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Forbes
3 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Monday, July 21. Russia's War On Ukraine: News And Information From Ukraine
KYIV, UKRAINE - JULY 21: People took shelter at subway station during Russian drone-and-missile ... More attack on July 21, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Several districts of the capital were damaged in result of attack. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the Russian army launched on Ukraine 426 drones and 24 missiles. (Photo by Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images) Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 1,244 Russian Attacks on Ukraine Overnight into July 21, Russian forces blasted Ukraine with 450 aerial weapons, including five Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. Ukraine's Air Force intercepted all 24 missiles and 200 drones while electronically jamming another 203 drones. The attacks killed one civilian in Kyiv and wounded at least 33 people in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. In addition, the multi-vector attack struck western Ivano-Frankivsk in the most extensive strike on the regional capital since the start of the war. This latest barrage follows a similar July 19 attack, when Russia launched 344 drones and 35 missiles, of which Ukrainian forces downed 314 drones and 30 missiles. Improved engineering has tripled the strike accuracy of Russian drones since early 2025, according to a Financial Times analysis. From April to June, 2025, some 15% of Russian drones reportedly reached their targets, compared to about 5% earlier this year. Much of the increase is due to Russian drones' new technical capabilities and improved engineering. 'The problem is not [that]Another challenge lies in Russia's evolving drone deployment strategy. With rising production, Moscow is now simultaneously dispatching large swarms of drones, concentrating them on selected targets rather than chaotically scattering them across the country. 'Instead of deploying 500 drones nationwide like they used to, Russian forces now target one or two cities at a time,' said Oleksandr Matviienko, a drone expert at Counteroffensive Pro, a Ukrainian defense technology outlet. Russian overnight attacks might escalate further in line with the Kremlin's rapidly increasing drone manufacturing. At present, Ukrainian intelligence estimates Russian production at about 170 units daily, with plans to boost output to 190 by year's end. Russian daytime strikes, scattered across Ukraine, killed at least 22 civilians between July 18 and July 21. In eastern Donetsk region, systematic Russian shelling killed 13 civilians and wounded 33 others. In the southern Kherson region, Russian drones killed three civilians and wounded 29 others; in central Dnipropetrovsk province, drones killed four people and wounded another 12. Russian shelling killed one civilian each in the northern Sumy and southern Zaporizhzhia regions. International Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed a new round of peace talks with Russia. After a month-long stalemate in negotiations, President Zelenskyy called for talks focused on a ceasefire, prisoner-of-war exchanges and the return of Ukrainian children deported to Russia. He reiterated his offer for a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, proposing Istanbul as the possible venue. Previous rounds of bilateral talks, which took place in Turkey in May and June, yielded no substantial agreements except POW swaps. According to Zelenskyy, Ukrainian national security adviser Rustem Umerov has already communicated Kyiv's proposal to the Russian side. Prospects for a comprehensive ceasefire, however, appear limited as Russia continues to demand a broad set of concessions from Ukraine. These include a permanent ban on NATO membership, recognition of Russian control over occupied territories and significant limitations on Ukraine's military capabilities. Ukrainian officials have consistently described these terms as unacceptable. The European Union adopted its 18th sanctions package against Russia on July 18. At the heart of the package is a new oil price cap, set at 15% below the average market rate. This brings the current cap to about $47.60 per barrel. EU shipping and insurance companies will no longer be allowed to handle Russian oil sold above the lowered price limit. Although the cap mirrors a G7 mechanism, U.S. reluctance to support a lower price forced the EU to act independently. In parallel, the EU sanctioned India's Vadinar refinery, part-owned by Russia's largest state-owned oil company, Rosneft. In response, India's external affairs ministry said that India 'does not subscribe to any unilateral sanction measures' and urged an end to 'double standards' in energy trade. The EU also blacklisted 105 more tankers from Russia's 'shadow fleet,' which it uses for illegal oil shipments and to avoid restrictions, bringing the total to more than 400. Additional bans now apply to a private international flag registry operator and an entity in the Russian LNG sector. By Danylo Nosov, Alan Sacks
Forbes
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Tuesday, July 1. Russia's War On Ukraine: News And Information From Ukraine
