’s needs last year through the TurkStream pipeline and LNG shipments, down from roughly 45% before Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. This share is expected to fall to 13% in 2025 as the EU works to end what it calls “decades-old energy relations with Europe’s former top gas supplier.”

Tim Schramm, a 22-year-old deputy chairman of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) district association in Wuppertal, Germany, faces expulsion from the far-right party after serving as a volunteer in the Ukrainian army from March to June 2024, Welt reported on 23 July.

According to the German media, which obtained the exclusion application from the North Rhine-Westphalia regional leadership, Schramm is accused of “extremely party-damaging behavior.”

The application, authored by AfD European Parliament member Hans Neuhoff, seeks confirmation of the immediate withdrawal of Schramm’s membership rights, which the board has already decided by majority vote.

“By serving in the Ukrainian army and publicly commenting on his participation in combat operations, the respondent seriously violated the principles and order of the party, causing it significant damage,” the application reads.

Schramm told Nius portal journalists that he first visited Ukraine in 2022 when delivering humanitarian aid to the combat zone. At age 19, he attempted to join the International Legion of the Ukrainian army but was rejected. In late 2024, he tried again to join Ukrainian forces, this time “through connections,” as he explained, successfully entering the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine in a unit from Eastern Ukraine.

The young politician served as a mortar gunner and drone pilot, fighting against Russian forces.

“We shot, we were shelled, launched drones and were attacked by drones ourselves. I cannot say more for security reasons,” Schramm said.

During his frontline service, nobody from his party knew about his activities.

The regional board criticized Schramm for reporting about his mission “in a boastful manner” during interviews. T

he party maintains an “anti-interventionist line” and opposes arms deliveries to Ukraine. Leading AfD politicians “repeatedly emphasized that Germany should stay out of the Ukraine war.”

“Defending the free world alongside a European people is apparently already National Socialism for Hans Neuhoff. Neuhoff’s actions correspond to those of members of Putin’s party United Russia,” Schramm responded to accusations.

Exclusive

Russia’s last tank yards go dark as every inch in Ukraine demands more sacrifice. Russian workers are pulling the last Soviet tanks from storage yards that used to hold hundreds. The math is unsustainable.

Russia built Ukraine’s drone storm over three years — 2025 is when it finally breaks. Russia’s drone war Ukraine’s allies thought they understood is about to change entirely — and Europe is not ready for what breaks loose in 2025.

Vacancies: News reporter, Defense tech reporter, Head of SMM. Euromaidan Press is expanding and searching for professional soulmates who believe in independent journalism.

Military

Russians killed Ukrainian soldier — his comrade inscribed missile with his name and brought down Russian jet

. The missile spoke louder than grief.

“Five in one trench, while enemy storming from three sides”: Ukrainian machine gunner survives deadly battle near Pokrovsk. Roman “Peugeot” and his unit survived a Russian assault in Donetsk Oblast.

Frontline report: Russian Sumy offensive stalls after repeated counterattacks drain manpower without territorial gains. Russian forces near the frontline faced critical manpower shortages with reserves either eliminated in previous failed assaults or positioned too far away to provide timely support.

Ukrainian hero saves 1,000 vehicles under fire — and surprises Bundeswehr instructor. Awarded for courage, Andrii now flies drones into enemy trenches while his daughter waits for him to come home.

Drone attacks span 10 Russian oblasts as Azot plant targeted for second time. Russian air defense intercepted 105 drones overnight as attacks hit the Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant, which supplies materials for artillery shell production, for the 2nd time in two months.

Intelligence and technology

Russia once again finds way to evade Ukraine’s smartest defenses against its deadliest drones

. Russia has adapted again, forcing defenders into a new phase of drone warfare.

Ukraine to receive radars for Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 30 air defense gun system, which also guards Bundeswehr. The aid is a critical reinforcement as Russian missile and drone attacks hit record levels.

Ukraine’s cyber warriors crush Russian control systems in Crimea, steal 100TB of secrets. A covert cyber assault crippled occupation networks, downloaded troves of classified data, then wiped everything clean.

Zelenskyy: Ukraine has agreements on 3 Patriot systems, but needs a dozen. Germany will fund two Patriot systems and Norway will pay for a third.

Ukraine wants to sell $ 10-30 bn worth of drones to the US – Zelenskyy. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Donald Trump has agreed to purchase Ukrainian-manufactured drones through contracts potentially worth up to $30 billion, marking a shift in defense trade between the two nations.

Ukraine receives $ 399 mn radar package from German defence contractor HENSOLDT. Ukraine will receive radar systems capable of tracking 1,500 simultaneous targets across a 250-kilometre range under one of the largest single military technology orders since the war began.

International

UN sounds alarm: Nearly 70% of funding to help millions of Ukrainians is lacking. Despite escalating war and mounting civilian suffering, the UN has secured just 34% of its $2.6 billion aid target for Ukraine in 2025.

NATO’s new chief in Europe arrives in Kyiv, with frontline defense and Patriot systems in focus. NATO’s newly appointed commander in Europe, General Alexis Grinkevich, arrived in Kyiv on 25 July to meet Ukraine’s top military leadership.

Only 1 in 3 Americans back Trump’s Ukraine policy amid broader disapproval – poll shows. Support for President Trump’s handling of Ukraine has dropped to 33%, part of a broader decline that has pushed his overall approval rating to a second-term low of 37%, according to new Gallup polling data.

Polish FM Sikorski warns Zelenskyy: “Worst thing” would be abandoning anti-corruption fight. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that abandoning anti-corruption efforts would be his “worst” possible decision, as Ukraine grapples with threats to its key investigative agencies’ independence.

Zelenskyy dismisses “fake” reports of Ursula von der Leyen call over anti-corruption law. Ukrainian President denied media reports claiming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed concerns to him about legislation weakening anti-corruption agencies, calling such reports “fake” during a press meeting.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russia rains fire on Ukraine daily — even Trump’s deadline has not stopped bloodshed. “There is no safe place in Ukraine today,” the UN warned, as Russia’s relentless bombardment pushed civilian casualties to their highest in years.

Mine nearly ended Ukrainian female medic’s life, but she fought tougher war within — and chose harder fight. After the blast nearly tore her apart, Nataliia Vysotska faced a more brutal fight inside: to stay down, or rise again.

Political and legal developments

Russian provocateurs try to spark anti-Zelenskyy revolution—Ukrainian media sees through operation immediately. Real protesters demanded institutional accountability; fake ones called for regime change.

Ukraine’s Parliament sets day for consideration of Zelenskyy’s bill on independence of anti-corruption agencies. Nine days after triggering nationwide protests by subordinating Ukraine’s top anti-corruption agencies to the prosecutor general, parliament reportedly will vote on 31 July on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s bill to restore their independence

Read our earlier daily review here.

A BBC Russian investigation has documented the deaths of at least 245 eighteen-year-old Russian contract soldiers in Ukraine between April 2023 and July 2025.

This followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s repeated claims that no 18-year-olds would be sent to fight.

The deaths occurred after Russia quietly dropped restrictions in April 2023 that previously required men to complete at least three months of conscript service before signing military contracts. Now any 18-year-old who has finished school can enlist directly as a contract soldier.

The BBC investigation, part of an ongoing project using open sources to count Russia’s war dead, found that most of the 245 identified soldiers joined the armed forces voluntarily, based on published obituaries. The real numbers are likely higher since not every death is publicly reported.

Russia has avoided national mobilization by offering substantial financial incentives to volunteers, particularly attractive to those in poorer regions with limited job prospects. The military recruitment now extends directly into schools and colleges.

Since the full-scale invasion began, teachers have been legally required to hold classes about the “special military operation.” Military recruiters attend career lessons, and a new subject called “The Basics of Safety and Homeland Defence” was introduced in September 2024, teaching students to use Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades.

The investigation revealed that since the start of the full-scale invasion, at least 2,812 Russian men aged 18-20 have been killed in Ukraine. By late July, the BBC had established names of 120,343 Russian soldiers killed during the war.

Military experts estimate this represents 45-65% of actual deaths, suggesting total Russian military fatalities could range from 185,143 to 267,500.

In Ukraine, the minimum conscription age is 25, five years higher than Russia’s recruitment threshold.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on 25 July proposed “strategic cooperation” with Ukraine instead of full European Union membership, arguing that Kyiv’s EU accession would bring the war with Russia directly into Europe’s core.

The Hungarian government, widely viewed as the EU’s most pro-Russian leadership, has blocked or delayed military aid to Ukraine, maintained ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and repeatedly echoed Kremlin narratives regarding the war.

“EU membership for Ukraine would drag the war into the heart of Europe, a risk our families should not have to face,” Orban wrote on X. “These times call for calm judgement, not theatrical threats.”

The Hungarian leader outlined his country’s alternative approach as “pragmatic, flexible, and rooted in mutual interest — not irreversible integration.” This position puts Hungary at odds with 26 other EU member states, which on 26 July declared support for continued accession talks with Ukraine and agreed to consider the European Commission’s assessment that Ukraine is ready to open the “Fundamentals” cluster of negotiations.

Orban characterized Ukraine as a “buffer state” and drew parallels to Hungary’s Cold War experience.

The Hungarian government has cited domestic opposition to Ukraine’s EU membership as justification for its stance. In a national consultation announced 26 June, Budapest claimed 95% of participants rejected Kyiv’s accession. Orban publicly voted against Ukrainian membership and shared a photo of his ballot in April.

However, the poll’s credibility faced scrutiny. Opposition leader Peter Magyar dismissed the consultation as a “government propaganda campaign” and cited internal data from Magyar Posta indicating only 3-7% of mailed ballots were returned.

Telex reported that the voting system could be manipulated, with testing showing users could vote twice using different email addresses.

Ukraine applied for EU membership shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and received candidate status within months. As an EU member, Hungary holds veto power over Ukraine’s accession progress.

Earlier in July, Orban claimed that most EU countries would vote against Ukrainian membership if “national referendums” were held, similar to Hungary’s consultation. Political director and advisor to Orban, Balazs Orban, recently stated that Ukraine’s war against Russia is not fought for Hungary’s security.

Ukrainian Security Service long-range drones struck the Signal plant in Russian Stavropol on 26 July, targeting one of Russia’s largest radio electronics manufacturers, hromadske reported, citing a source in the Security Forces.

One of the strikes reportedly hit building No. 2 (workshop No. 5), where” expensive imported equipment is located — machine tools based on numerical program control,” the source told hromadske.

The second strike was recorded in building No. 1, which houses workshop No. 17 for radio electronic devices.

The Signal plant specializes in producing various types of electronic warfare systems, radar, radio navigation equipment, and remote control radio equipment for Russia’s military-industrial complex. The facility operates under international sanctions.

The targeted workshops house critical infrastructure for military production: from imported machinery with numerical program control systems to radio electronic devices essential for military communications and navigation systems.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported intercepting 54 unmanned aircraft overnight on 26 July across five oblasts, as well as over temporarily occupied Crimea and the Azov and Black Seas. By morning, Russian forces claimed to have downed six additional drones over North Ossetia and Moscow Oblast.

The attack represents a significant strike on Russia’s defense manufacturing capabilities, targeting a facility that produces electronic warfare equipment and radar systems used by Russian forces.

Elon Musk ordered the shutdown of Starlink internet coverage near Kherson during Ukraine’s counteroffensive in September 2022, disrupting military operations and preventing Ukrainian forces from surrounding Russian positions, according to three sources familiar with the command, Reuters reported on 25 July.

