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

Trump may meet Putin as soon as next week, then host a three-way summit with Zelensky – excluding Europe. The US says Trump is open to talks and “the war must end.”

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, US President Donald Trump said there is a “very good prospect” for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “very soon” to end the war in Ukraine.

He did not specify a location or date for the trilateral talks, but said he had “very good talks” with Putin earlier in the day.

Zelensky spoke with Trump after Witkoff’s Moscow talks, saying “the war must end” as Trump imposed new tariffs on India ahead of his Aug. 8 peace deadline.

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed he spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, during which the White House reiterated its position that the war “must end.”

The call came shortly after Russia envoy Steve Witkoff held a three-hour meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier in the day, ahead of Trump’s Aug. 8 deadline for progress towards peace.

Trump says envoy Steve Witkoff had a “highly productive” meeting with Putin, claiming “great progress,” though he offered no details on the topics covered.

US President Donald Trump hailed “great progress” following his Russia Envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier on Wednesday. 

Previously, the Kremlin said Witkoff and Putin discussed Ukraine and potential cooperation between Washington and Moscow with no further elaboration. 

A well-known journalist was sentenced to two years in jail for slapping a police chief during protests against the Georgian government. Supporters are protesting the sentence.

Prominent Georgian investigative journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli has been sentenced to two years in prison for slapping a police chief during anti-government protests in Batumi earlier this year. The ruling, announced today, Aug. 6, by the Batumi City Court, has sparked a fresh wave of domestic and international condemnation.

The incident occurred during mass protests in January 2025. A video circulated by Georgian media shows Amaghlobeli striking Batumi’s police chief, Irakli Dgebuadze, during a chaotic demonstration. Amaghlobeli said she acted in an emotional state after witnessing the arrest of people close to her and falling during a stampede. She also accused the police chief of spitting on her and attempting to assault her after she was detained.

A gas station from a new route, launched just last month to supply gas from the US and Azerbaijan, was targeted by Russian drones in Orlivka in the Odesa region.

Russian drones targeted a gas compressor at the Orlivka station, part of the newly launched gas corridor designed to help Ukraine address its energy deficit ahead of the 2025–2026 winter season.

The station, operated by the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTS), is located in the Odesa region, near the Ukrainian-Romanian border.

As Russian forces near the city, after more than 16 months of relentless attacking, they could spend another year and tens of thousands of lives advancing further.

Russia’s grinding offensive in eastern Ukraine has scored new gains and is – a bit – nearer the key logistics and transportation hub of Pokrovsk than ever before. In doing so, however, Ukraine’s strategy of inflicting the maximum toll in soldier lives on the Kremlin for every meter gained is still in force, Kyiv’s troops say.

According to official statements and news reports, Russian patrols penetrated temporarily into the city last week, and on Wednesday both sides were reporting fierce battles in progress as close as six kilometers (3.75 miles) from the city.

As Russian forces attempt to press deeper, Ukrainians have learned to defend with a wall of UAVs. Kyiv Post spends time with a drone unit from the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade on the front line.

The early morning begins with the crashing of artillery and the whistle of Russian glide bombs raining down on Ukrainian positions in Donetsk Oblast, near the border with Dnipropetrovsk.

In recent months, Russian forces have intensified efforts to expand westward, launching waves of infantry assaults and drone strikes as they attempt to breach the administrative boundary and establish a foothold inside Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Moscow recently claimed control of villages like Maliivka, just inside the region.

White House blindsides India with 25% duty on all imports, citing a “national emergency” over its continued energy trade with Moscow.

WASHINGTON DC –  The White House has delivered its most forceful economic blow yet in the global standoff against Russia, with President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning signing an Executive Order to impose a sweeping 25% tariff on all goods imported from India.

The move, effective in 21 days, is a direct response to India’s “indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,” which the administration says undermines US and allied efforts to isolate Moscow.

Russian presidential aide Yuriy Ushakov said the two exchanged positions on Ukraine ahead of US President Donald Trump’s Friday sanction deadline for Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, discussed Ukraine and potential cooperation during their three-hour conversation in Moscow on Wednesday, according to Russian presidential aide Yuriy Ushakov. 

The talk came ahead of Trump’s Friday, Aug. 8, ceasefire deadline for Moscow, after which the US president has threatened to unleash sanctions on Moscow if it fails to produce results towards a ceasefire. 

Russia uses oil export revenues to fund its war in Ukraine. Western sanctions target this, but India and China still buy discounted Russian crude, easing the impact.

