Ukraine has lost another F-16. During a combat mission on one sector of the front, an F-16 fighter of the Ukrainian Air Force experienced an onboard emergency, forcing the pilot to eject, the Air Force reported on Telegram.
Every F-16 lost matters more than the airframe, because Ukraine has so few and needs them so badly. The fighters are instrumental as a line of air defense against the missiles and drones Russia launches in massed nightly attacks.
On 29 July 2026, contact was lost with the F-16, which was flying a combat mission to intercept enemy aerial targets on one sector of the front, and preliminary data indicate an onboard emergency forced the pilot to eject, according to the Air Force.
The pilot is now completely safe, was successfully evacuated, and was taken to a medical facility for examination. Experts and law enforcement are working at the crash site, and no civilian casualties or destruction were recorded.
The pilot's survival sets this loss apart
That the pilot survived is the most important fact, because Ukraine's F-16 losses have more often taken the pilot with them.
Ukraine has paid a heavy price for these aircraft and their pilots. Since receiving its first F-16s in mid-2024, Ukraine had lost four of them by August 2025, with three pilots killed and one ejecting safely, per Euromaidan Press.
Oleksii "Moonfish" Mes was killed in the first loss on 26 August 2024.
Captain Pavlo Ivanov, 26, died on 12 April 2025 when his jet was likely shot down over Sumy Oblast.
A third F-16 was destroyed on 16 May 2025 in an onboard emergency from which the pilot ejected.
Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Ustymenko was killed on 29 June 2025 defending against a large-scale Russian assault, per Euromaidan Press.
The jets are scarce and hard to replace
Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Norway committed a total of 80 aircraft, but they arrived in batches, and the pool of trained pilots is limited, so each loss subtracts from a capability that Ukraine cannot quickly regenerate.
Just three months after blocking it, the European Union has cleared raw Russian sable pelts to return to its market, according to Euractiv. The reversal sits inside the sanctions package Brussels adopted last week, after Italy and Greece pushed for the exemption. Coats made from the fur stay barred from the bloc.
The EU first hit Moscow with sanctions over its 2014 seizure of Crimea, then rolled out numbered packages every few months after the 2022 full-scale invasion to choke the revenue bankrolling the war, even as analysts keep debating how fast the measures actually bite. Russia uses export revenue to help finance its all-out war against Ukraine.
A reprieve tucked into the toughest package yet
The bloc had caught sable in its sanctions net only in April. Now the exemption rides inside the 21st package of measures Brussels adopted last week, the round it promoted as its heaviest economic hit on Moscow to date. The change appears in the bloc's published sanctions text.
Euractiv says the European Commission defended the carve-out on supply grounds. It argued that Russia dominates the global sable market and that European makers have few alternative suppliers.
"Apparently, it's very difficult to get them anywhere else," a senior EU official told Euractiv.
The sable is a small carnivorous animal from the forests of northern Asia, and its pelt is considered exceptionally soft and prized by luxury fashion houses. A single coat can run into the hundreds of thousands of euros.
An EU diplomat told Euractiv that Italy and Greece drove the lobbying, the two biggest buyers of Russian pelts inside the bloc.
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The sanctions still block finished fur garments in both directions — barred from entering the bloc and from reaching Russian buyers, The EU’s wider luxury-goods restrictions also cover products such as diamonds and caviar. Greece's fur producers, clustered around Kastoria and Siatista, fought those wartime measures in 2022, warning they would kill the industry.
It lands as Brussels weighs a bloc-wide ban on its own fur farming, after a citizens' initiative demanded an end to the practice. Only a few EU countries, including Spain, Greece, Hungary, Finland, and Poland, still have active fur farms.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged on July 4 that the European Union will help Moldova defend itself against hybrid threats by "agents of autocracy."
"We are committed to protecting you against the hybrid attacks and the energy shocks that your country has been a victim of," von der Leyen said following the EU-Moldova summit in Chisinau.
"Who is behind those attacks is clear to all of us here. These are the same agents of autocracy trying to undermine our democracies everywhere in Europe."
Von der Leyen praised Moldova's support for Ukraine and the EU, noting its acceptance of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees and its assistance with European wildfire response efforts.
The visit was made in show of solidarity with Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, as it prepares for high-stakes parliamentary elections on Sept. 28.
The pro-European government of President Maia Sandu faces a challenge from the pro-Russian Socialist Party, amid growing fears of destabilization ahead of the vote.
Sandu has accused Russia of using its military presence in Moldova's Russian-occupied Transnistria region to stir unrest and derail the country's EU aspirations. On June 12, she warned that Moscow could provoke a crisis in Transnistria to influence the election outcome.
Transnistria has been under Russian-backed separatist control since the early 1990s, with approximately 1,000 to 1,500 Russian troops still stationed in the region.
On June 11, Transnistrian authorities declared a 30-day state of emergency after a sharp drop in natural gas supplies. The unrecognized region has faced mounting energy shortages since January, when Russian energy giant Gazprom halted deliveries in what many see as an attempt to destabilize the situation in Moldova.
Moldova was granted EU candidate status in 2022. Sandu's ruling Party of Action and Solidarity aims to maintain its parliamentary majority and move the country closer to full membership by 2030.
Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean earlier told the Financial Times that Russia plans to send 10,000 troops to Transnistria and establish a pro-Kremlin government in Moldova.
The European Commission has proposed that Ukraine join the European Union's mobile roaming area starting January 1, 2026, providing Ukrainian users the ability to make phone calls, texts, and use mobile data in the bloc's 27 countries at no extra charge.