According to Reuters, when Ukrainian troops attempted to reclaim territory from Russian forces, Musk instructed a senior SpaceX engineer to cut service in the strategic region north of the Black Sea. The order affected at least 100 Starlink terminals and extended to other Russian-occupied areas including parts of Donetsk province.

“We have to do this,” Michael Nicolls, the Starlink engineer, told colleagues upon receiving Musk’s directive, according to one source. Company staff complied with the order, causing hexagon-shaped cells to go dark on internal coverage maps.

The shutdown created immediate battlefield consequences for Ukrainian forces. Troops faced communications blackouts, surveillance drones lost connectivity, and artillery units struggled to target Russian positions without Starlink’s guidance systems. Ukrainian military officials and advisors confirmed the service failures occurred near front lines during the counteroffensive.

“The encirclement stalled entirely,” a Ukrainian military official told Reuters. “It failed.” The source said Ukrainian forces were unable to surround Russian positions in Beryslav, east of Kherson’s administrative center, due to the communications breakdown.

Despite the setback, Ukraine’s counteroffensive ultimately succeeded in reclaiming Beryslav, Kherson city, and additional occupied territory. However, the shutdown represents the first documented instance of Musk actively cutting Starlink coverage over an active battlefield during the war.

The decision “shocked some Starlink employees and effectively reshaped the front line of the fighting, enabling Musk to take ‘the outcome of a war into his own hands,'” according to another source.

Musk’s intervention contradicts his previous public statements about Starlink operations in Ukraine. In March, he wrote on X: “We would never do such a thing.”

This incident differs from a previously reported September 2022 case near the Black Sea, where CNN reported that Musk disabled Starlink near occupied Crimean coastline to prevent Ukrainian attacks on Russian naval forces. 

Neither Musk nor Nicolls responded to Reuters requests for comment. A SpaceX spokesperson called the reporting “inaccurate” and referenced a company post stating “Starlink is fully committed to providing service to Ukraine.” The spokesperson did not specify inaccuracies or answer detailed questions about the incident.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office and the Ministry of Defence did not respond to requests for comment, according to the report.

Musk said, during a clash with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski on X, that,“No matter how much I disagree with the Ukraine policy, Starlink will never turn off its terminals.” He claimed that without it, Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse.”

Russian forces launched a massive attack on Dnipro, Sumy, and Kharkiv oblasts, injuring 14 people and killing two others, according to regional authorities.

The Russian military regularly attacks Ukrainian oblasts with various types of weapons. Russia’s leadership denies that the Russian army has been conducting targeted attacks on the civilian infrastructure of Ukrainian cities and villages, killing civilians and destroying hospitals, schools, kindergartens, energy and water supply facilities.

On the night of 26 July, the Russian forces attacked with 235 air assets (208 UAVs and 27 missiles of various types). Ukraine’s Air defence shot down 200 Russian air targtes (183 attack UAVs and 17 missiles of various types)

Russian occupying forces launched a massive combined attack on Dnipro and the oblast overnight on 26 July, killing three people and injuring six others, Dnipro Oblast Governor Serhiy Lysak said.

Air defense forces shot down seven missiles and 26 drones, according to Lysak.

The attack claimed the life of a man in Dnipro, while a woman was injured. A multi-story building sustained damage, and industrial enterprises were hit. Fires broke out across multiple locations, including a parking lot where vehicles caught fire.

The Dniprovskyi district experienced several fires, with flames engulfing a shopping center. Fires also erupted at an enterprise, and dry grass burned in various locations, according to the regional administration head.

One person died in Dniprovskyi district, while four others sustained injuries, Lysak said. Russian forces struck the Pokrovska community in Synelnykivskyi district with guided aerial bombs, causing a fire to break out.

Russian forces also hit the Pokrovska community in Nikopolskyi district with an FPV drone and attacked Marhanetska community. No casualties were reported.

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, located several tens of kilometers west of the frontline, has been under repeated Russian attacks.

Russian forces also launched a massive attack on Kharkiv and the oblast, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. The attack with two missiles, four CABs, and 15 UAVs injured six people, including three employees of the State Emergency Service and a medical worker.

The attack also damaged industrial premises, food warehouses, and a car. The total area of the fires is approximately 2,500 square meters.

The Russian army also attacked Zmiiv overnight, injuring three people, including a medical worker.

Kharkiv, Kupiansk, and Chuhuiv districts also suffered Russian attacks, which resulted in damage to private houses, outbuildings, cars, an outpatient clinic, and a gymnasium.

Russians also attacked Sumy Oblast overnight on 26 July. According to Governor Oleh Hryhorov, women aged 57 and 50 and a 55-year-old man were injured in the attack. The attack also damaged residential houses, a shop, and an internet club.

The Russian army also attacked Zaporizhzhia district. Several fires were recorded, a non-residential building was hit, Governor Fedorov said. There were no casualties reported.

Russia is wiping out Ukrainian cities daily. In the first half of 2025, 6,754 civilians in Ukraine were killed or injured, the highest number for a six-month period since 2022, Miroslav Jenča, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia, and the Americas, said.

The growing proportion of the 46-ton, three-person T-72Bs in the Russian inventory is the latest sign that Russian regiments are “de-mechanizing.” That is, evolving—or devolving—into infantry-first formations that mostly ride into battle on motorcycles or other unarmored vehicles. Or simply walk.

The ongoing de-mechanization of the Russian military doesn’t mean Russia is losing its 42-month wider war on Ukraine. It does mean the Russian military will struggle to exploit its battlefield victories against manpower-starved Ukrainian brigades. Russian infantry may find gaps in Ukrainian defenses. But there are precious few Russian armored vehicles on hand to rush through the gaps—and drive deep behind Ukrainian lines.

Open-source intelligence analyst Jompy, who scrutinizes satellite imagery to survey Russia’s once-vast vehicle storage yards, was first to notice workers fetching more rusty T-72Bs from the 1311th Central Tank Storage and Repair Base, 850 miles east of Moscow.

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As recently as a year ago, there were several hundred T-72Bs in various states of repair at the various store yards. Now the Russians are fetching them at a rate of around 20 a month, according to Jompy. “Once the few hundreds [of] T-72B hulls are gone,” the Russians will be “in real trouble with regard to their modern MBT fleet,” Jompy wrote, using the acronym for “main battle tank.”

The T-72 has the same flaws all Soviet-style tanks have: most notably, ammunition stowage under the turret that’s prone to catastrophically exploding when hit. But compared to newer Russian tank models, the T-72B’s biggest problem might be its utterly antiquated optics, which can render the crew essentially blind under battlefield conditions.

There are worse tanks in the Russian arsenal, including 1960s-vintage T-62s and T-55s from the 1950s. But the Russians have already recovered most of the older tanks that were in reasonably good condition after decades of open storage—and then upgraded them and sent them to Ukraine, where many of them suffered the same fate that thousands of Russian tanks have suffered. Blown up by mines, artillery, missiles and drones.

Begging for upgrade

An old T-72B hull can be upgraded with new optics and layers of add-on anti-drone armor, albeit with great effort. The bigger problem for the Kremlin is supply. The several hundred T-72Bs that were extant a couple of years ago, and which are currently depleting at a rate of 20 per month, represented one of the last sizable tank reserves in Russia. 

Once the reserves are finally gone—something that might happen this year—the Russian armed forces will only have as many tanks as Russian tank-makers can build new. 

The good news for the Kremlin is that, despite successive rounds of sanctions on Russia’s arms industry, the Uralvagonzavod factory just north of the 1311th Central Tank Storage and Repair Base has managed to expand production of the latest T-90M tank. 

That’s the conclusion of a recent study from the pro-Ukraine Conflict Intelligence Team. “According to our estimates, Uralvagonzavod produced 60 to 70 T-90M tanks in 2022. In 2023, amid efforts to mobilize the defense industry, output may have increased to 140 to 180 tanks, and by 2024, it may have surpassed 200 units annually, possibly approaching a production rate of 250 to 300 tanks per year.”

Three hundred tanks a year isn’t a lot of tanks, however—not for an army that’s struggling to break through along the 1,100-km front in Ukraine while also trying to preserve some mechanized forces for possible future conflicts.

More good news for the Kremlin: Ukraine’s manpower shortage is so dire—its brigades urgently need 100,000 trained infantry—that the manpower-rich Russian military can continue to advance in Ukraine without deploying a lot of tanks. 

But increasingly de-mechanized, it can’t advance fast—or at low risk to its exposed infantry.

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The world has grown accustomed to drone warfare as scattered strikes — the occasional Shahed hitting a Ukrainian city, maybe a dozen drones in a night, perhaps fifty during a major assault.

That was just the prologue.

Russia is now a step away from the capacity to launch thousands of drones simultaneously — not spread across weeks, but in a single coordinated strike that can overwhelm Ukraine’s entire air defense network.

In just three years, what began as a manageable threat has evolved into a relentless campaign that threatens to fundamentally change modern warfare.

Russia is building toward 2,000-drone simultaneous strikes

According to Christina Harward, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, Moscow now produces approximately 2,700 Shahed drones per month, alongside 2,500 decoy drones. This production capacity means Russia can already launch over 300 or even 400 drones in a single night.

Additionally, the Kremlin is actively building new facilities and will soon be capable of launching between 1,000 and 2,000 drones simultaneously. Ukraine now faces an unprecedented drone war that dwarfs anything seen in previous conflicts.

The evidence for this escalation sits in last year’s attack data. In 2024, Russia launched 11,162 long-range drones against Ukrainian cities, critical infrastructure, defense industries, and increasingly, military positions. Ukraine’s air defenses performed admirably — neutralizing 90.2% of incoming drones. However, approximately 1,100 drones still reached their targets.

The missile campaign hit even harder. Russia fired 3,063 missiles of various types throughout 2024. Of these missiles, 58.5% (1,792 missiles) successfully reached their targets.

These success rates expose critical gaps in Ukraine’s air defense network. While Ukrainian forces managed to down 67% of cruise missiles like the Kalibr Kh-555/101, and R-500, they only intercepted only:

• 33% of Zircon missiles
• 25% of the Kinzhal missiles
• 22% of all Kh-59s, Kh-35s, and Kh-31s
• 4,5% of all Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles
• 0,63% of S-300/400
• 0.55% of the Kh-22s and Kh-32s.

Each missile that gets through translates directly into destroyed infrastructure and civilian casualties, carrying a bill that stretches far beyond the initial explosion.

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The $524-billion destruction bill that will outlast the war

A United Nations Development Programme report estimates that $524 billion will be required for Ukraine’s reconstruction over the next decade — a sum that represents multiple years of the country’s pre-war GDP.

The physical destruction shows why that number is so staggering. By November 2024, Russian attacks had damaged or destroyed 236,000 residential buildings, over 4,000 educational institutions, 1,554 medical facilities, and nearly 500 large and medium-sized enterprises. Entire neighborhoods in major cities have been reduced to rubble.

Ukraine’s energy sector became a particular target. After 13 massive coordinated attacks throughout 2024, the country can only generate 15 gigawatts of power — 3-4 GW less than peak demand. That gap means millions of people lose heating during sub-zero winters, hospitals operate on backup generators, and factories shut down production lines that supply global markets.

2025 forecast: 78,000 drone strikes replacing missile terror

However, the current crisis seems to be just the warm-up for what Russia has planned for 2025.

