The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]
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Russia’s war against Ukraine
A team of deminers from the HALO Trust (a U.K. and U.S. organization dedicated to the removal of landmines) clear explosive ordnance on the outskirts of the village of Budy in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on June 30, 2025. (Max Kishka/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Putin throws ‘a lot of bullsh*t,’ Trump says as he ‘looks strongly’ at Russia sanctions bill. Trump also addressed U.S. legislation on sanctions, saying the Senate’s Russia sanctions bill was “totally optional” for him to implement or terminate. “I’m looking at it very strongly,” Trump said.
Trump mulls sending Kyiv another Patriot air defense system, WSJ reports. If approved, it would mark the first time Trump has sent a major military aid package to Kyiv that wasn’t previously greenlighted by Joe Biden.
‘They have to be able to defend themselves’ — Trump says US will send additional weapons shipments to Ukraine, criticizes Putin. “They’re getting hit very hard. We’re gonna have to send more weapons, your defensive weapons primarily,” U.S. President Donald Trump said.
Ukraine sanctions 5 Chinese firms for supplying components used in Russian drones. The decree follows a publication by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), which said it recovered Chinese-made parts from downed Shahed drones during a July 4 air assault on Kyiv.
On 1-year anniversary, Ukraine names Russian officer linked to deadly strike on Kyiv Okhmatdyt children’s hospital. The strike, which killed two adults and injured at least 34 people, directly hit the country’s largest pediatric medical center, where 627 children were receiving treatment at the time.
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Russia’s Black Sea Fleet shrinks presence in key Crimean bay, Ukrainian partisans say. The remaining combat units are periodically rotated and redeployed in an apparent effort to avoid detection by Ukrainian reconnaissance, the Atesh partisan group said.
Putin signs decree allowing foreigners to serve in Russian army during mobilization. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilization decree from Sept. 21, 2022, remains in force and has never been formally rescinded.
Russia’s crude exports fall to lowest level since February. Seaborne crude flows averaged 3.12 million barrels a day over the four weeks to July 6, a 3% decline from the previous period ending June 29, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the lowest level recorded since the four-week period ending Feb. 23.
Ukraine’s Naftogaz brings new high-yield gas well online as country reserves run low. The 5.7-kilometer deviated well was drilled and commissioned six weeks ahead of schedule as Ukraine works to boost domestic production amid Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, including gas storage facilities in western Ukraine.
Ukraine synchronizes restrictions on Russia with EU sanctions. The European Union’s 15th, 16th, and 17th packages of sanctions against Russia are now “fully effective in Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 8.
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Ukraine war latest: Trump pledges to send 10 Patriot missiles to Ukraine, asks Germany to send battery
U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to send 10 Patriot interceptors to Ukraine – a smaller number than had been paused previously while en route to the country, Axios reported on July 8, citing multiple sources.
Photo: Francis Chung/Politico/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast village likely contested despite Russia’s claim of its capture
The Russian Defense Ministry on July 7 claimed to have seized Dachne, which would mark the first village to be under Russian control in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, located just west of the war-torn Donetsk Oblast.
Photo: Tetiana Dzhafarova/AFP via Getty Images
Ukraine’s minerals fund focus of private investment ahead of major recovery conference
Ukrainian businesses told the Kyiv Independent that they think the URC, Ukraine’s largest reconstruction conference, will be the place for big developments on the joint mineral fund. But as the U.S. continues to weigh sending more military aid to Ukraine after reports emerged it had halted a shipment of weapons, it’s unclear whether the U.S. shares the same high expectations.
Photo: Vincent Mundy / Bloomberg via Getty Images
‘Some are forged into poets’ — Medic, former POW, and poet on how war is shaping Ukraine’s writers
Before her harrowing footage of life in Mariupol under siege from Russian invaders was viewed around the world in 2022, Yuliia Paievska — call sign “Taira” — was already known to Ukrainians for leading a volunteer medical unit in Donbas. Now, the soldier, activist, and former POW is being lauded once again – as a poet whose debut, Nazhyvo (Live), has captured audiences in Ukraine.
Photo: Genya Savilov / AFP via Getty Images
Human cost of Russia’s war
‘Torture was not just cruel, it was inhuman’ — Ukrainian soldier dies weeks after release from Russian captivity. Soldier Valery Zelensky had spent 39 months in Russian captivity. Just 22 days later, on June 16, his heart stopped.
9 killed, 81 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over past day. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 54 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type attack drones, and fired four S-300/400 guided missiles.
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,028,610 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. The number includes 1,070 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Opinions and insights
Seeing war through the lens of narcissism
“This is collective narcissism: the projection of weakness outward, the denial of vulnerability inward. It builds national pride not on self-knowledge, but on fantasy,” writes psychiatry professor Dr. Gary E. Myers.
Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev /SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Image
How to enter Ukraine’s defense market: A guide for foreign companies
“Ukraine’s war for survival has created one of the world’s most urgent — and uniquely demanding — defense markets. For foreign companies, the door is open, but only part way,” attorneys Vladyslav Bandrovsky and Henrietta Yaitska write.
Photo: Dmytro Smolienko / Ukrinform / NurPhoto via Getty Images
International response
Trump reportedly told Zelensky he’s not responsible for US arms halt to Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump told President Volodymyr Zelensky during a phone call on July 4 that he was not responsible for the suspension of U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
US only has 25% of Patriot missiles needed for war plans, Guardian reports. According to officials familiar with the matter, the Pentagon’s munitions tracker showed Patriot interceptor stocks had dipped below acceptable levels. That prompted concerns that sending more to Ukraine could put U.S. defense readiness at risk.
Overcoming Slovakia, Hungary opposition, EU set to approve new Russia sanctions package this week, Ukrainian official says. In late June, EU ambassadors did not approve the sanctions package because of objections from Budapest and Bratislava.
Ukraine’s 2026 budget could face $19B shortfall as Europe weighs how to fill the gap, FT reports. The financial hole in Ukraine’s budget is linked to reduced U.S. support and the lack of prospects for a swift ceasefire with Russia that Europe had hoped for, the Financial Times reported.
Europe’s largest port prepares for NATO arms shipments, potential war with Russia. Rotterdam has previously handled weapons shipments, but this marks the first time that it will designate a special berth for military use
In other news
Ukraine’s ambassador to US will be replaced, foreign minister confirms. “She is extremely effective and charismatic, but surely every diplomat has a rotation cycle,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said of Ambassador Oksana Markarova.
ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders as Russia recognizes their legitimacy. In a statement, the ICC named Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Afghanistan’s top judge Abdul Hakim Haqqani as suspects in a campaign of systematic oppression targeting women, girls, and others who do not conform to the group’s rigid gender ideology.
Ukrainian businesses outraged as government blocks economic crimes bureau chief nominee. Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers rejected a nominee to lead the economic crimes agency, drawing swift criticism from lawmakers and businesses over alleged interference in the selection process.
Three men convicted in London arson plot tied to Russia’s Wagner Group. The ringleader, Dylan Earl, 21, had already pleaded guilty to aggravated arson over the 2024 blaze targeting companies that were supplying Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite equipment to Ukraine.
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