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

Ukraine’s drone army is rewriting modern warfare – and with billions more in defense funding, experts say Russia is facing a nightmare it can’t easily stop.

Thanks to well-organized and sustained funding for decentralized production on a large scale, Ukrainian combat units are constantly receiving new drones of various types, which have become key to Ukraine’s success and a true nightmare for Russian invaders.

Colonel Markus Reisner, head of the Officer Training Institute at the Theresian Military Academy, said this in a comment to Ukrinform’s correspondent, discussing Ukraine’s increased defense spending, including on drone production.

Putin answers to no one, and criticism in his country is a death sentence, wrote Canadian-American journalist and author Diane Francis.

Putin and Russia are a greater threat to the world than was Hitler and Nazi Germany, but a sea change to recognize this reality in the White House has yet to occur. 

Instead, President Donald Trump imposes a deadline here, and moves nuclear submarines around there, but Putin “plays” him for time. 

Kyiv Post’s special correspondent returned to the scene of Russia’s July 31 devastating missile attack on an apartment block in Kyiv’s Svyatoshyn district to see how its residents were coping.

“I don’t know what death looks like, but I’ll never forget how it sounds. The sound of a missile hitting your home is lodged inside me, crushing something in my chest, not letting me breathe freely, whispering from deep within that we too could have gone in an instant.

“It’s unbearable to stand near the impact site. A wave of grief and pain crashes over you, alongside the sharp undeniable feeling that death is still here.”

Naftogaz is pursuing Russian state assets across multiple jurisdictions to enforce a $5 billion arbitration award for the expropriation of its assets in Crimea.

Ukraine’s state-owned gas company Naftogaz Group received permission from Austria’s District Court of Vienna Inner City to seize Russian-owned properties worth about $139 million. 

Naftogaz is attempting to enforce the $5 billion arbitral award against Russia for the illegal seizure of Naftogaz assets in Crimea, the company wrote in a press release on Monday. 

Trump’s Monday update followed India’s official denial of plans to halt Russian oil purchases, despite his recent threat to impose tariffs on New Delhi over the imports.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to further raise the tariffs on India, accusing New Delhi of purchasing Russian oil even though “people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine.” 

The threat came after New Delhi dismissed Trump’s earlier 25% tariffs, saying that the tariffs would not influence India’s decision-making on energy. 

Ukraine’s president said his troops reported encountering mercenaries from China, Central Asia, Pakistan, and Africa fighting for Russia, and vowed Ukraine would “respond” to their presence.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he had visited frontline positions in eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, which borders Russia, meeting troops and presenting state awards to some on Monday. 

Zelensky’s visit coincided with a reported Russian attempt to breach the Hoptivka checkpoint in the region that morning.  

The Ukrainian government has formed a selection committee to start the process of reforming the state customs service, a condition to unlock the ninth review under the IMF program.

Ukraine’s government has formed a selection committee to select the Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, as it initiates the long-debated need to reform the customs service and secure foreign funding undertakings. 

The Ukrainian government is seeking ways to reform the customs service which was found to be corrupt according to investigations by Ukraine’s media outlets Ukrainska Pravda and Bihus.Info. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) required Ukraine to launch the reform, eliminate vested interests and adhere to European standards for customs operations. 

Ukrainian military officials said that Russian combat aircraft were also stationed at the airfield, calling the attack part of efforts to degrade Russia’s warfighting capability.

Ukrainian Forces of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) struck the fuel storage and refueling complex at Sochi International Airport in Russia’s Krasnodar region on Sunday, Aug. 3, sparking a large fire and disrupting airport operations.

According to Ukraine’s General Staff, the drone strike was conducted in coordination with other military units. The airport’s refueling infrastructure was targeted, and a significant fire broke out at the site. 

In Lviv, a joint Ukrainian-Polish expedition has launched exhumation efforts to locate and rebury Polish soldiers killed in 1939, marking another step in ongoing bilateral cooperation.

Search and exhumation works began on Monday, Aug. 4, in western Ukraine’s Lviv to locate and reinter the remains of Polish soldiers who died in 1939.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the excavation is being carried out by a joint Ukrainian-Polish expedition on the territory of a former cemetery in the Zboishcha neighborhood.

The SBU said on Monday it had caught a recently mobilized soldier who was tasked by Moscow to help adjust Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian military positions.

Ukraine has detained yet another soldier accused of spying for Russia’s Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU), a statement by its Security Service (SBU) said on Monday.