From the beginning of the year, Russia has already launched 32 large-scale drone and missile strikes — 16 of them have already became the war’s largest. As of July 24, Russia launched more than 27,780 Shahed drones and decoys, with the monthly numbers increasing by approximately 1,000 since April.

If the monthly increase continues, Ukraine faces 78,000 drone strikes — seven times more than in 2024. That’s equivalent to about 2,800-3,000 tons of high explosives.

Russia’s missile strategy tells a different story. During the first half of 2025, Russia launched over 700 missiles at Ukraine. If the trend persists, Russia is expected to launch around 2,100 missiles in total in 2025 – compared to 3,063 last year.

The shift is strategic: while Russian missile strikes might drop by 32% compared to 2024, drone strikes are likely to increase by 700%. Russia is trading expensive, limited missiles for cheap, mass-produced drones that achieve the same destructive goals. And the strategy is working — Ukraine is presently intercepting fewer drones (85%) than last year.

Two factors explain this declining success rate: changing Russian tactics and reduced Western air defense supplies.

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Ukraine’s next challenge: 12,000 drones that can breach defenses

Russian drones now fly higher and faster, putting them out of range of Ukrainian mobile air defense groups. They feature onboard cameras and artificial intelligence, indicating a shift from autonomous navigation to potential remote control, making interception much harder. Strike packages increasingly focus on one or two cities, synchronizing massive attacks from multiple directions and altitudes to overwhelm air defenses.

Russia also deploys stealthy drones as scouts and decoys to pinpoint Ukrainian air defense positions.

Meanwhile, the inflow of air defense systems, missiles, and ammunition has been inadequate since the war began — not from lack of Western commitment, but from lack of available weapons and ammunition in the West.

The US has also paused defense aid on at least four occasions since October 2023. On 4 June, the Trump administration diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles originally meant for Ukraine to American forces in the Middle East.

Unless Ukraine’s air defense is significantly strengthened in 2025, up to 1,300 Russian missiles and 12,000 drones might breach air defenses and strike their targets.

Since Ukraine’s defense industrial base remains a primary target, continued escalation could force Ukrainian forces into supply shortages that determine the war’s outcome.

Ukraine’s three-part response: domestic production, offensive strikes, defensive networks

The only way to end the missile and drone strikes is to end the war. All other measures will at best reduce the scale and scope of the strikes — but not stop them.

Russia shows no intention of ending the war before achieving its strategic objectives. As international efforts to force Moscow’s compliance have failed, the number of Russian attacks will continue rising.

Yet, Russian missiles and drones can still be countered. Several options remain available to Ukraine — starting with going on the offensive.

As Kyiv faces growing challenges securing weapons and ammunition from its partners, the development of its own industrial base remains critical. More than 40% of the weapons used at the front line are now produced domestically, with a goal of 50% within six months. In the long term, Ukraine aims to become largely self-sufficient.

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Over 95% of its drones are Ukrainian-produced, though many are financed by international partners. Ukraine’s total drone production has increased by 900% over the past year, with monthly UAV output reaching over 200,000. In 2025, it aims to produce 4 million tactical and 30,000 long-range strike drones. Overall, its drone industry has the capacity to produce up to 10 million UAVs annually but lacks funding.

Likewise, Ukrainian cruise missile production increased by 800% in 2024. Ukraine aims to produce approximately 3,000 cruise missiles and missile drones in 2025, matching Russia’s predicted output. Ukraine will be the first European country since the Cold War to produce a conventional ballistic missile.

In this light, Ukraine will focus on targeting the Russian defense industry, command and control facilities, bases, depots, and logistical hubs — actively undercutting Russia’s ability to wage war.

But offense alone cannot stop the drone swarms. Ukraine must also strengthen its defenses, and here international support becomes crucial.

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From six Patriots to homegrown systems: Ukraine’s air defense dilemma

Supported by Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, Ukraine continues developing its missile and drone defense network. The backbone of this defense network remains long-range missile systems, particularly Patriots.

Having sustained losses, Ukraine is believed to have only six functioning Patriot batteries – two from the US, with the rest provided by the European states.

On 14 July, President Trump announced a new arrangement: Washington will sell Patriot missile defense systems and other weaponry to NATO members and its allies, who will then donate them to Ukraine. European countries have expressed willingness to purchase weapons from the US and transfer them to Ukraine.

The arrangement generates $10 billion in Foreign Military Sales for the US and insists that the Patriots must be delivered by anyone but the US. This depletes Europe’s already vulnerable air defense network at a time when war is raging on the continent.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is developing its own surface-to-air missile systems for shooting down Russian missiles. The domestically produced system aims to match Patriot capabilities while reducing dependence on US supplies.

At the same time, Kyiv is also trying to acquire other air defence systems, such as the Italian-French SAMP/T, the Norwegian NASAMS, and the German IRIS-T, to expand its air defence network.

Norway has signed an agreement to develop and deliver low-cost, high-volume air defense missiles in Ukraine. The UK has agreed to supply more than 5,000 air defense missiles from Thales. In January, Ukraine received a new container-sized air defense system called Gravehawk, jointly funded by the UK and Denmark.

But even with these systems, Ukraine faces a fundamental math problem: traditional missile-based air defenses are too expensive to use against cheap Russian drones.

The solution lies in gun-based systems. Ukraine needs more German-made Gepard anti-aircraft guns and Skynex systems. These use programmable ammunition that’s significantly cheaper than missiles and can’t be jammed by electronic countermeasures. Battlefield performance has proven their effectiveness against drones and cruise missiles.

Trump’s decision to sell weapons to Europe and Canada could accelerate the delivery of both systems and Stinger missiles to counter Russian drone attacks.

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Ukraine’s $2.8-billion bet: Drones that hunt drones

Ukraine, in the meantime, is developing its own solution: interceptor drones that hunt enemy drones in flight.

Medio May, the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported that Ukrainian forces had begun systematically downing Russian Shahed/Gerans UAVs with the help of interceptor drones. Fighters from the Darknode unit from the 412th Nemesis Regiment had successfully destroyed 100 long-range drones.

The Kyiv “Clear Sky” initiative demonstrates how this works. The program uses domestically produced interceptor drones to protect the city’s airspace, including specialized training centers and mobile rapid-response units. During its pilot phase, the project intercepted nearly 650 enemy drones with only 12 active crews — a network that has already expanded outside of Kyiv with plans to roll it out across the country.

The success of programs like Clear Sky has driven national-scale procurement. Ukraine’s Defense Procurement Agency has contracted tens of thousands of domestically produced interceptor drones worth $2.8 billion — more than a third of its total 2025 budget.

Ukraine is also purchasing interceptor drones from international partners, including a strategic agreement with the American company Swift Beat to supply hundreds of thousands of drones by the end of 2025. One of its AI-enhanced models is currently the most effective drone interceptor on the battlefield: the company’s drones have downed about 90% of all Shaheds downed by drones until now. 

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The path ahead

Ukraine faces a fast-escalating Russian strike campaign targeting its defense manufacturing — increasingly crucial as Western aid falters. Most pledged air defense systems won’t arrive until 2026-2028. Ukrainian interceptor drones remain the only immediate solution to the escalating drone war.

The stakes extend beyond military hardware. Ukraine’s resilience rests on interlinking strengths: military adaptation, economic transformation, societal unity, and institutional innovation. These pillars enabled Ukraine not just to survive, but to evolve under immense pressure. Massive Russian strikes threaten to undermine them all.

Russia’s ability to continue to escalate drone terror remains unimpeded unless the West revises its present strategy. Supported by China and Iran, Russia will scale up drone production while the weapons evolve — flying higher, faster, becoming stealthier and more resistant to electronic warfare.

It is time to take off the gloves. Ukraine needs long-range strike capability to target the Russian defense industry without restrictions. Europe must provide combat aircraft and ground-based air defense to bolster Ukraine’s network.

Most importantly, Europe must abandon wishful thinking. A coalition of like-minded countries must mobilize their own defense industries to deliver the capabilities needed to protect Europe — alongside Ukraine.

Europe’s first line of defence starts, after all, in Ukraine.

Hans Petter Midttun

Hans Petter Midttun, independent analyst on hybrid warfare, Non-Resident Fellow at the…

Editor’s note. The opinions expressed in our Opinion section belong to their authors. Euromaidan Press’ editorial team may or may not share them.

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Russia has started using a new drone tactic in Ukraine. Russian Shahed kamikaze drones have begun performing complex maneuvers mid-flight in an apparent attempt to evade Ukrainian interceptor drones, according to electronic warfare expert Serhii Beskrestnov, also known as Flash. 

“Shaheds have started executing a set of complex in-flight maneuvers aimed at reducing the effectiveness of our aerial interceptor drones,”  explains Beskrestnov. 

According to him, the Russian military has long been preparing to counter Ukrainian interceptors, and this new drone approach is only the beginning.

Ukraine prepares to strike back

Despite the new threat, the expert assures that Ukraine is actively improving its own interception technology.

“We will keep working on countering their tech with ours. You didn’t really think the enemy would abandon its most widespread weapon so easily, did you?” the expert says. 

A technological fight unfolds

Shaheds remain one of the main threats to Ukraine’s rear, making the development of interceptor drones a key component of defense. As the situation shows, the air war is entering a new phase, the one where each side upgrades its unmanned systems in real time.

Despite escalating fighting and a humanitarian catastrophe, the UN has received only 34% of the planned $2.6 billion for aid to Ukraine in 2025, reveals UN Deputy Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya, UkrInform reports. 

“Without immediate funding, even priority programs may be shut down,” she warned during a UN Security Council meeting.

The UN has already launched its 2025–2026 winter response plan, which targets the 1.7 million Ukrainians left in high-risk areas.

Nearly 50% more civilian casualties

Since the last Security Council meeting on 20 June, the humanitarian situation has significantly worsened, Msuya said. In the first half of 2025, the number of civilian casualties increased by nearly 50% compared to last year.

Currently, 13 million Ukrainians need assistance, but due to a funding shortfall, only 3.6 million have received it.

Access to Russian-occupied regions remains extremely limited, Msuya emphasized. This makes it impossible to provide basic aid to millions of civilians.

She stressed that Ukrainians cannot depend on donor fatigue or delay, urging UN member states to act without hesitation.

Earlier, Euromaidan Press reported that Ukrainians suffer from dehydration and violence in Donetsk. The city’s residents under the Russian occupation face catastrophic water shortages, with no supply to homes for up to three days at a time. 

Military expert Roman Svitan said that the Russians destroyed the Khanzhonkivske Reservoir in 2022. The pumps capable of moving millions of tons of water were completely demolished. This water sustained all of Donbas, all the way to Mariupol.

Russia is wiping out Ukrainian cities daily. In the first half of 2025, 6,754 civilians in Ukraine were killed or injured, the highest number for a six-month period since 2022, says Miroslav Jenča, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia, and the Americas, UkrInform reports.

Daily shelling of Ukrainian towns and villages with missiles and drones has only intensified, he said during a UN Security Council meeting. June saw the highest monthly civilian casualty count in three years.

In July alone, Russia launched at least 5,183 long-range munitions at Ukraine, including a record 728 drones on 9 July. Kyiv and the port city of Odesa have been hit hardest in recent weeks.

Even Ukraine’s western regions, once considered relatively safe, are no longer spared from massive aerial attacks.

According to official UN data, at least 13,580 civilians have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, including 716 children. Another 34,115 people have been injured.

“There is no safe place in Ukraine today,” said Jenča.

He stressed that international law clearly prohibits attacks on civilians and that the UN strongly condemns all such assaults.

