On 21 July 2025, Ukraine’s Security Service made dramatic claims: the country’s top anti-corruption agencies were plagued with Russian infiltrators. Simply devastating during wartime—Russian spies had penetrated the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, threatening national security at its core.

The next day, parliament rushed through Law No. 12414, bringing both agencies under control of the prosecutor general. Despite protests flaring across Ukrainian cities, Zelenskyy promptly signed the legislation. “The anti-corruption infrastructure will work, NABU and SAPO will work,” Zelenskyy declared that evening, “but without Russian influences that had to be removed.”

Nobody explained how unprecedented prosecutorial control over independent bodies would decrease supposed Russian control within them.

But here’s the greatest catch: nearly all claims of Russian influence appear to fall apart under scrutiny, according to Ukrainska Pravda’s latest investigation.

The justification for dismantling a decade of anti-corruption infrastructure? It’s crumbling two weeks later.

Ukraine anti-corruption investigators targeted, evidence missing

Ukrainska Pravda’s investigation reveals how surprisingly weak the actual proof remains. The outlet interviewed multiple sources to examine what investigators actually found versus what they claimed.

The case against Viktor Gusarov centers on allegations he provided classified information to a former Yanukovych-era security official while working in NABU’s elite D-2 unit. The Security Service claims to have documented “at least 60 instances” of information transfer to Russian intelligence.

But when NABU requested evidence about Gusarov’s alleged crimes in July, “they haven’t received an answer to this day,” Ukrainska Pravda reports.

The investigation into Ruslan Magamedrasulov involves his family’s hemp business, which the Security Service alleges was used for illegal exports to Russia. Authorities arrested over 100 tons of technical hemp they claimed was “ready for shipment to Dagestan.”

Olena Shcherban, Magamedrasulov’s lawyer, told Ukrainska Pravda the hemp business was entirely legal—producing tea, oils, and dietary supplements sold only within Ukraine. She suspects the Security Service’s audio recordings were “glued together from cuts of different conversations” and plans to request the original recordings.

Several targeted NABU employees faced searches simply for having relatives in occupied territories with Russian passports—a situation affecting millions of Ukrainian families divided by Russia’s 2014 invasion.

NABU detectives handling Zelenskyy inner circle cases targeted

Here’s what actually happened: the operation focused on investigators handling cases involving Zelenskyy’s inner circle.

Magamedrasulov “participated in documenting the activities” of Timur Mindich, Zelenskyy’s business partner from Kvartal-95 studio. Sources told Ukrainska Pravda the targeting of regional NABU leadership was specifically connected to the Mindich case.

Detective Ivan Kravchuk was handling the case against former Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyy, who was forced to resign due to NABU’s investigation.

Detective Oleksandr Skomar was running the case against former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov—Zelenskyy’s birthday party guest during COVID lockdown.

And here’s where the pieces connect: Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko’s priority task, appointed just one month before the operation, was to neutralize NABU’s case against Chernyshov, according to Ukrainska Pravda’s earlier reporting.

The pattern becomes clear when examining who faced the heaviest scrutiny—not abstract security threats, but investigators probing the president’s personal network.

Details here

Inside Zelenskyy’s failed coup against Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies

Security Service sources doubt operation

Even within the Security Service, doubts emerged.

“Sources in several law enforcement agencies emphasize that doubts exist within the Security Service itself not only regarding such verdicts, but also the validity of such suspicions,” Ukrainska Pravda reports.

Most tellingly, sources said anti-corruption agency leaders demanded Zelenskyy either “publicly justify the Security Service’s actions and accusations, or release the employees.”

EU freezes billions as evidence crumbles

The weak evidence helps explain why the operation became the final straw for international partners. The European Union froze $1.7 billion in aid immediately after the controversial law passed, with another $3.8 billion hanging in the balance.

For Brussels, this wasn’t just about one law. European officials had already flagged structural problems with Ukraine’s anti-corruption policy during an 11 July 2025 subcommittee meeting, weeks before the controversial legislation.

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Civil society forces complete retreat

What Ukrainian authorities didn’t anticipate was civil society’s strength. Within hours of the law passing, mass demonstrations erupted across Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa—the largest protests since Russia’s invasion began.

Teenagers and young adults led chants, organizing through social media, holding signs comparing Zelenskyy to fugitive dictator Viktor Yanukovych. A generation that grew up after Euromaidan was showing that Ukraine’s democratic transformation had become irreversible.

After 10 days of street pressure and international condemnation, parliament voted 331-0 to restore anti-corruption agency independence on 31 July.

Ukraine’s GenZ revolution

They came. They cussed. They won.

Broader institutional pressure continues

The anti-corruption operation wasn’t isolated. Even after July’s retreat, the administration continued efforts to control oversight bodies through other means.

Ukraine’s Cabinet finally appointed Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi as director of the Bureau of Economic Security on 6 August 2025, ending weeks of obstruction that risked $2.3 billion in IMF funding. Tsyvinskyi had won the official selection process unanimously in July, but the appointment stalled amid unsubstantiated security concerns about his Russian-born father—the same playbook used against other qualified investigators.

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Ukraine caves under $ 2.3 bn threat, appoints investigator it desperately wanted to block

Media under pressure

The investigation takes on added significance given Ukrainska Pravda’s own pressure campaign. Editor-in-chief Sevgil Musayeva told The Times that advertising revenue dropped sharply after the President’s Office allegedly asked companies to boycott the publication.

According to Forbes Ukraine, the outlet lost $240,000 in advertising revenue due to this pressure.

Ukrainska Pravda first reported systematic pressure from the President’s Office in October 2024, just months after investigating corruption cases involving Zelenskyy’s inner circle.

What this reveals

Ukrainska Pravda’s investigation confirms what many suspected: dramatic claims of Russian infiltration provided convenient cover for an attempt to destroy institutional independence. The evidence for that infiltration remains conspicuously absent.

Two NABU detectives remain imprisoned on charges the investigation suggests may lack substance. The episode demonstrated Ukrainian democratic culture’s resilience, but also showed how easily security services can be weaponized when investigations reach the wrong people.

For now, civil society has successfully resisted institutional capture. The protests forced parliament to restore anti-corruption agency independence. International pressure secured Tsyvinskyi’s appointment, demonstrating that merit-based selections can prevail.

But vigilance remains essential. The President’s Office has demonstrated its willingness to take drastic measures to protect Zelenskyy’s inner circle—using fabricated security concerns, weaponizing law enforcement, and pressuring media outlets.

The successful resistance offers hope that Ukraine’s democratic institutions can withstand authoritarian pressure. But it also serves as a warning: when corruption investigations reach the very top, the defenders won’t hesitate to destroy the institutions themselves.

Ukraine plans to begin search and exhumation operations on Polish territory in September, Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Andriy Nadzihos announced.

The cross-border initiative represents ongoing efforts by both countries to address historical wounds from World War II, when Polish and Ukrainian civilians were killed in ethnic violence in territories that are now part of western Ukraine.

“We are preparing to start search and exhumation work on Polish territory in September – in the village of Yurechkova,” Nadzihos told Ukrinform. “We plan to make a preparatory trip there in mid-August, and in September – to start excavations. We want to make it before the start of the rainy season.”

The announcement marks a reciprocal step in Polish-Ukrainian cooperation on historical reconciliation. Poland has provided Ukraine with 13 locations for conducting such work, while Ukraine has offered four locations to the Polish side, according to Nadzihos.

The September operations will follow exhumation work that began in Lviv in early June, when a Polish-Ukrainian team started searching for Polish military personnel killed at the beginning of World War II. Ukraine granted permission to Poland for exhumation work on the former territory of Zboyiska village, now within Lviv city limits, the Ministry of Culture reported in June.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski recently indicated that exhumation work “should soon begin in this and one other locality.”

According to aviation expert Tom Cooper, the Russian air force began Russia’s wider war on Ukraine in February 2022 with potentially just seven active Beriev A-50Us—four-engine Ilyushin Il-76 airlifters with radar radomes on their fuselages and stations for up to 15 crew and battle-managers.

In the aftermath of the 1 June Operation Spider Web—coordinated strikes on five Russian air force bases by short-range attack drones that the Ukrainian state security service, or SBU, smuggled near the bases in hijacked long-haul trucks—the Russians may be down to just four flyable A-50Us. Five if they managed to repair one of the radar planes the Ukrainians damaged in a February 2023 drone attack.

The analysts at AviVector, which scrutinizes satellite imagery of Russian air bases, may have spotted one of them. But this A-50U isn’t anywhere near Ukraine. Instead, it’s staging from Vorkuta air base in northern Russia, 2,400 km from Ukraine.

“The A-50U airborne early warning aircraft arrived in June and is likely conducting missions over northern Russia, escorted by MiG-31BM interceptors,” AviVector reported.

Satellite images of Vorkuta Airfield as of August 2, 06:58 UTC

The airbase housed 1 A-50U (Mainstay), 1 Tu-134UBL (Crusty), and 3 MiG-31 (Foxhound).

The A-50U airborne early warning aircraft arrived in June and is likely conducting missions over northern Russia, escorted… pic.twitter.com/z1p6vwVZrR

— AviVector (@avivector) August 3, 2025

Precious planes

The A-50U, like the US Air Force’s Boeing E-3, flies behind the front line in order to scan the horizon for enemy aircraft and missiles. Soaring high above the ground cover and capable of repositioning as needed, the A-50Us have helped Russian commanders to keep an eye on the Ukrainian air force—and to detect, minutes in advance, incoming Ukrainian missiles and drones.

If there are four operational A-50Us and one is in northern Russia, it’s possible no more than two are within reach of Ukraine—and useful for Russia’s defensive effort against Ukrainian deep strikes. Analysts have long assumed at least one of the radar planes is in the Russian Far East for patrols along Russia’s eastern waters and its border with China.

Two A-50Us aren’t terribly useful, given that it takes at least three of the lumbering planes to maintain anything approaching around-the-clock coverage of a given area for even a limited span of time.

Early in Russia’s 42-month wider war on Ukraine, the A-50Us “flew an average of two–three sorties per day, providing higher-resolution early-warning and vector information” in southern and eastern Ukraine, Justin Bronk, Jack Watling and Nick Reynolds wrote in a November 2022 report for the Royal United Services Institute in London.

That was possible because the Russian air force had nine A-50Us prior the wider Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Now it has many fewer. The radar coverage Russian forces enjoyed in 2022 is no longer possible.

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A Ukrainian drone damaged an A-50U on the ground in Belarus in February 2023. In January 2024, a long-range Ukrainian missile—reportedly a US-made Patriot—shot down an A-50U over the Sea of Azov in southern Ukraine. Six weeks later in February 2024, another Ukrainian missile, an ex-Soviet S-200, struck a third A-50U in the same area.

The Russian air force swiftly grounded its surviving A-50Us and scrambled to replace the two or three lost planes. That meant cycling at least one older and possibly unflyable A-50U—out of several dozen Beriev built in the 1980s—through Beriev’s Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex in the city of Taganrog, on the Azov Sea coast just 130 km from the front line.

So of course the Ukrainians promptly droned the Taganrog factory the following month.

The Kremlin reportedly canceled the effort to replace the A-50U with newer A-100 radar planes back in June. The upshot is that, by this spring, the Russian air force may have been down to five or fewer active A-50s—with no clear plan for complementing or replacing them.

And then, on 1 June, the SBU smuggled more than 100 short-range attack drones into Russia in modified truck trailers. The drones targeted Dyagilevo, Ivanovo, Olenya, Belaya and Ukrainka air bases. Ivanovo, 750 km from Ukraine, is the home base for the entire A-50U fleet, including active and derelict airframes.

Post-raid satellite imagery of Ivanovo depicted at least one suspicious pile of wreckage as well as a possibly scorched A-50. The imagery may point to one or more destroyed or damaged A-50U, but AviVector for one concluded the affected airframes were already derelict. At best, they were useful as sources of spare parts for the active A-50Us.

In any event, the A-50U fleet is still in very bad shape. Its few surviving jets are apparently scattered far and wide from northern Russia to the Russian Far East, leaving at most three—and potentially just two—for flights supporting the war in Ukraine.

For the Ukrainians, that’s an opportunity: to exploit gaps in Russian air-defenses … and launch more missiles and drones at targets inside Russia.

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Estonian NGO fraud is now at the center of a criminal case, ERR reports. Estonia’s Prosecutor General has charged Johanna-Maria Lehtme, co-founder of the NGO Slava Ukraini (“Glory to Ukraine”), with large-scale embezzlement and breach of trust, ERR reported. The indictment claims she approved unjustified contracts worth over €450,000, diverting donation funds intended for Ukraine’s war relief.

Johanna-Maria Lehtme gained national and international acclaim for launching Slava Ukraini in 2022. She received Estonia’s European of the Year award and was elected to parliament with the Eesti 200 party in 2023. She stepped down from politics after the allegations emerged. The charity officially ended operations in October 2024 after public donations ceased. Newspaper Eesti Ekspress also reported that Lehtme had faced embezzlement allegations in an earlier professional role.

Prosecutors say logistics payments were fake and unjustified

According to the indictment, Slava Ukraini initially worked with the Ukrainian NGO All For Victory to provide humanitarian aid, ERR reported. In August 2022, Lehtme allegedly shifted operations to IC Construction, a Ukrainian company linked to All For Victory but able to add markups and issue invoices. Prosecutors say she signed loss-making contracts and paid inflated bills submitted by IC Construction, causing over €413,000 in damages.

One contract from that period involved a €44,500 payment to All For Victory for transporting aid from Estonia to Ukraine. Investigators found that IC Construction was paid separately for the same service, although it never performed any logistics work. The funds, prosecutors say, were instead used to cover operational costs and salaries at All For Victory. Lehtme allegedly approved this despite her duty not to harm the charity’s financial standing.

Ukrainian partner also under scrutiny over diverted aid funds

The Ukrainian NGO involved, All For Victory, had already been linked to misuse of humanitarian funds. Lviv Portal reported in February that its director, former Lviv deputy mayor Hennadii Vaskiv, was suspected of embezzling over 18 million UAH or €373,000 from donations received via Slava Ukraini. His firm, IC Construction, allegedly provided overpriced services and routed profits through a limited liability scheme. Ukrainian courts later froze his property, although procedural issues prevented him from being formally charged.

