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

A recap of some of the week’s top headlines.

The “Woke Right” built their campaign against Ukraine on a house of cards that tumbled this week, when Trump simply dismissed years of Epstein conspiracies.

No murder. No client list. No more information forthcoming.

That is the July 8, 2025, message from Attorney General Pam Bondi concerning the defining conspiracy theory that helped shape the MAGA movement: the alleged murder of billionaire sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein by government assassins to prevent a client list of high-profile globalists and politically elite pedophiles from reaching the light of day.

The White House messaging on Epstein was the equivalent of a political nuclear bomb dropped on propagandists like Tucker Carlson. They had staked much on their conspiracy claims about Epstein and his death –their reputations, their financial kingdoms, and even their three-year campaign to foment contempt for Ukraine.

Pyongyang reaffirmed support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his visit to the secretive country and key Moscow ally.

Lavrov “was received” by Kim Jong Un, Russia’s foreign ministry said on Telegram, posting a video of two men shaking hands and greeting with a hug.

Using the Recovery Conference on their home turf to their advantage, Italy’s industrial leaders are positioning themselves for potentially lucrative and strategic deals in post-war Ukraine.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome was, officially, a diplomatic gathering about solidarity, sovereignty, and post-war renewal. But by its second day, it was clear that Italy had another message: its businesses are open for reconstruction – and open for business. Behind the flags and rhetoric, the event turned into a stage for Italian firms to pitch themselves as indispensable partners in Ukraine’s post-war economy.

“Reconstruction is not charity,” declared Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, setting the tone early. “It is a geopolitical and economic investment in the future of Europe.” That investment, it seems, will be denominated in engineering contracts, radar systems, and pipeline deals. Giorgetti also took a not-so-subtle swipe at companies still operating in Russia, warning they could be excluded from future reconstruction tenders. “You cannot fund aggression and then profit from its recovery,” he said. A fine principle – though one with uncertain enforcement, and a whiff of political theatre.

The Ukrainian Air Force released a video showcasing Rheinmetall’s Skynex air defense system effectively downing enemy drones.

The Ukrainian Air Force (UAF) has released new footage showing its German-made Skynex air defense system shooting down six Russian Shahed drones during a recent operation.

The time and location of the operation were not disclosed.

A Russian guided bomb strike killed two people in a Sumy village on July 12. Over 60 attacks hit 35 settlements in the region in just 24 hours, officials said.

Two people were killed Saturday, July 12 after a Russian strike involving a guided aerial bomb hit a village in the Sumy territorial community, local officials said.

The Sumy Regional Military Administration announced the attack on Telegram, saying the strike occurred around 1 p.m. in the Velyka Chernechchyna Subdistrict.

Ukraine’s armed forces will receive the first batch of several hundred locally produced long-range missiles funded by Berlin under an agreement signed in Kyiv on Friday.

The Bundeswehr’s Maj. Gen. Christian Freuding, head of the unit coordinating arms support for Ukraine within the German Federal Ministry of Defense said the Ukrainian military will receive the first batch of locally produced long-range missiles funded by Germany by the end of this month.

Speaking to the ZDF TV channel during a visit to Kyiv on Friday, Freuding said the missiles are being produced under an agreement signed following a meeting between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin at the end of May.

On Thursday, the New York Post published a cover story picture of a one-year-old Ukrainian boy named Dmytryk who was killed by a Russian drone in Kherson. His death must not be in vain.

There are times when a single wartime image can move mountains. We witnessed that during the Vietnam War when Associated Press photographer Nick Ut snapped a picture of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, who was nine at the time.

She quickly became known as the “Napalm Girl” as she ran naked and burned towards Ut and away from the small village of Trang Bang. Phuc, in a flash, brought home the horror and terror of the Vietnam War to millions of Americans.

Ukraine says it intercepted a Russian commander’s order to behead POWs. The 155th Brigade, linked to past war crimes, is active in Sumy and recently lost its leader.

Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) reported that it intercepted a Russian order instructing troops to carry out brutal acts against Ukrainian prisoners of war.

