Ukraine War News Today - Top Stories and Breaking Updates from Kyiv Post

The latest comments from the US President come as Trump faces increased pressure to renew arms supply to Ukraine and to sanction Moscow.

At a White House press conference today, US President Donald J. Trump commented on his frustration in dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine.

“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump told reporters during a televised cabinet meeting at the White House, according to the AFP.

When called on to help, one prominent New Zealander made himself available. Over time he has dedicated himself to the cause of the people he came to aid.

When Ron Mark arrived in Ukraine this summer, Kyiv was under attack by 550 drones. But he did not hide. The former New Zealand Defense Minister and current mayor of Carterton was exactly where he promised, among the people, on the front line, keeping the promise he made back in 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Mark’s presence in Ukraine is unofficial. He is not part of a government delegation. This trip, like the previous ones, is completely personal and self-funded. It even goes against the official stance of the New Zealand government, which still forbids its citizens from traveling to Ukraine. But for Ron Mark, the answer is simple.

The Ukrainian president said the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, is the only legal body with the authority to amend the law, and it is already working on it.

President Volodymyr Zelensky had responded to a petition to decriminalize pornography in the country on Tuesday, adding that the parliament is working on it. 

Pornography in Ukraine – including sending nude photos between private individuals – is currently illegal in Ukraine and can lead to three to five years in prison. 

The three British men were recruited via Telegram to carry out “missions” on behalf of the Wagner Group in the UK. The warehouse held aid for Ukraine, and the attack caused over £1 million in damage.

Three British men were convicted of “aggravated arson with the intent to endanger life” for their March 20, 2024 arson attack on an east London warehouse holding humanitarian aid and Starlink equipment for Ukraine.

The verdict came on Tuesday at London’s Old Bailey courthouse and the men were apparently acting on behalf of the Wagner Group, a private mercenary group that works closely with the Kremlin.

According to Ukrainian officials, components made by these companies were found in Shahed drones that Russia used during a major overnight attack on the capital on July 4.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered the imposition of sanctions on five Chinese companies accused of supplying parts used in Russian drones that targeted Kyiv earlier this month.

The decree, signed on July 8, names the sanctioned firms as Central Asia Silk Road International Trade, Suzhou Ecod Precision Manufacturing, Shenzhen Royo Technology, Shenzhen Jinduobang Technology, and Ningbo BLIN Machinery.

It appears that everyone in the US administration agreed on the need to audit the weapon stockpile, but no one understood how it should – and would – be done.

On July 1, after major Russian aerial assaults across Ukraine, reports surfaced that the US ordered a freeze on weapons deliveries to Kyiv.

Kyiv was surprised, and so were its allies.

Western leaders gather July 10-11 in Rome for the 2025 Ukraine Recovery Conference to secure long-term support for rebuilding Ukraine amid the ongoing war.

With over $500B needed to rebuild, Kyiv seeks private investment, energy, defense deals –and urgent support to defend against Russian attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Rome this week for an international conference aimed at securing long-term support for rebuilding Ukraine, as US military aid remains uncertain.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference, to be held Thursday and Friday in the Italian capital, will bring together leaders from 15 countries and hundreds of businesses. The goal is to mobilize investments – especially from the private sector – as Ukraine enters the fourth year of full-scale war following Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The suspect was reportedly recruited via a dating site and tasked to plant explosives at a hotel in Rivne, western Ukraine – but was arrested after attempting to flee the scene.

Ukraine said on Tuesday that it had foiled a plot to bomb a hotel in western Ukraine’s Rivne, where the alleged female bomber was tasked to do so via a dating site.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in a Tuesday press release, said the 49-year-old woman was tasked with delivering an improvised explosive device (IED) to a room at “one of the most popular hotels in the region.”

Defense Builder founders made investing in Ukraine’s defense tech – and the nation’s future – available to anyone, including first-time investors with a limited budget.

Ukrainian defense tech accelerator Defense Builder launched an investment syndicate for defense tech startups, starting from a $1000 minimum investment.

The founders of the accelerator, Sigma Software Labs, Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), and Buntar Aerospace, aim to raise funds from ordinary Ukrainians and citizens willing to scale Ukraine’s defense innovation.

Earlier reports suggest that President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed replacing Oksana Markarova, Kyiv’s top envoy to the US, with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during his Friday call with Trump.

President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly informed Kyiv’s top envoy to the US, Oksana Markarova, of his intention to sack her on Tuesday.

The update followed a Bloomberg report on Monday that Zelensky discussed Markarova’s potential replacement with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during his Friday call with US President Donald Trump.

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Starovoyt served as transport minister for a year and previously was the governor of the border Kursk region, where Ukraine had launched an incursion.