Ukraine celebrated its National Day at EXPO 2025 in Osaka on 5 August, dedicating the event to partners and allies supporting the country, the Ukrainian pavilion team at EXPO 2025 told Ukrainska Pravda.

EXPO 2025 opened in Osaka on April 13 with the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” featuring over 160 countries and organizations until October 13. Japan provided Ukraine free exhibition space.

More than 15 participating countries joined the organization of the event, according to the report. The team continued the main concept of the Ukrainian pavilion “Not For Sale,” which tells about Ukrainian society’s values.

The pavilion added five new exhibits to its “things not for sale” collection under the title “Imported Goods.” These artifacts honor cultural figures and activists from Japan, Great Britain, Germany, and Canada who demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine.

Musician and composer Mariana Klochko presented the “Ode of Gratitude” – a musical composition created specifically for Ukraine’s National Day in collaboration with creative agency Bickerstaff.734. The music combines sounds from allied countries, layering them to create “an image of solidarity’s common sound.” The band ONUKA also performed at the event.

The National Day began with an official opening ceremony attended by over 500 guests. Ukraine received greetings from Japan’s highest government representatives: Yuichiro Koga, State Minister in the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan; Eisuke Mori, Chairman of the Japan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship League; and Koji Haneda, General Commissioner of the World Exhibition EXPO 2025 in Japan.

The Czech pavilion hosted a panel discussion titled “Ukraine Unbreakable Classrooms,” organized by the public organization “Osvitoria.” The event focused on learning resilience during wartime and international support for Ukraine’s educational system. The discussion was accompanied by excerpts from the documentary film “Tape of Time” by director Kateryna Gornostay, followed by a performance by the band KAZKA.

An immersive exhibition “Home Beyond the Dawn” opened at the Romanian pavilion under the curation of Natalia Matsenko. The exhibition unites works by over 30 contemporary Ukrainian artists exploring the transformation of the concept of “home” during war.

The Belgian pavilion initiated panel discussions on art and its role in contemporary realities, bringing together Ukrainian female artists who shared their experiences.

The ceremonial conclusion of Ukraine’s National Day featured an official reception with a menu specially developed by Ukrainian chef Yevhen Klopotenko. In solidarity, friendly pavilions illuminated their facades in Ukrainian flag colors and raised yellow and blue flags.

Ukraine’s pavilion “Not For Sale” will continue operating until 13 October.

About world exhibition EXPO

World Exhibitions began in London’s Crystal Palace in 1851, drawing over 6 million visitors to showcase Industrial Revolution achievements. Today they serve as platforms for demonstrating global technological innovations.

This cuts the original from 115 words to 54 words while preserving the essential information: current EXPO dates and theme, participation numbers, Japan’s support for Ukraine, historical context, and the exhibition’s purpose.

Radio Svoboda journalists have released previously unseen surveillance camera footage documenting the killing of 70-year-old Bucha resident Volodymyr Rubailo by Russian military personnel on Yablunska Street on 4 March 2022.

The video recordings, published by Radio Liberty on 6 August, show Russian soldiers first wounding Volodymyr Rubailo with an initial shot, then executing him with a targeted shot to the head while the civilian man could barely stand on his feet. Shortly after, Russian military personnel began systematically looting a grocery supermarket near Rubailo’s body, which remained on the ground throughout the incident.

“They broke the glass and went inside. They put the stolen goods in baskets and bags and loaded them onto armored vehicles. To take more, some filled shopping carts and wheeled them down the street to the houses of Bucha residents they had just captured,” Radio Svoboda journalists reported.

The publication previously reported that Russian paratroopers from the 234th Airborne Assault Regiment from Pskov may be involved in Rubailo’s murder, specifically a group led by Sergeant Vladimir Borzunov. Radio Svoboda established that his unit was positioned at the location from which, according to Ukrainian ballistics experts, the shots were fired at the Bucha civilian.

In a telephone conversation with a Radio Svoboda correspondent, Sergeant Borzunov confirmed that Russian military personnel killed Rubailo but denied his involvement and that of his subordinates in the civilian’s murder.

On 24 June, law enforcement officials identified three additional Russian military personnel involved in the killings of civilians during the temporary occupation of part of Kyiv Oblast. On 3 July, prosecutors sent the cases of four Russian servicemen accused of shooting civilians in Bucha to court.

Background: Bucha occupation and liberation

Bucha remained under occupation for 33 days. Russian military forces with heavy equipment entered Bucha on the morning of 27 February 2022. That same day, a missile hit a residential building, and mayor Anatoly Fedoruk reported the first casualties.

Russian forces left the city on 31 March 2022. On the evening of 2 April, the Ministry of Defense officially announced that all settlements in Kyiv Oblast had been liberated from Russian military forces.

When journalists and Ukrainian military personnel reached the city after Bucha’s liberation, they discovered evidence of mass killings. Some bodies were found on the streets, others with hands tied behind their backs. Ukraine officially called on the world to join the investigation into the murders of civilians in Bucha. On 14 April 2024, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan personally visited Bucha.

On 8 April 2022, authorities began exhuming bodies from a mass grave near the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called and All Saints in Bucha to identify the victims and establish the circumstances of their deaths. Private American company Maxar Technologies reported that the first signs of the mass grave near the church were captured in satellite images on 10 March 2022.

Law enforcement officials have documented over 9,000 war crimes committed by the Russian army during the occupation of the Bucha district in Kyiv Oblast. More than 1,700 civilians died. During 2022 alone, law enforcement managed to identify 91 Russian military personnel who committed war crimes. The Armed Forces of Ukraine reported they had eliminated Russian soldiers who tortured civilians in Bucha.

Vladimir Putin held three-hour talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday, but produced no full ceasefire agreement, prompting the American president to immediately impose a 25% tariff on India for buying Russian oil.

The tariff hike – pushing total US levies against India to 50% – signals Trump is following through on his threat to target countries financing Russia’s war machine, just two days before his August 8 ultimatum deadline.

Putin offers partial measures while demanding territorial concessions

Putin’s decision to avoid a full ceasefire comes as the Kremlin faces mounting economic pressure. Russian oil revenues have already dropped by nearly 33%, Bloomberg reports, but Moscow appears willing to risk deeper isolation while pursuing its goal of capturing four Ukrainian oblasts completely, according to Reuters sources familiar with Putin’s thinking.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov described the three-hour talks as “very useful and constructive,” saying Putin conveyed “some signals” on Ukraine while Witkoff delivered “relevant signals” from Trump. However, Ushakov refused to disclose details, explaining Trump had not yet been briefed on the outcome.

Before the meeting, Bloomberg reported the Kremlin was weighing a partial moratorium on air strikes as a potential concession to avoid sanctions.

India faces immediate economic consequences

Hours after the Moscow meeting concluded, Trump signed an executive order imposing the additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, citing India’s role as Russia’s second-largest oil customer after China.

“I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,” Trump’s executive order states, adding that India accounts for roughly 35% of its oil supplies from Russia.

India responded, calling the tariffs “extremely unfortunate” and “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.” New Delhi said its oil purchases are “based on market factors” aimed at ensuring “energy security of 1.4 billion people.”

Nuclear submarines deployed as deadline approaches

The stakes escalated further after Russian Security Council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev framed Trump’s ultimatum as “a threat and a step towards war,” prompting Trump to order two nuclear submarines to “appropriate regions” citing “highly provocative statements.”

However, Ukrainian parliament foreign affairs committee chair Oleksandr Merezhko told ABC News he doesn’t expect Trump to impose promised secondary sanctions on China – Russia’s largest energy customer – even if Putin maintains his refusal.

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What comes next

With Trump’s Friday deadline looming, the White House faces pressure to implement the full sanctions framework targeting both Russia and countries purchasing Russian energy. Trump has threatened “secondary tariffs” that could fundamentally reshape global energy markets.

The immediate action against India suggests Trump intends to follow through on his threats, potentially setting up a confrontation with China if Beijing continues buying Russian oil after Friday’s deadline expires.

Trump’s focus on India over China may reflect strategic calculations about which pressure points offer the most leverage.

As The Telegraph recently noted, India — not China — could be the key to ending the Ukraine war, despite buying less Russian oil than Beijing. India’s Russian oil imports surged from near-zero pre-war to 2.15 million barrels per day by mid-2023, generating $51 billion in revenues for Russia last year alone.

US President Donald Trump is currently speaking by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, multiple sources report. The call comes at a critical moment in ongoing US diplomatic efforts related to the war in Ukraine.

The call follows a meeting in Moscow between Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. This marked Witkoff’s fifth meeting with Putin at the Kremlin. According to the Kremlin, the discussion was “very useful and constructive.”

Trump had earlier issued an ultimatum to the Kremlin, warning that if progress toward peace was not made, the US would impose devastating new sanctions on Russia by 8 August. This adds weight to both the Moscow talks and today’s Trump–Zelenskyy conversation.

Witkoff is now returning to Washington, D.C.

Sanctions decision may depend on ongoing talks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has indicated that new statements may be made soon regarding possible sanctions against Russia. He confirmed speaking with Witkoff following the envoy’s return from Moscow.

“We’ll have more to say about that later on today,” Rubio told reporters. “It could be positive news — or not,” he added.

Rubio’s remarks signal that decisions on sanctions may depend on the outcomes of the Trump-Zelenskyy call and Witkoff’s diplomatic efforts.

Trump to deliver oval office statement

According to White House correspondent Reena Bhardwaj, President Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks from the Oval Office at 4:30 p.m. local time on 6 August. The statement will follow Witkoff’s return from Moscow and is expected to address the outcome of his meeting with Putin.

The timing of the address—just two days before Trump’s 8 August ceasefire ultimatum—highlights the significance of the moment. The content of the statement has not yet been disclosed.

The first shipments of US-manufactured weapons and ammunition to Ukraine under NATO’s Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) will arrive in the coming weeks, a NATO official told European Pravda on condition of anonymity.

Launched by NATO and the United States, PURL is a new funding mechanism that allows Alliance members to finance US weapons for Ukraine. The initiative is seen as a major evolution in how Western military assistance is structured.

First packages funded by the Netherlands, Nordics

The first two PURL assistance packages were financed by:

• The Netherlands ($500 million, including Patriot missile components) – announced 4 August
• Denmark, Finland, and Sweden (jointly contributing approximately $500 million) – announced 5 August

“New aid packages are being prepared quickly and on a regular basis,” the NATO official said. “We expect the first deliveries within weeks.”

More countries expected to join

According to NATO, more countries are set to join PURL soon. At a recent meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — the Ramstein-format coalition of over 50 countries — seven states expressed interest in funding US weapon purchases for Ukraine. Among them: Canada, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and several Nordic nations.

Delivery speed and artillery supply are key concerns

One of Ukraine’s most urgent challenges is how quickly weapons can be delivered. European nations are expected to send 2 million 155mm artillery shells this year.

With Western-backed domestic production ramping up inside Ukraine, this could partially compensate for declining US munitions exports.

Patriot missiles remain critical

However, air defense is a different story. Ukraine still urgently needs US-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles, which have no fast European substitute.

France and Italy have delivered SAMP/T systems, but deployment and production are slower — and questions remain about their effectiveness compared to Patriot.

Germany has pledged two more Patriot systems, but it’s unclear where additional units will come from. Other European operators of Patriots are hesitant to reduce their own air defenses.

Europe steps in as US role pauses under Trump

The PURL model emerges as the Biden-era military packages continue, but the Trump administration has not announced new aid commitments.

In July, President Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte unveiled the PURL framework at a Washington meeting. While not a replacement for US government aid, it keeps American weapons flowing to Ukraine via European funding.

European countries have begun increasing their own defense production, but many are turning to US manufacturers like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to fill urgent gaps, particularly for Patriot systems and munitions.

Long-term viability of PURL in question

A central question remains: Can PURL sustain Ukraine over the long term?

At the NATO summit in The Hague, member states committed to spending 5% of their GDP on defense by 2034. Much of that increased funding is expected to cover weapons bound for Ukraine, placing long-term strategic and financial responsibility squarely on European shoulders.

Looking ahead: More clarity this fall

The next Ramstein meeting this fall may provide clarity on the scale and timeline of future deliveries. There is even consideration of holding the meeting in Ukraine — a symbolic move that would underscore NATO’s long-term support.

Meanwhile, NATO will assess costs based on Ukraine’s detailed “wish list,” which focuses heavily on air defense systems and ammunition.

The US Department of State has approved the potential sale of repair, maintenance and logistics services for M777 howitzers to Ukraine in a deal valued at $203.5 million, according to a Pentagon press release.

The announcement comes as President Trump has indicated plans to transfer up to 17 Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine in the near future, marking a significant shift as the administration had previously paused some weapons aid for Ukraine.

The package consists of two separate contracts designed to sustain Ukraine’s artillery capabilities. The larger contract, worth $104 million, covers military equipment sales, repair services and support for M777 howitzers and related systems. UK-based BAE Systems will serve as the main contractor for this portion of the deal.

A second contract valued at $99.5 million will handle transportation and logistics services, with the Pentagon indicating the main contractor will be selected from among approved US suppliers.

The Pentagon emphasized that no offset agreements are currently part of this arrangement. Officials said the sale serves broader strategic objectives, noting that “this proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a partner country that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe.”

The approval represents the latest in a series of military assistance measures for Ukraine. On 11 July, the US Senate Armed Services Committee approved $500 million in security assistance to Ukraine as part of the draft defense budget for fiscal year 2026.

Earlier in July, the State Department approved two additional military aid packages. The first included HAWK Phase III air defense systems and maintenance services.The second covered Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and repair services, according to Pentagon.

The M777 howitzer maintenance deal requires Congressional notification and final approval before implementation, following standard procedures for foreign military sales.

State Department spokesperson Tammie Bruce announced that Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands will finance the delivery of American weapons to Ukraine worth more than $1 billion.

During a briefing, Bruce said Denmark, Norway and Sweden declared their decision to fund an additional package of American weapons for Ukraine worth $500 million. A day earlier, the Netherlands announced it would pay for the first package of American weapons and ammunition, including missiles for the Patriot air defense system, worth more than $500 million.

“Together, these deliveries total over US$1 billion of lifesaving, top-of-the-line American equipment that, as noted by Ambassador Whitaker, will allow Ukraine to, quote, ‘protect critical infrastructure and civilian lives while also staying in the fight until a lasting ceasefire happens’,” Bruce said.

The announcements follow recent developments in NATO’s support mechanism for Ukraine. On 4 August, the Netherlands reported about the preparation of an aid package for Ukraine under NATO’s Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, which included components and missiles for the Patriot air defense system.

The following day, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said that new announcements about military aid packages for Ukraine from other countries under the PURL mechanism could appear soon.

Reuters previously reported on the new financing mechanism for military aid to Kyiv, with sources saying NATO hopes to provide Ukraine with weapons worth $10 billion through this initiative.

Ukraine’s Defense Forces launched the Kursk operation one year ago on 6 August 2024, resulting in over 77,000 Russian military casualties, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Facebook.

The operation was Ukraine’s response to Russia’s preparation of a new offensive campaign in northern Slobozhanshchyna, Syrskyi said. “After careful planning of the operation, our units were able to break through enemy defenses, go deep into the Russian rear and disrupt its logistics,” he said.

At the operation’s peak, Ukrainian forces controlled up to 1,300 square kilometers of Kursk Oblast territory, forcing Russia to redeploy significant reserves and reducing pressure on other front directions. The operation prevented Russia from implementing its offensive plans and created a buffer zone that kept Sumy and Kharkiv free from attack.

Heavy casualties and equipment losses

Throughout the year in the Kursk grouping’s area of responsibility, Ukrainian forces inflicted significant losses on the Russian army. Russia lost over 77,000 military personnel killed and injured, including approximately 4,000 North Korean citizens, according to Syrskyi’s report.

Ukrainian forces also destroyed or damaged 7,236 units of Russian weapons and military equipment, including 11 tanks, 1,083 armored fighting vehicles, 907 artillery systems, one aircraft, three helicopters, 15 air defense systems, and 2,795 vehicles.

The operation resulted in the capture of 1,018 Russian servicemen, enabling the return of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers, including those held captive since 2022.

Mission objectives achieved

The Commander-in-Chief emphasized that the Kursk offensive operation achieved most of the goals set by senior leadership.

“In fact, Russian forces was able to restore lost positions and areas only after it involved North Korean troops, significantly increased its grouping, and transferred the main intensity of the use of guided aerial bombs to Kursk,” Syrskyi said.

Russian forces only began recovering lost territory after North Korea deployed troops to support the operation and Russia intensified its use of guided bombs in the region.

As of today, Ukrainian troops maintain presence in the Glushkovsky district of Kursk Oblast, constraining part of the Russian offensive grouping.

North Korean involvement

North Korea has effectively joined Russia’s war against Ukraine by sending over 10,000 military personnel formed in Kursk Oblast and involved in combat operations. Pyongyang also supplies Russia with ammunition, artillery systems, and ballistic missiles used to shell Ukrainian cities.

South Korean intelligence previously reported that North Korea is preparing another batch of soldiers for Russia. According to CNN, North Korea may send an additional 30,000 military personnel to the war against Ukraine.

The current distance between Russian flanks around Pokrovsk has shrunk to less than 15 kilometers, military expert and former Security Service officer Ivan Stupak says.

Ukrainian forces have defended the strategic city in Donetsk Oblast for over a year. But with nearby Dobropillia now under threat, Russian troops may soon complete the encirclement. Capturing Pokrovsk would represent a major advance toward full Russian control of Donetsk, one of Moscow’s key objectives in the war.

“Their objective is clear — to capture Pokrovsk through encirclement, not through costly urban warfare. They’re trying to create a ‘cauldron,’” Stupak told Radio NV.

He noted that Russian advances began as early as August 2024, with an assault expected by September. Yet only now, a year later, has Russia come close to surrounding the city.

Critical decision looms for Ukrainian forces

Stupak warned that if the gap between Russian positions closes further—from 15 km to under 10 kilometers—Ukrainian forces may be compelled to withdraw from Pokrovsk to prevent a catastrophic loss.

“We saw this before in Vuhledar. It could’ve been held longer, but once surrounded on three sides, our troops had to retreat urgently—sometimes abandoning equipment.

During that retreat, Russian shelling from both flanks caused heavy losses. We must avoid repeating that mistake in Pokrovsk.”

Humanitarian access severed

Donetsk Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin confirmed that entry into Pokrovsk is now nearly impossible due to continuous Russian shelling.

“Only 1,370 residents remain in the city. We can only access it with military escorts, and we rely on our defenders to help evacuate civilians,” he said in a national broadcast, as reported by RBC-Ukraine.

Filashkin added that no humanitarian or medical aid can be delivered. Despite the risks, municipal workers and police continue to operate inside the city to assist with evacuations.

A similar situation is unfolding in Kostiantynivka, where 8,261 residents remain under daily shelling.

According to Pokrovsk News, 1,342 people still reside in Pokrovsk, and 470 in nearby Rodynske. With evacuation routes blocked and humanitarian access cut, many civilians are fleeing on foot toward safer areas.

Ukraine denies full encirclement claims

In late July, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi confirmed that a Russian sabotage group had briefly infiltrated Pokrovsk but was quickly repelled by Ukrainian forces.

The Ukrainian General Staff rejected claims of full encirclement, stating that troops still control defensive lines around the Pokrovsk–Myrnohrad urban zone and that measures have been taken to reinforce the sector.

Russian focus shifts to Rodynske

According to DeepState analysts, Russian forces are now concentrating efforts on Rodynske, a town positioned behind Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk. Capturing Rodynske would open a new axis of attack, potentially accelerating the encirclement.

In a notable editorial convergence, The Telegraph has published two pieces suggesting a striking possibility: India may hold the key to ending the war in Ukraine.

As peace negotiations remain stalled, US President Donald Trump is pursuing a new strategy — one that aims to cut off Russia’s oil income, the financial lifeline that allows Moscow to continue its military campaign. The logic is simple but consequential: as long as countries keep buying Russian oil, Russia can keep funding its war. And two of the biggest buyers are India and China.

One Telegraph report, by Senior Foreign Correspondent Adrian Blomfield and Data Journalist Meike Eijsberg, details Trump’s sharp pivot. After months of shielding Putin from serious consequences, the president is now threatening 100% tariffs on nations that continue to purchase Russian oil — a move aimed squarely at throttling Russia’s war economy.

Yet despite China being Russia’s top energy customer, Trump has refrained from criticizing Beijing. Instead, he has singled out India, the second-largest buyer.

“They’re fuelling the war machine, and if they’re going to do that, then I’m not happy,” Trump told CNBC, vowing further penalties for Delhi’s oil purchases.

According to the Global Trade Research Initiative, India’s Russian oil imports surged from near-zero pre-war to 2.15 million barrels per day by mid-2023, now making up around 45% of its total supply. That translated to $51 billion in revenues for Russia last year alone.

Telegraph column: India may be forced to reassess old alliances

In a separate opinion column, Colonel Tim Collins, former British Army officer, builds on this geopolitical moment. He argues that India’s decades-old strategic relationship with Russia — forged during the Cold War — is coming under pressure from new realities, particularly China’s growing regional dominance.

“India sees itself increasingly surrounded by potential enemies,” Collins writes, citing China’s rising influence in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, including military cooperation and infrastructure encroachment.

India’s military, still heavily reliant on Russian-made equipment, has been tested — most recently in the brief “100-hour war” with Pakistan. According to Collins, that conflict exposed drone capability gaps and other vulnerabilities, many linked to Chinese support for Pakistan.

These military setbacks have pushed India to diversify its defense partnerships, turning to US, French, and Israeli suppliers while accelerating domestic arms production. Yet its longstanding relationship with Russia has made any meaningful cooperation with Ukraine politically off-limits.

The strategic dilemma: Russia’s oil or Western security?

Taken together, The Telegraph’s reporting outlines a core question: Can India keep buying Russian oil while preparing for a future aligned with Western powers?

India’s balancing act is becoming harder. As a member of The Quad (with the US, Japan, and Australia), India is seen as a critical counterweight to China. Yet its energy dependence on Russia has, in Trump’s view, become a liability to the West — and a lifeline to Putin.

“If energy goes down enough, Putin is going to stop killing people,” Trump said last week. “If you get energy down another $10 a barrel, he’s going to have no choice.”

Despite this, Trump has avoided confronting China, which buys even more Russian oil — about 47% of Moscow’s exports. Instead, The Telegraph suggests India has become the central target of Trump’s pressure campaign — and potentially a decisive lever in ending the war.

Pragmatism vs. principle: Which way will Modi lean?

According to both reports, the direction of travel may ultimately depend on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s calculation — between old loyalties to Moscow and new strategic needs.

“Perhaps a Trump charm offensive may be more decisive in the short term as opposed to any form of coercion or strong words,” Collins writes.

At stake is not just the global oil market or India’s own security posture, but possibly the trajectory of the war in Ukraine itself.

As The Telegraph implicitly argues, if India cuts or significantly reduces Russian oil imports — whether due to US pressure, regional insecurity, or long-term strategic shifts — the financial strain on the Kremlin could force a change in Putin’s calculus.

Ukraine’s Cabinet has finally appointed the anti-corruption detective Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi as director of the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB), ending weeks of deadlock that drew international criticism and jeopardized IMF funding.

Tsyvinskyi won the official selection process earlier in July, receiving unanimous support from the commission. Yet the appointment stalled amid unsubstantiated security concerns — a delay that risked derailing up to $2.3 billion financial aid.

What made them so nervous about a detective

Tsyvinskyi represents exactly what Western donors hoped to build in Ukraine. The PhD holder spent nearly a decade at Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau, methodically building cases against untouchable figures like ex-MP Serhiy Pashynskyi, who was charged with embezzling millions in oil products.

In June, a six-member selection commission chose him unanimously, with the three international experts whose votes were decisive under Ukrainian law all supporting his candidacy. The transparent competition was designed specifically to prevent political interference.

A watchdog too effective

The Bureau of Economic Security threatens powerful interests by design. Created in 2021 to replace Ukraine’s corrupt tax police, it investigates economic crimes that intersect with business networks and political patronage.

These are precisely the cases that make politicians with business ties uncomfortable.

Officials initially leaked concerns about Tsyvinskyi’s father, a Russian citizen living in Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine demolished this excuse, with Ukrainian online newspaper Babel reporting that the SBU confirmed no legal reasons existed to block his appointment.

The double standard was obvious. Russian-born General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, has close relatives in Russia — yet it’s never been an issue. Tsyvinskyi, meanwhile, told reporters he hadn’t spoken to his father in over a decade.

The power play behind the scenes

The delay wasn’t random bureaucracy. It came amid broader tensions over control of anti-corruption institutions, with Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President (pictured), steadily expanding his influence over personnel policy. Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, his close ally, chairs the Cabinet, which refused to sign Tsyvinskyi’s appointment within the legal deadline.

The timing was suspicious. Around the same time, the government tried — and failed — to place the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office under tighter executive control. That rollback also came only after intense international pressure.

By mid-July, Ukrainian business groups warned that Tsyvinskyi’s limbo status could disrupt the agency’s reforms and create problems with international partners. Civil society groups called it a procedural violation.

Tsyvinskyi abandoned his reserved professional stance and went public, accusing officials of using “manipulative” tactics to sabotage his candidacy.

When $2.3 billion talks, politicians listen

While Ukraine’s Cabinet dodged questions, pressure from international donors ultimately forced the appointment.
The International Monetary Fund and European Commission had backed the competitive selection process as a core pillar of Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms. With billions in aid flowing through government systems, donor trust became a concrete factor in political calculations.

Ukraine’s IMF deal includes $2.3 billion in aid this year — but only if Kyiv meets its structural reform milestones.

According to the Kyiv Independent, Western donors viewed the delay as a test of Kyiv’s credibility, with direct implications for financial support. More than 60 civil society organizations and business groups issued open letters demanding Tsyvinskyi’s appointment.

The message was clear by late July: continued obstruction could jeopardize that support. The government began signaling that Tsyvinskyi might be appointed in early August, after he agreed to take a polygraph test.

Tsyvinskyi passed the test on 5 August. Of course, he did — the whole exercise was face-saving theater. The mounting pressure had worked.

The pattern: blocking qualified candidates

Russian state media confirmed that a meeting between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Vladimir Putin is currently underway at the Kremlin, just 48 hours before the expiration of Donald Trump’s ceasefire ultimatum.

Witkoff arrived in Moscow early Wednesday and was later seen walking through Zaryadye Park with Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s investment envoy. This marks Witkoff’s fifth visit to Moscow this year and fourth known face-to-face meeting with Putin.

Witkoff has emerged as Trump’s most visible backchannel to the Kremlin, with more face time with Putin this year than any other known American official.

Steve Witkoff — the American who’s met with Putin more than anyone this year — is back in Moscow for round 5.

Will Russia offer anything to avoid sanctions?

Trump’s ceasefire deadline: Friday, 8 August. pic.twitter.com/9FyHy4mFXv

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) August 6, 2025

Trump’s warning: Ceasefire or sanctions

President Trump has issued a 10-day deadline demanding that Russia agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine—or face sweeping sanctions. Originally a 50-day window, Trump cut the deadline in half during a recent visit to Scotland.

“We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow. Let’s see what happens,” Trump told CNBC on Tuesday night. “We’ll make that determination at that time.”

According to The Telegraph, Trump is also considering tariffs up to 100% on countries buying Russian energy—specifically India and China—to target those “fueling Russia’s war machine.”

“I never said a percentage,” Trump said, “but we’ll be doing quite a bit of that.”

Deputy White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly said:

“The President has made it clear: if Putin refuses to end the war, there will be severe sanctions. We won’t get ahead of the President by discussing details.”

Moscow floats “air truce” as concession

According to reporting by Bloomberg and The Telegraph, Putin may propose a limited ceasefire focused on halting missile and drone strikes—an “air truce”—as a gesture toward de-escalation. The offer would depend on Ukrainian agreement and fall short of a full ceasefire.

“Russian officials believe Mr Witkoff’s appearance in the Russian capital will provide Putin with an opportunity to restart talks with the US and head off threats of sanctions,” reported The Telegraph.

The idea was reportedly discussed during a meeting between Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko last Friday. Lukashenko later told reporters:

“As for an air ceasefire. I say, yes, Russia is interested in this, President Putin, but you don’t want it,” referring to US envoy Gen. Keith Kellogg. “Tell Zelenskyy to go along with it.”

Zelenskyy welcomes pressure, warns of Russian stalling

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly welcomed the threat of new US sanctions, saying Russia would only pursue peace when it “begins to run out of money.”

“Their economy continues to decline, and that’s exactly why Moscow is so sensitive to this prospect and President Trump’s resolve,” Zelenskyy said on his recent call with the US President.

The Ukrainian leader also confirmed a “productive” call with Trump this week. They discussed defense cooperation and a new European arms deal, where countries like the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark pledged over $1 billion to fund air defenses and ammunition for Kyiv.

Russia keeps attacking: Energy infrastructure hit overnight

While peace is discussed in Moscow, Russia continues large-scale attacks on Ukraine. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy said a gas facility in Odesa Oblast had been struck by Russian missiles overnight, targeting the village of Novosilske near the Romanian border.

“This was a deliberate blow to our preparations for the heating season—absolutely cynical,” he wrote on Telegram. “Like every Russian blow to the energy sector.”

The area houses the Orlovka interconnector, a key gas transit point from the Transbalkan pipeline, used to import gas into Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Kyiv City Military Administration confirmed the death toll from last week’s missile strike had risen to 32—the deadliest attack on the capital since the war began.

Why this meeting matters

This fifth Putin–Witkoff meeting is seen as the final diplomatic window before Trump enacts potentially devastating measures.

“If Witkoff returns empty-handed, Trump will be furious,” a Financial Times source said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented briefly:

“We consider such meetings to be very important, but we don’t comment on them in advance.”

Behind the scenes, Reuters reports that Putin remains doubtful fresh US sanctions would do serious damage, given the existing restrictions already in place. While he’s said to recognize the potential for improving ties with Washington, his military priorities continue to take precedence.

Exclusive

Russia built 12 jet bunkers in Crimea. Ukraine’s drones blew through them. Ukraine’s state security agency, the vaunted SBU, has made a bad summer for the Russian air force much worse.

Russia’s 137× drone surge wasn’t magic—it was Chinese engines labeled “fridges”. Ukraine faced just 40 drone attacks monthly in 2022. Now it’s over 5,000—using Cold War engines China ships as “refrigerators.”

Military

Russia refuses to end war, even after losing 267,460 troops in 2025 alone. Russia’s war machine is breaking down, with 1.058 million troops, 11,071 tanks, and 421 aircraft destroyed since February 2022.

Ukraine’s special forces eliminate eight Russian companies in one rear operation

. Ukraine’s special forces launched deep raids and cut off Russian supply chains.

It launched one salvo and disappeared in flames: Ukrainian drones make rare kill of Russian TOS‑1A (video). The rare TOS‑1A thermobaric missile launcher tried to hide after firing, but its heat trail betrayed it to the sky.

Drone attack hits Russia’s Rostov Oblast—fire breaks out near railway station.

Intelligence and Technology

Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Netherlands sent American weapons worth $1 billion to Kyiv in two days. The new PURL initiative accelerates arms deliveries, reinforcing Kyiv’s frontline with vital US-made firepower.

Most Germans say they won’t fight for their homeland, while Russia launches $1,1 trillion rearment program since Soviet Union. Despite German intelligence warning of Kremlin provocations, a majority of Germans still say they won’t take up arms to defend their country.

Hindustan Times: Ukraine found India-linked electronics in Russia’s Shahed drones

. Ukrainian investigators tracked Indian-assembled tech in Shahed 136 drones attacking civilian areas.

Netherlands becomes first NATO country to buy US Patriot missiles for Ukraine. The Dutch government has allocated €500 million to fund US-made Patriot missile systems and components for Ukraine—marking a first among NATO allies.

International

Finland rejects NATO’s new procurement tool for Ukraine. While NATO rallies billions for Ukraine, Helsinki charts its own course — arming Kyiv without joining the club.

“War is already at our doorstep”: NATO accelerates military aid for Ukraine. NATO wants to ensure Ukraine receives air defense systems precisely when they are needed most.

India holds up mirror to West: Stop your Russian oil deals before demanding ours. Under pressure from the US, India insists its energy strategy is economic necessity, not political choice, and calls out Western double standards.

‘It’s not safe to return’: Ukrainian refugees face work permit limbo in US

. Communities that embraced displaced Ukrainians now worry about their legal futures, CBS reports.

Thousands of lives are at stake this week as Washington holds key to peace, says Zelenskyy’s top aide. Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office Andrii Yermak argued that decisive US action, targeting Russia’s energy and financial arteries, can bring Vladimir Putin’s war to an end.

Humanitarian and Social Impact

Lozova’s worst drone strike: Russia kills railway worker, injures teenagers. Moscow’s overnight barrage on the civilian city included 46 kamikaze drones and a ballistic missile.

Political and Legal Developments

Kremlin’s oil revenues drop by nearly 33% — but Trump’s sanctions threaten even more pain. With oil and gas revenues down 27%, the Kremlin braces for fresh US measures targeting not only Moscow but also its energy partners.

Panama just slammed the door on Russia’s shadow fleet — tankers over 15 years old now blacklisted

. The world’s largest shipping registry just threw a wrench into Moscow’s oil smuggling machine.

Ukraine wins historic $5 billion award against Russia—and Europe starts making Moscow pay it. For the first time, Ukraine’s $5 billion arbitration victory is being enforced as Austria confiscates Russian property worth €120 million.

New Developments

Cold “space” war: China-Russia race to install nuclear reactor on moon and establish “restricted zones” for US. In response, NASA is accelerating its own nuclear power program for the Moon. A recent directive sets a tight timeline: a program leader must be appointed within 30 days.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Ukrainian drones struck the Tatsinskaya railway station in Russia’s Rostov Oblast for the second consecutive night, causing a fire near freight tanks, according to Russian Telegram channel Astra.

The attack occurred during the night of 5-6 August. Local residents reported about explosions and subsequent fires at the facility.

“The drone strike was apparently aimed at railway infrastructure,” said Petro Andryushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation.

“This is a non-electrified section of the railway and we are not hitting substations. This means we are systematically cutting out the Russians’ railway, including diesel traction with locomotives. For a long time,” he said.

The Tatsinskaya station had already been targeted the previous night, with explosions and fires reported on 4-5 August. That attack also affected the cities of Millerovo and Belaya Kalitva in the same oblast.

The railway attacks represent a shift toward targeting transportation infrastructure that supports both civilian and military logistics. The Tatsinskaya station sits on a key rail line connecting southern Russia with other oblasts.

Separately, the Russian city of Bryansk came under massive drone attack early morning on 6 August. Local witnesses described a column of thick black smoke rising from an oil depot area where drone debris had fallen.

The Bryansk Oblast has faced repeated drone attacks throughout the summer. In late June, Ukrainian drones struck rocket fuel storage facilities and fuel and lubricant warehouses belonging to the Russian army, causing fires at an oil depot. Ukrainian forces also destroyed an Iskander missile system near Bryansk during that period.

Russian authorities have not officially commented on either the railway station attacks or the Bryansk oil depot strike.

Day 1259

On 5 August, the biggest updates come from the Kherson direction.

Here, Ukrainian special forces executed a daring amphibious landing on one of Russia’s most exposed positions in Ukraine. Taking out patrols and destroying critical equipment, this raid has now opened the door to a wide variety of naval, aerial, and further special forces operations across the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula.

Ukraine’s military intelligence service posted footage of how its operatives carried out a naval landing operation on the Tendrivska spit in eastern Kherson. Operatives moved across the Black Sea in rubber boats mounted with radars, electronic warfare systems, and machine guns, similar to boats used by Nato’s naval special forces teams.  Landing on the beaches, the groups quickly disembarked and moved inland past several unmanned Russian coastal fortifications and bunkers. The groups then waited for the cover of night, turned on their night vision goggles, and moved toward their targets.

Their mission: destroying a Russian Rosa radar system and the Zont electronic warfare station protecting it. As they moved toward the targets, they even launched FPV drones to feed live intelligence to the assault groups, and strike any Russian target too dangerous to engage head-on. Before heading back after the successful destruction, they planted the Ukrainian flag on the position, and left a final message for the Russians in the morning: Glory to Ukraine.

The raid was not a detached victory, but a necessary operation that serves a larger strategic purpose. The Tendrivska spit’s topographical setting allows Russians to position radars and electronic warfare equipment that can cover a wide area over the Black Sea as far as possible. Specifically, this allows Russians to detect and disrupt Ukrainian naval and aerial drone strikes, forcing Ukrainians to avoid the coast and creating a more narrow pocket for other Russian air defense assets to monitor.

However, these emplacements are incredibly vulnerable; as they are only connected to the mainland through narrow strips of land, or not at all, forcing Russians to use boats to supply these exposed outposts.

Ukrainians exploited this masterfully, and in the weeks leading up to the operation, they increasingly targeted these outposts, using FPV drones to strike buildings Russians used as barracks situated along the route the assault group would later take.

Ukrainians also used a Bayraktar drone to destroy Russian boats resupplying the outposts and rotating the troops stationed there.

However, Russians didn’t suspect a thing; they understood that these outposts were vulnerable, and likely wrote these events off as acceptable casualties to hold such exposed positions. Notably, Ukrainians likely conducted a second raid on the small settlement of Pokrovske on the Kinburn further north, with another Ukrainian flag appearing raised above the settlement early in the morning.

The disruption of these outposts mean only one thing: Ukrainians are planning an intensification of their operations along this axis. As mentioned previously, one of the operations could be a targeted strike operation against Russian assets in Crimea, with many air defense systems, radars, logistics, and command posts highly likely targets. Notably, such a threat doesn’t even have to be from Ukrainian missiles, as naval drones could now more stealthily pass along the coastline and simply launch waves of FPV drones into the Russian-controlled peninsula.

In the past, the Ukrainian security service has released tons of videos showing such strikes, with strike drones and FPVs flying low, dodging Russian missiles, and taking out targets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Alternatively, this amphibious special forces raid could be a part of the broader war in the Black Sea itself; with drilling platforms serving as makeshift castles from where either side can surveil the area, electronically disrupt equipment, lock down airspace with air defense missiles, or launch strikes from. Only recently Ukrainian naval special forces released new footage of a combined assault on one of these platforms, taking out the Russians defending it with FPV drones, and using the new position to fire missiles at Russian fighter jets.

Overall, Ukrainians executed a daring amphibious raid on several vulnerable Russian outposts, launching preparatory strikes for the operations while leaving Russians none the wiser. The successful outcomes of these missions have now opened the door for a wide range of follow-up operations, while Russians are left guessing as to what the next Ukrainian move will be.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

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Tulcea county in Romania declared a 90-minute air alert on the night of 6 August as Russian strike drones targeted southern Odesa Oblast across the Danube River.

The Romanian county sits on the opposite bank of the Danube from Ukraine’s southernmost cities. Romanian residents could clearly observe air defense operations and explosions from Ukrainian territory during the Russian drone attack.

The resulting fire from the shelling caused panic among Romanian civilians, according to the report. Twenty people called emergency services, believing the blaze was occurring near their location.

“Response forces remained in the area to monitor the situation and intervene if necessary. We again call for calm and remind that Russia’s attack targets are not Romanian territory, and we call on citizens to follow safety measures recommended by authorities,” Romanian fire services reported, according to Digi24.

The attack was also visible from Moldovan territory. Readers reported the incident to local publication Nokta.

This comes as Russian forces launched 45 Shahed-type strike drones and decoy drones of various types from the evening of 5 August. Air defense systems destroyed or suppressed 36 Russian drones across northern, southern, and eastern Ukraine.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, drone debris from attacks on southern Ukrainian targets has repeatedly fallen in border areas of Moldova and Romania. Some projectiles have penetrated deeper into their territories.

Following initial incidents, Romanian authorities began issuing air alerts along the Danube riverbank when Russian attacks occur nearby.

This summer, at least one Russian Shahed-type drone entered Lithuanian airspace through Belarusian territory.

Two people died and 12 others were injured, including children, when Russian forces struck a recreation base in Zaporizhzhia district in the early hours of 6 August, according to Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Ivan Fedorov.

The State Emergency Service later clarified that occupying forces had targeted a recreation base specifically.

At least nine buildings sustained damage in the attack. Emergency services worked at the scene, with rescue workers transporting the wounded and handing them over to emergency medical teams while evacuating other people from the area.

Among the nine hospitalized were two children. “Both are under medical supervision, one is in serious condition,” Fedorov said in a subsequent update.

Emergency responders worked to extinguish fires that broke out in an outbuilding, vehicles, and five separate blazes across open territory. The attack damaged nine single-story holiday cottages at the recreation facility.

The assault formed part of broader overnight Russian attacks across Ukraine. In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Russian occupying forces struck Nikopol and Synelnykivsk districts during the night, damaging an enterprise, residential building, and infrastructure, regional head Serhiy Lysak said.

Ukrainian Air Forces reported that Russia launched 45 Shahed-type strike drones and decoy drones of various types from the evening of 5 August. Air defense systems destroyed or suppressed 36 Russian drones across northern, southern, and eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces launched the drones from the directions of Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, and from Cape Chauda in temporarily occupied Crimea. Aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units, unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups of Ukraine’s Defense Forces repelled the air attack.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced preparations for three joint Ukraine-US projects in the mining sector, with implementation planned to begin within the next 18 months under a bilateral minerals agreement.

Svyrydenko made the announcement on Facebook following negotiations with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The officials discussed creating the American-Ukrainian Investment Recovery Fund, with the first board of directors meeting scheduled for September.