According to a HUR statement released Saturday, July 12 on Telegram, the order was issued by a field commander in Russia’s 155th Separate Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet on July 2. The intercepted communication reportedly included the instructions: “Cut off the head, impale it on a pike, throw it the f**k away.”

Over 1,300 State Dept. staff were fired under Trump’s downsizing plan, sparking emotional scenes and warnings it will cripple U.S. diplomacy amid global crises.

More than 1,300 State Department employees were fired Friday in a downsizing ordered by President Donald Trump and touted as cutting bloated government – but which critics predict will hamstring US influence around the world.

Diplomats and other staff clapped out departing colleagues in emotional scenes at the Washington headquarters of the department, which runs US foreign policy and the global network of embassies.

The Antonov cargo plane reportedly landed in Germany’s Leipzig, where the company’s operations hub now resides after Moscow’s 2022 invasion – which also closed off the country’s airspace.

An Antonov An-124 “Ruslan” cargo plane was seen flying over Kyiv on Friday – marking one of the first civilian jets seen flying over the Ukrainian airspace since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. 

At present, only military and governmental flights – including police helicopters – are permitted, with heavy restrictions. 

The EU has advocated a reconstruction fund for critical sectors, to be supplemented by private investment.

Shortly after Ukraine was hit by the heaviest airstrikes since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion in 2022, the annual Ukraine Recovery Conference is taking place in Rome on 10 and 11 July. The EU has advocated a reconstruction fund for critical sectors, to be supplemented by private investment, while President Zelensky has called for assistance with drone production, energy supplies and air defence, as well as the release of frozen Russian funds for reconstruction.

Spare us the euphemisms!

The UN says its deal with Russia to ease global food prices by facilitating Russian food and fertilizer exports will expire July 22 and won’t be renewed.

The UN said Friday its agreement with Moscow to facilitate exports of Russian foodstuffs and fertilizer to international markets in a bid to rein in global food prices would end this month.

The United Nations trade and development agency, UNCTAD, said in a statement the “final consultations meeting” on the deal had been held in Geneva, without giving more details.

Trump vowed to resume air defense aid to Ukraine, backed 500% sanctions on Russian oil buyers, and blasted Putin’s peace claims.

On July 7, President Donald Trump said he had no idea who paused shipments of air defense weapons to Ukraine, but that they would resume.

“They have to be able to defend themselves,” he said. “Now they’re getting hit very hard. We’re going to have to send more weapons. So many people are dying in that mess.”’

Russia has acknowledged that Ukrainian anti-drone tank protection is up to 1.5 times more effective than its own – and responded by copying and patenting the design as its invention.

The Ukrainian Defense Forces have widely adopted a lightweight, foldable anti-drone screen for tanks and armored vehicles – nicknamed the “hood” – which Russia has now copied and patented.

According to a report by Defense Express, Ukrainian tank crews use the “hood,” a mesh screen designed to guard against both first-person-view (FPV) drones and munitions dropped from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Russia launched overnight strikes across Ukraine on July 11–12, killing four in Chernivtsi and injuring others in Lviv and Kharkiv. Damage was also reported in Kyiv, Lutsk, and Kirovohrad.

Four people were killed and several others injured as Russian forces launched a wave of overnight attacks on multiple regions of Ukraine from July 11 to 12, impacting Chernivtsi, Lviv, Lutsk, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, and Kyiv.

Chernivtsi

A missile and kamikaze drones hit Chernivtsi Region at dawn, killing four civilians – a 26-year-old woman, a 45-year-old woman, a 43-year-old man, and a 65-year-old man, according to local officials. “Another four people are in serious condition. Doctors are fighting to save their lives. One woman is critically injured,” said regional governor Ruslan Zaparanyuk. The strikes damaged residential buildings, shops, administrative offices, and cars in the city.

Russia has begun to restrict access to data relating to demographic statistics in a sign that they are likely to reveal a deteriorating population situation.

The Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) has stopped publishing data on the demographic situation in Russia.

May’s statistics were published in July. But, according to sources from Kyiv Post, from now on statistics on mortality, birth rates, the number of marriages and divorces, as well as data on migration in Russia, will be provided under signature and not disclosed. Kyiv Post decided to investigate.