Europe has honored a Ukrainian hero who saved lives under Russian fire. Combat medic Volodymyr Ryzhenko, call sign “Druh Sprite”, from the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov, has been named “Best European Medic of the Year” in the Military Medicine category, according to Ukraine’s National Guard. 

Awarded at Europe’s top military medicine conference

Ryzhenko received his award during the Combat Medical Care Conference 2025, Europe’s largest military medical summit, held in Germany with over 1,400 experts from 44 countries. The event was co-hosted by the German Bundeswehr.

A blood drop from the sky

In winter 2025, Druh Sprite made headlines after he saved a wounded comrade under enemy fire by performing an emergency blood transfusion using donor blood delivered by drone.

“It was a matter of minutes. Without that blood from the sky, he wouldn’t have made it,” his unit reported.

The act has become a landmark in the evolution of combat medical care.

Ukrainian medics share expertise globally

A three-member Azov medical team represented Ukraine at the conference, sharing first-hand battlefield experience.

• Lt. Serhii Rotchuk (“Druh Jedi”) presented innovations in medical logistics,

• Olha Tagirova (“Krava”) discussed treating wounded soldiers beyond the golden hour and the systematic training of personnel.

A sword for courage: a symbol of strength

Alongside the award, Ryzhenko received a ceremonial sword, a symbol of bravery, dignity, and strength. The honor highlights not only his personal heroism but also the excellence of Ukrainian military medicine, which continues to save lives on the front lines every day.

The European Commission is discussing with EU member states various options to cover Ukraine's budget deficit for next year, which could range from $8 billion to $19 billion, the Financial Times reported on July 8.

International partners have provided Ukraine with over $39 billion for its wartime economy so far this year, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced.

The financial hole in Ukraine's budget is linked to reduced U.S. support and the lack of prospects for a swift ceasefire with Russia that Europe had hoped for, the Financial Times reported.

A senior EU official told the publication that many of Ukraine's partners had previously counted on a peace deal in 2025, but are now forced to revise their funding plans.

This includes the European Commission, which has already adjusted spending from Ukraine-related funding streams.

Without support from Western partners, Kyiv would face a budget deficit of $19 billion in 2026, according to the Financial Times. However, even if additional international financing for the wartime economy can be secured, a gap of at least $8 billion would remain.

To support Ukraine's budget, Europe is considering providing military aid in the form of off-budget grants that would be recorded separately as external transfers but would count toward NATO member countries' national defense spending targets.

One EU diplomat told the Financial Times that military support for Ukraine is viewed as a contribution to the defense of all of Europe.

In a document for G7 countries reviewed by Financial Times, Kyiv proposed that European allies co-finance Ukrainian forces, framing this as a service to strengthen continental security.

Other support options under discussion include potentially accelerating payments from the existing $50 billion G7 loan program and reinvesting frozen Russian assets in higher-yield financial instruments that the EU allocated to help service the debt.

According to the Financial Times, two sources confirmed that the commission planned to discuss these options with EU finance ministers on July 8.

The funding issue will also be raised at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome on July 10-11, dedicated to Ukraine's reconstruction needs. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will attend the event.

U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov are set to meet at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome later this week to discuss the resumption of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, Politico reported on July 7.

Following the talks between Kellogg and Umerov in Rome, Politico reported that more meetings are set to take place in Kyiv over the next two weeks.

The United States halted weapons shipments to Ukraine amid a capability review, the White House and Pentagon previously confirmed, with U.S. President Donald Trump on July 3 denying the pause.

Days later, Trump said that the United States would provide Ukraine with additional shipments of weapons amid intensified Russian attacks.

"We're gonna send some more weapons we have to them, they have to be able to defend themselves, they're getting hit very hard now," Trump said on July 7.

The halted U.S. military assistance to Ukraine could be resumed following planned high-level meetings at the conference, two people familiar with the matter told Politico.

A Kyiv meeting between Kellogg and Umerov following the Ukraine Recovery Conference was planned before the U.S. halted military assistance to Ukraine.

Kellogg's spokesperson Morgan Murphy said the meeting was "set up before news of the arms pause came to light last week."

Ukraine would like to promptly resume supplies of air defense and precision munitions, while the U.S. has signalled that the delivery of armored vehicles and engineering equipment may resume soon, the two sources said.

‘Neither side wasted time’ — Ukraine’s economy minister on minerals deal negotiations with Trump’s ‘business-oriented’ administration

Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko says her task is simple — to get the investment fund behind the closely watched minerals deal with the U.S. off the ground, and prove its detractors wrong. “There are so many criticisms from different parties that this fund is just a piece of paper we can put on the shelves — that it won’t be operational,” Svyrydenko, who is also Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, tells the Kyiv Independent at Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers on July 4, the morning

The Kyiv IndependentLiliane Bivings

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed on July 2 that some military assistance to Ukraine has been halted as the U.S. Defense Department conducts a review of foreign aid deliveries.

"This capability review... is being conducted to ensure U.S. military aid aligns with our defense priorities... We see this as a common-sense, pragmatic step towards having a framework to evaluate what munitions are sent and where," Parnell said.

Despite the Pentagon announcement, Trump did not acknowledge a halt in U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine.

"Why did you pause weapons shipments to Ukraine?" a reporter asked Trump as the U.S. president prepared to board Air Force One on July 3.

"We haven't," Trump replied. "We're giving weapons."

The Ukraine Recovery Conference is set to take place July 10-11, with leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, set to attend.

Exclusive: Ukraine pitches deepwater gas, oil refinery projects to US under landmark minerals deal

Projects Kyiv has submitted to the U.S. for consideration as part of a profit-sharing deal for Ukraine’s resources include a shelf and deepwater project and an oil refinery that comes under frequent attack by Russia, Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told the Kyiv Independent in an interview published on July 7. After months of hard-fought negotiations around the investment agreement — known more widely as the “minerals deal” for its focus on Ukraine’s critical minerals — the two sid

The Kyiv IndependentLiliane Bivings

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will enable Ukrainian banks to provide up to 900 million euros ($1.05 billion) in new loans by sharing credit risks, the EBRD announced in a press release on July 7.

The loans will target companies in agribusiness, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, transport and logistics, as well as energy security projects.

The mechanism will be announced at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in Rome on July 10-11. This represents the largest risk-sharing facility implemented in Ukraine since the war began, according to the EBRD's press release.

Due to destructive Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, the EBRD will also focus on supporting distributed generation and renewable energy projects.

Russian forces have damaged most of Ukraine's thermal power plants and about 30% of power stations, disrupting nearly two-thirds of the country's total electricity generation, the bank says.

The EU, together with other EBRD donors, has developed plans to de-risk renewable energy investments to attract more private capital, which they will announce at the URC.

Nearly one-third of EBRD's wartime financing to Ukraine — 2.4 billion euros ($2.8 billion) — has gone to the energy sector. This includes support for state-owned electricity transmission and gas companies, as well as financing for hydropower and small-scale distributed generation.

In a pre-URC press release, the EBRD also expressed interest in supporting the development of a natural graphite deposit in Ukraine following the U.S.-Ukraine minerals agreement. Graphite is a strategic material used in batteries and defense applications.

The bank will launch the second phase of digitizing Ukraine's paper-based geological data archive to make information about mineral deposits more accessible, the EBRD reports.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, the EBRD has invested over 7.2 billion euros ($8.4 billion) in Ukraine's economy.

Zelensky, Trump discussed replacement of Ukraine’s US ambassador, source says

Oksana Markarova has held the post since April 2021, and played a central role in coordinating U.S. military and financial support during the early phases of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy