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

A senior American diplomat told the UN Security Council that Trump expects Russia and Ukraine to strike a peace deal by August 8 – or face serious economic pressure from the US.

US President Donald Trump has set Aug. 8 as the deadline for Russia and Ukraine to reach a ceasefire agreement, a top US official announced during a United Nations Security Council briefing on Thursday.

“Both Russia and Ukraine must negotiate a ceasefire and durable peace. It is time to make a deal,” said senior US diplomat John Kelley, addressing the 15-member body in New York. 

Top diplomat confirms US will hit Moscow’s lifelines if peace evades new, earlier deadline Trump set after “clear frustration” with Putin’s targeting of Ukrainian civilians far from the front lines.

WASHINGTON DC – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed in an interview with Fox Radio on Thursday that the White House is nearing a critical decision point regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, with President Donald Trump expressing “clear frustration” over Russia’s lack of sincerity towards peace. A transcription of the interview was shared by the State Department.

After more than six months of engagement, including recent talks with top Russian officials earlier this week, no meaningful progress towards a ceasefire has been achieved, the top US diplomat revealed. “The President has waited over six months now and given the best efforts possible,” Rubio stated, highlighting continuous diplomatic efforts.

Young Ukrainians, inspired by the values of the Maidan generation, rallied for nine days to defend democracy – and won a key anti-corruption battle.

In Mariinsky Park, near Ukraine’s parliament building, protesters huddled around blaring speakers and held their breath. When the final tally came – 331 votes in favor – the tension broke into jubilation.

Nicaragua, which has sided with Russia in the UN resolutions on Ukraine, has voted to recognize the results of Moscow’s illegal referendum on annexing four Ukrainian regions.

Nicaragua announced on Thursday that it recognizes Russia’s sovereignty over four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims through widely condemned sham referendums.

In late 2022, Russia declared the annexation of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions after staging so-called referendums in occupied territories. It then amended its constitution to formally claim these areas as new Russian oblasts.

Alonso Gaona is creating a large canvas dedicated to the Ukrainians who died in the war. He says he is deeply impressed by Ukraine – and has grown to love it.

There was a time when Russian cruise missiles were easy meat for Ukraine’s mostly NATO-standard air defenses – that was then, but it’s different now.

Ukrainian air defenses largely impotent against Russian ballistic missiles are increasingly struggling to intercept the latest advanced cruise missile fielded by the Kremlin, data published by Ukraine’s Air Force (UAF) showed.

Less than half of the Iskander-K cruise missiles launched by Russian forces – almost all in overnight strikes against civilian targets in Ukrainian cities – were shot down or rendered ineffective by jamming in recent weeks – Kyiv Post’s review of UAF data for June and July showed.

After the anti-corruption rollback, parliament voted to scrap additional financing for social policies contained in the law in favor of a much-needed increase to the military budget.

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada had on Thursday voted for increased defense spending, previously defined by Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance, that will enable military salaries to be paid in August. 

Acceptance of the bill to roll back the law that effectively dismantled Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions meant that the critical military budget amendments were left untouched. 

Despite the Polish president’s earlier public jabs at Ukraine, President Zelensky said the two shared a “good first conversation” after Nawrocki took office on Thursday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a “good first conversation” with Poland’s President-Elect Karol Nawrocki on Thursday.

Nawrocki was declared the victor in June’s presidential election with a razor-thin margin against his opponent, pro-European Rafał Trzaskowski.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Thursday that Russia will keep destabilizing its neighbors with or without the war in Ukraine – unless there’s a change in the Kremlin’s leadership.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has advocated for regime change in Russia on Thursday during a virtual event with Finland. 

Zelensky argued that Russia will keep destabilizing neighboring countries even after the war in Ukraine ends – making regime change in Moscow the only lasting solution.

The recent visit of Syria’s new foreign minister marked the first time a high-ranking Syrian official visited Russia, formerly Assad’s biggest backer, since he was overthrown.

