Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1633: July was Ukraine’s deadliest month for civilians since 2022, as Russia’s war grinds through another summer

Exclusives

Ukraine’s quiet counteroffensive took 745 square km. Russia’s dead Starlink is how. Six months, 26 settlements, and almost no video. Russia lost its battlefield communications three days in, and Ukrainian armor drove through the gap.

Ukraine’s Zaporizhstal may idle half its capacity to fit new EU steel quotas. The EU dropped its steel duties in 2022 to help Ukraine through the war. On 1 July, it halved the tariff-free quotas and taxed the remainder at 50%.

Kosova is no precedent for Russia’s annexation of Crimea—Ukraine should say so. Acknowledging Kosova’s exceptional path would strengthen Kyiv’s case against Moscow’s occupation referendums, not weaken it.

Military

Russia drops eight FAB-250 bombs on Kramatorsk, killing one and injuring 18. Prosecutors opened a war crimes investigation into the glide-bomb strike, the latest in a series that has hit residential blocks across Donetsk Oblast.

Russia's defense ministry threatens to "freeze" Ukraine this winter. Moscow posted photos of attack drones captioned "like snow on your head," tying the taunt to its strikes on Ukraine's ports.

Poland was ready to scrap these MiG-29s. Bulgaria's interest just revived the Ukraine deal.. Warsaw was ready to let the jets go to the scrapyard, until a rival buyer showed up.

745 km² recaptured in Ukraine's eight-month Oleksandrivka counteroffensive, Kyiv says. The eight-month operation retook 26 villages across three oblasts, halting Russia's push toward Dnipropetrovsk and turning it back on Ukrainian soil, per the report.

Ukrainian drones hit Wildberries warehouse in Tver for the third time in two weeks. Wall damaged again, no injuries reported, marketplace says goods intact.

Ukrainian drones hit Russia's Ust-Luga oil port for the 6th time this year. Fire breaks out at Baltic terminal handling nearly half of Russia's regional exports.

Intelligence and technology

Captured Akhmat fighter says he chose Ukraine and a drone guided him away from Russia's ranks. Magomed said earlier Chechen defections prompted Russian commanders to check fighters' phones and tighten surveillance.

Armor can barely reach Ukraine's front now—so robots drive and soldiers walk. Ukraine's frontline logistics are under strain from drone pressure, forcing soldiers to walk while ground robots take over the most dangerous runs.

They find a sword, we find a shield: Ukrainian soldier on why drones will never replace infantry. He went from mortarman to drone operator, and says neither role can absorb the other.

Ukraine's drones crushed a US armored brigade in a war game in Germany. Ukrainian crews knocked out US units so fast the drill had to revive them, years and billions after America bet big on beating drones.

International

More than 100 drones detected near Romania in four days, NATO jets scrambled seven times. The latest figures underscore how Russia's drone war is increasingly reaching NATO's eastern flank, with Romania already forced to destroy several drones this summer.

Ukraine: 18 of 26 Russian oil and stolen-grain ships face no sanctions. HUR says the oil tankers run for firms like Lukoil and Rosneft, while the dry-cargo ships load stolen grain at occupied ports such as Sevastopol.

Military training from age 15: Belarus splits 10th-graders into drone pilots and battlefield medics. The move deepens a years-long militarization of Belarusian schooling that now reaches from kindergarten military-patriotic groups to mandatory field camps.

Russia's state statisticians report the growth Putin demanded—economists doubt it will hold. The rebound leaned on war spending and one-off boosts, it barely moved the flat first-half trend, and it landed just after Putin ordered his officials to turn the economy around.

Reuters: Russia dismisses Black Sea ceasefire idea after Ukraine's offer. Reuters says Kyiv passed the proposal through a third party after attacks pushed carriers from Odesa and choked routes that move Ukrainian grain.

Russia allegedly sent a hitman after a US-Ukrainian citizen in Warsaw. Poland caught the suspect. Polish services detained the Russian suspect earlier this month after working with US counterparts.

NATO fighter, one drone, one district: a jammed intercept lands over Latvia. A NATO fighter shot down a drone over Latvia's Balvi district after Russian jamming pushed it off course, officials say.

NASA shows Crimea as Russian on a map during its eclipse broadcast. It's the latest in a run of Western maps quietly erasing the line international law still draws around occupied Crimea, this time from the US space agency.

Japan weighs sanctions after Putin's first visit to disputed Kuril Islands. Tokyo says Moscow's move is "totally unacceptable".

Humanitarian and social impact

A stray goat named Borka has become the Spartan Brigade's mascot after 18 months on the front lines in Donetsk Oblast. The soldiers once pulled on body armor and helmets and drove back into drone range to bring him out.

437 killed, over 2,600 injured: Ukraine's deadliest month for civilians since 2022, UN says. 437 killed, 2,610 wounded, the worst toll since May 2022, UN monitors say.

Political and legal developments

Russia plans to remove border zones separating Russia from occupied Ukrainian territories. Russia plans to remove special border zones along its boundaries with occupied parts of Ukraine, further integrating the occupied territories into its legal and administrative system.

A Russian soldier kept a Ukrainian woman in a basement and raped her for two months – Ukrainian court sentences him to 12 years. The abuse ended only when Ukrainian troops captured the Russian soldier during fighting in December 2025, freeing the woman from the basement where she had been held.

“Responsibility is inevitable”: Zelenskyy warns Russian collaborators in occupied territories after explosion kills defector. Zelenskyy said collaborators helping Russia attack Ukrainians will be held accountable as Ukrainian special services continue targeted operations in occupied territories.

Russian agent who set fires in Kyiv receives 15-year prison sentence. He was one more disposable recruit in Russia's Telegram sabotage campaign, hired for two arson jobs, then left to face the court alone.

Read our previous daily review here.