German company Hensoldt AG says it has received an order worth € 340 million to supply Ukraine’s air defense forces with TRML-4D and SPEXER 2000 3D MkIII radar systems. These radar systems have already been in use in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

“Our high-performance radars are urgently needed by Ukrainian air defence,” says Hensoldt CEO Oliver Dörre, emphasizing that the company is proud to supply systems that are “critically important for protecting civilians.”

What is TRML-4D?

TRML-4D radars are based on advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array technology. They can simultaneously detect and track up to 1,500 targets within a radius of up to 250 km, including drones, aircraft, helicopters, and cruise missiles.

Their fast response time and ability to operate under complex conditions make TRML-4D systems essential in providing precise countermeasures against Russian aerial attacks.

SPEXER 2000 is the “eyes” of Skyranger guns

SPEXER 2000 3D MkIII systems are designed for the automatic detection and classification of ground, maritime, and low-flying aerial targets. They are integrated into the Rheinmetall Skyranger 30 air defense gun system, which provides close-range and very short-range protection.

The system is based on the wheeled armored Boxer vehicle, equipped with a combat module featuring a 30mm Swiss Oerlikon KCA gun firing 1,200 rounds per minute. Optionally, it can be fitted with a launcher for two FIM-92 Stinger or Mistral missiles, according to Militarnyi. 

The gun’s ammunition includes a wide range of shells, including airburst rounds with radio fuses. The total ammunition load consists of 252 30mm shells. The vehicle is equipped with five antennas, providing full 360-degree coverage.

It also features the Rheinmetall FIRST passive target acquisition system, which excels at detecting small targets. Since it emits no radar signal, the system can operate without being detected by enemy electronic intelligence.

The system is a part of Germany’s NNbS program, a new short-range air defense “umbrella” for the Bundeswehr, meaning Ukraine is receiving the best from NATO’s arsenal.

On 25 July, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi met with the newly appointed Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Alexis Grinkevich, in Kyiv. 

Major General Andrii Hnatov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Curtis Buzzard, Head of NATO’s Security Assistance Mission, also joined the comprehensive discussion. 

Russia throws everything it has, but Ukraine braces for the counterstrike

During the talks, Syrskyi emphasized that Russia has already mobilized the maximum of its human and material resources in an attempt to break through. However, despite the pressure, Ukraine retains conventional capabilities to destroy offensive groupings.

“Our allies fully understand the scale and complexity of the tasks facing the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” he said.

Patriots incoming: NATO sends weapons — Europe pays

The parties discussed the expedited transfer of new air defense systems purchased for Ukraine by European allies.

“We are grateful to President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for the swift delivery of these systems. They are already on their way,” Syrskyi stressed.

The systems in question are Patriots, a key Ukrainian defense against ballistic missile strikes. As of now, Kyiv has eight batteries, six of which were operational in May. The new deliveries could increase the total to 13.

The deliveries were announced by US President Donald Trump after Russia began launching massive attacks on Ukraine, right after any conversations he or US representatives had with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.

Trump also revealed a new aid model: the US will produce weapons for NATO and Ukraine, while European partners will foot the bill. Ukraine will receive modern missiles and military equipment, critically needed at this stage of the war.

Ukrainian military intelligence cyber specialists have carried out a powerful operation against Russian authorities in occupied Crimea. According to RBC-Ukraine’s intelligence sources, the cyberattack lasted several days and paralyzed the entire digital infrastructure of the occupation administration.

It began with a powerful DDoS assault that took down the occupiers’ government services. While panic spread in Crimea and technicians scrambled to identify the source of the outage, Ukrainian hackers had already infiltrated the electronic accounts of the so-called “authorities.” And that was just the beginning.

100 terabytes stolen, systems destroyed

The Ukrainian Defence Intelligence has gained access to the occupiers’ key digital systems:

•  DIALOG,
• SED,
• Delo,
• accounting systems including 1C:Document Management”, Directum, and ATLAS.

In just two days, over 100 terabytes of classified information were downloaded. Among the documents were files marked as top secret, including data on military facilities and logistics for supplying Russian troops.

After completing the operation, HUR specialists destroyed all the occupiers’ administrative servers, at both regional and district levels. These structures have effectively lost access to their documents, databases, and internal communications.

Panic in Moscow, chaos in Crimea

“So much data was extracted that we’ll soon uncover plenty of sensational details about Russian crimes in Crimea. Special thanks for the assistance goes to the deputy minister of health of the occupation government, Anton Lyaskovsky,” an intelligence source told RBC-Ukraine with irony.

Moscow has already labeled the operation as “elements of hybrid warfare.” Meanwhile, the so-called “Ministry of Internal Policy” of Crimea has admitted that some services remain offline. However, the true scale of the destruction is only beginning to come to light.

She returned to the hell of war, haunted by the life she couldn’t save. A vehicle of the chief military nurse of the Ukrainian 95th Air Assault Brigade’s medical company, Nataliia Vysotska, was hit on a mine, while evacuating a wounded soldier from the front line. 

Only two of the four crew members survived in the blast. Nataliia suffered severe injuries: fractures to her pelvis, leg, and spine. She was classified with a second-degree disability. However, she went back to the front.

“I still remember—we didn’t make it to that wounded soldier… Every mission is a trial,” Nataliia recalls.

Return as a challenge of fate

It wasn’t her first wound. In 2022, she had already sustained shrapnel injuries to her stomach and leg during a shelling, and quickly returned to duty. But the mine explosion proved especially devastating, physically and emotionally. Treatment, rehabilitation, the loss of comrades, and the feeling of unfinished duty. Through it all, one thought kept her going: to return.

“At war, there’s no time to recover after losing a brother-in-arms… You must hold yourself together to remain a professional,” she says.

Unbroken spirit

Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has awarded Nataliia Vysotska the Order of Princess Olga, 3rd Class, an honor recognizing strength, resilience, motivation, and loyalty. But for her, the most important thing is being by her comrades’ side.

“Maybe life has more trials ahead, but I’ll stay as long as I can be of use… When our team manages to save a soldier’s life, that’s what matters. That’s our victory!” she adds.

Earlier, the Ukrainian forces reported that a hundred women who served prison sentences had already joined the ranks of the army. They now fight alongside men, both on the frontlines and in communications, logistics, and medical units. Upon completion of their military service, the court will reconsider their case, and the service may be taken into account as a mitigating factor during sentencing.

Masked men appeared at anti-corruption demonstrations in Kyiv Thursday evening, carrying inflammatory signs targeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally—exactly 24 hours after Ukrainian intelligence warned that Russia would deploy provocateurs to exploit the crisis.

The timing wasn’t coincidental. Defense Intelligence had warned Wednesday that “Kremlin agents are actively studying the internal situation” to weaponize protests against the law that subordinates Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

When the real protesters left, others appeared

The incident unfolded around evening as legitimate demonstrators wrapped up their third day of protests against Law No. 12414. What happened next looked like textbook destabilization.

Masked individuals emerged with signs reading “Ukraine is not Kvartal! Ukrainians are not slaves!” “Killers of democracy traitors of Ukraine,” and “Heroes are dying for Ukraine and these two are destroying it!”—directly targeting Zelenskyy and his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, according to footage captured by a Euromaidan Press correspondent.

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Legitimate protesters had focused on defending institutions: “Hands off NABU and SAP!” and “The lost generation wants democracy.” These newcomers turned it into a vitriolic attack on the country’s leadership.

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The power concentration driving protest anger

Why target Zelenskyy and Yermak specifically? The anti-corruption law represents broader concerns about power centralization during wartime.

When investigators began targeting Zelenskyy’s closest associates—including Oleksiy Chernyshov, the only Cabinet minister invited to Zelenskyy’s COVID birthday party, and business partner Tymur Mindych from Kvartal 95—the response was to subordinate the investigators rather than allow the process to continue.

The law effectively places NABU and SAPO under the Prosecutor General’s control, ending a decade of institutional independence. The protesters aren’t calling for Zelenskyy’s removal—they want the law repealed while maintaining effective war leadership. Most Ukrainians still oppose holding elections while fighting Russia. Their primary concern remains winning the war.

That’s precisely what makes this moment valuable to Moscow. The Kremlin hopes to exploit these real institutional tensions to destabilize Zelenskyy’s government entirely.

Explore further

Explained: why Ukraine nuked its own anti-corruption agencies

Surgical timing raises questions

Witness Mladena Kachurets documented the evening’s events. The suspicious activity began about 10 minutes before an air raid alert—perfect timing for dramatic effect.

“Masked individuals gathered the remaining protesters around them and delivered some kind of recorded speech,” she wrote. Multiple distractions played out simultaneously. While media focused on MP Maryana Bezuhla giving comments, “behind her was a verbal altercation between two young men, drawing part of the attention away.”

Then came the crescendo. When the air raid alert sounded, “the masked individuals demonstratively lit flares—an impressive picture, you’ll agree.”

Classic Russian influence operation

The provocateurs’ work didn’t end with the flares. Multiple Russian media outlets, starting from TASS, quickly fabricated coverage, with headlines like “Protesters in Kyiv called Zelenskyy and Yermak ‘traitors of Ukraine'” appearing the next day.

“They unfurled posters with images of Zelenskyy and Yermak, accompanied by inscriptions: ‘Killers of democracy – traitors of Ukraine’ and ‘Dictators.’ The posters also indicated that ‘these two’ are destroying the country, and ‘Ukrainians are not slaves,’” TASS reported on the provocateurs.

They cited Strana.ua, a pro-Russian media outlet that Ukraine sanctioned in 2021, as their source without providing actual links to any such article. Strana indeed reported on the event, on their Telegram channel, using a video by UNIAN with a comment presenting this as legitimate sentiments of the protesters.

The catch is that Ukrainian media, sensing Russian hybrid warfare operations from a mile away, either did not report on the men or reported them as provocateurs. Even the opposition 5 Kanal tweeted the video with a comment “provocative action” and followed up with a comment from the organizers that dismissed the burned Yermak and Zelenskyy portraits as a “provocation.”

The UNIAN video that Strana.ua shared the video with this comment: “At a protest in Kyiv, a group of planted provocateurs are lighting flares to the sound of air raid sirens. It looks like these uninvited guests are clearly and openly staging a photo op. Makes you wonder who needs this footage besides Russian propaganda—and who’s pulling the strings?”

What unraveled in the backyard of the President’s Office in Kyiv on 24 July was a classic Russian influence operation. Its aim was to fabricate a virtual reality inside the heads of Russians to validate the propaganda narratives driving Russia’s war—that Ukrainians want this, because they don’t support Zelenskyy anyway.

The inflammatory signs calling Zelenskyy a “dictator” and “traitor” now circulate in Russian information space—manufacturing evidence that Ukraine is fragmenting internally to validate Moscow’s narrative that its invasion “liberates” Ukrainians from their government.

We’ve seen multiple examples of how these operations work in the Surkov Leaks, a collection of Vladimir Putin’s gray cardinal Vladislav Surkov, who worked to destabilize Ukraine from within after the Euromaidan revolution with hybrid warfare means. So far, it appears that the operation has influenced solely Russians, as the incendiary narrative of “down with the dictators” proved too radical for Ukrainians.

But that doesn’t mean that the Kremlin won’t keep trying and finding other ways to mess with the minds of Ukrainians—and anybody else gullible enough to fall for the Kremlin’s information warfare.

Explore further

What Surkov’s hacked emails tell about Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine

What happens next?