KYIV, UKRAINE - JUNE 29: Kyiv residents shelter in subway amid a Russian drone-and-missile strike on ... More June 29, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 1,224. Russian Attacks and War Developments Russia hit Ukraine with the most massive aerial barrage of the war to date on the evening of Jun 28 and into the early hours of June 29. The strike included 60 missiles, significantly more than any other recent large-scale attack, along with 477 drones and decoys, marking the second-highest drone deployment. Only the fierce June 9 attack a few weeks earlier saw more drones utilized, with 479 units dispatched. Ukrainian forces intercepted 39 missiles and shot down 249 drones, as well as electronically jamming an additional 226 drones. Impacts were recorded in six locations, but no civilian deaths were reported. While repelling the attack, Ukraine lost its fourth F-16 fighter jet. Although details surrounding the loss remain undisclosed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posthumously bestowed the title of Hero of Ukraine on pilot Maksym Ustymenko, who reportedly downed seven aerial targets that night. In total, over the past week, Russian forces launched 114 missiles, more than 1,270 drones, and nearly 1,100 glide bombs at targets across Ukraine, according to President Zelenskyy. Russia also tested new weapons during its attacks last week, including the 'Grom-E1' rocket-assisted glide bomb, or hybrid missile glide bomb, which Ukraine's air defenses shot down near the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine. At the same time, Russian forces used a new drone called 'Chernika' for the first time in strikes on Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv. The 'Chernika' drone carries a warhead of similar explosive force to other Russian drones but has a different design. Despite being made with inexpensive components, it features advanced guidance systems. In an apparent effort to expand its air fleet, Russia is reportedly working to boost production of combat aircraft at the Kazan Aviation Plant, according to the Institute for the Study of War. The plant builds strategic bombers such as Tu-160M, as well as helicopters, and aims to increase output by 2028. However, the facility will likely struggle to fulfill new production goals due to sanctions and labor shortages; it delivered only a few bombers in 2024. Spike in Civilian Deaths The United Nations has reported a sharp increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine. During the six-month period starting December 2024, the U.N. found a 37% increase in civilian deaths compared to a similar timeframe the previous year. At least 968 civilians were killed and over 4,800 injured. Nearly half of these casualties resulted from air-dropped munitions and missile strikes on densely populated areas. In addition, the Kremlin's reported use of cluster munitions in some of its attacks, which disperse submunitions over wide areas to maximize destruction, contributed to a rise in casualties. The report also points to systematic human rights abuses, including credible evidence of executions of prisoners of war. The U.N. documented the killings of at least 35 Ukrainian POWs and one Russian captive. Among other reported atrocities are torture, electric shocks, sexual violence, and other forms of abuse. 'These are not isolated incidents - they point to well-documented patterns of widespread and systematic torture,' said Danielle Bell, head of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. Russia Seizes Key Ukrainian Lithium Field Russian forces captured a second major lithium field in Ukraine on June 26. Shevchenko field, located near an eponymous village in eastern Donetsk region, measures less than 100 acres, yet is home to one the largest high-grade lithium deposits in the country, and all of Eastern Europe. Its reserves are roughly estimated at 1.2 million tons of ore with lithium concentration above 1.5%. Countrywide, Ukraine's lithium reserves are estimated at 500,000 metric tons. Russia now controls two of Ukraine's four largest known lithium deposits, including one in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region. The other two major lithium fields are in central Ukraine, away from the front lines. This loss exposes a vulnerability in the U.S.-Ukraine minerals partnership, which grants American companies priority access to Ukraine's strategic resources. 'This deposit will definitely find a license holder,' stated Vladimir Ezhikov, a Russian-appointed official in the occupied Donetsk region, in a Kremlin-run media outlet last year, signaling Moscow's intent to exploit the asset. Currently, resources valued in the billions of dollars remain under Russian occupation, deposits that the Ukrainian government could otherwise license to international partners. Under occupation, however, such opportunities are effectively foreclosed. By Danylo Nosov, Karina L. Tahiliani
Forbes
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Tuesday, June 10. Russia's War On Ukraine: News And Information From Ukraine