“We are working to expand its mandate so that the fund can also invest in the defense sector. The task is to launch the first three projects within 18 months,” Svyrydenko said.

The talks focused significantly on defense cooperation, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s initiative for a potential agreement on production and export of Ukrainian drones, as well as possible procurement of American weapons.

“We also raised the issue of strengthening sanctions pressure and cooperation with international financial organizations,” Svyrydenko added.

The mining projects represent the latest development in expanding Ukraine-US economic ties. On 1 May, Economics Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and the US Treasury Secretary signed a minerals agreement. The following day, the government submitted the Investment Recovery Fund agreement to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament) for ratification.

The International Policy Committee supported the minerals agreement on 6 May, and the Verkhovna Rada voted to ratify the Ukraine-US minerals agreement on 8 May.

The investment fund’s expanded mandate could potentially channel American capital into Ukraine’s defense industry, marking a significant shift in bilateral economic cooperation beyond traditional reconstruction efforts.

On the night of 3 August, the SBU’s attack drones “visited” Saky airfield, 240 km from the front line in Russian-occupied Crimea, according to the SBU.

The explosive drones destroyed one Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet and damaged another—and also damaged three Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, the SBU claimed. An aviation depot, potentially containing weapons or fuel, was also hit, according to the SBU. 

“The successful special operation of the SBU in Saky is another step towards weakening the enemy’s ability to wage a war of aggression against Ukraine,” the SBU announced. “The occupiers should remember that they will never feel safe on our land!”

What’s especially embarrassing to the Russians is that they’d just finished building at least 12 concrete bunker shelters at Saky to house the aircraft operating from the often-attacked base. “Inside these reinforced shelters, we’ve identified both jets and larger drones, including the Orion,” reported Tatarigami, the head of the Ukrainian Frontelligence Insight analysis group.

The shelters didn’t fully protect the planes at Saky, if the SBU’s claims are accurate.

The Saky raid brings to 27 the number of Russian aircraft Ukrainian drones have destroyed or damaged since 1 June. It’s not the worst month for the Russian air force since Russia widened its war on Ukraine 42 months ago, but it’s close. In all, Russian forces have lost 162 planes and 157 helicopters.

The SBU’s deep-strike campaign, mostly targeting Russia’s own deep-strike assets, dramatically widened this summer. Frustrated in their attempts to intercept Russian aircraft and their munitions in mid-air closer to their targets, Ukrainian forces are increasingly aiming “left of the boom,” to borrow the US Army’s phrasing—and hitting the aircraft and munitions on the ground, before they can launch.

On 1 June, the SBU smuggled long-haul trucks full of explosive first-person-view drones close to five Russian bomber bases.

Around 100 of the tiny FPVs, each weighing just a few pounds, swarmed the bases. Relaying signals back to their operators via Russia’s own cellular phone network, the drones homed in on bombers and other warplanes parked on the bases’ tarmacs.

Bomber massacre

In the immediate aftermath of the 1 June raid, the SBU claimed its drones had struck around 40 warplanes at Dyagilevo, Ivanovo, Olenya, Belaya and Ukrainka air bases.

But close scrutiny of satellite imagery seemed to confirm just 13 or 14 losses, including seven or eight Tupolev Tu-95 bombers, four Tupolev Tu-22M bombers, a Beriev A-50 radar plane and a transport plane. Alongside Tupolev Tu-160s, the Tu-22Ms and Tu-95s are Russia’s main platforms for long-range cruise missile strikes on Ukrainian cities. 

By eliminating a portion of Russia’s missile-carriers, the 1 June Operation Spider Web could have “significant effect that should dramatically reduce Russia’s ability to launch missiles against Ukrainian cities and kill civilians,” noted Ben Hodges, a retired US Army general. 

On the night of 27 June, the SBU’s long-range attack drones—potentially Ukroboronprom An-196s—“dealt another painful blow to the occupiers,” according to the service. The explosive drones struck the Russian airfield in Kirovske, 130 miles from the front line in southern Ukraine.

“Fire damage was inflicted on the locations of the aviation component, air-defense systems, ammunition storage depots, as well as reconnaissance and strike UAVs of the enemy,” the SBU reported.

The SBU claimed it destroyed Mil Mi-8 and Mi-26 transport helicopters and a Mil Mi-28 attack helicopter as well as a Pantsir air-defense vehicle. A reported secondary explosion may point to Russian ammunition stocks—or parked drones—cooking off.

“The SBU is systematically working to reduce the Russian Federation’s capabilities to deliver air and bomb strikes on the territory of Ukraine,” the service explained. “The occupiers should realize that their expensive military equipment and ammunition are not protected anywhere: neither on the line of combat contact, nor in temporarily occupied territories, nor in the deep rear of the enemy.”

The very same night drones struck Kirovske, the SBU and Ukraine’s special operations command, the SSO, struck a second time—and damaged if not destroyed as many as five Russian air force Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers at Marinovka air base in Volgorod Oblast, 290 km from the front line. 

The 150 or so Su-34s that are left, after several dozen have been lost over Ukraine, are Russia’s primary platforms for dropping KAB winged glide-bombs on Ukrainian positions. The 500- and 1,000-kg KABs range as far as 64 km. They can be jammed, but the sheer number of KABs raining down on the Ukrainians—thousands per month—makes them among the most damaging munitions in the Russian arsenal.

The 27 June strikes capped a painful month for the Russian air force. The 3 August raid extended the costly summer into early August.

Explore further

Russia’s jets dropped 250 bombs to stop Ukraine’s advance—the Bradleys rolled anyway

Finland won’t join NATO’s new weapons procurement program for Ukraine, opting instead to rely on its own defense industry. Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen has announced that his country is focusing on a domestic industrial program, Yle reports. 

“We have allocated our resources to an internal industrial program, under which we place orders for Ukraine from companies across Finland,” he states.

A decision to back local industry — and still help Ukraine

Häkkänen emphasizes that the program was developed in cooperation with Ukraine to provide “maximum support” and that other countries understand Finland’s approach, especially given its shared border with Russia.

“We continue to support Ukraine with strong commitment and energy, but now we are prioritizing production by domestic companies,” he adds.

Different approaches within NATO with one common goal

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Sweden, Norway, and Denmark had allocated over $500 million to buy weapons for Ukraine through NATO’s new procurement mechanism. Finland has chosen a different vector, but its support remains consistent and strategically vital.

NATO is preparing to act swiftly. During an official visit to the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) headquarters, General Alexus Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), declared that the Alliance is ready to address Ukraine’s weapon needs promptly. 

“We’re going to move as quickly as we can,” he emphasized.

NSATU coordinates international support for Ukraine, providing ongoing training and logistics. Under this initiative, over 300 personnel from 28 NATO countries work closely with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Poland’s logistics hub — a lifeline for uninterrupted support

A key role in delivering military aid to Ukraine is played by the Logistics Enabling Node-Poland (LEN-P). Each month, this hub manages the shipment of about 18,000 tons of military equipment to Ukraine.

NATO’s representation in Ukraine notes that LEN-P is one of the most critical components of the training headquarters’ operations.

NATO warns: the war is close

Earlier, at the LANDEURO symposium in Wiesbaden, General Grynkewich stressed that “the war is already at our doorstep,” and NATO’s response must be rapid and resolute. 

Russia is losing petrodollars. In July 2025, Russia suffered a significant financial blow: oil-related budget revenues dropped by nearly 33% compared to the previous year, according to Bloomberg.

A official Russian Finance Ministry says that the country collected only $8.9 billion in oil-related taxes. Combined oil and gas revenues fell by 27%.

Price spike didn’t save profits from falling

Despite a short-term 71% increase in the price of Russian export oil in July, the first such jump in five months, petrodollars flowing into the budget declined. Global crude prices spiked sharply at that time due to warfare in the Middle East.

Benchmark oil prices, however, have dropped year-on-year, as Trump’s trade policies threaten to slow the global economy while OPEC+ ramps up production faster than expected.

The strengthening of the ruble also contributed to lower revenues, as revaluation means oil companies receive fewer rubles per barrel they pump and sell. In June, the ruble hit its strongest exchange rate in two years: 78.71 per dollar. This means oil and gas companies earn less in rubles for exports. In 2024, they earned 6,127 rubles per barrel, now only 4,711.

Subsidies slashed as budget runs short

However, lower global prices for crude and refined oil products have allowed the government to cut subsidies paid to Russian refineries.

These subsidies partially compensate for the price difference between domestic and export fuel, aiming to boost domestic gasoline and diesel supply. In July, the budget allocated 58% less for this purpose compared to the previous year.

Ukraine’s army is holding the line. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, has released staggering figures for Russian army losses in the first seven months of 2025 — 267,460 troops.

“Due to the coordinated and professional work of Ukraine’s Defense Forces, enemy losses since the beginning of the year total 267,460 personnel,” Syrskyi reveals.

In July alone, Russia lost more than 33,200 troops.

The war continues

As of 5 August, fighting rages in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and other fronts. Battles were ongoing in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Chernihiv oblasts. Ukrainian forces are eliminating approximately per day:

• 1,120 occupiers
• 2 tanks
• 12 armored vehicles
• 28 artillery systems
• 169 drones

Putin defies Trump’s ultimatum, escalates threats to Europe

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no intention of complying with the US ultimatum to end the war in Ukraine. He insists on controlling Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson and demands that Ukraine renounce NATO membership and adopt neutral status.

Putin also confirmed plans to deploy new “Oreshnik” intercontinental missile systems in Belarus in the second half of 2025, a looming threat to both Ukraine and Europe.

Ukraine’s allies will spend millions of dollars for weapons for Kyiv. Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have jointly allocated over $500 million to purchase American weapons for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces.

“Plus $500 million — the total amount from our friends in Northern Europe… This will be implemented under NATO coordination,” Zelenskyy says.

According to the new mechanism, Ukraine compiles a list of priority needs in packages of approximately $500 million. Then, the partner countries can:

• provide their own weapons from the list and immediately purchase the US equivalent — bypassing bureaucracy,
• or order weapons directly from the US or through NATO.

This approach significantly speeds up logistics and replenishment of allied arsenals.

Unity of arms and action

The Ukrainian president has thanked the prime ministers of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for their concrete support that “increases Ukraine’s capacity to protect lives.”

“This will be a good example for other NATO countries… to guarantee protection against Russian strikes,” Zelenskyy emphasizes.

The PURL initiative becomes a new bridge between America and Europe in the defense sector, and another signal to Moscow: Western support is not weakening but growing.

More than deliveries

The Ukrainian president has stressed that such projects strengthen Ukraine’s own defense production as well as joint defense initiatives with partners. This builds a new architecture of European security based on powerful cooperation.

“Russia will never turn Europe into a continent of war… we guarantee that peace will prevail,” Zelenskyy states.

In just two days, Ukraine received nearly $1 billion in international arms aid — after €500 million from the Netherlands, another half a billion came from Northern Europe.

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence “Timur” Special Unit has crashed Russia’s advance on Sumy Oblast. The fighters have eliminated eight Russian companies in Sumy Oblast, the agency reports. 

“The enemy’s advance has been halted. Their food and ammunition supply lines have been cut,” explains Ukraine’s military intelligence.

The operation involved 11 combat detachments under the Timur Special Unit. As a result of the mission: 

• At least 334 Russian troops were eliminated
• Over 550 were wounded

Russians refuse to fight

According to the Defense Intelligence, Ukrainian soldiers executed a series of swift raids deep into Russian-controlled territory, effectively deploying FPV drones, artillery, grenade launchers, and small arms in close-quarters combat.

“Based on intercepted communications, Russian soldiers gave fabricated excuses to avoid storming positions within the Timur Unit’s area of operation,” says the agency.

A retaliatory strike against terror: Sumy under constant attack

In early August, Russia intensified its assaults on the Sumy front, launching frequent artillery, missile, and air strikes. In July alone, 23 civilians were killed, and over 140 were wounded, according to Oleh Hryhorov, head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration.

“In July, there were 2,700 Russian attacks on Sumy Oblast, with more than 800 air-dropped bombs, 250 kamikaze drone strikes, and 52 missile strikes,” Hryhorov says.

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Amid the growing threat from Russia, the German government is launching an ambitious rearmament program. But a recent poll shows: nearly 60% of Germans say they would “probably” or “definitely” not defend Germany in the event of an attack, The Telegraph reports. 

Only 16% expressed full willingness to bear arms, while another 22% said they would “probably” defend the country, according to a survey commissioned by broadcaster RND. 

These figures come as a blow to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who is spearheading a large-scale reform of the Bundeswehr in hopes of transforming it into a pillar of European security after decades of chronic underfunding.

Berlin changes its defense approach

In July, Pistorius presented a plan to recruit 40,000 young people annually until 2031. Under the proposal, all 18-year-old males would receive mandatory questionnaires, followed by medical examinations to assess their fitness for service.

The goal: increase the Bundeswehr’s size from 182,000 to at least 260,000 soldiers by 2035, and expand the military reserve from 60,000 to 200,000. Without internal motivation among citizens, this initiative may prove futile. 

The Russian threat is real: Germany has no time for doubt

German intelligence chief Bruno Kahl has also warned of Russian provocations and Moscow’s ambition to push NATO back to its 1990s borders. Against this backdrop, the unwillingness of German citizens to defend their country may pose serious concerns in Berlin. 

Ukraine has discovered Indian electronics in Iranian-designed Shahed drones used by Russian forces to attack civilian areas. Indian media report that Kyiv raised the issue with both India and the EU, citing specific Indian-made components embedded in these weapons.

Ukraine flags Indian electronics in Russian drones

Hindustan Times reports that Ukrainian authorities identified parts made or assembled in India inside Shahed 136 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). These drones have been used by Russia in mass strikes on Ukrainian cities since 2022.

According to the documents reviewed by the outlet, a Vishay Intertechnology “bridge rectifier E300359” assembled in India was found in the drone’s voltage regulator. A signal generator chip AU5426A by Aura Semiconductor was located in the satellite navigation system.

