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Russia’s war against Ukraine
Members of a Ukrainian Veteran De-Mining Brigade search for landmines and unexploded ordnance on agricultural land in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, on July 14, 2026. (Carlo Bravo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
‘Revenge is inevitable’ — Ukraine sinks Russian border guard ship involved in 2018 Kerch Strait attack. The strike killed and wounded members of the vessel’s crew, the military said, without disclosing further details.
Former 155th Brigade commander held without bail over alleged kidnapping, murder of 2 civilians. A Kyiv Oblast court ordered the former commander held without bail over allegations he organized the kidnapping and murder of two brothers. He denied the allegations.
‘A missile reaches Kyiv in 2-4 minutes’ — official explains air alarm lag during Russian ballistic strikes. “All information about launches or launch preparations comes to us from our partners. … No system can be perfect, so failures do occur, and the alert may be delayed,” Defense Ministry Advisor Serhii Beskrestnov said.
June deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine since April 2022, UN says. The toll surpassed May’s already-record civilian casualties, when 282 people were killed and 1,794 injured, and marked a 37% increase compared with June 2025.
Head of Ukraine’s state-run defense giant steps down week after deadly Vyshneve depot blast. The news follows a major controversy at Ukroboronprom, centered around a deadly explosion at one of its ammunition depots during a Russian attack on the Kyiv suburb of Vyshneve on July 6.
Political reshuffle in Kyiv
Ukraine’s parliament dismisses prime minister, paving way for government reshuffle. While President Volodymyr Zelensky portrayed the reshuffle as a “change in political strategy,” the actual reasons behind the move, which triggers the resignation of the entire cabinet, remain unclear.
Interview: Ukraine’s potential Justice Minister Maslov defends judicial reform amid criticism. There are three things to know about lawmaker Denys Maslov. He chairs parliament’s legal policy committee, responsible for overhauling Ukraine’s courts. He is widely expected to become the country’s next justice minister. And he insists Ukraine’s judicial reform is on track.
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What Zelensky wants from his next government
A source close to the president also said the reshuffle would give Zelensky an opportunity to remove ministers who had lost his trust. One of them, according to the source, is Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, whose dismissal is likely to prove deeply unpopular with the public.
Photo: Metin Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images
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David Arakhamia and the power of being useful
When Arakhamia entered public life, he presented himself as an outsider to politics — a tech entrepreneur more comfortable discussing startups than statecraft. More than a decade later, he finds himself at the heart of Kyiv’s wartime establishment, occupying a position few officials can match.
Image: Lisa Litvinenko/The Kyiv Independen
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‘Is it really necessary?’ — Ukrainians react with dismay to Fedorov’s possible exit
Fedorov had the second-highest net trust rating among political figures included in a June poll, with 50% of respondents saying they trusted him and 21% saying they did not. During his short term, he has introduced a series of changes, including a controversial military reform, new systems to measure unit effectiveness, and a private air defense initiative, among other innovations.
Photo: Andrii Nesterenko / Global Images Ukraine
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As pressure on Crimea heats up, Russian ships in Sea of Azov enter Ukraine’s crosshairs
The operation, led by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, targets Russian military and commercial vessels. Oil tankers linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, dry cargo vessels, ferries, and tugboats operating along one of Russia’s key maritime corridors have been hit. As of July 14, USF Commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi said Ukrainian drones had attacked 116 vessels.
Photo: YouTube / Robert “Madyar” Brovdi
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International response
US lawmakers unveil updated Russia sanctions bill spearheaded by late Senator Graham. The bill would impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top five buyers of Russian oil or natural gas, while granting the U.S. president authority to waive the sanctions “upon a justification and certification to Congress.”
Budapest ‘closing the door’ on Russia, Hungary’s defense minister says. “We are closing the door in the face of the Russians,” Hungarian Defense Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said.
Ukraine unlocks foreign policy part of EU membership process. The EU’s enlargement commissioner, Marta Kos, told journalists that the newly opened cluster covers external relations, defense, and the tackling of hybrid threats.
EU’s von der Leyen to visit Kyiv on July 15, reportedly with defense agenda. The European Commission is preparing a combined defense support package for Ukraine worth up to 18 billion euros ($21 billion), with announcements on this expected during von der Leyen’s visit, TVP World reported.
Moldova ‘best performer’ in neck-and-neck race with Ukraine for EU membership. “I many times claimed that Moldova is the best student in my class, now I change my rhetoric because it is the best performer in my class,” Marta Kos said after Chisinau opened the external relations cluster on July 14.
Poland to host joint Coalition of the Willing drills this fall. “These drills will prepare the entire coalition gathered here today in Paris to provide genuine security guarantees for Ukraine, but also for the broader region,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
‘Bulgaria doesn’t belong there’ — Ukraine-skeptic PM Radev quits the Coalition of the Willing. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said his country does not provide defense assistance to Ukraine because such support only “prolongs the conflict” and urged a diplomatic solution instead.
As sports bodies reopens door to Russia, 9 EU countries back cutting funding to IOC. The call was backed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Sweden.
Opinions and insights
Mr. Putin, where is the gas?
“But the Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s oil refinery in June did change something,” analysts Liubov Tsybulska and Andrii Sukharyna write. “Trust in the authorities is declining not just in words but in deeds as well. Russians look for those responsible for the situation mostly within their own country and try to find more reliable information from anywhere but officials.”
Photo: Pavel Bednyakov / Pool / AFP / Getty Images
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Human cost of war
Deadly Russian strike hits foreign vessel in Odesa port for second day in row, killing 2. “During the attack, a hostile drone struck a civilian vessel flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, damaging the ship’s superstructure,” Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper said.
Russian attacks kill 7, injure 78 across Ukraine over past day as Kyiv comes under another ballistic missile strike. Explosions rocked the capital shortly after air raid sirens sounded at 12:15 a.m. local time. Sixteen sites were damaged, including a school and a civilian enterprise, but no casualties were reported in Kyiv, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,421,810 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. The number includes 1,120 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
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In other news
US to ‘hold Iran accountable’ for strikes on vessels in Strait of Hormuz as blockade resumes. Two Ukrainian crew members were among those injured when Iranian missiles struck two vessels in the waterway on July 14.
Meet the collection inspired by Kyiv’s embroidery
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