ODESA, UKRAINE - JULY 23: An interior view of the Transfiguration Cathedral heavily damaged by ... More Russian missile on July 23, 2023 in Odesa, Ukraine. The Russian missile broke through the roof the main Orthodox cathedral of the city Photo by Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images) Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 1,204. Russia's Attacks on Ukraine A deadly drone strike in the early overnight hours of June 10th on the southern port city of Odesa killed two men and injured nine other people, damaging a maternity hospital, emergency medical station, railway station, Odesa film studio and other civilian sites. In Kyiv, Russian attack has damaged the Saint Sophia Cathedral – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Meanwhile, systematic shelling by Russian forces in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region killed 10 civilians and injured 31 from June 7 - 10. Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine overnight into June 9, firing a combined total of 499 drones and missiles. The barrage included a record-breaking 479 Iranian-designed Shahed drones and decoys, alongside advanced Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 292 aerial targets, while an additional 187 were neutralized by electronic warfare systems. Ukrainian authorities reported no major civilian damage or casualties from the record-breaking attack, though missile debris and impact sites were recorded at 27 locations across the country. The strike came just days after a large-scale assault on June 6 that killed several civilians and rescue workers in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and other regions. One of the strike's primary targets appeared to be an airfield near the western city of Dubno in Rivne province, which was operational after reportedly being restored in 2020. All four Kinzhal missiles were directed toward Dubno, where they were intercepted by advanced air defenses, such as the U.S.-made Patriot system. The attack on Dubno came amid reports of Ukrainian drones striking deep into Russian territory that same night. Around 50 drones targeted multiple military sites in Russia, including a drone production facility and an airbase in Savasleyka, approximately 218 miles east of Moscow, where two aircraft were destroyed. While Ukraine reported no casualties in the overnight barrage, sustained attacks by Russian forces on Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region later on June 9 resulted in one civilian death. War Developments Russian forces are pushing from Ukraine's besieged eastern region of Donetsk to the outskirts of Ukraine's central and strategically critical Dnipropetrovsk region, sparking conflicting narratives from Moscow and Kyiv. On June 9, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced a Russian advance into Dnipropetrovsk, purportedly aimed at establishing a 'buffer zone,' while Ukrainian officials, including Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's disinformation center, dismissed the claims as false. Earlier reports from the Russian Defense Ministry on June 8 claimed that elements of the 90th Tank Division had reached the western border of the Donetsk region, or oblast, and were conducting offensive operations into Dnipropetrovsk oblast, territory Russia has not officially annexed. However, Ukraine's General Staff denied that Russian troops had crossed the administrative border, asserting that fighting remains confined to border villages. The central Ukrainian oblast of Dnipropetrovsk borders the eastern Donetsk oblast, over two-thirds of which remains under Russian occupation. Ukrainian open-source intelligence group Deep State indicates Russian forces have advanced to within roughly 1.2 miles of the region's administrative boundary. According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian tactical activity near the southeastern edge of Dnipropetrovsk is largely a continuation of offensive operations in the Donetsk region rather than a new major push to seize significant territory in Dnipropetrovsk itself. Satellite imagery and heat data confirm ongoing artillery fire near the border but no confirmed Russian foothold inside Dnipropetrovsk oblast as of early June. Russia and Ukraine commenced a major prisoner-of-war exchange on June 9, beginning with those under 25 years of age. This multistage exchange, emerging from direct negotiations held in Istanbul on June 2, is set to involve at least 1,200 POWs from each side, alongside the repatriation of the remains of thousands of fallen soldiers. Neither side disclosed the exact number of prisoners released so far, citing security concerns. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, said that the exchange will continue 'over the coming days.' In an interview with independent Hungarian weekly Valasz Online, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy underscored that the outcome of the war hinges more on weapons and technology than manpower, as Ukraine mobilizes 27,000 soldiers monthly compared to Russia's 40,000-50,000. 'Mobilization is a problem in every war. Ukraine is no exception…people are getting tired,' Zelenskyy said, emphasizing that Russia's higher losses drive its greater conscription numbers. He further noted that Ukraine has avoided drafting 18-24-year-olds, offering them one-year contracts instead. By Danylo Nosov, Karina L. Tahiliani
