Ukraine
Zelenskyy Appoints New Military Chief
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Tuesday, appointing Joint Forces Commander Mykhailo Drapatyi in his place. Zelenskyy thanked Syrskyi for leading Ukraine's defense in Kyiv, the Kharkiv counteroffensive, and the Kursk operation, saying: "A significant path has been traveled," according to Ukrainska Pravda.The move followed the dismissal of reformist Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, which triggered days of street protests in Kyiv and other cities demanding Syrskyi's removal, according to Euronews.Drapatyi first earned his reputation in 2014, when, as a young major, he ordered his armored column to vault a militant barricade during a rescue operation in Mariupol, a moment captured on video that became one of the war's earliest symbols of resistance, according to the Kyiv Independent.A decade later, he stabilized the Kharkiv front during Russia's May 2024 border offensive and mounted a counteroffensive near Lyptsi, before taking command of the Khortytsia sector in January 2025, one of…
Azerbaijan Confirms Secret German-Russian Ukraine Talks
Azerbaijan's president has confirmed that former senior German and Russian officials met secretly in Baku this month to weigh ways of ending Russia's war against Ukraine – and said his own government knew nothing about it."Our territory was used for such a meeting without our knowledge," Ilham Aliyev said alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Tuesday, adding that flight records placed the talks between July 12 and 14.The German side, according to Bloomberg, included Ronald Pofalla, once Angela Merkel's chief of staff, and Matthias Platzeck, a former SPD leader and premier of Brandenburg. On the Russian side were Valery Fadeyev, who heads the Kremlin's human-rights council, and Viktor Zubkov, a former prime minister who now chairs Gazprom's board.Merz said his government had no knowledge of the meeting – a distinction that matters, since those in the room were former officials, not an authorised negotiating team.Still, the channel signals…
Russia Hits Turkish-Owned Ship Near Odesa
Russia fired three Kh-59/Kh-69 stand-off cruise missiles, launched from tactical aircraft, at the Golden Leo, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged bulk carrier owned by a Turkish company, as it left the port of Odesa loaded with grain, according to the South China Morning Post. One missile struck the starboard side of the ship's superstructure, sparking a fire.Ukraine's transport minister, Mykola Kalashnyk, said eight crew members were rescued, two of them injured, while six sailors were confirmed dead and four more remained missing, according to the South China Morning Post. The 18-member crew included citizens of India, Syria, and Ukraine, and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha confirmed that a Ukrainian maritime pilot was among those killed.The Ukrainian Navy said the ship was struck while "leaving the combat zone with a cargo of grain," and units of the Navy and Maritime Search and Rescue Service were deployed to assist in the rescue operation, according to UNN.
Kyiv Hit by Massive Ballistic Attack
Russia launched one of its most massive ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv overnight into July 19, killing one person and injuring 16 others across the capital and surrounding region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy wrote that Russian forces fired more than 40 missiles of various types, most aimed at the capital, along with 120 attack drones, according to Ukrainska Pravda.Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko gave a more detailed local toll, reporting one person killed and 15 injured directly in the capital, with nine hospitalized and three in serious condition, per Ukrainska Pravda. Rescue operations continued at three locations in Kyiv, with nearly 600 emergency workers responding, while related services also worked in Odesa Oblast.Ukraine's Air Force said Russia attacked with 125 drones and 41 air- and ground-launched missiles of various types overnight, for a total of 166 aerial weapons detected by radio-technical forces. As of 8:30 a.m., air defenses had shot…
Ukraine Hits Two Wildberries Logistics Centers in Russia
Ukrainian drones struck two Wildberries logistics centers in Russia overnight into July 18, hitting facilities in Kotovsk, Tambov Oblast, and Elektrostal, Moscow region, according to the Kyiv Independent.Tambov Oblast Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said seven people were killed and 24 injured in the Kotovsk strike, which hit the facility during a night shift, according to RTÉ. The Kyiv Independent said the reports could not be immediately verified. Wildberries said the resulting fire at the Kotovsk facility was brought under control, per LIGA.net.A separate strike hit Wildberries' Elektrostal facility, roughly 50 kilometers east of Moscow. Moscow region officials said 24 people were injured there, some critically, according to Ukrainska Pravda. Firefighters and emergency crews continued working at the site after the strike, per LIGA.net.Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said more than 370 drones were launched toward the Moscow region overnight, with most intercepted at long range and 64 destroyed on approach to the…
Russia Intensifies Attacks on Black Sea Shipping
Russian strikes on Ukraine's Black Sea ports have repeatedly hit foreign-flagged civilian merchant vessels over the past week, killing at least seven people and wounding eight more in a series of attacks that has increased risks for commercial shipping serving Ukraine.On the morning of July 17, Russian forces used attack drones against port infrastructure in Mykolaiv, damaging three foreign-flagged civilian vessels and killing two Ukrainian citizens aboard one of them, according to the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, which opened a war-crimes investigation into the deaths.A separate strike that day killed another person in Odesa, Ukraine's largest seaport. Later that evening, a missile hit port infrastructure elsewhere in the Odesa region, damaging a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel and injuring four of its 17 crew members, according to Reuters, citing regional officials. Russia's Defence Ministry said it had struck port facilities in Odesa and Chornomorsk, describing the targets as supporting Ukrainian military logistics.…
