Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1631: Ukraine destroyed or disabled nearly 14,000 Russian vehicles in July alone

Russia has figured out how to stop Ukraine's most powerful missile. The Flamingo cruise missile is Ukraine's hardest-hitting deep strike munition. But what good is it if Russia usually shoots it down?

Russia's oil money is drying up—so its own people are paying for the war. Fresh figures show the Iran oil windfall came and went—and Russia, further behind than before, is now reaching for pensions and paychecks.

Crude goes south, gasoline north—Ukraine's strikes split Russia's oil trade. Ukraine's refinery campaign has turned one of the world's largest fuel exporters into an importer—and pushed its crude onto an Arctic shortcut it barely used a year ago.

Ukraine's drone strike shut Russia's biggest LPG plant as fuel rationing returned in 16 regions. The strike hit the plant's entry unit 2,200 kilometers behind the front, taking 40% of Russia's LPG production offline indefinitely.

Military

Two Kalibr-carrying frigates, a missile ship, a patrol vessel: Ukraine hit four Russian warships in one night at Novorossiysk. Ukraine carried out the strike at the port where Russia's Black Sea Fleet sheltered after fleeing Sevastopol.

Russia steers its long-range drones from ground towers—Kyiv says it hit one in occupied Crimea. Explosions rolled across occupied Crimea through the night as Sevastopol declared three air-raid alerts and much of the peninsula lost power.

28 tanks in single day: July was Russia's deadliest month for personnel and its worst for vehicle losses. Ukraine's Defense Forces destroyed or disabled 13,998 Russian vehicles in July.

A 141-meter ship mysteriously "disappeared" in the Black Sea near Novorossiysk, while Russian authorities are keeping the incident under wraps. The vessel may have been carrying military cargo, according to the OSINT project Exilenova+.

Sea drones, jet drones, and Neptune missiles hit one Russian port in a single night. Kyiv paired three different weapon types in a coordinated operation its president called unique against the Black Sea Fleet's last big base.

Intelligence and technology

Russia builds 3,000 jet drones monthly to counter Ukrainian interceptors, HUR says. Moscow has ended production of the Geran-3 while expanding production of faster jet-powered models built to strain Ukraine's air defenses, HUR says.

Russians work three shifts to build jet-powered missiles powered by a $16,000 Chinese engine from AliExpress. Russia can produce up to 80 S8000 "Banderol" cruise missiles a month.

FPV drone repurposed to hunt Russian recon drones worked so well that Ukraine turned it into new purpose-built interceptor. Ukraine's Defense Ministry codified TAF Industries' Kolibri-i10 high-speed interceptor.

Ukraine finds American Nvidia Jetson micro-computer in Russia's new missile that can't reportedly tell truck from a bus with children. Ukraine's HUR intelligence found an Nvidia Jetson micro-computer in Russia's new S-71 "Monokhrom" cruise missile.

Türkiye wants to send Ukraine old US-made cluster munitions—one human rights group is fighting to stop it. HRW is targeting a $256 million transfer of decades-old rockets and shells that Kyiv wants to resist the Russian invasion.

Newer drones haven't dethroned the FPV, and Russia fears our bomber drones, Ukrainian commander says. FPV drones are still a central precision-strike weapon in Ukraine's war against Russia, while Ukrainian forces claim a separate advantage in bomber drones.

Ukrainian drone pilots turned a captured AK and a hard-drive magnet into a flying machine gun. The contraption barely flew at first—the rifle swung like a pendulum—but once the pilots steadied it, Russian soldiers ran from the sound of an assault rifle firing out of the sky.

Ukraine's first domestically built CBRN scout vehicle just replaced Soviet jeep with no armor at all. Ukraine's National Guard received the first Ukrainian radiation and chemical reconnaissance vehicles on the armored Tisa chassis.

International

A record 4.41 million Ukrainians are under EU protection—and few are going home. With Russian strikes still hitting Ukrainian cities, the number under EU protection keeps climbing three years into the war—even as new arrivals slow and few in the system leave it.

A bomb-laden drone hit a Ukrainian An-124 in Germany, then lay unnoticed for hours. The drone was likely linked to Russian intelligence services, a US Department of Defense representative in Europe suggested.

Romania found two Russian drones bobbing in its sea—and didn't wait to ask questions. The military blew up the uncrewed aircraft near its flagship gas field once Kyiv confirmed they weren't Ukrainian.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russia starves most Ukrainian POWs, then "fattens" a few for exchange so they look normal, Ukrainian official says. Ukraine's intelligence confirms Russia is forming battalions from Ukrainian POWs and keeps cells where it feeds up prisoners.

"They laid down their weapons, raised their hands": Russia has executed at least 345 surrendered Ukrainian soldiers on the ground. Dmytro Lubinets says the executions are a part of a systematic and rising pattern.

Political and legal developments

A Ukrainian railway engineer spied on Lyman's defenses for Russia using Google Maps. A former railway engineer tried to pass Ukrainian military locations to a handler to help Russia's strikes. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Ukraine says Russia can't replace its losses, plans mass draft after elections—and again in 2027. The claimed call-up comes as Russian battlefield losses overtake contract recruitment, which threatens Moscow's offensive capabilities.

New developments

The Belarus border tunnels reached Latvia—guards turned back the 15 migrants who crawled underground. The passage surfaced near Latvia's fence as Riga moved to coordinate police, soldiers, and security services against migrant-smuggling networks.

Read our earlier daily review here.