The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]
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Russia’s war against Ukraine
A small memorial of flowers, candles, and photographs outside an apartment building hit by a Russian missile attack after search-and-rescue operations ended on Aug. 1, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. The overnight attack on July 31 was the deadliest strike on the capital this year. (President Volodymyr Zelensky / Telegram)
‘Words are very important,’ — Trump orders nuclear submarines deployed after Medvedev’s threats. “Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions,” U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Moscow proposes vague new peace talks format as Trump’s rhetoric hardens further. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on August 1 the creation of three working groups for new online peace talks with Ukraine — but insisted the format would remain behind closed doors.
Zelensky urges direct leader-level peace talks as Putin blames ‘excessive expectations.’ “As for any disappointments on anyone’s part, all disappointments arise from excessive expectations,” Vladimir Putin said.
20,000 Russian troops killed in July alone, Trump says. The U.S. president added that Ukraine has suffered an estimated 8,000 military deaths since January, not including missing personnel.
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In ‘first step,’ Germany to send Ukraine 2 Patriot launchers ‘in coming days.’ Germany has already delivered three Patriot systems to Ukraine, the German Defense Ministry said.
HIV rates among Russian soldiers surge 2,000% since start of full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “There is no objective reason why HIV should be decreasing across the world —except in Russia,” the report said.
‘Russian fakes’ — Zelensky says Ukraine still defending Chasiv Yar, denies Moscow claims of capture. “The situation in Chasiv Yar is the same as in recent months. Russia is simply lying again, precisely so that the claim spreads through refutations,” said Viktor Tregubov, spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, in a comment for the RBK-Ukraine news agency.
Russian nuclear submarine base hit by tsunami, satellite images reveal. The waves reportedly hit the Rybachiy naval base, which houses the bulk of the nuclear submarines in Russia’s Pacific Fleet, according to images taken by the Umbra Space satellite the morning after the tsunami.
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Ukraine is deploying new drones to target Russian armor beyond radio horizon
Ukraine’s drone manufacturers are scrambling to reach the Russian equipment that lurks beyond the radio horizon — the distance where the earth’s curvature blocks the video signal that Ukraine’s cheap strike drones depend on.
Photo: Tetiana Dzhafarova / AFP via Getty Images
With all eyes on Kyiv, its surrounding villages are unspoken victims of Russian attacks
As Russia ramps up attacks, the villages surrounding Kyiv have become more than just a transit route for Russian drones targeting the capital. But instead attacks on Kyiv make international headlines, the villages suffer in relative obscurity.
Photo: Anna Donets/The Kyiv Independent
Exclusive: After pressure, Ukraine’s government likely to appoint economic watchdog head next week
Oleksandr Tsyvinsky, who was nominated by an independent selection committee on June 27, agreed to take a polygraph test to prove that he has no ties to Russia after a what he called a “constructive” phone call with Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko on Aug. 1, Tsyvinsky told the Kyiv Independent.
Photo: Screenshot/YouTube
Trump’s India tariffs show Russia’s allies ‘he will act’ if Ukraine ultimatums ignored, experts say
The decision to impose tariffs on New Delhi came just a day after Trump announced that secondary tariffs targeting Moscow — and impacting its trading partners like China, India, and Brazil — would take effect on Aug. 8 unless a deal to end the war in Ukraine is reached.
Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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Human cost of Russia’s war
As death toll reaches 31, Russia’s attack on Kyiv becomes most deadly on capital this year. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, said that as of the morning of Aug. 1, the Russian attack had killed 31 people. At around 10:40 a.m. local time, rescuers recovered three more bodies.
Russian drone attack on Kharkiv injures 11, infant and children among victims. The victims include a 5-month-old baby, along with a 9-year-old and 10-year-old boy, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. Five of the 10 victims have been hospitalized.
Russian attacks kill 3, injure 37 over past day. Russian forces launched 72 Shahed-type drones from Russia’s Millerovo, Kursk, and Primorsk-Akhtarsk airfields against Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,054,200 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. The number includes 940 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
International response
Indian state-run refineries halt Russian oil purchases amid Trump tariff threats, Reuters reports. The news coincides with Donald Trump’s announcement of a 25% tariff on India starting on Aug. 1.
Russian oil tankers linger near India as refiners seek alternatives, Bloomberg reports. At least four oil tankers carrying Russian crude are idling off India’s western coast as Indian refiners reconsider purchases under sanction pressure from the United States and the European Union.
US sanctions international suppliers supporting Iran’s Shahed drone manufacturer. The measures target five companies and one individual based in Iran, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, allegedly involved in sourcing sensitive technology for the Iranian Aviation Manufacturing Company (HESA).
In other news
Russia’s industrial activity falls to lowest level since 2022, Reuters reports. Despite heavy militarization and a surge in state defense orders since the start of the war against Ukraine, Russia’s industrial production growth has begun to slow.
Ukraine to move forward with long-delayed customs reform, commission to be formed for new chief. “Customs must become a modern service-oriented institution that meets European Union standards and works with full integrity to support the state budget,” Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
Brooklyn Museum changes Illia Repin painting label to reflect Ukrainian landscape. “In fact, the issue was not only Repin’s nationality and identity, but also the fact that this painting is a landscape from Chuhuiv, and Repin himself wrote that it was Chuhuiv,” art historian Oksana Semenik said.
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