Falling oil prices would ultimately force Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his war in Ukraine, Donald Trump has said, adding that Russia’s economy already “stinks.”

The U.S. president, who has made ending the war in Ukraine a top priority since returning to office this year, has recently expressed growing impatience with Putin.

Witkoff arrived in Moscow early Wednesday and was received by Putin in the Kremlin later the same day.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, began on Wednesday, August 6, in the Kremlin.

Overnight, Russia launched 45 drones across Ukraine, striking gas infrastructure in Odesa and a resort in Zaporizhzhia — killing 2, injuring 12, and triggering alarm in Romania.

Early Wednesday morning, Aug. 6, Russian forces dropped aerial bombs on a recreational base in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, killing at least two people and injuring 12 others, including two children, according to early reports.

“My condolences to the families and loved ones. There was zero military sense in this strike. Just cruelty – to intimidate,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post.

The Bureau of Economic Security (BEB), Ukraine’s financial crimes agency, has faced major hurdles, with its new chief’s appointment delayed for months despite a positive vote.

Ukraine has appointed NABU detective Oleksandr Tsyvinsky as the new head of the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB) on Wednesday after a prolonged delay.

The BEB is responsible for tackling financial crimes such as fraud, tax evasion, smuggling and money laundering. The resignation of its previous director in 2023, following major scandals – including allegations that BEB detectives concealed criminal activity – led to the launch of a new appointment process under revised procedures.

Following the vote on the controversial bill No 12414, trust in Ukraine’s president has dropped to 58% since June, with the sharpest decline among youth and in western regions.

Trust in President Volodymyr Zelensky among Ukrainians declined from 65% in June to 58% in July 2025, according to a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS). The survey began the day after the high-profile vote in the Verkhovna Rada’s draft law number 12414 – which many experts said would undermine the independence of the two anti-corruption agencies: the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

KIIS said that the decline in trust towards Zelensky had begun even before the adoption of the controversial law, but the vote itself became a significant factor in shaping public sentiment.

In Poland’s semi-presidential system, the president doesn’t run the government but can block, delay and shape it through vetoes, appointments, and a formal voice in foreign and defense policy.

Poland’s presidency was designed not to govern but to resist or assist, depending on the moment, acting as a constitutional counterweight that matters most when the president and government are at odds.

In Poland’s semi-presidential system, the president doesn’t run the government but can block, delay and shape it through vetoes, appointments, and a formal voice in foreign and defense policy.  

On Tuesday an interactive installation dedicated to Ukraine’s great poet, writer and artist, Taras Shevchenko, was positioned in the park that bears his name in the center of the capital.

On Tuesday, Aug. 5, a large, yellow five-meter (16.4-feet) high bust of Ukraine’s national poet Taras Shevchenko was unveiled in Kyivʼs Taras Shevchenko Park, close to the monument that celebrates the man. The object is an interactive installation dubbed “The World Through Shevchenkoʼs Eyes,” and will be open until Aug. 15.

The project was an initiative of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the “WOW” NGO which is an advocate for all aspects of the country’s culture and created by the Ukrainian artist Sergiy Zapadnya with input from Yulia Shylenko of the Taras Shevchenko National Museum.

Poland’s new rightist president, a former boxer and now a Trump supporter, takes office.

Nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki, who was sworn in as Poland’s new president on Wednesday, is a former amateur boxer with a particular interest in the criminal underworld.

The 42-year-old Nawrocki won a June 1 election with the support of the populist right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, which governed Poland from 2015 to 2023.

European commentators speculate on whom Witkoff will meet with and what the outcome will be.

Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is to travel to Moscow shortly before the US deadline for Russia to end the war in Ukraine expires. The visit will take place on either Wednesday or Thursday, the US president said. European commentators speculate on whom Witkoff will meet with and what the outcome will be.

Attempt at dialogue with uncertain consequences

Zelensky and Greece’s Mitsotakis discussed boosting Ukraine’s air defenses and a Greek-led plan to rebuild Odesa’s port during a phone call.

In a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis proposed that Athens help rebuild Odesa’s port infrastructure, which would also support regional transport and logistics corridors across Southeast Europe.

Both sides agreed that their governments would begin working on the initiative. 

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• Russia has likely sustained approximately 1,050,000 casualties (killed and wounded since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and 260,000 casualties in the conflict so far in 2025.
• The average daily Russian casualties during July 2025 was approximately 1,072 according to Ukrainian General Staff reporting. Russian casualty rates have moderately decreased month on month since March 2025, with July’s average daily rate the lowest reported since April 2024.
• The moderate decreases in Russia’s monthly casualty rates have occurred at the same time as Russian attacks across the frontline have continued at a high operational tempo and Russia has continued to make steady incremental gains in the Donbas.