The report states that Ukraine raised the issue with India’s external affairs ministry on at least two occasions. Ukrainian diplomats also brought it up with EU sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan during his mid-July visit to New Delhi.

India’s foreign ministry responded that its dual-use exports follow international non-proliferation rules and domestic regulations. Vishay Intertechnology did not respond to the paper’s request for comment.

Aura Semiconductor, whose AU5426A chip was identified in the drones, said in a statement that it complies fully with export control laws and is “deeply disturbed” by the possibility of its components being misused. It added that its chip is plug-and-play, making user tracing difficult, and that an internal audit yielded no conclusive findings.

India says electronics was exported to West Asia

Hindustan Times cites unnamed sources saying some Indian components were legally exported to West Asia, then diverted to Russia or Iran.

Ukraine’s HUR defence intelligence agency has also found electronics from US and Chinese firms in Russian weapons.

Ajay Srivastava from the Global Trade Research Initiative told Hinndustan TImes that tracing dual-use items post-export is almost impossible, and said better exporter awareness is needed. He warned that no export control system can guarantee full oversight once items cross national borders.

Panama has banned oil tankers and bulk carriers over 15 years old from registering under its flag. This move will directly impact vessels linked to Russia’s shadow fleet. The Panamanian Maritime Authority (AMP) announced the decision on 1 August 2025 to reduce detentions and prevent non-compliant ships from what is called the “ghost fleet” from entering the registry.

Panama enforces age cap to block risky vessels

The Panamanian Ship Registry updated its regulations to exclude tankers and bulk carriers aged over 15 years. According to AMP, the move aims to improve operational standards and limit the risks associated with older vessels. The registry update is part of the revised MMN 11/2024 directive, which defines the Precheck process for flagging eligibility.

A key element of the Precheck involves evaluating risks tied to sanctions and vessel operations. The General Directorate of the Merchant Marine found that between 2023 and mid-2025, 71% of all ship detentions involved older oil tankers, bulk carriers, or general cargo ships.

Panama’s registry, holding the Guinness World Record for the largest number of registered vessels, is taking additional steps to ensure compliance.

Authorities will now require extra inspections every three months for vessels classified as deficient. These checks will be conducted by the Recognized Organization responsible for issuing statutory certificates. In addition, there will be further verification of the Ship’s Safety Management System (SMS Certificate), particularly if non-conformities are detected.

The AMP stated the changes are meant to reduce detentions and increase overall safety. While the announcement did not name Russia directly, it referred to the so-called “ghost fleet” — a term widely used for Russia’s shadow fleet of old tankers used to bypass sanctions and transport oil covertly.

Ukraine’s allies continue flowing billions of dollars into oil trade with Russia. The Indian government, in response to US President Donald Trump’s ultimatum, which threatens secondary sanctions against countries importing Russian energy, says that “the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia.”

“India’s imports are meant to ensure predictable and affordable energy costs to the Indian consumer… It is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia,” says the Indian government. 

The West keeps trading with Russia: The numbers are striking

India points to the Western blatant double standards.

• In 2024, EU–Russia trade in goods reached €67.5 billion.
• In 2023, services trade totaled €17.2 billion.
• In 2024, Europe imported a record 16.5 million tonnes of Russian LNG, the highest volume since 2022.

Many critical Russian exports remain unsanctioned, including:

• Palladium for the US auto industry
• Uranium for nuclear power plants
• Fertilizers, chemicals, metals, machinery, and equipment, all of which the US continues to import from Russia.

India rejects restrictions

India emphasizes that its decisions are driven by economic necessity, not political alignment.
New Delhi is ready to defend its energy security, even if new sanctions are imposed.

“The targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” the Indian government claimed. 

Effectively, India has held up a mirror to the US and Europe: stop your own trade with Russia before demanding the same from others.

Russia will pay. Ukraine’s national energy company, Naftogaz, has announced it has received official approval from the Vienna District Court to initiate forced enforcement of the largest arbitration award against Russia, worth over $5 billion.

Due to the Kremlin’s refusal to pay voluntarily, Naftogaz has launched procedures to seize Russian assets worldwide.

A blow to Russia in the heart of Europe

Based on the Austrian court decision, more than 20 pieces of Russian state-owned real estate in Vienna have been seized, with a total value exceeding €120 million.

These assets will be sold, and the proceeds transferred to Ukraine as part of the compensation awarded in The Hague.

“This is another practical step towards collecting over $5 billion from Russia for the illegal seizure of Naftogaz Group’s assets in Crimea. Russia will pay for everything,” says Naftogaz CEO Serhii Koretskyi.

Arbitration in action

Naftogaz is represented in Austria by the DORDA law firm. The team includes partner Alexander Karl, lead counsel Robert Keimmelmayr, and Therese Stingl.

The seized property includes shares in gas pipelines, equipment, licenses for subsoil use, and over 675 million cubic meters of gas in underground storage, all of which Russia seized during the occupation of Crimea.

Naftogaz was a key player in Crimea’s gas market, responsible for exploration, production, transportation, processing, and distribution of gas.

Ukrainian refugees work permits are set to expire, leaving many families in legal limbo, CBS News reports. Dozens who fled war and rebuilt their lives in Iowa may soon lose the right to work.

Iowa town that welcomed refugees now fears for their future

CBS News reports that Liana Avetisian and her family fled Ukraine in 2023 and resettled in DeWitt, Iowa, where over 75 refugees found jobs and housing with help from locals like Angela Boelens and her group Iowa Nice.

Avetisian, once a real estate agent in Kyiv, took a job at a window company. Her employer, Sam Heer, told CBS News he values Ukrainian workers and wants more Ukrainians, he said, after hiring Avetisian, her husband, and her cousin—until their permits expired.

“These people are hard to come by. […]  When people do the right things and follow the rules, they should be rewarded,” he added.

Though Heer supported President Trump in 2024, he now urges the administration to reconsider. 

No safe return as war continues in Ukraine

Most European countries have renewed work permits for Ukrainian refugees. But the Trump administration froze all immigration applications from Ukraine and Latin America earlier this year.

Boelens says many more permits will soon expire, pushing families to the edge.

“It’s not safe to go back to Kyiv,” she told CBS News.

Avetisian agrees. Her mother sends her daily videos of Kyiv under attack.

“Every day, every night, it’s bombing,” she said.

Refugees like Avetisian say they only want to stay and keep working in the communities they’ve come to call home.

Ukraine’s Rarog Regiment has destroyed a TOS‑1A thermobaric system near the front line, Defense Express reports. The rare Russian launcher was located and eliminated after it exposed its thermal signature by firing a salvo.

Ukrainian drones destroy TOS‑1A thermobaric system in frontline night strike

Drone pilots from Ukraine’s Rarog 427th Regiment tracked and struck the Russian TOS‑1A thermobaric rocket system during a night operation. The system had launched its rockets just moments before drones detected its heat and visual trail.

Defense Express notes the system was reduced to burnt wreckage, eliminating one of the Russian army’s most feared battlefield weapons. These systems have previously been used to target frontline units and civilians due to their destructive blast pressure and heat.

After the launcher revealed its position, a Ukrainian FPV kamikaze drone was deployed. The drone struck the TOS‑1A, disabling its movement or defenses. Immediately following the initial hit, Vampire bomber drones carrying explosive payloads were used to finish the job. The payloads were dropped with high precision, leaving the system completely destroyed.

Defense Express also highlighted a previous strike by the Kryma reconnaissance group of the 14th Separate UAV Regiment. That team guided a HIMARS strike onto a North Korean Koksan self-propelled gun used by Russian forces. The operation destroyed the weapon and killed six crew members.

Thermobaric weapons

A thermobaric munition, also called aerosol or vacuum ammunition, is a type of explosive that works by dispersing an aerosol cloud of gas, liquid, or powdered explosive before igniting it. It uses the effect of a volumetric explosion of an aerosol cloud of flammable substance. These weapons are designed to produce enhanced temperature and pressure compared to conventional explosives and are often referred to as fuel-air explosives.

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The Dutch government has committed €500 million in Dutch funding for Patriot missile systems and components for Kyiv, becoming the first NATO country to directly purchase US-made weapons for Ukraine’s defense. The move, announced by Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans on 4 August, comes as Russia escalates its ongoing air attacks on Ukrainian civilians.

Netherlands funds US Patriots as Russia escalates air strikes

On 4 August, Brekelmans posted on X that “Ukraine needs more air defence and ammunition now,” and stated the Netherlands would supply “as the first NATO ally” a €500 million package of US-made weapons, including Patriot missile components and ammunition. The minister said this would help Ukraine defend itself and the rest of Europe against Russian aggression.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the decision, saying it would “help save lives.” He discussed the aid with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof and linked the move to practical outcomes of the recent NATO summit held in The Hague.

“This is the first such step among NATO countries at a time when Russia is trying to scale up its strikes. It will definitely help protect the lives of our people,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

Zelenskyy praises timing and scale of Dutch funding for Patriot

Zelenskyy described the €500 million deal as a “substantial contribution” and thanked the Netherlands for contributing to a stronger “air shield” for both Ukraine and Europe. He said his conversation with Prime Minister Schoof confirmed Dutch leadership on military aid to Kyiv.

The president also thanked NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for what he called “determination to strengthen our defense.” He added that Ukraine was expecting Schoof to visit soon.

The US, China, and Russia are competing to build the first nuclear reactor on the Moon. If Beijing and Moscow succeed ahead of Washington, they could declare parts of the Moon a “restricted zone,” potentially limiting American access, warned US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, The New York Times reports. 

China and Russia are planning to install the reactor by the mid-2030s as part of a joint effort to construct a permanent lunar base.

NASA accelerates its lunar nuclear program

In response, Washington is ramping up efforts to deploy its own nuclear power plant on the Moon. According to a new NASA directive:

• A program leader must be appointed within 30 days.
• A request for commercial proposals must be issued within 60 days.
• The reactor must generate at least 100 kilowatts of electricity — enough to power ~80 American homes.
• Target operational date: end of 2029.

Why nuclear?

A single lunar “day” lasts about 28 Earth days, which means 14 days of light, followed by 14 days of complete darkness. This makes solar power unreliable, especially for continuous life-support operations. A nuclear reactor offers constant, reliable energy, even during the long lunar night.

In 2022, NASA signed three $5 million contracts for early nuclear reactor prototypes, but the new directive calls for faster, larger-scale development.

What’s next?

The first Artemis crewed landing is tentatively scheduled for 2027, though many experts are skeptical about that timeline. Many of the essential components, including the lunar landing module Starship, which SpaceX is developing, have not yet been tested. The Trump administration wants to transition to using commercial rockets and spacecraft instead of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule, which NASA has been working on for over a decade.

A reactor would be useful for long-term stays on the Moon, especially during the two-week-long nights, but NASA’s plans do not specify when a lunar base might be built. 

Thousands of lives at stake. In a column for The Washington Post, Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office Andrii Yermak asserted that this week, US political will could bring end to Russia’s war — by targeting its energy and financial lifelines.

Yermak called for immediate and forceful sanctions against Russia, stressing that US President Donald Trump’s recent ultimatum, reducing the window for a peace deal from 50 to 10 days, was a clear and powerful message to the Kremlin.

“These signals need to be followed up with decisive action for the war to end,” Yermak said, emphasizing Ukraine’s support for Trump’s firm stance on peace through strength — “the only language Putin understands.”

Sanctions needed: Rosatom, Gazprombank, and the shadow fleet 

Yermak detailed a series of urgent sanctions Ukraine is calling for:

• Rosatom and Roscosmos: Strategic instruments of war that must face full-scale sanctions.
• Gazprombank: Still connected to SWIFT — must be cut off, alongside other smaller banks helping Russia evade restrictions.
• Microchips and Electronics: An embargo on components Russia obtains via China and Central Asia, fueling its drone and missile production.
• The Shadow Fleet: Sanctions on tankers and operators circumventing oil price caps — a crucial step to collapse Putin’s war financing.

“The tools to stop Russia exist. What is needed is the political will to use them with precision and force,” Yermak stated.

He highlighted the urgent need for targeted pressure, noting that the global community has the levers to stop the Kremlin’s military machine but only if wielded with precision and bold leadership.

US Trump’s oil tariffs rattled the Kremlin

Yermak praised Trump’s move to raise tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, calling it “a great first step” that caused panic in Moscow, and stressed that more must follow.

He also voiced support for the bipartisan bill by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, which would impose secondary sanctions on third-country firms aiding Russia’s war economy.

“Thousands of lives depend on the success of what follows,” Yermak concluded.

A fire broke out at a railway in southern Russia’s Rostov Oblast overnight on 5 August after a reported drone attack. Local footage geolocated by independent analysts shows flames near the Tatsinskaya station and nearby infrastructure. Russian officials claim the attack was repelled. The station is located 250 km behind the lines.

Fire confirmed near railway in Rostov Oblast after drone strike

Ukrainian Telegram channels Supernova+ and Exilenova+ reported that a fire occurred near the Tatsinskaya station in Rostov Oblast following a drone strike. According to Supernova+, the intended target may have been a fuel train, but the impact ignited grass instead. The video shared by Supernova+ shows fire in the vicinity of the station and a local grain elevator.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that 24 drones were downed overnight across four regions, including seven over Rostov Oblast. It alleged that 13 UAVs were destroyed over Bryansk Oblast, two over Kaluga Oblast, and two over Smolensk Oblast.

Russian news Telegram channel Astra cited local residents who reported a fire in the Tatsinskaya area after the strike. Astra geolocated footage of the incident, identifying the red water tower and the grain elevator visible at the railway site.

Officials downplay incident as fire

Yurii Slyusar, acting governor of Rostov Oblast, stated that Russian forces allegedly repelled a mass air attack in several districts, including Millerovsky, Chertkovsky, Tatsinsky, and Belaya Kalitva. He claimed that an electric substation in Verkhnetalovka, Millerovsky district, had burned and that the 500-square-meter blaze had been put out.

Russia’s Lozova drone strike killed a railway worker and injured civilians, including two teenagers, during Russia’s heaviest drone and missile attack on the city since the start of the full-scale war. According to the Ukrainian Air Force and local officials, the assault overnight on 5 August 2025 involved 46 Shahed-type and decoy UAVs, and a ballistic Iskander-M missile.

