![[Illustrative photo] Soldiers of Ukrainian rmed Forces inspect FPV drones during the handover from the volunteer organization in Lviv, Ukraine](https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/KI-temp_6-1.jpg)
The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]
This newsletter is brought to you by Medical Bridges.
Medical Supplies for Ukraine’s Hospitals. Partnering for global health equity.
Russia’s war against Ukraine
U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg (R) and President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) shake hands ahead of a meeting on the eve of the Ukraine Recovery Conference, in Rome on July 9, 2025. (Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images)
Kyiv slammed with drones, ballistic missiles as Russia targets Ukraine with mass attack for second night in row. Fires blazed at residential buildings in Kyiv during a mass drone attack on July 10. The assault comes a day after Russia launched its largest-ever drone and missile strike against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war.
‘Nearly everything was aimed at Lutsk’ — Russia launches record attack targeting western Ukraine. Russia’s record-breaking attack on July 9 targeted Ukrainian cities, including in the country’s far-west regions located hundreds of kilometers from the front line.
Trump says US will ‘take a look’ at sending new Patriot system to Ukraine amid Russian attacks. “They’re getting hit hard, very hard. So we’re looking at it,” U.S. President Donald Trump said.
US confirms Trump ordered resumption of Ukraine military aid shipments. “We have, of course, the resumption of shipments to Ukraine. The president has been vocal about this,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during a press briefing on July 8.
Zelensky meets Trump’s envoy Kellogg in Rome. President Volodymyr Zelensky described their conversation as “substantive” and said the meeting focused on weapons support and sanctions.
Your contribution helps keep the Kyiv Independent going. Become a member today.
Zelensky meets Pope Leo XIV in Rome ahead of Ukraine Recovery Conference. “This meeting and the support for Ukraine and our people are extremely important,” the president said following his conversation with the pontiff.
In historic feat, Ukraine’s 3rd Brigade captures Russian troops using only drones and robots, military says. The operation took place in Kharkiv Oblast in northeastern Ukraine, where the brigade deployed first-person view (FPV) drones and kamikaze ground robotic platforms to attack Russian fortifications, the brigade said in a statement.
Despite security risks, Russia to reopen Gelendzhik Airport in drone-struck Krasnodar Krai. The move marks a rare easing of airspace restrictions imposed since the start of the full-scale war.
Ukraine detains Chinese spies tasked with stealing Neptune missile technology, SBU says. According to the SBU, the two individuals, a 24-year-old former student of a Kyiv technical university and his father, were gathering classified documentation with the intent to illegally transfer it to Chinese intelligence.
Ukraine needs over $40 billion in foreign aid for 2026, prime minister says. “The key task should be to develop mechanisms and tools that will allow us to attract these funds,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
Read our exclusives
‘We need to learn how to live without America’ — US aid to Ukraine falters
A lack of Patriot missiles and general economizing on air defense have been the most noticeable results of unreliable U.S. aid in recent months, with many more civilians dying in Russian attacks.
Photo:Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Kremlin exacts loyalty amid tightening crackdown on Russian elite
The Kremlin’s grip on the Russian elite appears to be closing ever tighter as two major figures of Russian business and security structures were detained in the past few days.
Photo: Contributor/Getty Images
Ukraine war latest: Russia launches record 741 drones, missiles at Ukraine
Russia launched what appears to be its largest missile and drone attack against multiple Ukrainian cities overnight on July 9, with the far-western city of Lutsk coming under the heaviest attack of the war.
Photo: Ukraine’s State Emergency Service
Human cost of Russia’s war
Russian attack in Donetsk Oblast leaves 3 dead, administrative building ‘destroyed.’ Rescuers retrieved the bodies of two victims from under the rubble, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. A third man was killed by a drone and another civilian injured in the front-line city of Kostiantynivka.
At least 6 killed, 39 injured in Russian attacks against Ukraine over past day. Ukraine endured the largest aerial attack since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with at least six civilians killed and 39 injured across multiple regions over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian officials said on July 9.
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,029,660 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. The number includes 1,050 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
Trump to exit Ukraine peace effort, Bolton says
International response
Hegseth reportedly authorized Ukraine weapons shipment pause without informing White House. Sources told CNN that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who currently lacks a chief of staff or senior advisers, believed the move aligned with President Donald Trump’s “America First” priorities.
Amid Ukraine weapons debacle, Trump claims he ‘would know’ about any decision to halt shipments. Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from the decision in public comments and previously said he didn’t know who ordered the pause.
US Army to sharply increase Patriot missile purchases in fiscal year 2026, media reports. Internal Pentagon documents reportedly revealed that the Army has boosted its planned purchases of the most advanced Patriot interceptors from 3,376 to 13,773.
US Congress ready to move forward on Russia sanctions bill, but Trump wants changes, Politico reports. “Senate Republicans are committed to working with the House and White House to get this legislation through Congress and on to the president’s desk,” Majority Leader John Thune said.
Trump claims he told Putin he would ‘bomb the sht out of Moscow’ if Russia attacked Ukraine, CNN reports. “With Putin I said, ‘If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb the sht out of Moscow. I’m telling you I have no choice,'” Donald Trump told a group of donors in 2024, according to CNN.
Slovakia continues to block EU’s 18th Russia sanctions package, media reports. Since EU sanctions require unanimous backing, a single country’s veto prevents the package from being implemented.
Czech Republic to train up to 8 Ukrainian F-16 pilots this year. The Czech Defense Ministry will provide 150 hours of training, worth approximately 32 million koruna (around $1.5 million), through the state-owned enterprise LOM Praha — at no charge to Ukraine.
Russia responsible for MH17 downing, international law violations in Ukraine, Europe’s human rights court rules. The ruling also found Russia responsible for the deadly downing of Flight MH17, a Malaysian airliner shot down by Russian proxy forces in Ukraine in July 2014.
Diplomatic means in Russia-Ukraine war ‘exhausted,’ Germany’s Merz warns. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to maintain backing for Ukraine “even against the pressure of the political left and the pro-Russian right in this house.”
Lithuania, Finland pivot to landmine production, potentially supplying to Ukraine, Reuters reports. Lithuania and Finland plan to begin domestic anti-personnel mine manufacturing in 2026, with some of the supplies potentially earmarked for Ukraine to counter the Russian threat, Reuters reported on July 9.
In other news
Ex-military chief Zaluzhnyi tops Ukraine’s trust ranking, Zelensky polls 2nd at 67%. The poll, conducted on July 4 and 5, found that 73% of Ukrainians trust Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who was dismissed as commander-in-chief in February 2024 but continues to command strong public support.
Missing Ukrainian student found dead in Italy in apparent suicide, authorities say. Mariia Buhaiova, born in 2007, disappeared on July 4 after leaving a tourist village in Carovigno, a coastal municipality in the Apulia region, where she had been completing an internship.
Russia eyes USAID-type development model to expand global influence, official says. Yevgeny Primakov, the head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Russia’s foreign aid and cultural outreach arm, said Russia’s Foreign Ministry is currently drafting legislation that would establish a formal framework for international development efforts.
The Kyiv Independent delivers urgent, independent journalism from the ground, from breaking news to investigations into war crimes. Your support helps us keep telling the truth. Become a member today.
This newsletter is open for sponsorship. Boost your brand’s visibility by reaching thousands of engaged subscribers. Click here for more details.
Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Tymur Zadorozhnyy, Anna Fratsyvir, Liliane Bivings, Abbey Fenbert, and Volodymyr Ivanyshyn.
If you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider joining our membership program. Start supporting independent journalism today.