Russia and Syria signaled Thursday they would bolster ties and review agreements made under the previous pro-Moscow government of Bashar al-Assad amid uncertainty over the future of two Russian military bases in the country.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani appealed for Russia’s support at talks in Moscow, where Assad had reportedly fled after he was ousted after a lightning offensive by rebels last year.

Long-range drones of Ukraine’s SBU targeted a key electronics plant in Penza, Russia, used to produce automated control systems and communications for the Russian military.

Long-range drones operated by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) struck Radiozavod, a key facility in Penza, Russia, that is part of the Rostec state corporation and supports the Russian military-industrial complex, a source in the SBU told Kyiv Post.

The plant manufactures automatic combat control systems for various branches of the Russian military – air defense, artillery, and mobile command posts based on armored vehicles with advanced communication systems.

As Trump tries to deflect attention from Jeffery Epstein, author Michael Wolff, who has written about Trump and interviewed Epstein, reveals financial connections with a Russian oligarch.

In 2004, sex-trafficker Jeffery Epstein was looking to buy a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, and asked his then-friend Donald Trump for advice about how to move the swimming pool, according to author Michael Wolff, who has written four books about the Trump presidency.

After Epstein showed Trump the house he was bidding on for $36 million, Trump went behind his back and bid $40 million for the property, says Wolff, who told Washington Monthly’s Jonathan Alter that he is sitting on 100 hours of recorded interviews with the late Jeffery Epstein.

Russia struck Kyiv overnight with drones and missiles, killing 11 people – including a six-year-old boy – and wounding over 100. Rescue efforts are still underway.

Russian forces launched a combined drone and missile attack on Kyiv early Thursday morning, July 31, killing 11 people – including a six-year-old boy – and wounding dozens more.

“Currently, the services have confirmed six deaths – four in the Sviatoshynskyi district and 2twoin Solomyanskyi,” said Kyiv City Military Administration (KMVA) head Timur Tkachenko on Telegram on Thursday morning.

Following a tip-off from Mexico, Ukraine’s SBU and HUR counterintelligence teams are investigating the alleged infiltration of the country’s International Legion.

The French investigative outlet Intelligence Online reported Tuesday that Mexico’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) had warned Ukraine about individuals linked to drug cartels volunteering to join Ukraine’s International Legion – the foreign volunteer unit created by presidential decree in 2022 to fight as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The CNI warned that these individuals were coming to Ukraine not to support the war against Russian aggression but simply to gain expertise in the use of First-Person View (FPV) kamikaze drones for use in their own internecine fights against other cartels and Mexico’s security forces.

The logistic lifeline for Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk region has been relentlessly pounded by Russian artillery for more than two years, reducing it to little more than rubble.

Russia claimed on Thursday to have captured Chasiv Yar, a stronghold in Ukraine’s Donetsk region – a claim that Kyiv denies.

Chasiv Yar, with a pre-war population of around 12,000, sits on high ground that gives Kyiv’s forces a tactical advantage. It sits approximately 12 kilometers (7 miles) from Bakhmut, another stronghold captured by Russian troops in May 2023.

The Ukrainian parliament has passed a bill with a slim majority to restore the independence of NABU and SAPO, although it grants certain powers to the Security Service of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has adopted draft law No. 13533, submitted by President Volodymyr Zelensky, which reinstates the independence of key anti-corruption institutions.

Overall, 331 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill.  

Trump slammed Russia and India as “dead economies” and warned Medvedev he’s “entering dangerous territory” after threats of war over Trump’s latest ultimatum to Putin.

US President Donald Trump has hit back at recent threats of war from Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev.

Posting on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump dismissed both Russia and India as economically irrelevant and took aim at Medvedev’s political legacy.

A conservative caucus of House Republicans push for draconian Russia sanctions, citing “immediate and escalating threat” to US national security, and hoping to give Trump diplomatic leverage.

WASHINGTON DC – A conservative faction of Congressional Republicans is advocating for a sweeping overhaul of America’s sanctions policy against Russia, aiming to deliver a “crushing blow” to the Kremlin’s war machine while simultaneously granting President Donald Trump the flexibility to pursue his “Peace Through Strength” agenda.