The Kremlin on Tuesday expressed shock over the apparent suicide of former transport minister Roman Starovoyt following his sacking by President Vladimir Putin a day earlier.

Starovoyt served as transport minister for a year and previously was the governor of the border Kursk region, where Ukraine had launched an incursion.

An image circulating on social media on Monday seems to confirm the suggestion first made in 2023 that Ukraine had found a way to marry the Soviet-era aircraft with the “bunker-busting” missile.

The image of a Ukrainian Air Force (UAF) Su-24MR (NATO: Fencer) supersonic, “swing-wing” tactical bomber carrying an Anglo-French Storm Shadow / SCALP EG missile complete with a message for the intended recipients of the weapon: “From Kyiv and the Kyiv region for the ‘expletives,’” seems to confirm what many military commentators have suspected for some time – Ukraine has engineered a way for the decades old Soviet-era tactical bomber to use the weapon to deliver precision strikes on Russian targets.

In May 2023, the then-Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov used X to announce the first deliveries of the Storm Shadows from the UK. Included in the post was a photo of a Su-24, apparently carrying one of the missiles, containing a message from the UK’s Secretary for Defence, Ben Wallace saying:

A new investigation reveals how Russian firm Aero-HIT bypassed sanctions with Chinese help to build thousands of drones for use in Ukraine, including in civilian attacks.

A little-known Russian company called Aero-HIT has built a vast supply network with Chinese partners to provide thousands of drones for Russia’s war against Ukraine, bypassing Western sanctions and enabling the Kremlin to scale up its drone attacks.

The documents obtained by Bloomberg reveal how Russia tapped friendly ties with China to get access to drone parts, technical knowledge, and manufacturing capacity – even as Beijing publicly claims it’s not arming either side.

Ukrainian forces have restored and are now holding positions in Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions, Syrsky said in a report to President Zelensky.

Ukrainian troops have restored and are holding defensive positions inside Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions, according to Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky.

In a post on social media following a meeting with his staff, Syrsky said he reported to President Volodymyr Zelensky on the situation on the front line, particularly in relation to critical areas such as Pokrovsk, Lyman, Novopavlivka, and the North-Slobozhanskyi direction.

According to lawmakers, businessmen, and public figures, the government is unwilling to have a truly independent head of the agency and wants to control whoever is appointed.

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has not approved the nominee  Oleksandr Tsyvinsky to become head of the country’s Bureau of Economic Security (BEB). Two weeks ago, Tsyvinsky was elected as the new BEB chairman by virtue of receiving the most votes from commission members among candidates – three.

Under the terms of the election none of the applicants, according to the terms of the competition, received the necessary four votes. Therefore, according to the law, the candidate who received three votes from the international members of the commission was elected.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said the reserve lieutenant colonel, who passed troop info, was so prized by Moscow that his handler held a general’s rank in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).

Ukraine said it has nabbed another high-ranking officer for allegedly spying for Russia.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Tuesday that it detained a reserve lieutenant colonel from “one of the components of the Defense Forces of Ukraine,” where he started working with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) after his discharge from active duty in 2023.

The German aircraft was targeted “without reason or prior contact” over the Red Sea while taking part in the European Union’s Aspides mission, a spokesperson for the German defence ministry said.

Berlin on Tuesday said the Chinese military had targeted a laser at a German aircraft participating in an EU-led mission to protect marine traffic in the Red Sea.

“Endangering German personnel (and) disrupting the operation is entirely unacceptable,” the foreign ministry said on X, adding that Beijing’s ambassador to Berlin had been summoned for talks.

France says new EU sanctions will hit oil revenues and foreign financial networks backing Russia’s war after Moscow rejected Trump’s ceasefire call and escalated strikes on Ukraine.

The European Union is preparing its toughest sanctions against Russia since the start of its full-scale war on Ukraine in 2022, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Monday, July 7.

Barrot said the move comes in response to a sharp rise in Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, despite recent calls for a ceasefire.

Ukraine’s monthly drone production has surged nearly tenfold in a year, but experts say long-term contracts, quality standards, and investments in new tech are vital to sustain growth.

Ukraine’s drone production has increased by 900% over the past year, with monthly UAV output reportedly jumping from 20,000 in summer 2024 to over 200,000 currently. 

This was concluded in studies by the Atlantic Council and Georgetown Security Studies Review, as cited by Defense Express.

Intel says this Russian officer carried out “special missions” in Syria in 2018 and received multiple medals, including for valor, service, and participation in Russia’s military operation in Syria

One of the individuals responsible for planning a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine on July 8, 2024, including the attack on the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, was Major Denis Alexeyevich Sheynov, head of the Special Engineering Service of the 121st Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment, part of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.

According to a military intelligence source who spoke to Ukrinform, Sheynov was responsible for organizing the technical preparation of Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles for use by Russian strategic bombers.

