“White Angels” unit of the National Police of Ukraine walk through a destroyed neighborhood during the evacuation of civilians in Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine in Summer 2025

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

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

People shelter in an underground walkway during an air raid alarm in the center of Kyiv on Aug. 4, 202. (Sergei Supinsky / AFP via Getty Images)

5 Russian fighter jets hit by Ukraine’s SBU in drone operation in occupied Crimea, one destroyed. Drones operated by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) targeted an airfield in the city of Saky.

‘Massive’ Ukrainian drone strike targets Russian railway station in Volgograd Oblast, local official claims. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that a total of 61 Ukrainian drones were shot down over various regions of the country overnight.

Ukraine confirms drone strike on fuel depot at Russia’s Sochi airport. Videos posted to social media purported to show the view from a plane landing at the airport with the burning depot clearly visible.

Ukrainian strike destroys Russian S-300 in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, General Staff says. Russian forces use the system to attack Ukrainian-controlled territory and target frontline military positions of the Ukrainian army.

Zelensky says mercenaries from Asia and Africa fighting for Russia in northeastern Ukraine. “The soldiers on this front are recording the participation of mercenaries from China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and African countries in the war. We will respond,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement.

Your contribution helps keep the Kyiv Independent going. Become a member today.

Ukrainian forces repel Russian assault on border checkpoint in Kharkiv Oblast, kill ‘more than ten’ soldiers, military says. The village of Hoptivka lies on the Ukrainian-Russian border, adjacent to Russia’s Belgorod Oblast.

Russia restores runway at occupied Donetsk Airport for kamikaze drone launches, ISW says. Satellite imagery captured in July 2025 shows visible changes at the airport.

Russian forces regrouping near Dnipro River as they prepare for more active ‘island war,’ Ukrainian military officials say. A decrease in assault operations is “related to the regrouping of the relevant Russian units in order to eventually resume more active assaults on the island zone of the right bank of Kherson Oblast,” military spokesperson Serhii Bratchuk told the Kyiv Independent.

Ukrainian soldier working as Russian ‘mole,’ sending GRU military positions, SBU claims. The SBU has detained several people this year accused of working for Russian forces in Ukraine.

Trump says Witkoff may visit Russia this week, calls Putin and team ‘wily characters.’ U.S. President Donald Trump said that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, may travel to Russia on Aug. 6 or 7 — just days before a deadline for Moscow to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or face secondary tariffs targeting its oil exports.

Read our exclusives

Zelensky restores anti-corruption agencies’ independence — but leaves one key change intact

The changes that eliminated the independence of prosecutors other than those from SAPO were not reversed. Experts say that these amendments are at odds with the European Union’s requirements for countries attempting to join the union.

Photo: Tetiana Dzhafarova / AFP via Getty Images

Learn more

‘Better now than never’ — Ukraine announces competition for anti-smuggling director 7 months late

After a seven-month delay, Kyiv has finally launched a competition for a State Customs Service director to tackle illegal smuggling that costs the country billions of dollars every year. The news comes as Ukraine faces pressure to push ahead with delayed reforms.

Photo: Michael Sorrow/Anadolu via Getty Images

Learn more

New study warns Kyiv must break up old business order to thrive post-war

To reverse course and capitalize on its emerging tech ecosystem and future reconstruction efforts, Ukraine must dismantle the influence of sluggish state-owned enterprises and politically favored large firms.

Photo: Diego Fedele/Getty Images

Learn more

Operation Vistula – Expulsion of Ukrainians from post-war Poland

Following World War II and the subsequent redrawing of borders in Europe, Polish authorities forced out roughly 700,000 Ukrainians from their homes in what became Poland’s new southeastern frontier.

Photo: IPN Archive / Wikimedia

Learn more

We choose to stay in Ukraine — to bring the world the truth about Russia’s brutal war.

If you think the truth matters — here’s your chance to stand for it.

BECOME A MEMBER

Human cost of Russia’s war

Russian drone strikes kill 3 in Kharkiv Oblast. The attacks struck a residential building and a moped, killing three civilians in the Chuhuiv district. Local prosecutors are investigating the attack as a war crime.

Russian attacks kill 7, injure 13, including 4-month-old girl, over past day. Zaporizhzhia Oblast suffered the heaviest toll in the latest wave of Russian attacks, with three fatalities confirmed.

General Staff: Russia has lost 1,057,140 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. The number includes 1,010 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Opinions and insights

Pokrovsk is the city of my childhood. Now I watch it die

“The last time we came back to Pokrovsk was in June 2025. The city was mostly destroyed. People who stayed lived in basements or destroyed apartments, or were buried right in the courtyards of their houses,” writes Olena Zashko, videographer at the Kyiv Independent.

Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov / Libkos / Getty Images

Learn more

International response

Netherlands to deliver $579 million in US weapon systems to Ukraine, including Patriot missiles. “I am sincerely grateful to the Netherlands for their substantial contribution to strengthening Ukraine’s air shield,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote, saying this is “the first such step” among NATO countries.

China rejects US demands to halt Russian, Iranian oil imports. Beijing insists it will continue to secure its energy supplies based on national interests despite pressure from Washington and the threat of punitive tariffs.

Latvia blocks 10 websites spreading Russian propaganda. Baltic states have been raising alarms about a growing Russian threat to the region and NATO.

In other news

Ukrainian lawmaker, ex-governor jailed in drone procurement corruption case. According to investigators, officials involved in the scheme allegedly received up to 30% of contract funds as kickbacks. Among those detained are lawmaker Oleksii Kuznetsov and former Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhii Haidai.

Russia abandons moratorium on deployment of short, intermediate-range missiles. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Aug. 4 that it no longer considered itself bound by the moratorium due to recent actions by the United States.

Russian gasoline prices hit record high amid Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries, Russian media reports. A market source told the Russian state outlet Kommersant that Ukrainian attacks on oil facilities on Aug. 2 contributed to the price hike.

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 Chris York, Kateryna Hodunova, Anna Fratsyvir, Oleksiy Sorokin, Volodymyr Ivanyshyn, and Abbey Fenbert.

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider joining our membership program. Start supporting independent journalism today.

Leave a Reply

Only people in my network can comment.
Fediverse Reactions
Writeworks.UK
Writeworks.UK
@activitypub.writeworks.uk@activitypub.writeworks.uk

A Fediverse site

122 posts
0 followers