The alleged spy was recently mobilized to a combat brigade of the Ministry of Defense’s State Special Transport Service in the country’s central Dnipropetrovsk region.

India’s leading state-owned refiner IOC buys turns to alternative crude supplies following Trump’s tariff threats against those countries importing from Russia.

India’s top oil refiner, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), bought seven million barrels of crude from the United States, Canada and the Middle East for September delivery via a tender, several trade sources told Reuters on Monday.

The news emerged a week after Kyiv Post wrote about the intention of Indian state-owned refineries to halt to buying Russian oil, days after Trump announced a 25% tariff on Indian imports starting Friday, Aug. 1. He also signaled possible further penalties related to India’s ties with Moscow.

Kyiv’s spooks published engineering schematics, damage control and combat SOPs, warship weak points, even individual names and PT scores of crew aboard the Kremlin’s newest nuclear submarine.

Ukraine’s secretive army intelligence agency HUR on Sunday trolled the Kremlin and potentially dealt the survivability of an entire class of Russia’s most modern nuclear missile submarines a body blow on Sunday by dumping a mass of secret documents and drawings about the warship onto the internet.

The sensitive Russian military information release, now available to anyone with a smart phone and data access, detailed everything from internal construction to critical weak points to the individual names and ranks of every sailor, warrant and officer aboard one of Russia’s prized ballistic missile submarines.

Gaza is facing a man-made famine, with at least 175 dead from starvation - 93 of them children. Over 60,000 have been killed by Israeli military actions.

In June 2021, a newly installed Ukrainian government quietly removed its name from a UN petition with more than 40 other countries criticizing China’s abuses in the western Xinjiang region. Beijing had threatened to withhold a shipment of at least 500,000 Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines, and Kyiv, desperate to protect its population, capitulated. That episode should not set a precedent for Ukraine’s foreign policy when it comes to standing up for human rights.

Today, Gaza faces what is increasingly recognized as a man-made famine. Forced starvation has already claimed the lives of at least 175 people, including 93 children. More than 60,000 people have been killed as a result of Israeli military actions.

The Kremlin says a meeting between Putin and Zelensky is possible – but only after key “preparatory work” is completed at the expert level.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not rule out a personal meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Speaking to Russian media, Peskov noted that such a meeting “is not excluded,” but would only be possible after specific preparatory steps are completed.

SBU drones destroyed a Russian Su-30SM multirole fighter and damaged four more aircraft in a night strike on the key “Saky” airbase in occupied Crimea.

Ukrainian drones from the Security Service’s (SBU) elite CSO “A” unit struck Russia’s Saky airfield in occupied Crimea overnight, reportedly destroying a combat aircraft and causing millions in damage.

As a result of the Ukrainian strike, a Su-30SM fighter jet was completely destroyed, while another was severely damaged, according to the SBU’s press service on Monday, Aug. 4.

The EU is probing suspicious Minsk-Benghazi flights amid fears Russia and Turkey are fueling migration to Europe through Libya, sidelining Greece and shifting regional alliances.

ATHENS – The European Commission is investigating a series of unusual flights from Minsk to Benghazi amid growing concern that Russia may be helping to drive a new wave of irregular migration to southern Europe, an EU official told Euractiv.

The flights, operated by Belarusian carrier Belavia, have raised suspicions in Brussels of possible coordination with Libyan authorities in eastern Libya – a region controlled by strongman Khalifa Haftar, who maintains close ties with the Kremlin.

Russian troops posed for a “victory” photo in Donetsk region village, but they wound up in the crosshairs of a HUR unit, which cut they their triumphant photo op short.

Ukrainian special forces from the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) destroyed a group of Russian soldiers who decided to pose with the Russian flag in the village of Zelenyi Hai in the Donetsk region, attempting to showcase an allegedly successful advance toward the Dnipropetrovsk region.

“The occupying army continues its attempts to break through to the Dnipropetrovsk region and report another ‘victory,’” the HUR press service reported on Sunday, Aug. 3, publishing corresponding photos and videos.

If Trump manages to broker such a historic meeting, it will be a big blow to Russia’s pride.

Kyiv Post’s Chief Correspondent in Washington, Alex Raufoglu, reports:

Multiple sources confirm to me that Armenia and Azerbaijan are poised to announce their intention for peace later this week in Washington.

A family of five fled their homeland in hopes of rebuilding their lives in Wales. With lots of support and hard work they managed to fulfill a lifelong dream by opening a successful café in Wrexham.