Russia targets Lozova with 46 drones and a missile

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that from 19:00 on 4 August, Russia launched an air attack from the directions of Kursk, Bryansk, Oryol, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, using Shahed drones, UAV decoys of various types, and an Iskander-M missile from Bryansk Oblast.

Ukraine’s air defenses, including aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare, and mobile fire groups, intercepted or suppressed 29 drones by 08:00.

“Hits from 17 drones were recorded in the eastern direction, as well as one ballistic missile, and debris from downed drones fell in three locations in the southern and northeastern directions,” the Air Force wrote.

Railway worker killed, children injured in Lozova

In Lozova, Kharkiv Oblast, a massive drone strike killed one person and injured others, local authorities reported. The mayor of Lozova, Serhii Zelenskyy, said that critical infrastructure, high-rise buildings, detached houses, and an educational institution were damaged. He noted that emergency services, medics, and rescue workers were operating on site and that restoration of water supply was underway.

Zelenskyy added that parts of the city remained without power, including Avylivka and the Katerynivskyi district. Public transport routes were also affected.

Rail station damaged, fires reported, transport disrupted

Images released by the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office show damage at the Lozova railway station, including a collapsed roof. The station was temporarily closed, and changes were introduced to suburban train services, the city council and Ukrzaliznytsia reported.

Trains Nos. 66/65 and 166/165 on the Uman–Cherkasy–Kharkiv route were redirected via an alternate path. Passengers to and from Lozova were being transported by bus to the Paniutyne station. Ukrzaliznytsia warned of delays of up to one hour due to use of a reserve locomotive.

According to the State Emergency Service, six fires broke out in Lozova as a result of the drone strike. Destruction of other buildings was also recorded.

The Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office clarified that Russia has used over 30 Shahed-type attack drones — for some reason, the Kharkiv local authorities and prosecutor’s office always refer to them as “Geran-2” by their Russian designation. 

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Military

HUR: Explosion plunges Russian military repair base in Berdiansk into darkness. The blackout left Russian troops blind and stalled at a strategic site where vehicles were mended.

Ukraine’s Security Service obliterates Russian $50 million Su-30 jet in Crimea—and damages more. Ukraine delivers a brutal reminder: no corner of occupied land is safe.

Russia converts Donetsk airport into drone launch base to target Ukraine faster. Satellite imagery from July 2025 shows Russian forces constructing drone storage areas, control points and fuel infrastructure at the occupied Donetsk City airport

Major Russian rail hub hit: Drones strike Volgograd transport corridor, delay Moscow-St. Petersburg trains. Transport disruptions spread across southern Russia as drone strikes on railway infrastructure in Volgograd Oblast delayed five passenger trains

Frontline report: Poland’s fighter jets now scramble nightly while Russian drones test NATO’s eastern border. The unmanned aircraft flew close enough to Vilnius for residents to capture video footage, initially sparking fears that a live munition had penetrated NATO airspace

Frontline report: NATO’s AWACS are mapping every radar pulse over Russia’s Kaliningrad

. Each flight builds a radar profile of Russian systems near the Suwalki Gap, preparing NATO for potential strikes.

Intelligence and technology

New Russian 9M729 missile threat just brought world back to Cold War era. The Kremlin has scrapped its moratorium on intermediate-range ballistic and cruise missiles, reviving a class of weapons once eliminated under a landmark Cold War treaty, and blaming the West for its return.

Germany raids company which secretly sent 20 machines to Russia for munitions production, despite Ukraine’s warnings. Law enforcement moves in after Ukrainian watchdogs expose how banned high-tech exports may be enabling Russia’s battlefield slaughter.

China cuts rare minerals, stalling US weapons — and threatening Ukraine’s fight for survival. Ukraine relies on Western weapons, but China’s export bans on key minerals risk cutting off the lifeline.

US tech giants land in Kyiv to outsmart Russia’s deadly drones. Dedrone and Ukrainian tech join forces to stop swarms, as the drone war is just beginning.

International

Ukrainian sappers to train at Middle East mine action school with funding from Paris. With nearly 40% of its territory potentially contaminated, Ukraine deepens cooperation with France and Lebanon to dismantle hidden killers of war.

Delhi turns to American, Canadian, and Emirati oil suppliers amid Western pressure. However, Russia remains its top oil source, keeping Moscow’s war machine alive and capable of killing more Ukrainian civilians.

Kremlin signals openness to Putin-Zelenskyy talks — but conditions remain unchanged. Moscow has not ruled out a future meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, but insists negotiations must follow “expert-level” groundwork, with Ukraine first accepting key Russian demands, including neutrality.

Trump again confirms US nuclear submarines near Russia after Medvedev threats. Two US nuclear submarines are now positioned near Russian territory following a week of escalating threats between President Trump and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

Trump’s special envoy Witkoff to visit Moscow as 8 August ceasefire deadline looms. As Trump’s 8 Aug. Ukraine ceasefire deadline approaches, the US Middle East envoy will meet with Russian officials who requested the talks amid threats of sanctions and 100% tariffs

Humanitarian and social impact

Ukraine reports infant in critical condition after multi-region Russian assault. Russian night attack killed a 45-year-old man in Kherson Oblast and injured three people in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, including an infant in serious condition

Political and legal developments

Russia punishes Ukrainian flag more harshly than Nazi symbols in occupied Crimea. While Kremlin courts overlook swastikas, they jail Ukrainians for singing patriotic songs or showing national colors.

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies uncover suspected UAV graft scheme. Drone procurement scandal highlights ongoing battle over anti-corruption efforts.

TikTokers face $ 300 fine for filming burning Russian oil depot hit by Ukrainian drones. Russian police detained three young people who traveled 1,500km from Nizhny Tagil to film a burning Sochi oil depot hit by Ukrainian drones

Read our earlier daily review here.

Your smartphone probably has more computing power than the drone that woke Ukrainian families at 3 AM this morning. Yet these cheap weapons have become Putin’s most reliable tool for terrorizing Ukraine—and they’re multiplying faster than anyone expected.

Russia launched more than 728 drones in a single night attack on 9 July 2025. In June alone, 5,483 drones targeted Ukraine—16 times more than June 2024 and a 30% increase over the previous month. Compare that to September 2022, when Russia’s entire monthly arsenal was just 40 units.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia has launched 28,743 drones at Ukraine since February 2022. The escalation has been systematic: 40 drones in September 2022, increasing to 5,483 by June 2025—a 137-fold increase over 33 months.

What changed?

The Shahed transformation

The Shahed-136 represents a shift in modern warfare—establishing what defense analysts call asymmetric warfare through large-scale, low-cost swarm attacks. Iran’s HESA reverse-engineered a 1980s German design (the Die Drohne Antiradar) to create a flying bomb that carries 118 pounds (53 kg) of explosives over 1,000 miles (1,600 km).

Iran initially sent combat drones to Russia on 19 August 2022—both Mohajer-6 surveillance drones (200km range, two missiles per wing) and Shahed kamikaze units. Tehran and Moscow officially denied the transfers, but Iran later acknowledged them while claiming they predated the invasion.

In early September 2022, IRGC Commander Major General Hussein Salami noted that Iran was selling domestic military equipment to foreign buyers, including “major world powers,” and training them to use this equipment.

But the real game-changer came with Iran’s $1.75 billion technology transfer deal that gave Russia the blueprints, software, and production technologies to build its own versions. Shahed drones were previously built by Shahed Aviation Industries in Iran, where allegedly every drone factory has two backup sites in case of aerial attacks.

Inside the Alabuga factory boom

Russia’s drone production centers on the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Tatarstan—more than 1,300 kilometers from Ukraine’s border and Russia’s most successful SEZ, accounting for 68% of total revenue. The facility produced 2,738 Shahed-style drones in 2023, then more than doubled to 5,760 units by September 2024.

Recent analysis suggests Russia produced over 10,000 drones in 2024 alone, doubling monthly production from 1,000 to nearly 2,000 units.

Satellite imagery shows at least eight new warehouse structures under construction. The Institute for Science and International Security estimates Alabuga now produces almost 20 drones per working day—double the original contract rate. Russia initially predicted production costs of $48,000 per Geran-2 (25% of the purchase cost), but by April 2024 this increased to around $80,000 due to upgrades. The original plan called for 310 drones per month with 24-hour operations, plus plans for an additional 6,000 drones per year after the initial contract.

The main structural components requiring sophisticated supply chains are the airframe (fuselage), engine, avionics (electronics), and combat unit.

Russia started with a three-phase plan:

Phase 1 was reassembling 100 drones per month from Iranian knock-down kits.

Phase 2 would produce their own airframes.

Phase 3 would produce another 4,000 drones by September 2025 with little Iranian help.

Alabuga Machinery LLC completed construction of production buildings in December 2022 and sent its first team of specialists to Iran for training in March 2023. In parallel, the process of assembling drones from Iranian machine kits continued.

But there were problems. About 25% of Iranian kits arrived damaged or broken—including one dropped during delivery.

Here’s the interesting part: leaked data shows 90% of Iranian Shahed-136’s computer chips and electrical components are manufactured in the West, primarily in the United States.

Iran initially helped Russia with direct connections. According to the US Treasury Department, Alabuga requested meetings with Mado Company officials (Iranian drone engine producers) and received detailed documents on the MD550 engine that powers the Shahed-136. Iran’s Defense Ministry also facilitated the supply of UAV parts, models, and ground stations to Alabuga through UAE-based Generation Trading FZE.

What makes this surge possible? A Chinese supply network that signed contracts worth 700 million yuan ($96 million) with Alabuga between September 2023 and June 2024. Thirty-four Chinese companies partnered with the facility during this period.

The Chinese engine pipeline

Here’s where it gets interesting. The heart of Russia’s drone program is a Limbach L550E engine—originally designed by German company Limbach Flugmotoren in the 1980s. Iran reverse-engineered this decades ago. Now, Chinese company Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Co. manufactures these engines and ships them to Russian weapons factories.

Xiamen Limbach is wholly owned by Fujian Delong Aviation Technology Co., which also owns the original German Limbach Flugmotoren GmbH—one of the world’s leading manufacturers of aircraft piston engines engaged in both development and maintenance. The engines don’t go directly to Russia—they flow through intermediary companies that act as buffers between IEMZ Kupol and Chinese suppliers.

Between November 2023 and October 2024, Russian intermediary TSK Vektor LLC imported $32.8 million worth of components from Chinese suppliers: aircraft engines, computer parts, electrical equipment, transistors, electronic modules, connectors, plugs, sockets, spare parts, and components.

The broader Chinese supplier network with specific roles includes:

• Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Co.: L550E engines through intermediaries (Redlepus TSK Vektor Industrial, Shenzhen Juhang Aviation Technology)
• Redlepus Vector Industry (Shenzhen): Avionics, electronic modules, mechanical components
• Shenzhen Juhang Aviation Technology Co.: Aviation components, axles, carburetors, engine parts ($36.3 million imported 2022-2023)
• Mile Haw Xiang Technology Co.: UAV engine development, production, marketing; DLE60 engines for Gerbera drones
• Skywalker Technology: Gerbera drone fuselages and components through third-party suppliers
• Souzhou Ecod Precision Manufacturing Co.: Precision components for drone assembly
• Shenzhen Jinduobang Technology Co.: Electronic and mechanical components
• Suzhou Shunxinge Import and Export Trade Co.: Import/export facilitation
• Shandong Xinyilu International Trade Co.: Electronic components and trade facilitation
• Fujian Jingke Technology Co.: Technical components and systems integration

Most label exports as “for general civil purpose” or “for general industrial purpose” to avoid detection.

When Reuters reported the Chinese engine connection in September 2024, the US and EU sanctioned several companies, including Xiamen Limbach. The EU also suspects Xiamen Limbach may have passed L550 engine drawings directly to Iranian Shahed-136 manufacturers.

But Beijing Xichao International Technology and Trade immediately took over L550E shipments.

Engines are shipped to Russian front company SMP-138 (registered under Abram Goldman), then forwarded to LIBSS. The contract explicitly states engines will be described as cooling units because of their sensitivity.

Russia’s drone variants

Russia hasn’t just copied Iran’s design. The Garpiya-A1 (“Harpy”), manufactured by IEMZ Kupol (part of Almaz-Antey), closely resembles the Shahed-136 but uses Chinese L550E engines and unique bolt-on fins. Russia’s Defense Ministry signed a 1 billion ruble contract ($10.9 million) with IEMZ Kupol in early 2023 to develop the drone factory.

Between July 2023 and July 2024, Russia produced more than 2,500 Garpiya-A1 UAVs. IEMZ Kupol signed a contract to produce more than 6,000 Garpiya drones in 2025, up from 2,000 in 2024, with more than 1,500 delivered by April 2025. Ukrainian intelligence reports about 500 Garpiya drones are launched monthly.

Russia has shifted from using Iranian “M” series Shaheds to producing its own “K” and “KB” variants since 2023, indicating full domestic production capability. Conflict Armament Research, a British weapons-tracking group, examined downed drones and confirmed Russia is now producing its “own domestic version of the Shahed-136.”

But Russia’s cleverest innovation is the Gerbera drone—a foam and plywood decoy that costs one-tenth the price of a real Shahed but appears identical on radar. It forces Ukrainian air defenses to waste expensive interceptor missiles on worthless targets while real attack drones slip through. Russia planned to produce 10,000 Gerberas in 2024—twice the number of actual attack drones.

Russia also produces the Geran-3, a jet-powered variant with higher speeds for faster targeting and better evasion of antiaircraft systems.

The exploitation workforce

How does Alabuga staff this massive operation? Through questionable recruitment that raises human rights red flags.

They planned for 810 staff working in three shifts to run the facility 24/7. The facility employs over 1,000 women from across Africa, recruited through Alabuga Start with promises of $550 monthly salaries, subsidized housing, and educational opportunities. The recruitment campaign in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, specifically targeted young female students. Management seizes passports to prevent workers from quitting—basically forced labor.

