06.07.2025

The Kyiv Independent: An explosion aboard the Eco Wizard tanker in Russia's Ust-Luga port caused an ammonia leak and is under investigation, the Russian Transportation Ministry announced on July 6. Explosions have damaged five tankers at Russian ports since the beginning of the year.

AP News: Russia and Ukraine struck each other with hundreds of drones on Sunday, throwing Russian air travel in disarray, shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced deals with Western partners that would allow Kyiv to scale up drone production.

The Kyiv Independent: Russian attacks on two towns in Donetsk Oblast left five people dead and another injured on July 6, Governor Vadim Filashkin reported. Russia attacked the front-line towns of Kostiantynivka and Druzhkivka.

RBC-Ukraine: Russian forces attacked rescue workers while they were responding to emergencies in Kharkiv and Kherson during the night of July 6. Fortunately, no firefighters were injured, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent: Drones attacked Russia's Black Sea Fleet at the port of Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Krai overnight on July 6, the Russian media outlet Astra reported.

ISW: Russian forces recently advanced northeast of Pokrovsk and may attempt to advance further toward Dobropillya as part of a mutually reinforcing effort to envelop Pokrovsk and bypass Ukraine's fortress belt in Donetsk Oblast from the west in the coming months.

The Kyiv Independent: Armenia's Foreign Ministry has denied claims by Ukraine's military intelligence that Russia is intensifying its military presence at the country's Gyumri base to exert greater influence in the South Caucasus.

The Kyiv Independent: Russia's economy, which defied initial sanctions and saw growth propelled by massive military spending and robust oil exports, is now showing significant signs of a downturn.

05.07.2025

Reuters: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that his latest conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump this week was the best and "most productive" he has had to date.

The Kyiv Independent: BlackRock, a U.S. investment firm, suspended work on a multibillion-dollar Ukraine recovery fund following Trump's election victory, prompting France to work on a replacement, Bloomberg reported on July 5.

Reuters: Ukraine's top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi warned on Saturday of a possible new Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region, a part of northeastern Ukraine which has seen heavy fighting since Russia invaded in 2022.

The Kyiv Independent: Explosions in Russia's Vladivostok damaged a gas pipeline and destroyed a water pipeline that supplied military facilities in the area, a source in Ukraine's military intelligence told the KI on July 5. A fire followed the explosions and destroyed sections of the Vladivostok gas pipeline along the Sea of Japan.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine struck a critical Russian military-industrial site overnight on July 5 that produces components for high-precision weapons used by Moscow to attack Ukraine, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine targeted the Borisoglebsk airfield in Russia's Voronezh Oblast overnight on July 5, damaging a warehouse with guided bombs, aircraft, and other military assets, Ukraine's General Staff reported.

Bloomberg: Europe will be able to withstand the proposed ban on Russian gas imports by the European Commission from 2028, the head of TotalEnergies SE said, pointing to the development of new liquefied natural gas export capacities in the US and Qatar (archive).

The Kyiv Independent: Russia is seeking to involve Laos in its war against Ukraine under the pretense of humanitarian cooperation, Ukraine's military intelligence claimed on July 5.

04.07.2025

Reuters: The European Union will cut imports of Ukrainian wheat and sugar by up to 80% to address the concerns of its farmers, according to quotas announced on Friday, that are likely to drive Ukraine growers to sell more to markets in Asia and Africa.

The Kyiv Independent: Kyiv and Copenhagen signed a landmark agreement on July 4 that allows Ukrainian defense companies to open production facilities in Denmark, Strategic Industries Minister Herman Smetanin announced.

The Moscow Times: The vice president of Russia’s state-owned oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has died after allegedly falling from a window at his home in the upscale Moscow suburb of Rublyovka, state media reported Friday.

NBC News: The Defense Department held up a shipment of U.S. weapons for Ukraine this week over what officials said were concerns about its low stockpiles. But an analysis by senior military officers found that the aid package would not jeopardize the American military’s own ammunition supplies.

Politico: The United Kingdom will host a meeting of the so-called coalition of the willing, a loose partnership of Western countries pledging support for Ukraine, on the sidelines of a French-British summit on Thursday.

Bloomberg: Germany is considering purchasing up to 2,500 armored fighting vehicles and as many as 1,000 battle tanks as part of a joint European effort to create new NATO brigades to deter Russia (archive).

Reuters: Germany plans to introduce a voluntary six-month military service scheme, Reuters reports, as Berlin tries to train more reservists and bolster national defences over security concerns about Russia.

The Kyiv Independent: Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is pushing to lift U.S. energy sanctions on Russia, Politico reported on July 4.

Reuters: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz discussed his country's offer to buy Patriot air defence systems for Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump by phone on Thursday, according to a government spokesperson.

Reuters: Dutch and German intelligence agencies have gathered evidence of widespread Russian use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, including dropping a choking agent from drones to drive soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, they said on Friday.

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