But here’s what actually happened to the supposed “dictator”: within three days of signing the controversial law, Zelenskyy submitted corrective legislation under intense public pressure.

“We heard the street,” he admitted, promising new legislation to restore anti-corruption agency independence. Parliament has scheduled July 31 to vote on the bill—though passage isn’t guaranteed.

Protesters haven’t declared victory yet. They’ve vowed to keep demonstrating until the corrective law actually passes and institutional independence is genuinely restored. The danger to democratic institutions was real, and vigilance remains essential.

But that’s precisely the point. The provocateur operation aimed to show Russians that Ukrainians reject their leadership and welcome “liberation.” Instead, it captured something different: a democracy under stress but still functioning. Public pressure forced a presidential retreat. Protests work. Institutions push back. Citizens stay engaged.

Ukraine’s democracy is imperfect and fragile—but it’s alive. The operation succeeded only in Russian information space, manufacturing the illusion of internal collapse for domestic consumption while the real Ukraine continued the messy, contentious work of democratic governance.

In 2023, a Ukrainian officer named Volodymyr shot down a Russian Su-24MR aircraft with a missile bearing the inscription: “For Artur Batiyi. A true Cossack.” It was an act of revenge for his friend, killed in a Russian assault, the Operational Command West reports. 

“This was for you, and I hope you saw it,” the soldier recalls the successful strike.

His crew has destroyed over 30 targets, such as jets, a helicopter, a cruise missile, and drones.

But the most unforgettable shot was that one in March 2023.

“That day, I received the devastating news that my friend Artur Batiy had been killed… He died in an enemy mortar attack,” the air defense officer says.

Before the mission, he signed the missile and set out on the hunt with his unit.

“After we hit the target, I looked to the sky, and my first thought was, ‘I did everything I could. That was for you, and I hope you saw it,” he adds. 

From student to hero of the sky

Before the war, Volodymyr was a student who dreamed of military service. In 2014, when his family fled occupied Donetsk, he joined the army.

Since 2020, he’s been an officer in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. His first shootdown happened at 5:30 a.m. on 24 February 2022.

“The sky turned red. The enemy was everywhere. But there was no fear, only focus,” Volodymyr says. 

Dreams of Crimea

For his heroism, Volodymyr has been awarded the Orders For Courage of II and III class, the Medal For Military Service to Ukraine, and a badge For the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft.

His dream after victory is to visit Crimea, where he once walked with his parents “to feel that we endured and reclaimed what’s ours.”

One-third of Americans approve of President Donald Trump’s handling of the situation in Ukraine, according to a new Gallup poll that shows declining support for the president’s foreign policy approach six months into his second term.

Since his inauguration in January 2025, President Trump has pursued ending the Russia-Ukraine war by engaging in direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, seeking a ceasefire, and pressuring Ukraine to agree to terms. Trump also paused some military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine in March 2025.

Despite initial confrontations with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and criticism for sidelining Ukraine in talks, Trump later announced renewed weapons support and coordinated arms deliveries through NATO. He also claimed to impose potential sanctions on Russia if a settlement is not reached quickly.

The poll, conducted 7-21 July, found that 33% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of Ukraine, representing an eight-point decline from earlier measurements this year.

The survey began days after Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on 4 July, which addressed “tax cuts for individuals and corporations and increased spending for border security, defense and energy production.”

Trump’s overall job approval rating has fallen to 37%, “the lowest of this term and just slightly higher than his all-time worst rating of 34% at the end of his first term,” Gallup reports. The president’s rating “has fallen 10 percentage points among US adults since he began his second term in January, including a 17-point decline among independents, to 29%.”

On Ukraine specifically, partisan divisions remain stark. Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the situation at 70% – the lowest rating he receives from his party on foreign policy issues.

“Aside from the situation in Ukraine, his ratings on the other issues range from 81% to 88% within his party,” according to Gallup.

Democrats give Trump his highest marks on Ukraine compared to other issues, with 12% approval. 

Among independents, no more than 36% approve of Trump’s performance on any measured issue. Ukraine ranks among the lower-rated issues for this group, though Gallup did not specify the exact percentage.

The survey shows Trump “earns the highest marks for his handling of the situation with Iran (42%) and foreign affairs (41%).” His approval ratings on other issues include immigration at 38%, the economy at 37%, and the federal budget at 29%.

Gallup reported that “apart from the situation with Iran, which was not previously measured in Trump’s second term, ratings on each of the issues are lower now than earlier this year.” The poll included approximately 750 respondents.

Ukraine has secured commitments for three Patriot air defense systems but requires 10 to adequately protect its airspace, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a meeting with journalists on 24 July

“Officially I received confirmation from Germany for two systems, Norway — one. Now we are working with Dutch partners,” Zelenskyy said, according to hromadske.

The announcement comes after German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius recently reported that Germany and the United States had agreed to transfer five additional Patriot systems to Ukraine.

According to Telegraph, Germany will provide funding for two systems under these arrangements, while Norway has promised to pay for the third. The replacement systems are expected to come through orders once promised to Switzerland.

Telegraph reported that one Patriot system and a batch of PAC-3 interceptor missiles have already arrived in Ukraine, though Ukrainian authorities have not officially confirmed this delivery.

Zelenskyy revealed Ukraine’s broader air defense requirements during the briefing.

“We are now working with partners to secure these 10. We are working on the missile issue, we have missiles. We are still fighting for a production license. It’s important that a production facility is appearing in Germany. Not yet with us, but with Europeans with whom we have good relations,” he said.

The Patriot commitments are part of expanding defense cooperation between Ukraine and its allies. Zelenskyy announced on 24 July that the United States had agreed to purchase Ukrainian-made drones, with potential contracts worth $10-30 billion under discussion.

“I really want America to help us protect our sky. This is very important,” Zelenskyy said, linking the drone deal to Ukraine’s air defense needs.

The systems are urgently needed to counter Moscow’s escalating long-range strikes. The US has already sent three systems and is involved in ongoing discussions to provide up to 17 systems in total.

Ukraine’s parliament will convene on 31 July to review President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s draft law 13533, which promises to restore independence to the country’s anti-corruption agencies, according to parliamentary speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk.

The speaker said that he would propose adopting the bill immediately as a basis and in full, while supporting its urgent signing. Beyond Zelenskyy’s anti-corruption measure, parliament will also consider other “important legislative initiatives,” Stefanchuk added.

The session will come nine days after parliament passed law №12414 on 22 July, which amended the Criminal Procedure Code to make NABU and the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office dependent on decisions by the prosecutor general. Zelenskyy signed the document the same evening.

The 22 July law triggered protest actions across multiple Ukrainian cities. Amid the protests, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the heads of law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies, including the Prosecutor General.

 Zelenskyy announced later he submitted the new draft law to parliament, stating it would ensure “strength for the law enforcement system” and preserve “all norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions.”

The National Anti-corruption Bureau confirmed that Zelenskyy’s bill would restore all powers and independence guarantees for NABU and SAPO that were affected by the earlier legislation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on 24 July that the United States has agreed to purchase Ukrainian-made drones, with potential contracts worth $10-30 billion under discussion.

“We have an agreement with America, with President Trump, that they will buy drones from us,” Zelenskyy told journalists during a briefing. “I have set the task for Umerov, Shmyhal and Kamyshin. They will deal with this. It is very important to prepare this contract for 10-20-30 billion dollars.”

The president has tasked National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, and presidential advisor on strategic issues Oleksandr Kamyshin with preparing the contracts.

Zelenskyy first disclosed American interest in Ukrainian drone technology on 16 July, when he revealed discussions with President Trump about bilateral defense procurement.

“There are many drones that only we have. We are discussing this with President Trump. I told him that I really want to buy things from you that only you have. He told me that America wants to buy Ukrainian drones,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Newsmax correspondent Shelby Wilder in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian leader framed the potential deal as part of broader defense cooperation, emphasizing Ukraine’s need for American Patriot air defense systems.

“I really want America to help us protect our sky. This is very important,” Zelenskyy said during the 16 July interview.

Ukraine urgently needs these systems to counter Moscow’s escalating long-range strikes. The US along with Germany has agreed to deliver five Patriot systems, with Germany, Norway, and other allies financing and facilitating the deliveries. The US has already sent three systems and is involved in ongoing discussions to provide up to 17 in total.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy not to abandon the fight against corruption amid ongoing concerns over the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, Poland’s Foreign Ministry reported on 24 July

“We conveyed to President Zelensky that the worst thing he could do now is turn away from the fight against corruption. Ukrainians are fighting for an honest, European state,“ Sikorski said, according to the Polish Foreign Ministry.

The ministry did not specify when or how this message was conveyed to the Ukrainian president.

The Polish announcement comes against the backdrop of legislative changes that threatened to make the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) – the main anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine – dependent on the prosecutor general.

On 24 July, Zelenskyy submitted a bill to parliament containing provisions to ensure NABU and SAP independence. This move followed mass protest actions – the first since Russia’s full-scale invasion began – and extensive criticism from Ukraine’s Western partners, who warned of risks to European integration and financial support.

In response to the backlash, Zelenskyy, together with law enforcement agencies, has already prepared and submitted a new bill on “strengthening the independence of anti-corruption agencies.”

The legislative changes followed extensive searches of NABU and SAPO employees.

Roman, also known as Peugeot, a fighter from the machine gun company of Ukraine’s 21st National Guard Brigade, lived through a brutal ambush on the Pokrovsk front in Donetsk Oblast. His group had almost no ammunition while Russian forces stormed them from three directions.

From Sevastopol to the front

Roman completed his mandatory military service in Sevastopol. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he didn’t hesitate to enlist.

“Started from our city, then we went to the Kherson and Donetsk fronts. Got around a bit,” he recalls.

He was stationed across from the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant when it was blown up.

“A wasteland appeared there… just islands left. A massive catastrophe,” he says. 

The destruction exposed lake bed sediment containing more than 90,000 tons of dangerous heavy metals, a toxic cocktail that had been quietly accumulating on the reservoir floor since 1956.

Drone strike, buried comrades, and a fight for survival

On 26 March, Roman’s armored vehicle was hit by a Russian FPV drone on the Pokrovsk axis.

“We had to abandon the vehicle and walk,” he continues. 

Later, he was assigned to reach a buried position and dig out comrades trapped under debris.
Under shelling, five soldiers hid in a single trench. 

“The enemy was trying to storm from three sides. That’s when drone operators saved our lives,” Roman says. 

The UAVs struck back at the enemy, giving the fighters a chance to survive.

“Almost no ammo left”: when the sky saves the ground

In the woods, eight Russian soldiers encountered Roman’s five-man group. The Ukrainian defenders were left with “only two magazines for five of us.”

However, drone operators not only repelled the attack but also dropped extra ammunition. Despite heavy fire, the group crossed 13 kilometers of open terrain and made it out alive.

“I can say with confidence — I eliminated the enemy and sent several more to ‘the 300s’,” Roman adds.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin told US President Donald Trump that Moscow plans to escalate military operations in eastern Ukraine during its summer offensive.

As of now, Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, including most of Luhansk Oblast, two-thirds of Donetsk Oblast, and parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts. 

Day 1247

On 24 July, there is a lot of news from the Sumy direction.

Here, after Russian commanders forced their soldiers into a bloodbath in the fields, the result of a larger Ukrainian strategy in play began to bear its fruits. With fresh reserves stationed too far from the frontline to reinforce, Ukrainians executed a beautiful pincer maneuver that pushed Russians back from yet another settlement, as the Russian Sumy offensive seems to have reached a complete stall.