"We want Ukrainian citizens to stay connected to their loved ones across the EU, as well as in their home country. That's why we propose that Ukraine join our roaming family," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
The proposal, first announced on June 16, will serve as a means of integration into the European Union's "Roam like at Home" provision in affect between all EU nations. The proposed change will impact the over four million Ukrainian refugees living in the EU.
Ukraine's full integration in the roaming provisions will replace voluntary measures that "allowed for roaming without surcharges and affordable international calls for EU and Ukrainian citizens abroad," according to the European Commission. The current measure will extend to December 31, 2025, ahead of the planned integration.
If approved, Ukraine will become the only country outside of the EU to join the bloc's "Roam like at Home" policy.
The move, which awaits European Council approval, comes as Ukraine continues to implement reforms in pursuing membership in the European Union.
Ukraine applied for EU membership at the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The country has made quick progress, achieving candidate status within months, with the initial negotiations formally launching in June 2024.
Since the start of 2025, Ukraine has opened three negotiation clusters under Poland's rotating presidency.
Poland lead the EU Council's presidency until June, and Denmark will take over the role in July. Ukraine aims to open the remaining three negotiation clusters in the second half of 2025 under the Danish chairmanship, the President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
There are six accession negotiation clusters, consisting of several individual chapters. Negotiations prepare a candidate country to become an EU member.
The EU’s Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, said that Ukraine could potentially join the bloc by 2029 if it successfully implements necessary reforms.
The Group of Seven (G7) nations need to impose harsher sanctions on Moscow in order to secure a ceasefire in the war against Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa said at the start of the G7 summit in Canada.
The G7 Leaders Summit kicked off on June 15 in Kananaskis, Canada, with official talks held June 16-17. While Ukraine hopes to win economic support and unified pressure against Russia, the rapidly escalating conflict between Israel and Iran may dominate this year's conference.
"To achieve peaceful strength we must put more pressure on Russia to secure a real ceasefire, to bring Russia to the negotiating table, and to end this war. Sanctions are critical to that end," von der Leyen said at a press briefing on June 15 attended by a Kyiv Independent journalist.
Economic sanctions have been an effective intervention since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, von der Leyen said. She noted that combined G7 and European Union sanctions have decreased Russian oil and gas revenues by nearly 80% since February 2022.
"(T)he sanctions are working, and we will do more," she said.
Von der Leyen urged the G7 to adapt the economic restrictions proposed in the EU's 18th sanctions package, announced on June 10. The new measures target Russia's energy and banking sectors and propose a further reduction in the oil price cap, bringing the cap down from $60 to $45 per barrel.
"I will invite all G7 partners to join us in this endeavor," she said.
Costa echoed the call for sanctions and the necessity of economic pressure in order to achieve a ceasefire. Europe is committed to "increasing additional sanctions to cripple (Russia's) ability to wage war and pressing for an unconditional ceasefire," he said.
Europe's call for unity may meet with resistance from the United States, which has assumed a dramatically different posture towards Ukraine and Russia since President Donald Trump took office in January. Trump has not imposed any new sanctions against Russia, even Moscow blatantly obstructs peace efforts and escalates mass strikes against Ukrainian cities.
The U.S. also reportedly opposes lowering the G7 oil price cap — a measure first introduced in December 2022 that prohibits Western companies from shipping, insuring, or otherwise servicing Russian oil sold above $60 per barrel.
The price cap debate has become more urgent as oil prices, which had fallen below the $60 cap in recent months, surged following Israel's recent strikes against Iran.
Despite U.S. resistance, the EU and the United Kingdom — backed by other European G7 countries and Canada — have said they are prepared to move forward with the proposal, even without Washington's endorsement.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, on the other hand, has said the EU sanctions and proposed price cap drop don't go far enough. Zelensky on June 11 said the EU's 18th round of sanctions "could be stronger" and proposed further slashing the oil price cap to $30 per barrel.
"A ceiling of $45 per barrel of oil is better than $60, that's clear, that's true. But real peace will come with a ceiling of $30," he said. "That's the level that will really change the mindset in Moscow."
Zelensky and Trump are expected to meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit on June 17. The meeting will mark their third in-person encounter since Trump took office.
Ylva Johansson, former European Commissioner for Home Affairs, will serve as the European Union's new special envoy for Ukrainians in the bloc, POLITICO reported on June 12.
According to anonymous officials that spoke to POLITICO, Johansson will fill the newly created post, overseeing the Commission's long-term strategy for Ukrainian refugees currently residing in the European Union.
Johansson, a former Swedish minister and European Commission official, previously visited Ukraine on several occasions, including a refugee camp on the border with Romania. She received the Ukrainian order of merit in September 2024.
As special envoy, Johansson will be responsible for EU initiatives focused on helping Ukrainian refugees transition into permanent legal statuses or return home.
As part of these initiatives, the EU will launch "unity hubs" – information centers jointly managed with the Ukrainian government. The hubs will support Ukrainian refugees to integrate with EU host countries or repatriate to Ukraine.
Germany, which has has taken in more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees since the start of the full-scale invasion, recently committed to establishing unity hubs in Berlin. The unity hubs in Berlin will provide Ukrainians with access to educational and career opportunities both in Ukraine and Germany.
The European Commission also recently extended temporary protection Ukrainian refugees who fled to the EU following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
According to Eurostat, 4.26 million Ukrainians currently hold temporary protection status in the EU as of April 2025.
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