A Russian military court found Col. Gen. Khalil Arslanov guilty of stealing ₽1.6 billion (€17M) from state contracts with Voentelecom, which supplies telecom gear to the military.

The former deputy chief of the Russian army’s General Staff was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Monday over a scheme involving the theft of over 1 billion roubles (€10.8 million) from Defence Ministry contracts, the TASS news agency reported.

A closed-door military court found Khalil Arslanov, a colonel general, and others guilty of stealing some 1.6 billion roubles (€17.28 million) from state contracts with Voentelecom, a company that provides telecommunications services and equipment to the Russian military. 

Trump has received multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations from supporters and loyal lawmakers over the years, and has made no secret of his irritation at missing out on the prestigious award.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he has nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, presenting the US president with a letter he sent to the prize committee.

“He’s forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one region after the other,” Netanyahu said at a dinner with Trump at the White House.

A Russian drone attack on Mykolaiv caused a fire in a suburban area and left one person injured, local officials reported.

Mykolaiv was hit by a Russian drone attack early Tuesday morning, July 8, resulting in a fire in a suburban area and one reported injury, according to local authorities.

At around 2:29 a.m., Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych reported explosions and urged residents to stay in shelters. “Another explosion can be heard in Mykolaiv! The drone threat continues,” he wrote on Telegram.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated the Kremlin’s rejection of a ceasefire and unchanged demands, including demilitarization and regime change in Ukraine.
• Russia is leveraging its “Rubikon” Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies to improve its theater-wide drone capabilities, including in priority frontline areas in Donetsk Oblast.
• Russian forces have yet to reach parity with Ukraine’s innovative and deeply integrated drone program, however.
• Russian forces appear to be reprioritizing offensive operations in the Pokrovsk direction over the Kostyantynivka direction after several weeks of unsuccessful activity aimed at advancing toward Kostyantynivka.
• Russian Minister of Transport and former Kursk Oblast Governor Roman Starovoit reportedly recently committed suicide after Russian President Vladimir Putin removed Starovoit from his position, likely due in part to the Ministry of Transport’s role in Russian failures that enabled Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web in June 2025.
• Putin may have planned to punish Starovoit by arresting him on charges related to his time as the governor of Kursk Oblast in order to avoid acknowledging the Kremlin’s failure to prevent Operation Spider Web.
• Ukrainian forces continue to conduct long-range strikes against Russia’s defense industrial base (DIB).
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Novopavlivka. Russian forces recently advanced in northern Sumy Oblast and near Toretsk, Pokrovsk, and Novopavlivka.

Russia launched a massive overnight drone assault on Ukraine, striking Odesa, Kharkiv, and Kyiv. Presidential Office head warned that Russia’s expanding weapons production is a threat beyond Ukraine.

Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight with Shahed drones, heavily targeting Kharkiv, Odesa, and Kyiv, according to local authorities.

In Kharkiv, more than 20 civilians were wounded when drones struck residential areas and civilian infrastructure in the early hours of July 7.

The heavily sanctioned and militarily targeted producer of crude has missed its targets throughout much of 2025, Bloomberg reported.

According to anonymous sources quoted by Bloomberg on Monday, Russia did not meet its OPEC+ monthly requirements in June, at the same time as sanctions are building on Russian oil and its derived products and Ukraine has targeted such facilities in its three-year-plus defense against Moscow’s invasion.

Ever since those sanctions were introduced as a result of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has not released its oil-production numbers.

US President orders advisers to explore ways to expedite air defenses, sources tell Kyiv Post. One analyst says delivering everything promised by Biden “would be a good start.” Pentagon confirms.

WASHINGTON DC – US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that his administration would send Ukraine additional weapons.

“We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to,” Trump told reporters during a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding, “defensive weapons, primarily, but they’re getting hit very, very hard.

“We are sovereign nations,” Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said. “We don’t want an emperor.”

US President Donald Trump’s decision to hit “anti-American” BRICS nations – including China and India – with an extra 10 percent trade tariff roiled the final day of the bloc’s summit in Rio de Janeiro Monday.

Trump threatened the 11-nation grouping – which includes some of the world’s fastest-emerging economies – late on Sunday, after they warned against his “indiscriminate,” damaging and illegal tariff hikes. 

“There must be more protection for human lives,” Zelensky said after a military staff meeting focused on Ukraine’s need for increased air defenses and a phone call with UK Prime Minister.

In his nightly address on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky promised the country that the wheels are in motion to acquire more drones and air defenses, on a day when he held a phone conversation with the British prime minister to discuss financing for more domestic production, and the US promised that more weapons were on the way.

Zelensky said that he met with his defense staff to discuss the need to significantly increase the use of drones of all types on the front line.