As you remember from a previous report, after weakening Russian positions through precise airstrikes, Ukrainian forces launched successful multi-directional counterattacks, prominently retaking Andriivka in a swift maneuver. The goal behind Ukraine’s push is clear: disrupt Russia’s forward momentum, slow down their offensive, and exploit the resulting vulnerabilities. By preserving their combat power for only surgical strikes and inflicting maximum damage on Russian units, Ukrainian commanders are carefully taking the initiative and systematically weakening enemy forces.

Determined to regain the initiative themselves, Russian commanders immediately ordered repeated counterattacks to recapture Andriivka. However, evidently based on faulty intelligence, Russian troops appeared unaware that Ukrainian forces had already fully secured the settlement, mistakenly expecting to meet and support Russian forces on the ground. As a result, these Russian assaults quickly devolved into catastrophic failures.

Geolocated footage revealed fields surrounding Andriivka littered with Russian casualties and burning motorcycles, clear evidence of the heavy price paid for their reckless and misguided attacks. Not only did these fruitless assaults drain Russian manpower, but they also achieved no real gains, compounding Russia’s operational predicament.

Russian difficulties intensified further amidst the ongoing Ukrainian strike campaign targeting rear-area troop concentrations, command posts, and logistical hubs. These strikes not only inflicted substantial casualties on Russian forces but also forced Russian commanders to position their reserve forces further from the immediate area of operations. However, with these reserves stationed away from watchful Ukrainian drone reconnaissance, Russian forces are also unable to respond swiftly to rapidly unfolding events on the frontline, playing right in the hands of Ukrainian commanders. Following the devastating losses and bloodbath in the fields around Andriivka, Russian units near the frontline faced a critical manpower shortage, and lacked immediate reinforcements to stabilize their weakening positions.

Recognizing this window of opportunity and the vulnerability of the Russians, Ukrainian forces acted decisively. With Russian reserves either dead in the fields or stationed too far to provide timely reinforcements, Ukraine pressed its advantage, launching coordinated air, drone, and HIMARS missile strikes against known Russian troop concentrations in Kindrativka. Ukrainian drones methodically hunted down and eliminated Russian infantry clusters, while precise HIMARS strikes obliterated remaining fortifications and munitions stores with devastating effect. Airstrikes with AASM Hammer bombs ensured no immediate reinforcements could move forward safely, effectively neutralizing major resistance within Kindrativka itself and limiting the possibility of surviving Russian troops finding cover within the ruins.

With organized resistance in Kindrativka decisively broken, Ukrainian commanders rapidly executed a lightning assault to retake the town. Swiftly deploying units to sever Russian reinforcement routes in a pincer maneuver, Ukrainian forces prevented any additional enemy units from reaching Kindrativka and helping the entrenched but scattered Russian soldiers holed up in the town. Simultaneously, Ukrainian assault teams penetrated the settlement, systematically sweeping through houses and basements, clearing the area of remaining Russian holdouts. Within hours, Ukrainian troops secured Kindrativka, facing minimal opposition and establishing full control over the strategically significant village.

Overall, the recapture of Kindrativka represents an important milestone in Ukraine’s wider strategy to halt the Russian offensive into the Sumy region. By reclaiming this key border settlement, Ukraine significantly disrupted Russian logistics and troop rotations, effectively sabotaging Russia’s goal of establishing drone and artillery fire control over the regional capital, Sumy. By exploiting Russian vulnerabilities created by previous strikes, Ukraine has carefully engineered tactical breakthroughs, forcing Russia into unsustainable losses and operational confusion. The strategic success in Kindrativka showcases Ukraine’s ability to leverage precision firepower and agile maneuver warfare, systematically dismantling Russian advances while creating opportunities for further counteroffensive actions.

He could leave the war, but he refused. Ukrainian soldier Andrii, 24, from Poltava, is a father of three and a fighter in the drone battalion of Ukraine’s 128th Mountain Assault Brigade. He has pulled over a thousand vehicles off the battlefield: tanks, BMPs, APCs, self-propelled guns, and trucks during his service in the army.

“I’m staying here because I don’t want the Russians to reach my home,” says Andrii, explaining his motivation. 

Andrii’s journey began as a conscript and led him to become an FPV drone operator. Initially, he served as a mechanic-driver of a BREM-1 evacuation vehicle, working right on the front lines, under shelling and rain, just 250 meters from the enemy.

“When my comrades jumped off the armor to hook up a vehicle, artillery hit us. One was killed. I survived because I was behind the controls,” he recalls.

“You’re the first I’ve ever allowed to use 4th gear”

For his exceptional courage, Andrii was awarded the Order “For Courage,” 3rd class. Recognized as one of the top mechanics in the Armed Forces, he was sent to Germany to train on the German Bergerpanzer-2 armored recovery vehicle, based on the Leopard tank.

The German instructor was stunned by how experienced and skillful the young Ukrainian soldier was.

“You’re an excellent mechanic-driver. I’ve never let anyone use 4th gear on this vehicle — you’re the first,” he says. 

It was a moment where Ukrainian bravery and mechanical precision earned deep trust across allied lines.

The enemy sees him only in their final moments

Today, Andrii operates a fiber-optic FPV drone, navigating into enemy dugouts and capturing every detail. He was trained by Officer Andrii Zadorozhnyi, a hero who was killed in April.

His wife and children wait for him at home. His daughter often calls him right at the front line.

“Ah, you’re in a trench again! When are you coming home?” she asks. 

But Andrii answers firmly, “My home is just 200 kilometers from the enemy. I’m doing what I have to do.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected media reports about his conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen regarding a law that limits the independence of anti-corruption agencies.

“I have not spoken with Ursula von der Leyen in recent days. Everything that was written about this, everything she supposedly told me, is fake. We did not have a conversation,” Zelenskyy announced during a meeting with journalists attended by Hromadske.

On 23 July, multiple media outlets cited European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier, reporting that von der Leyen expressed concern to Zelenskyy about signing legislation that restricts the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). According to the spokesperson, the European Commission was “very concerned” about the law’s adoption.

The controversy stems from Zelenskyy’s decision on the evening of 22 July to sign legislation limiting NABU and SAPO’s independence. MP Anastasiia Radina said amendments were added that “make SAPO a decorative institution and provide for complete subordination of NABU and SAPO activities to the will of the prosecutor general.”

The presidential decision triggered mass protests in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Demonstrators chanted “Veto the law,” “Return Europe,” and “Shame.”

In response to the backlash, Zelenskyy, together with law enforcement agencies, has already prepared and submitted a new bill on “strengthening the independence of anti-corruption agencies.”

The legislative changes followed extensive searches of NABU and SAPO employees. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Office of the Prosecutor General announced they had uncovered Russian influence on NABU. Individual Bureau employees face charges including treason, illegal trade with Russia, and corrupt actions in the interests of oligarchs.

Zelenskyy maintains that “criminal proceedings should not last for years without legal verdicts,” apparently referring to accusations of NABU’s “ineffective work.” SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk said that the anti-corruption bureau “needs to be cleansed of Russian intelligence influence.”

NABU emphasizes that even if individual employees’ guilt is proven, this does not justify eliminating the independence of anti-corruption agencies.

The NABU and SAPO developments have drawn attention from Ukraine’s international partners. Over recent days, several politicians have appealed to Zelenskyy and Ukrainian authorities with public calls or personal communications, emphasizing the need to preserve anti-corruption institutions.

Exclusive

Ukraine’s black stealth drone just flew deep into Russia—again. Ukraine has a jet-propelled stealth attack drone. We’ve just spotted the mysterious UAV for the second time since 2024.

Explained: why Ukraine nuked its own anti-corruption agencies. It took ten years to build them. It took one hour in parliament to bring them down.

Military

From Finnish forests to Ukraine’s frontline: Volunteer Tapani joins International Legion to protect Europe’s future from war. Tapani left his quiet life to fight in Kharkiv, warning the war could reach Europe within five years.

Ukraine hits Sochi — oil depot burns, flights grounded in Russia’s top Black Sea resort. A Ukrainian drone strike hit a Lukoil fuel depot near Sochi, igniting a fire and halting air traffic across Russia’s southern resort hub.

Last of Ukrainian defenders behind legendary “Russian warship, go f*ck yourself” phrase, returns from captivity

. Vitalii Hyrenko was released after three years in a Russian prison.

21-year-old Ukrainian adopted by Italian family dies fighting Russia. A Ukrainian man who spent nearly a decade in an Italian adoptive family has been killed fighting Russian forces after traveling to Ukraine to find his brother.

Intelligence and technology

Russia tests new UMPB-5 guided bomb on Kharkiv civilians day after Ukraine’s ceasefire proposal. Moscow unleashed a 250-kg bomb after ceasefire talks.

Ukraine to get 5 Patriots and 220,000 Gepard shells. Is that enough to stop Russian drone swarms?. Ukraine’s interceptors are scarce and expensive. Russia’s drones are cheap and relentless.

China secretly supplies Russia with drone engines disguised as refrigeration equipment. To bypass Western sanctions, Chinese companies are funneling critical drone engines to Russia under the guise of industrial cooling units. Meanwhile, civilian death rate is increasing month by month in Ukraine.

Estonia says Russia is moving electronic warfare systems closer to NATO borders. Russian military forces have positioned additional electronic warfare systems within 20 kilometers of Estonia’s border, Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro said, as Moscow expands GPS jamming operations across the Baltic region.

India helps Russia to increase Ukrainian civilian death rate with octogen explosives exports worth $1,5 million

. Octogen exports from Telangana-based Ideal Detonators empower Russia’s arsenal, as Ukraine suffers record casualties during the last months.

Ukraine rolls out domestic RPG-7 simulators to train soldiers for tank-killing precision. Troops now train with realistic laser-guided systems that mimic combat against armored targets.

As Putin vows summer escalation, Berlin says Kyiv will soon gain secret tools to “affect Russian territory”. Kyiv to receive undisclosed systems from Germany capable of reaching Russian targets, as Moscow ramps up civilian terror.

US approves sale of two military aid packages to Ukraine worth $ 322 mn. Ukraine secured approval to buy $172 million in HAWK Phase III missile system components and $150 million in Bradley infantry fighting vehicle support through two separate Pentagon-announced packages.

International

EU praises Kyiv’s response to anti-corruption law rallies but underscores need for reforms to keep integration hopes alive. In the wake of nationwide protests, Brussels embraces Ukraine’s commitment to address the issue, while demanding transparency in reforms.

EU had a secret plan to bypass Orbán. Zelenskyy blew it up instead.. Brussels had quietly crafted an extraordinary workaround to Hungary’s obstruction before Ukraine imploded its own chances.

EU Officials demand Ukraine explain controversial anti-corruption law weakening NABU, SAPO

. European Parliament members raised concerns over Ukraine’s adoption of the controversial anti-corruption law and warned that the legislation threatens both EU financial assistance and the country’s accession prospects, with one deputy calling it “a clear breach of trust.”

Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul for the third time—and agreed on one thing: swapping POWs. The latest round of closed-door talks in Türkiye lasted under an hour and focused on returning captured soldiers and civilians.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russia doesn’t want peace, says Zelenskyy after Moscow ruins iconic Odesa market, despite peace proposition in Turkiye. The historic Pryvoz, once alive with jokes and bargaining, is torn by Russian drones, as Putin answers diplomacy with terror.

Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna suffered neck injuries, fractures in Russian captivity – new autopsy. Ukraine discovered new evidence of torture in the death of journalist Victoria Roshchyna, with a recent forensic examination revealing neck trauma and bone fractures not identified in previous reports.

Russia uses thirst as tool of genocide against civilians in occupied Donetsk, says expert. Civilians survive up to 72 hours without water as Russian forces build military hubs atop the ruins of Ukrainian infrastructure.

Russia’s warplanes just bombed central Kharkiv—a baby is among the wounded. Two Russian glide bombs hit Kharkiv, injuring 33 people — including a baby, a 10-year-old girl, and a teenage boy with head wounds.

Russia bombs Odesa’s UNESCO district, injures child with cluster missiles in Cherkasy

. Russia launched 103 drones and four missiles overnight, hitting Odesa’s historic center and striking Cherkasy with cluster munitions that injured seven, including a child.

Political and legal developments

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies approve Zelenskyy’s new bill to restore their independence amid mass protests. NABU and SAPO say the president’s urgent legislation fully reinstates their power, signaling a possible end to the weeklong crisis over Ukraine’s reform path.

Russian-run EasyStaff funnels €50 million through Lithuania, dodging SWIFT sanctions. On paper, it’s a freelancing service.

Zelenskyy backs new anti-corruption bill amid protests and a Russian spy scandal. As public pressure mounted, Zelenskyy reversed course on a law critics say undermined Ukraine’s anti-corruption system.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Ten Russian oblasts came under drone attacks overnight against 25 July, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense and Russian Telegram channels.

Russian air defense intercepted 105 unmanned aerial vehicles, the ministry reported. Over 20 drones were destroyed above Belgorod, Bryansk and Rostov oblasts each. The remaining drones were shot down over the Sea of Azov waters, Krasnodar and Stavropol oblasts, and Kursk, Tambov, Voronezh and Oryol regions.

Nevinnomyssk mayor Mikhail Minenkov said about “37 arrivals” in the Stavropol Oblast city. The attacks allegedly passed without casualties or destruction, according to the mayor.

The Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant came under attack, reports Astra resource. Local residents reported the attack on the facility overnight, and eyewitness footage documented the strikes, according to Astra.

The city mayor later showed the plant territory from a distance on video and praised the “plant workers,” indirectly confirming that the enterprise was the target of the attacks. 

The chemical plant has been struck for the second time in two months. On 14 June, a 13-drone attack on the Nevinnomyssk Azot facility knocked out doors, windows and premises of one of the workshops. The plant’s cafeteria roof and anti-drone protection were also damaged. Some 800 chemical plant employees waited out the attack in a bomb shelter, with no evacuation conducted. The enterprise had to suspend operations.

Reuters reported that two EuroChem plants – Nevinnomyssk Nitrogen Plant and Novomoskovsky Azot – shipped at least 38,000 tons of acetic acid and nearly 5,000 tons of nitric acid to the Sverdlov plant in Dzerzhinsk, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, from 2022 to 2024. These materials are used to produce octogen and hexogen, which are then used for artillery shells, the publication noted.

According to Astra, the NAK Azot plant in Novomoskovsk, Tula Oblast, has also been attacked by drones at least three times this year.

In Krasnodar Oblast, minor damage to private houses and damage to the Timashevsk railway station occurred, reported governor Veniamin Kondratyev.

Drone debris damaged one of the passenger train cars there. Two people sustained minor injuries.

During the drone attacks, airports in Vladikavkaz, Grozny, Mineralnye Vody, Nalchik, Stavropol, Tambov and Sochi temporarily ceased operations.

German defence contractor HENSOLDT has secured a contract worth over 340 million euros ($399 mn) to supply radar systems for Ukraine’s air defence capabilities, the company reported on 24 July.

The order includes TRML-4D high-performance radars and SPEXER 2000 3D MkIII short-range radars as part of the Near and Very Short Range Air Defence System commissioned by the German Armed Forces.

“Our high-performance radars are urgently needed by Ukrainian air defence,” HENSOLDT CEO Oliver Dörre said. “A number of radars have been protecting Ukraine since the start of Russia’s war of aggression. We are proud to be supplying further systems. The radars are extremely important for protecting citizens.”

Ukraine first received the TRML-4D radar in October 2022, with an initial delivery of four units integrated into their IRIS-T air defense systems. Additional deliveries followed, including another four TRML-4D radars in June 2023, and six more units are scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2024 as part of a major contract with HENSOLDT. 

The TRML-4D radar operates on AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) technology and can detect and track approximately 1,500 targets within a 250-kilometre radius. The system identifies and classifies cruise missiles, drones, aircraft and helicopters.

SPEXER radars provide surveillance across various ranges for automatic detection and classification of ground, sea and low-flying air targets. The SPEXER 2000 forms part of Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 30 cannon-based air defence system and is deployed in German artillery installations and qualified air defence systems.

According to HENSOLDT, several of their radar systems have been operational in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The company maintains decades of experience in air defence radar systems and continues developing technologies in this sector.

The radar delivery represents part of Germany’s broader military support package for Ukraine’s defence against Russian forces.

One of Ukraine’s stealth attack drones has made another fleeting appearance somewhere over the 1,100-km front line of Russia’s 42-month wider war on Ukraine. A video that circulated online in recent days may mark only the second appearance of the mysterious drone.

This black-painted UAV is special. 

Most of Ukraine’s long-range attack drones feature the same basic design elements: long straight wings, narrow booms connecting the fuselage and engine to the trail and propeller propulsion. By contrast, the mystery drone is a flying wing with no separate fuselage—and it’s propelled by a jet engine. Reportedly a $2,000, US-made SW140B turbine.

ukrainian jet drone in action https://t.co/y2yQozc2Jl pic.twitter.com/v3CyptmJTE

— imi (m) (@moklasen) July 23, 2025

The flying wing planform, which lacks highly reflective right angles, scatters radar waves in all directions instead of bouncing them straight back at the emitting dish.

All that is to say, the black drone could be highly stealthy. And that should help it slip past Russian air-defenses on its way to strike targets deep inside Russia. There’s no official information about the mystery drone—we don’t even know its name—so we can’t say for sure how far it ranges. 

Explore further

One Ukrainian drone keeps smashing Russia’s top war factories—so Germany’s paying for 500 more

But one of the black drones that crashed in Russia in June 2024 appears to be around 10 feet long. If the Ukrainian drone carries as much fuel as a Russian Shahed attack drone, which is roughly as long, it might be capable of traveling hundreds of miles. 

The mystery drone has company. There’s a slightly bigger Ukrainian jet drone, also with a flying wing planform, that has made a couple of appearances on social media since last year. The main difference between the two stealth drones, besides their size, is that the bigger model has a single vertical stabilizer; the smaller model has twin vertical stabilizers. The bigger drone is powered by a German-made JetCat P400-PRO turbojet costing $14,000.

It’s clear both stealth drones exist in small numbers, likely owing to their higher cost and complexity compared to other drone types. The Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces’ main attack drone is the straight-wing, propeller-driven An-196. Ukrainian firm Ukroboronprom builds the An-196 by the hundreds: Germany recently ponied up $100 million to pay for 500 of the drones. 

The stealth drones’ rarity may imply the USF deploys them only for the most difficult missions requiring the attacking drones to penetrate dense air-defenses. 

Russia’s got stealth drones, too

The Russians possess a similar but much bigger drone—the 46-foot-long Okhotnik. One of the few copies of the Okhotnik came to a bad end over the front line in eastern Ukraine in October when it lost contact with its operators—and began flying toward free Ukraine.

An escorting Russian Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter shot down the Okhotnik, and the wreckage fell on the Ukrainian side of the front line. Ukrainian police recovered the drone’s remains, and the precision glide bomb the drone carried, right before a Russian Iskander missile streaked down—clearly intended to destroy what was left of the Okhotnik.

It’s not clear what, if anything, the Ukrainians have done with the information they gleaned from the Okhotnik’s crash. To be fair, the Russians have also recovered the remains of several Ukrainian stealth drones. If there’s anything either side can learn from the other when it comes to radar-evading drones, they’ve both learned it by now.

The basic principles of stealth aircraft design are well-known by now, however. The challenge for both Ukraine and Russia isn’t to build a few radar-evading drones—it’s to build lots of radar-evading drones.

Until either side can scale up production, both will continue relying on non-stealthy drones for most of their attacks. The Shaheds in Russia’s case. The An-196s in Ukraine’s.

Explore further

Ukraine just solved the hardest math problem in modern air defense – with a 1970s German gun

Finnish volunteer Tapani left behind a peaceful life to resist Russian aggression. He believes Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty need to be protected for peace in Europe. 

Before the start of Russia’s all-out war, Tapani ran his own business in Finland, working in real estate and forestry consulting. After five years studying silviculture and working in France, he chose to leave it all behind as soon as his contract ended at home.

“If we don’t stop this war, it will come to Europe in five years at most,” he warns.

Despite joining the unit recently, Tapani has already served in tough parts of the front in Kharkiv Oblast.

“One drone dropped 200 meters from us. We had just left the building when it struck nearby,” he recalls.

Despite language barriers and frontline danger, he remains undeterred: “It’s not hard for me here, I have no problems. There’s always a way.”

Tapani’s greatest wish is peace: “I hope the war ends and I can go home. And that Ukraine remains independent and sovereign, that’s what matters!”

Earlier, Pavel Slavinsky, Chief of Staff of the 2nd International Legion, said that many Western veterans join Ukrainian Army to end unfinished wars from Afghanistan and Iraq. 

He did not disclose the exact number of volunteers in the Legion, saying “that such information is classified.” 

Western veterans join Ukrainian Army to end unfinished wars from Afghanistan and Iraq, chief of staff of International Legion reveals

Russia tests new modified bomb on Kharkiv — children, an infant, and a pregnant woman among the wounded. On 24 July, Russian forces used a new type of aerial bomb, the UMPB-5, in an attack on the central part of the city in the first known use of this weapon.

Two airstrikes were launched from over 100 kilometers away, targeting residential districts and causing widespread destruction.

According to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, 41 people were injured in the attack, including six children. The youngest victim is just 28 days old. A pregnant woman was also among the wounded.

The strikes damaged 20 residential buildings, including 17 apartment blocks in the Shevchenkivskyi and Kholodnohirskyi districts. The blast wave shattered over 600 windows, forming a crater in the street. Seven cars were destroyed by fire, and 18 more were damaged. One industrial facility caught fire, resulting in a large-scale blaze.

Regional prosecutor’s representative Spartak Borysenko confirmed that Russia used the new UMPB-5 bomb, which carries a 250-kg warhead.

“Russia is using Kharkiv as a testing ground. Today it’s the UMPB-5, before it was the D-30… These modified bombs cause greater destruction and lead to more civilian injuries,” he explained.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that people were on the streets during the strike. Fortunately, no fatalities were reported.

While Ukraine proposes peace, Russians again terrorize cities with missiles and drones. After talks in Istanbul where Ukraine offered a complete ceasefire, occupying Russian forces immediately struck Ukrainian cities, says President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Yesterday at the meeting in Istanbul, the Russian side was again offered the proposal to immediately and fully cease fire. In response, Russian drones struck residential buildings and the ‘Pryvoz’ market in Oblast, apartment buildings in Cherkasy, energy infrastructure in Kharkiv region, a university gym in Zaporizhzhia, and targets in Donetsk, Sumy, and Mykolaiv regions,” Zelenskyy claims.

