Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1595: Ukraine hits 12 Russian fuel tankers in two days as Belgorod burns under 430-drone barrage

Exclusives

From Karelia to Kamchatka: Russia rations fuel where drones strike and stockpiles it where they cannot. A drone campaign against refineries has Russians buying gasoline by QR code, license-plate number, and five-hour queue.

Zaporizhzhia, Chornobyl, Kakhovka: a playbook of terror the West still calls deterrence. The West keeps reading the Kremlin’s nuclear threats through a Cold War lens, Svitlana Matviyenko argues. The mistake, she says, is doing Russia’s work for it.

“Just give me some proof that my son is alive”: Mother from Kherson spends five years searching for her son, taken away by Russians from Oleshky boarding school. Emil foundation names four reasons Russia holds adult Ukrainians with disabilities.

Russia now loses more soldiers than it recruits. But the war won’t end because of that.. For the first time, Russia’s losses outrun its recruits—four years of General Staff data explain why that still won’t end the war.

Russia banned her for studying the famine it denies. She put it online for the whole world anyway. . Millions of Ukrainians died in the Holodomor—Stalin's deliberate starvation of Ukraine in 1932–33. Russia calls it a hoax—all while it replicates its methods in occupied Ukraine. Marta Baziuk, who helped build a course on the Holodomor, explains why the famine matters now—and why the course she helped build could only exist now.

The one sport moving against Russia is run by its ex-deputy PM. Moscow has hijacked the federation, says Malcolm Pein, the English delegate now standing for deputy president on a ticket challenging the Russian incumbent.

Military

Ukraine's drones are sinking Crimea's fuel lifeline, hitting 12 Russian tankers in 2 days
Ukraine says its drone forces struck 12 Russian fuel tankers in two days as part of a campaign to disrupt fuel supplies to occupied Crimea, alongside other military infrastructure.

"Ukraine's urgent needs should be front and centre": Nine EU ministers push Brussels to unlock Patriot air defense missiles as Russia's ballistic attacks intensify
Nine European defense ministers urged the European Commission to speed approval for Ukraine to buy Patriot missiles and other critical weapons from outside the EU under its €90 billion support loan.

Belgorod gas facility burns as Moscow fends off over 430 drones in one night
Fires broke out at Belgorod's gas pipeline dispatch station, airport, and thermal power plant after missiles struck the Russian city on 7 July.

Kyiv death toll rises to 19 after Russia's overnight strike, State Emergency Service says
Rescue crews kept searching rubble in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district on 7 July, more than a day after Russia's missile and drone barrage struck the capital.

Intelligence and technology

Russia tried to secure Japanese jet fuel amid shortages. Tokyo closed the loophole
Japan said its ban on jet fuel exports to Russia covers shipments through third countries and ship-to-ship transfers after Reuters reported Moscow was seeking a cargo via traders.

International

"Ukraine is becoming a security provider for Europe": Ukraine signs Drone Deals with Estonia, the Netherlands, and Denmark as Europe taps Kyiv's battlefield-tested weapons technology
Ukraine is expanding a network of defense partnerships focused on drones, air defense, and military technologies developed during the full-scale war.

As Ukraine urgently seeks more air defense, Canada announces $900 million military aid package
Canada announced nearly $900 million in new military aid for Ukraine, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the package includes support to strengthen the country's air defenses.

Political and legal developments

Zelenskyy arrives in Ankara for NATO summit. Defense minister Fedorov is not in Ukraine's delegation
The Ukrainian president landed in Ankara seeking interceptor missiles and drone agreements.

Budanov: Ukraine won't accept ultimatums from Poland, just as it refused Russia's
The presidential office chief expects the rupture to peak around the 11 July Volyn anniversary.

NATO leaders open Ankara summit as Trump prepares bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy
The Netherlands will unveil over $3 billion in new defense contracts as the alliance seeks to demonstrate compliance with US spending demands.

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