The factory also employs Russian students as young as 15 through local polytechnic colleges, including Alabuga Polytech. As of August 2023, several hundred 15‑year‑old students worked at Alabuga Polytech under “work experience programs,” with employers promising wages up to 70,000 rubles/month (around US $700)— roughly 20–30 % higher than typical monthly earnings in Tatarstan.

The Shahed builders were disturbed about building weapons for the war against Ukraine, so Alabuga keeps hiking salaries. Some workers now earn ten times the median Russian wage.

US Treasury sanctions specifically cited Alabuga CEO Timur Shagivaleyev for “exploitation of underage students to assemble these UAVs.”

How they evade sanctions

How does Russia pay for Chinese technology? Russia built a network that avoids the banking system and instead pays with gold bars, commodities, and barter deals.

Iran’s pricing changed through negotiations. Initially, Iran wanted approximately $375,000 per drone. Final deals settled at either $193,000 per unit for orders of 6,000 drones or $290,000 for orders of 2,000 units.

In February 2023, Alabuga Machinery allegedly transferred 2,067,795 grams of gold bars to Iranian proxy company Sahara Thunder as payment for components—more than 2 tons of gold signed off by CEO Shagivaleyev.

Sahara Thunder was later sanctioned by OFAC in April 2024 for supporting Iran’s Defense Ministry and facilitating UAV transfers. The company was identified as a front for Iran’s military, also shipping commodities to China and Venezuela.

The sanctions whack-a-mole problem

Chinese component supply shows the real problems with current sanctions. Despite China’s export control law supposedly preventing dual-use technology transfers, there are obvious gaps in prohibited classification codes that allow systematic workarounds. Export control measures don’t match actual dual-use risks, so Russian manufacturers keep getting critical technologies despite formal bans.

When the US and EU sanctioned Xiamen Limbach in October 2024, Beijing Xichao International Technology took over shipments within weeks. This rapid substitution suggests pre-existing networks designed to maintain supply continuity.

Chinese suppliers have developed sophisticated systems to disguise military components. According to European security officials, engines are shipped as “industrial refrigeration units,” electronic components as “general civil purpose” items, aircraft parts as “general industrial equipment.” This “cooling units” description enabled goods to be exported without alerting Chinese authorities.

Sanctioned entities include:

• Xiamen Limbach Aircraft Engine Co.: Sanctioned October 2024 for engine supply
• Redlepus TSK Vektor Industrial: Sanctioned for facilitating component transfers
• TSK Vektor LLC: Russian intermediary sanctioned for procurement activities
• IEMZ Kupol: Sanctioned December 2022 (EU), December 2023 (US)
• Sahara Thunder: Iranian company sanctioned April 2024 for supporting Iran’s Defense Ministry
• Timur Shagivaleyev: Sanctioned for exploitation of minors

Secondary sanctions targeting third-party companies have proven insufficient. Chinese companies face limited consequences for supplying Russian defense contractors, and new entities can be established faster than sanctions regimes can identify them.

What this means for the West

This collaboration shows how authoritarian states can create integrated defense partnerships that bypass Western sanctions. The partnership has built covert payment networks involving gold transfers and middleman countries that make enforcement harder.

A new Deng Xiaoping Logistics Complex being built near Alabuga will handle 100,000 containers annually via direct rail links between Russia and China, suggesting broader military cooperation.

The psychological impact goes beyond military effectiveness. These weapons target civilian infrastructure—power plants, hospitals, schools, apartments—designed to wear down Ukrainian society through constant air raids. Ukrainian families spend nightly hours in bomb shelters, kids sleeping in bathtubs to avoid strikes.

The weapons strain Ukrainian air defenses in critical ways. Ukraine intercepts most drones, but the cost equation favors attackers: a $500,000 interceptor missile destroys a $50,000 drone. If attacks continue at current intensity, this creates unsustainable resource imbalances that could overwhelm air defense systems through economic attrition rather than penetration.

The weapons represent cost-effective methods for sustained attacks against civilian infrastructure across Europe, potentially overwhelming air defense systems through sheer volume.

European officials have urged China to tighten export controls, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warning Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that Chinese firms’ support threatens European security. Beijing denies knowledge of military applications while maintaining its right to trade with Russia under international law.

The policy challenge

Current sanctions haven’t worked to stop this supply chain. China has become the key enabler—Ukrainian intelligence reports that every critical component (engines, navigation systems, control units) comes from Chinese manufacturers.

What needs to change:

Better coordination: Allies need to align sanctions policies targeting both Russian UAV manufacturers and Chinese suppliers. Right now, sanctions are scattered and don’t deter anyone.

Hit Chinese companies harder: Aggressive secondary sanctions against Chinese manufacturers and their parent companies who help transfer technology to Russia. This includes targeting banks that enable these deals.

Close export loopholes: Tighten control over dual-use technology exports from China, close gaps in prohibited classification codes that currently allow systematic workarounds. Better coordination between customs and intelligence agencies to catch evasion attempts.

Pressure Beijing financially: Enhanced diplomatic pressure on Beijing to stop Chinese firms from transferring critical technologies that enable weapons production. This includes targeting gold-based payment networks and commodity swap deals.

Share intelligence better: Better intelligence coordination between allies to track emerging supply chains and identify new middleman companies before they get established.

The drone attacks hitting Ukraine carry Chinese engines, Iranian designs, and Russian assembly. They’re a test case for whether economic isolation can work in a connected global economy. So far, determined state actors with willing partners can get around almost any restriction.

Whether Western governments can adapt their systems to match evasion network sophistication is still an open question. The answer will decide not just Ukraine’s fate, but whether economic tools can actually deter international aggression.

On the occupied peninsula, Russia’s repressive machine sees the Ukrainian flag as a greater threat than the swastika. According to the civil organization Crimean Process, in the past six months in occupied Crimea, there have been three times more court cases against supporters of Ukraine than against individuals promoting Nazi symbolism.

“People who demonstrate pro-Ukrainian views are not only prosecuted more frequently, but also subjected to humiliation, fabricated charges, and moral pressure through propaganda in the media,” the report states.

Discrimination in court: “Ukrainian cases” are punished more severely

Of 96 cases analyzed under Article 20.3 of Russia’s Code of Administrative Offenses, the largest share of charges were directed at Ukrainian sympathizers.

• Second were individuals with tattoos from a criminal subculture, 
• The third were Nazi propagandists.

26% of “Ukrainian” cases resulted in arrest, while none of the criminal subculture defendants were imprisoned. Nearly half of the cases against Ukrainians included additional charges, such as hooliganism or “discrediting the army.” In contrast, not a single case involving Nazi symbols included such add-ons.

Songs as crime, Nazis as tolerable: The logic of the occupiers

“Any manifestation of Ukrainian national identity, patriotism, or resistance to occupation is viewed by Russian authorities as a threat to ‘stability’ and ‘security,’” human rights activists say.

In addition, judges in “Ukrainian” cases more frequently violate procedural norms:

• Labeling symbols as “banned” without expert analysis
• Citing irrelevant legal acts
• Issuing baseless accusations

Human rights defenders stress: this is selective justice, where patriotism is punished more harshly than overt hate.

The Kremlin again threatens Europe with missiles. The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that the country is lifting its self-imposed restriction on the deployment of land-based ballistic and cruise missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 km, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 

Now, Moscow reverses course: it has lifted the restriction, blames the West, and claims a threat from American missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The official reason: “steps by the collective West” that, according to the Kremlin, “destabilize the situation in border regions.”

“The Russian Foreign Ministry acknowledges the disappearance of conditions for maintaining the unilateral moratorium on the deployment of such weapons,” the statement says.

The US and NATO: Russia lied and violated the moratorium

Western states already claimed in 2019 that Russia had de facto violated the agreement — the main evidence being the 9M729 missile system, which, according to the US and NATO, has a range exceeding 500 km.

Moscow denies it, but reality suggests otherwise: the missiles exist, and now the Kremlin officially admits it is ready to deploy them. This move threatens to spark a new arms race and escalate security risks not only for Ukraine but for all of Europe.

Russia unleashes 9M729 “Oreshnik” missile on Dnipro in 2024

In November 2024, Russia launched a 9M729 missile at the city of Dnipro, marking the first confirmed combat use of the controversial system, also known by the codename “Oreshnik”. The missile was equipped with six warheads, each capable of independent targeting. The extent of damage remains undisclosed. 

A powerful explosion cut power to the Russian military base in Zaporizhzhia Oblast late on 3 August. The blast temporarily occupied the city of Berdiansk and destroyed a power substation that supplied electricity to the base located at the former Berdianski Zhnyvarky factory, UkrInform reports, citing its source in Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence. 

The energy strike triggered a fire, disabling a key element of the occupiers’s logistics infrastructure.

A blow to the heart of Russia’s military logistics

According to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, the explosion and ensuing fire disabled transformers that powered the facility where Russian troops repaired military vehicles and stored weapons.

“The final consequences of the explosion and the extent of the damage are still being clarified,” says Defense Intelligence source.

Local residents were the first to report the powerful blast, posting videos and photos on social media. The surrounding streets lost power, and social media posts confirmed the fire at the substation.

From harvester factory to pillar of the occupation army

After the capture of Berdiansk, Russian occupying forces converted the plant’s workshops into a repair hub, arms depot, and barracks. Damaged vehicles from the front were brought here for repairs before being sent back to the battlefield.

The destruction of the facility’s power supply seriously disrupts the occupiers’ logistics and hampers their ability to repair equipment.

Six individuals have been served with notices of suspicion for involvement in a corruption scheme involving the procurement of military equipment, reports the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU).

This is the first major report by Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies since a controversial law restricting their independence was signed and later reversed after street protests.

According to the report, among the suspects are government and military officials, as well as executives from drone manufacturing companies.

NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) say they have exposed a “large-scale corruption scheme in the procurement of UAVs and electronic warfare systems” operating during 2024-2025.

According to NABU, the suspects systematically embezzled funds from local government budgets that had been allocated to the Defence Forces.

President Zelenskyy has reportedly dismissed four officials from their posts since the notices were served.

NABU identified the six suspects as:

• a former head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration;
• an MP;
• the head of a city military administration;
• the commander of a National Guard military unit;
• the beneficial owner of a UAV manufacturing company;
• the director of the UAV manufacturing company.

On 2 August, 2025, NABU and SAPO reported their findings to Zelenskyy. The scheme allegedly involved a sitting member of Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, whose faction membership was dismissed that day. Dismissals of the local government and military officials followed on the same day.

NABU and SAPO in the spotlight

This report comes shortly after attempts by the Ukrainian government to stifle the work of the national anti-corruption agencies. A controversial bill restricting NABU and SAPO’s autonomy was recently passed by parliament and signed into law by Zelenskyy.

This decision sparked nationwide protests. Within 4 days, Zelenskyy submitted a draft bill to reverse the restrictions and restore the agencies’ independence.

This is NABU and SAPO’s first major investigation report since this incident that brought renewed attention to the importance of Ukraine’s anti-corruption organizations.

Ukraine will take another step toward the safe de-occupation and clearing of war remnants. On 4 August, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense announced that sappers from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the State Special Transport Service will be trained at the Regional School for Humanitarian Demining at the Lebanese Mine Action Center.

The program will be funded by the French government. Lebanon was chosen due to its extensive experience in post-conflict land clearance.

“We thank the Government of the French Republic and the French people for their support in the fight against the Russian aggressor,” says Colonel Ruslan Berehulia, head of the Main Department for Mine Action.

Ukraine and France agree on new cooperation areas

Agreements were reached during a Ukrainian delegation’s visit to France, where Defense Ministry representatives met with:

• Yves Marek, Ambassador for Mine Action
• Jean-Yves Siffreant, technical expert
• Emmanuel Aubry, Prefect of Haut-Rhin

They discussed:

• Risks of soil contamination by explosive remnants and chemical warfare agents
• Methods for assessing contamination levels
• Approaches to high-quality demining and monitoring residual threats

France to continue logistical and technical assistance

The French side confirmed its ongoing commitment to support Ukraine not only financially, but also through:

• Knowledge exchange
• Technical equipment
• Systematic approaches to mine action

This partnership strengthens Ukraine’s ability to clear liberated territories and reduce civilian risks in the long term.

Some 140 German investigators have conducted large-scale raids at Spinner, a high-precision machine tool manufacturer suspected of knowingly supplying equipment to Russia’s military industry. Three individuals have already been charged with violating sanctions.

German law enforcement searched Spinner Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik GmbH’s offices in several German cities and abroad. Eight prosecutors were involved in the investigation. 

According to the investigation, the company may have knowingly sold 20 machines to Russia for a total of €5.5 million, despite the sanctions.

Sanctions evasion is a criminal offense in the EU

Despite the company’s claims about “compliance systems” and “lack of knowledge” about the end user, investigators say otherwise. Sources indicate the deliveries may have gone through third countries, particularly Turkiye, Bloomberg reports. 

“Sanctions enforcement must work like this — with documents, equipment seizures, and court proceedings,” experts say.

Circumventing sanctions is now a criminal offense in the EU, meaning those found guilty could face prison time, not just fines.

India has started buying American, Canadian, and Middle Eastern oil, but has not abandoned Russian supplies. The country’s giant Indian Oil Corp has recently purchased 7 million barrels of oil, Reuters reports. 

Indian Oil Corp strengthens supplies from the West and the Middle East

According to the latest findings, India’s largest oil refining company has bought 4.5 million barrels of American oil, 500,000 barrels of Canadian Western Canadian Select, and 2 million barrels of Das crude from Abu Dhabi. The delivery is scheduled for September 2025.

These large purchases are connected to the country’s intention to replace Russian oil due to falling discounts and new EU sanctions on Russian energy.

Sanctions pressure and trade risks

Earlier, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India was ready to meet its oil needs from alternative sources if Russia’s supplies are affected by secondary sanctions. 

In July, US President Donald Trump stated that countries continuing to buy Russian oil could face 100% tariffs if Moscow does not agree to a peace deal with Ukraine within at first, 50 days and then 10 days.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed that due to the new economic measures, countries, including India, could suffer losses if they continue to do business with Moscow.