- Russia-Ukraine Daily News
- Posts
- Weekend Briefing
Dear Reader, if you find this email interesting, helpful or of value, please do consider forwarding it to your friends or colleagues and encouraging them to subscribe. Thank you.
Morning Headlines
Axios: President Trump will announce a new plan to arm Ukraine on Monday that is expected to include offensive weapons, two sources with knowledge of the plans tell Axios.
Reuters: Trump said on Sunday he will send Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, saying they are necessary to defend the country because Putin "talks nice but then he bombs everybody in the evening."
The Kyiv Independent: Germany won't supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles, but will provide Kyiv with Patriot air defense systems purchased from the U.S., German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.
Reuters: European Union envoys are on the verge of agreeing an 18th package of sanctions against Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that would include a lower price cap on Russian oil.
ISW: Recent satellite imagery suggests that Russia is constructing protective structures at some of its air bases following Ukraine's Operation Spider Web on June 1.
13.07.2025
CBS News: Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Sunday that "a turning point regarding Russia invasion of Ukraine is coming" amid a bipartisan effort in Congress to impose new economic sanctions aimed at ramping up pressure on the Kremlin to end the war in Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian officials signed agreements, memorandums, and joint statements on raising funds totalling 3.55 billion euros following the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 on July 10-11 in Rome.
AFP: President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday called for a massive boost to France's defence spending, saying freedom in Europe was facing a greater threat than at any time since the end of World War II.
AP News: Ukraine’s security agency said Sunday it tracked down and killed Russian agents suspected of shooting one of its senior officers to death in the Ukrainian capital.
The Kyiv Independent: Russia is actively increasing its influence across African countries, using propaganda networks such as the Russian state information agency TASS and state-owned news outlet RT, Ukraine's military intelligence said on July 13.
Yonhap: North Korea has continued to provide Russia with artillery shells to support its war against Ukraine, which amounts to more than 12 million rounds of 152 mm shells, according to South Korea's military intelligence.
ISW: Russian forces recently advanced from the international border toward Velykyi Burluk in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast — likely in an effort to connect Russian operations near Vovchansk with those near Dvorichna, possibly to facilitate Russian efforts to establish a 'buffer zone' along the international border.
12.07.2025
OCCRP: Spanish police have arrested Dmitry Artyakov, the son of a top Russian defense official, on suspicion of laundering millions of euros through real estate deals in northeastern Spain.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian soldiers successfully destroyed a crew of Russian drone operators with FPV drones, those directly involved in the fatal attack on a child in Kherson Oblast on July 9, Ukraine's General Staff reported on July 11.
Reuters: An Italian court has scrapped some of the conditions Rome had set to clear UniCredit's takeover offer for Banco BPM, except a request that it stop operating in Russia - which the Milan-based lender may struggle to comply with.
CBS News: Trump is considering authorizing fresh funding for Ukraine for the first time since he took office in January, multiple diplomatic sources told CBS News. The sources indicated the new funding could be intended to send a message to Russia, which has pounded Ukraine with drone and missile attacks in recent days.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine will begin receiving hundreds of domestically produced long-range weapon systems by the end of July under a German-financed agreement, German Major General Christian Freuding said.
Reuters: Slovakia aims to reach an agreement with the European Commission and EU partners by Tuesday on guarantees it will not suffer from the end of Russian gas supplies and on a new sanctions package against Russia, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Saturday.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian military intelligence on July 12 published an audio allegedly capturing a company commander from Russia's infamous 155th Marine Brigade issuing an order to "cut off the head" of a Ukrainian soldier.
Reuters: Russia pounded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles on Saturday, in the fourth major attack this month, targeting western cities and killing at least two people in Chernivtsi on the border with Romania.
The Kyiv Independent: Germany will provide Ukraine with a grant worth 40 million euro to support small and medium-sized Ukrainian businesses, Ukraine's Finance Ministry announced on July 11.
ISW: Ukrainian intelligence assesses that Russian forces are unlikely to realize the Kremlin's goal of seizing the entirety of Donetsk Oblast by the end of 2025, which is consistent with ISW's ongoing assessment of Russia's offensive capabilities.
11.07.2025
Reuters: The European Commission proposed on Friday a floating price cap on Russian oil of 15% below the average market price of crude in the previous three months, EU diplomats said.
Euronews: Ukraine and the EU announced a €100 million fund on Friday to accelerate defence innovation by building on battlefield-tested innovations from Ukraine.
AFP: The UN said Friday its agreement with Moscow to facilitate exports of Russian foodstuffs and fertiliser to international markets in a bid to rein in global food prices would end this month.
Reuters: The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved $500 million in security assistance for Ukraine as part of its draft language for its Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which also restricts A-10 aircraft retirements.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukraine was behind the operation that caused an explosion on a major gas pipeline in the city of Langepas, Russia’s Tyumen Oblast, a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency told the Kyiv Independent on July 11.
Reuters: Ukraine said on Friday its drones struck a Russian fighter aircraft plant in the Moscow region and a missile production facility in the Tula region, causing explosions and fires at both.
The Moscow Times: A court in the Chelyabinsk region on Friday ordered the nationalization of Yuzhuralzoloto, Russia’s third-largest gold producer, marking the government’s latest wartime seizure of major private assets.
Reuters: Poland will respond to Russia's closure of the Polish consulate in Kaliningrad in an 'adequate' manner, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Pawel Wronski said on Friday.
The Kyiv Independent: U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg will arrive in Kyiv on July 14 for a week-long visit, he told a Novyny Live journalist at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome.
Bloomberg: North Korea is now supplying as much as 40% of Russia’s ammunition for the war in Ukraine as the partnership between Pyongyang and Moscow deepens, according to the head of Ukrainian military intelligence (archive).
Russa-Ukraine Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Do you think your friend or colleague should know about this newsletter? Forward it to them, please. They can also sign up here.
Please consider supporting my work