The Republican Study Committee (RSC), a leading conservative caucus, is at the forefront of this push.

Direct hits from five missiles, including one on a residential building in Kyiv, and 21 drones were recorded at 12 sites. Debris fell in 19 locations, most of them in Kyiv.

Russia launched more than 300 drones and at least eight missiles overnight, targeting Ukraine in a massive aerial assault, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.

The capital, Kyiv, was the primary focus of the attack.

With tap water available only once every three days, Donetsk residents are calling the situation a humanitarian disaster and demanding action from Moscow.

Water shortages in Russian-occupied Donetsk have reached a critical point, with residents receiving tap water only once every three days, queuing for hours at mobile tanks, and relying on unsanitary sources such as basement wells and mine water.

Locals and pro-Russian bloggers are calling the situation a humanitarian disaster and demanding action from Moscow.

Zelensky did not specify what principles the agreements centered on, adding that sanctions and pressure on Russia “can work.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has approved “large-scale agreements” for additional U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine.

In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said he had greenlit “the main principles of a deal” which he has previously discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump.“These are large-scale agreements. I have discussed them with Trump, and I am very much counting on us being able to implement them all,” Zelenskyy said.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• US President Donald Trump specified a deadline of no later than August 8 for Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in meaningful negotiations for an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
• Kremlin officials continued to posture economic strength in response to US President Donald Trump’s proposed economic measures targeting Russia and rejected Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
• The Russian Presidential Administration reportedly issued guidance to Russian state and pro-Kremlin media outlets and commentators to promote narratives aimed at weakening the United States–European Union (EU) alliance.
• Russian officials are already amplifying the Russian Presidential Administration’s talking points about the US–EU trade deal and likely intend to hinder US–European cooperation in support of Ukraine and collective European defense.
• The Kremlin continues to promote an informal state ideology centered on Russian nationalism that Russia may intend to use in justification of a protracted war in Ukraine and a future conflict against NATO.
• Russian forces continue to systematically violate the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), to which it is a signatory.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Pokrovsk and Velykomykhailivka. Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman.

“We anticipate the vote tomorrow. The relevant parliamentary committee has already given its approval. We are getting this fixed,” the foreign minister told AFP in an interview.

Ukraine will fix a controversial anti-graft law that sparked protests last week, its foreign minister told AFP ahead of a crucial parliamentary vote Thursday, but critics said some MPs might be reluctant to back the changes.

President Volodymyr Zelensky changed the law that curbed the powers of anti-graft bodies after the original legislation sparked the largest public unrest since Russia’s invasion more than three years ago.

Lawmakers draw energy red line, seeking to isolate foes from strategic petroleum in a rare bipartisan energy bill.

WASHINGTON, DC –  In a rare display of bipartisan unity, US Senators Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, have proposed an amendment to the upcoming 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prohibit the sale or export of petroleum from America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to several key geopolitical rivals.

The proposed amendment, reviewed by Kyiv Post on Wednesday, aims to prevent any oil drawn from the nation’s emergency reserves from reaching Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, or any entity under their ownership or control, including those tied to the Chinese Communist Party.

Longest-Serving Republican Senator urges long-term strategy on Russia, says Ukraine’s fight is a lesson for US and allies.

WASHINGTON DC – US Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a veteran voice in Republican foreign policy, who has served in the upper chamber since 1985, on Wednesday delivered a stark warning against underestimating Vladimir Putin’s ambitions, urging a sustained and robust commitment from Western nations to counter Russian aggression.

Speaking at an event organized by the McCain Institute on Capitol Hill, McConnell praised recent strides by European allies in bolstering their defense capabilities but cautioned against any return to complacency, asserting that transatlantic security demands continuous vigilance. McConnell reflected on what he described as a persistent misreading of Putin’s intentions by some in the West, recalling how those who highlighted Russia’s enduring threat were once dismissed as out of touch with a post-Cold War reality.