Pryvoz is one of the oldest and most famous markets in Odesa, a living iconic part of the city’s culture and history. Founded in 1827, it was the economic heart of the city, supplying food to Odesa and the region.

It became not only the main shopping place for locals but also a hub of Odesa’s humor. There, sellers and customers joke during bargaining, shout sayings, and win over buyers. It is believed that the unique Odesa dialect, the city’s distinctive linguistic culture, began forming there.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasizes that Russia not only continues its terror but also blocks diplomatic efforts, thus deserving harsh sanctions and strikes on its logistics, military bases, and production facilities.

“We will do everything to make diplomacy work. But it is Russia that must stop this war it started,” the Ukrainian president stresses. 

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Kyiv forces would receive secret weapons to “influence” Russia’s territory. He did not mention specific names or dates for the deliveries.

As Putin vows summer escalation, Berlin says Kyiv will soon gain secret tools to “affect Russian territory”

Wadephul added that European partners worked intensively on delivering weapons to Ukraine. The issue is not about finances but about the defense industry’s production capacity.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have stated that the bill submitted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy restores all guarantees of independence for these institutions.

“Bill No. 13533, submitted by the President of Ukraine as urgent, restores all procedural powers and guarantees of independence for NABU and SAPO,” the agencies report.

NABU and SAPO participated in drafting the text and are urging the Ukrainian Parliament to adopt the President’s initiative as soon as possible, both in the first reading and as a whole.

“This will help prevent threats to the criminal proceedings investigated by NABU and SAPO,” they emphasize. 

The work of Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption bodies is a key requirement for its path to European membership. It also affects the future of Ukraine’s aid, which mostly depends on Ukraine amid US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. The bloc’s leaders have appealed to Kyiv with questions on the controversial law and urged transparency in reform.

After Zelenskyy decided to respond to the mass rallies and work on the law restoring the activities of NABU and SAPO, the EU viewed such actions positively.

Western trust under threat as Zelenskyy nears signing controversial law that crashes Ukraine’s anti-corruption system

At the same time, European Commission Spokesperson Stefan de Keersmaecker emphasized the need for continued efforts in this direction.

The company EasyStaff, founded by Russians in Vilnius, has transferred over €50 million to Russia while facilitating the hiring of Russian freelancers by Western companies, LTR reports. 

Founded in 2020 by Russian citizens Vitaly Mikhailov and Yevgeny Fedorov, EasyStaff brands itself as a global freelancing platform. In reality, however, it may act as a mechanism that may allow EU and US sanctions to be circumvented.

EasyStaff utilizes alternative payment methods such as PayPal, Skrill, card transactions, and cryptocurrency, thereby bypassing SWIFT restrictions.

According to Lithuania’s State Data Agency, imports of computer services from Russia rose from €2.64 million in 2023 to over €56 million in 2024, which is nearly twice the pre-pandemic level. Yet when contacted by LRT’s investigative team, no government agency could initially explain this surge.

Eventually, the reporters discovered that most of the €56 million traced back to a single company: EasyStaff.

Though EasyStaff presents itself as a global platform helping companies hire and pay foreign freelancers, in practice it serves as a bridge for EU and US businesses seeking to contract Russian workers without direct interaction with sanctioned banks.

Mikhailov insists the platform is globally oriented and denies that Russians form its main client base.

When asked whether EasyStaff helps Russian firms navigate sanctions, Mikhailov replied that the company breaks no laws and works only with non-sanctioned banks. He added that EasyStaff consults with two law firms to ensure full compliance with restrictions and claimed that clients choose the company for its efficiency, not to evade sanctions.

Since EasyStaff lacks a payment institution license in Lithuania, it is not regulated by the Bank of Lithuania. A spokesperson for the central bank noted that EasyStaff appears to function more like a marketplace for service contracts than a payment processor.

Lithuania’s Financial Crime Investigation Service has confirmed awareness of the company but said it has detected any threats.

As Russia ramps up missile and drone attacks, Ukraine is set to strengthen its air defenses with new Western support: five Patriot missile systems and 220,000 rounds for Gepard anti-aircraft guns.

Announced during the latest Ramstein-format meeting, the pledge marks a significant upgrade to Ukraine’s layered air defense network.

BBC explores how these deliveries could shift the balance—and why speed and supply will be key.

Patriots: Expanding missile shield, but time matters

The US-made Patriot system is Ukraine’s main defense against ballistic and cruise missiles. According to New York Times reports, Ukraine currently has eight Patriot batteries, though only six were operational as of May 2025. The new systems could increase that number to 13.

Each battery includes:

• Missile launchers
• Radar
• Command unit
• PAC-3 interceptors, capable of downing advanced ballistic threats

But timelines remain uncertain. Germany’s Spiegel reports the first new system may not arrive before March 2026. President Zelenskyy has said 25 Patriots are needed to secure the country—meaning even after this delivery, Ukraine remains far from that goal.

There’s also a shortage of PAC-3 missiles, raising concerns about sustaining the new systems once deployed.

Gepards reloaded: Short-range defense gets ammo

Ukraine’s Gepard anti-aircraft guns have proven essential for shooting down Shahed drones and low-flying missiles. The country operates about 100 Gepards, each armed with twin 35mm cannons and radar.

The new shipment of 220,000 rounds will allow for three full reloads across the fleet.

Ammo had become a bottleneck after Switzerland blocked re-exports, citing neutrality. Germany’s Rheinmetall stepped in, restarting production to fill the gap.

Military analysts estimate a single Shahed can often be downed with just 7–30 rounds, meaning this batch could neutralize thousands of drones—a crucial upgrade as Russia continues near-nightly drone assaults.

A layered strategy for a shifting threat

Russia’s aerial tactics are evolving. Drones now fly extremely low or at high altitudes to avoid detection, testing Ukraine’s defenses.

Kyiv is responding with a layered air defense approach:

• Patriots for long-range missiles
• Gepards for drones and close-range threats
• Mobile air defense and electronic warfare to fill the gaps

Even with 13 Patriot systems, Ukraine cannot cover its entire airspace. But together, these tools help protect cities, infrastructure, and military sites more effectively.

BBC verdict: A critical step, not a final answer

This package—five Patriots and 220,000 Gepard shells—is one of the most impactful pledges yet. But delays in delivery and limited missile stocks could slow its effect.

Ukraine has the plan. The tools are arriving. But the outcome will depend on how fast systems are delivered, how well they’re supplied—and whether support continues as the threat evolves.

Beijing continues fueling Russia’s war against Ukraine. Chinese companies are supplying engines for attack drones through front companies, falsely labeling them as “industrial refrigeration units” to bypass Western sanctions, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Russian arms producer IEMZ Kupol signed a contract with Russia’s Ministry of Defense to manufacture over 6,000 Garpia-A1 drones in 2025, which is three times more than the previous year.

By April, over 1,500 drones had already been assembled and were being launched en masse against Ukrainian military and civilian targets, up to 500 per month, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence.

A key component of the Garpia drone is the Chinese L550E engine produced by Xiamen Limbach Aviation Engine Co. After sanctions were imposed on Xiamen, a new Chinese firm, Beijing Xichao International Technology and Trade, began delivering the same engines to Russia.

In shipping documents, they were labeled as cooling units, enabling unimpeded transfer in violation of sanctions.

The supply route ran through a network of shell companies: from Beijing to Moscow, and then to Izhevsk, where the Kupol plant is located. According to sources in three EU intelligence services, the shipments first went to a firm called SMP-138, then to another company, LIBSS, which delivered the engines directly to the factory. This is how “refrigerators” became weapons.

Despite repeated warnings, Chinese airlines, including Sichuan Airlines and China Southern Airlines, continued transporting drone components since at least October 2024.

Previously, US Army Europe and NATO Allied Forces Supreme Commander General Alexus Grynkewich warned that American and its European allies likely have only a year and a half to prepare for a potential global military conflict with China and Russia. The dictatorships may launch a coordinated strike in 2027.

Russia has deployed additional electronic warfare equipment near the Baltic nation’s frontier, escalating regional tensions as GPS jamming incidents increase across the region, Estonia’s Interior Minister Igor Taro said on 24 July.

Western security assessments warn that Russia poses a continuing threat of future aggression against EU countries, with concerns growing over its long-term strategic intentions beyond Ukraine. The Baltic nations – Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia – are named among the most threatened nation.

Russian forces moved signals jamming systems to the Kingisiepp area, located 20 kilometers from Estonia’s border, Igor Taro announced during a press conference in Tallinn on 24 July, according to Bloomberg.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

The equipment mirrors technology Russia employs in Ukraine to disrupt drone navigation systems. However, the electronic warfare capabilities create widespread interference with GPS systems used by commercial aviation and maritime vessels.

Estonia’s internal security agency has contacted Russian military officials regarding the deployment, according to Taro. The development follows earlier warnings from Estonian authorities about intensified GPS interference near Narva and the Narva Bay coastline.

The jamming campaign extends beyond Estonia’s borders. Lithuanian Deputy Defense Minister Karolis Aleksa said that Russia’s GPS signal blocking scope “is expanding.” Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said on 17 June that his country “records GPS disruptions over the Baltic Sea” linked to Russian activities.

Estonia, positioned on NATO’s eastern flank, maintains strong support for Ukraine while rapidly expanding its defense capabilities to counter potential Russian aggression. Regional tensions have heightened since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Baltic states reporting increased electronic warfare incidents.

The electronic warfare systems pose risks beyond military applications, as GPS interference affects civilian aircraft navigation and commercial shipping operations throughout the Baltic region.

A new forensic examination of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna’s body has uncovered additional injuries not previously reported, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General’s response to a LIGA.net inquiry.

The examination, conducted on 9 July by the Main Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the Ministry of Health, revealed that Roshchyna suffered neck trauma, bone fractures, hemorrhages in soft tissues of the temporal area, right shoulder and shins, and abrasions on her left foot. The previous examination had identified hemorrhages on various body parts and a broken rib.

Roshchyna, 27, disappeared on 3 August 2023, in occupied Ukrainian territory. The Security Service of Ukraine and later the Russian side confirmed that Russian forces had taken the journalist captive. On 10 October 2024, the Coordination Headquarters confirmed her death in Russia, with an investigation into her death in Russian captivity beginning the following day.

The journalist’s body was returned to Ukraine on 24 April 2025, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, which reported that numerous signs of torture were found on Roshchyna’s body.

Despite the additional findings, the cause of death remains undetermined.

“At the time of the examination, Roshchyna’s body was in a state of pronounced cadaveric changes with tissue structure disruption, which does not allow establishing the cause of death and linking it to bodily injuries,” said Maryana Hayovska-Kovbasyuk, head of the information policy and communications department of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Hayovska-Kovbasyuk added that the body was transferred to Ukraine in a state of “deep freezing with signs of mummification and decomposition.”

Results from biological samples previously collected by French experts from Roshchyna’s body are still pending, according to Hayovska-Kovbasyuk. Ukraine is currently conducting another examination – a forensic medical-criminalistic one.

As part of the case regarding the illegal detention and murder of the Ukrainian journalist on Russian territory, the National Police has questioned witnesses about the circumstances of Roshchyna’s stay in places of detention in Russia, including investigative isolator No. 2 in Taganrog, Rostov region, and detention center No. 3 in Kizel, Perm region.

Measures are being taken to identify individuals involved in her torture and murder. The article under which the case was opened – cruel treatment of civilians resulting in death – carries a penalty of life imprisonment.