07.09.2025

FT: China is preparing to reopen its domestic bond market to major Russian energy companies, in a shift of policy that reflects deepening diplomatic and economic ties between Beijing and Moscow (archive).

The Guardian: Amid reports that Trump’s administration is considering using US private military contractors in a postwar Ukraine, multiple sources tell the Guardian one high-profile and controversial American from the “war on terror” era is already circling for business.

Reuters: Trump said on Sunday he is ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia, the closest he has come to suggesting he is on the verge of ramping up sanctions against Moscow or its oil buyers over the war in Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent: Russia is expected to manufacture close to 2,500 high-precision missiles in 2025, spanning cruise, ballistic, and hypersonic classes, Vadym Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency, said.

The Guardian: The former Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Jersey authorities over allegations of corruption and money laundering in connection with the original source of his billions, according to court documents.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian forces lost five square kilometers but regained control of 26 square kilometers in the Pokrovsk sector in Donetsk Oblast in August, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.

Reuters: Russia launched its largest air attack of the war on Ukraine overnight, setting the main government building on fire in central Kyiv and killing at least four people, including an infant, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian forces struck the Ilsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai and the "8-N" oil pipeline control station near the village of Naitopovichi in Bryansk Oblast, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed on Sept. 7. Both facilities are involved in supplying fuel to Russian troops invading Ukraine, according to the General Staff.

06.09.2025

The Kyiv Independent: Russian troops near Pokrovsk are attempting to secure new positions and expand the boundaries of the "gray zone," according to Ukraine's 7th Rapid Response Corps of the Airborne Assault Forces.

The Kyiv Independent: A Russian drone dropped leaflets in the form of 100-hryvnia bills in the northeastern city of Chernihiv, urging local residents to collaborate with Russian forces, the local police department said on Sept. 6. The leaflets offered real money in exchange for coordinates to help Russia target Ukrainian forces.

RFE/RL: Trump has signed an executive order that could designate countries that have wrongfully detained US citizens as state sponsors of terrorism, including Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, and China.

The Kyiv Independent: Trump said on Sept. 5 he'd "love" to host the Russian and Chinese leaders during a G20 summit in Miami in 2026.

ABC News: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday declined Putin's suggestion he come to Moscow to negotiate a diplomatic settlement. "He can come to Kyiv," Zelenskyy said. "I can't go to Moscow when my country's under missiles, under attack, each day. I can't go to the capital of this terrorist."

The Kyiv Independent: Russia has the capacity to produce 2,700 Shahed-type "kamikaze" drones every month, Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said on Sept. 5.

The Kyiv Independent: There are close to 700,000 Russian service members deployed in Ukraine, including National Guard soldiers, special forces, and support units, Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said on Sept. 5.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine will return 3.37 million euros in compensation from a foreign company involved in a corruption scheme for the first time, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau announced on Sept. 5.

05.09.2025

The Insider: A research institute outside Moscow is manufacturing chemical weapons that Russia’s military has deployed in Ukraine — in violation of international law — a report by Skhemy, the investigative unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian service, has found.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine has launched its first line of joint drone production in Denmark and plans to develop further defense production programs in other European countries, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sept. 5.

EIB: Ukraine today opened its first railway line based on the EU standard for track width, deepening the country’s transport integration with the European Union.

Reuters: European Union countries are attempting to seal up ways Russian gas could still flow into Europe after the bloc's phase-out takes effect, a draft of their latest negotiating proposal on the rules, seen by Reuters, showed.

Reuters: The European Union is sticking to its plans to phase out Russian oil by 2028, the bloc's energy chief told Reuters on Friday, adding that he had not faced pressure from Washington to bring forward this deadline.

Reuters: India will continue to buy Russian oil as it proves economical, its finance minister said on Friday, despite the Trump administration's decision to impose heavy import tariffs on Indian goods due, in part, to its energy purchases from Moscow.

Politico: Signal disruptions are a daily reality in countries neighboring Russia, Lithuania said, days after the GPS on Ursula von der Leyen's plane was reportedly jammed over Bulgaria.

Reuters: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday thousands of foreign troops could be deployed to his country under post-war security guarantees, but Russian leader Vladimir Putin said Moscow would regard them as legitimate targets to attack.

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