Yaroslav and Oksana Izviekov never dreamed that Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds would saunter into their little café in the Welsh city of Wrexham. They never expected him to invite them to attend a Wrexham AFC soccer match and that they would sit next to the co-owner of the club. They were pleasantly shocked and elated after being featured in an episode of the sports documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 destroyed the Izviekovs’ plans of opening a café in their hometown of Chortkiv in the Ternopil region of Ukraine. The couple ran their own coffee stand and was in the process of renovating their first ever coffee shop when Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of their country. They had their own apartment, owned two cars, went to church on Sundays and spent quality time with their parents.

Belarusian Commander Vadim Denisenko has announced the formation of the 37th Airborne Assault Brigade in the Gomel region near Ukraine’s border, heightening risks for Ukraine.

Belarusian Maj.-Gen. Vadim Denisenko announced the formation of the 37th Airborne Assault Brigade in the Gomel region near Ukraine’s border. The first battalion has already formed according to the Commander of Belarus’s Special Operations Forces. The brigade is intented to strengthen the most volatile southern front, according to Deninesko. The Belarusian Special Operations Forces will also be enhanced this year with an anti-aircraft missile regiment and a rocket-artillery regiment. 

The announcement to reinforce the army was made in the same week that Belarus shot down a drone flying over Minsk. Following that incident Belarus announced it was “taking measures to strengthen control over the airspace.”

A Russian drone attack early Monday caused major fires in the Odesa region, destroying dozens of electronics stalls at the local radio market and burning a non-operational dormitory.

Russian drones attacked the Odesa region early Monday morning, August 4, sparking large fires and widespread damage.

According to the State Emergency Service (DSNS), the worst destruction occurred at the local radio market, where flames tore through dozens of shopping pavilions selling electronics and household appliances. 

Bipartisan Senate resolution blasts Russia for occupying the territories of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, despite a 50-tear-old treaty, while sanctions loom.

WASHINGTON DC – In a powerful legislative move, a bipartisan group of US senators over the weekend introduced a resolution commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act – a Cold War-era agreement that defined the rules of engagement for a generation. But the resolution isn’t just a look back; it’s a stark warning about the present.

Sponsored by a coalition of senators including Roger Wicker (R-MS), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Thom Tillis (R-NC)  and Tina Smith (D-MN), the bill is a rare moment of unity on a foreign policy issue that has once again taken center stage.

oland expects to have 1,100 tanks by 2030 after signing a new agreement worth over $6 billion with Hyundai Rotem for 180 K2 battle tanks.

Poland is set to have more tanks by 2030 than the U.K., Germany, France and Italy combined, after Warsaw signed another multi-billion-euro deal with a South Korean defense company to procure additional K2 tanks.

On Friday, Poland signed an agreement worth over $6 billion with Hyundai Rotem for 180 K2 battle tanks. This is the country’s second major deal with the South Korean company after the first was struck in 2022, also for 180 K2 tanks.

Armed men stormed the Crocus City Hall music venue on March 22 last year, opening fire and then setting the building alight.

The trial opens in Moscow on Monday of 19 people accused of involvement in an attack on a Moscow concert hall last year that killed 149 people.

Armed men stormed the Crocus City Hall music venue on March 22 last year, opening fire and then setting the building alight in what was one of the deadliest attacks in Russia’s history.

A Finnish geopolitical analyst examines why the AFU’s Corps Reform of its military is significant. He believes this restructuring may be the most important military reform of the war.

Ukraine is overhauling its armed forces by introducing a corps-level command structure. This isn’t just bureaucratic – it’s a strategic shift to make the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) more efficient, fair, and combat-ready. Here’s why it matters.

Why Corps Reform?

Ukraine’s current setup is too centralized – brigades report directly to top commands. That slows decisions and coordination. Corps-level command will:

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Ukrainian forces struck an oil depot in Krasnodar Krai on August 3.
• Russia is reportedly preparing to expand its use of occupied Ukraine to launch Shahed-type drone strikes against Ukraine.
• Russia appears to be trying to better protect its air bases after multiple years of Ukrainian strikes against the Russian rear.
• Russian intelligence services appear to be reassessing and possibly innovating their sabotage operations in Europe.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Lieutenant General Anatoliy Kryvonozhko as the Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force on August 3.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced in western Zaporizhia Oblast. Russian forces recently advanced in the Lyman, Pokrovsk, and Novopavlivka directions.