Has Trump decided to back down from his threats to impose tough sanctions against Russia?

As Steve Witkoff lands in Moscow, ahead of the new August 8 deadline imposed by Trump to see if Putin is serious about peace in Ukraine, Trump is already backing down.

See comments over past 24 hours softening (denying actually) his threat to impose 100% secondary tariffs on countries buying Russian energy.

While a pause in drone and missile airstrikes could be on the table, Russia remains determined to pursue its war.

The Kremlin could agree to an air truce in its war against Ukraine to deter U.S. President Donald Trump from imposing further sanctions on Russia, sources close to the matter told Bloomberg on Tuesday.

While a pause in drone and missile airstrikes could be on the table, Russia remains determined to pursue its war, sources told the news agency, as Russian forces continue to make advances on the battlefield.In turn, three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters – also on Tuesday – that Putin is unlikely to bow to Trump’s sanctions ultimatum, citing Putin’s scepticism that yet more U.S. sanctions will not have much of an impact after successive waves of economic penalties during 3-1/2 years of war.Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a “productive conversation” with his American counterpart covering sanctions on Russia and the finalization of a U.S.-Ukraine drone deal.

Trump’s envoy reportedly has landed in Moscow, meeting a top Kremlin investment official as Trump’s deadline for Russia to end its war looms.

Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Russia and the Middle East, has reportedly arrived in Moscow.

According to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, the plane used by Witkoff landed at Vnukovo Airport amid reports of his planned visit.

In an exclusive interview with Kyiv Post, former member of Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland talks about the journey that took him from ideological confusion to clarity.

At the age of 22, Tim Schramm packed his gear and crossed the border into Ukraine, he wasn’t just heading into a warzone – he was stepping into a moral reckoning.

“I come from the political right in Germany,” he says. “We talk a lot about values – freedom, nation, family. But in Ukraine, people are actually living those values. Even dying for them.”

The purpose of this mechanism is to ensure the rapid supply of systems and weapons to Ukraine.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal has said the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) are launching a new mechanism to support Ukraine through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative.

“The purpose of this mechanism is to ensure the rapid supply of systems and weapons to Ukraine, which, in large quantities, can be obtained from the United States, in order to strengthen Ukraine’s positions and create conditions for achieving a just and sustainable peace,” the minister said on Telegram on Monday.

With crucial legislature election looming, State Department tells Kyiv Post it condemns any move to undermine Moldovan sovereignty. Analysts urge US to impose immediate sanctions, give economic aid.

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States on Tuesday issued a strong condemnation of any attempts to undermine Moldova’s sovereignty, reaffirming the nation’s right to self-determination.

The move comes as Moldova’s President Maia Sandu accuses Russia of orchestrating an “unprecedented” campaign to interfere in the upcoming September parliamentary election.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Private and public Kremlin statements indicate that Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to demand the entirety of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts before he will initiate a peace agreement.
• Helping Ukraine inflict battlefield setbacks on Russian forces remains essential to efforts to persuade Putin to reevaluate his position on the war and negotiations.
• The Kremlin insider sources likely leaked this information in an attempt to obfuscate Putin’s actual, more extreme war aims.
• The Kremlin also likely intends for these leaks to Western media to advance its ongoing effort to break Ukrainian and Western morale.
• Putin has intentionally put himself in a position where he cannot present any peace settlement that falls short of his original war aims as a victory to the Russian military or people.
• Russia announced on August 4 that it will withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, likely as a rhetorical response to US President Donald Trump’s August 1 announcement about the redeployment of US nuclear submarines toward Russia. Russia’s INF Treaty withdrawal does not portend a shift in Russia’s use of shorter- and intermediate-range missiles, however.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Chasiv Yar. Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman, Siversk, and Toretsk.

US President vows to “substantially” raise tariffs, calls out Russia’s oil buyers. The State Department spokesperson says, “The ball is in Russia’s court.”

WASHINGTON DC – In a series of forthright and at times combative exchanges with the press on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump confirmed his administration was preparing to take significant economic action against nations that continue to purchase Russian energy.

He also, once again, publicly distanced himself from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, labelling it “Biden’s war.”

The new package is “useful,” but not a strategic “game-changer,” a military analyst and retired US Colonel tells Kyiv Post.

The Trump administration on Tuesday approved two new potential military sales to Ukraine worth more than $200 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced.

The decision came following a “productive” phone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump, who have been discussing an end to Russia’s ongoing war.