Ukraine
Kremlin Threatens Bigger Ukraine Buffer Zone Over Refinery Strikes
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Ukraine's deep-strike campaign will force Moscow to carve out a larger buffer zone inside Ukraine, rejecting Trump's suggestion that Western pressure could speed a peace deal. Peskov called that idea a mistake, warning that continued escalation would prolong the war and that "it will force us to create a larger security zone, a larger buffer zone," according to NBC News. The framing casts continued war as Ukraine's fault for resisting, but it arrives alongside a less flattering fact for Moscow: Ukrainian drones have spent the past several days striking refineries, logistics hubs, and naval targets with a reach that Russian air defenses have largely failed to stop. That failure is most visible in the Sea of Azov, where Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces have struck dozens of vessels in Russia's sanctioned "shadow fleet," tankers that ferry fuel to occupied Crimea, according to the…
Ukraine Expands Fuel War From Russian Refineries to Crimea Tankers
Ukraine said its drone forces struck additional Russian fuel tankers supplying occupied Crimea overnight, extending a campaign that is increasingly targeting Russia’s military fuel supply chain from refineries to maritime transport.Robert "Madyar" Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said pilots from the "Kairos" unit of the 414th Separate Brigade "Madyar’s Birds" hit nine more tankers in the Sea of Azov on the night of 8 July. If confirmed, that would bring the reported three-day total to 21 vessels struck, including 19 tankers that Ukraine says are part of Russia’s sanctioned shadow fleet. Reuters could not independently verify the claims or assess the extent of the damage.Several of the vessels named by Brovdi are listed under U.S., UK and EU sanctions. Maritime tracking data showed some operating near the Don River and Sea of Azov, though inconsistent Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals made their movements difficult to verify.Russian authorities acknowledged…
Trump Wants U.S. to Learn From Ukraine’s Drone War
U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington wants to learn from Ukraine’s drone warfare experience after meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Ankara. The exchange reflected more than military cooperation. Trump framed Ukraine as a source of practical battlefield innovation, while Zelenskyy used the meeting to reinforce Kyiv’s argument that Ukraine should be viewed as a strategic technology partner rather than simply a recipient of Western military aid.The shift reflects how Russia’s full-scale invasion has transformed Ukraine into one of the world’s fastest-moving centres of military innovation. Ukrainian forces have pioneered the large-scale battlefield use of first-person-view drones, naval drones, long-range strike systems and rapidly evolving electronic warfare under combat conditions that few NATO militaries have experienced.According to Ukrainian officials and defence-industry representatives, Ukraine has also begun deploying low-cost interceptor drones designed to destroy Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones at a fraction of the cost of traditional surface-to-air missiles.…
Trump Says U.S. Will License Patriot Production for Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington will grant Ukraine a license related to Patriot air-defence production after meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, describing the move as a way to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s sustained missile campaign."We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots," Trump said, adding that Ukraine would "figure out the complexity quickly." He argued the arrangement would allow Kyiv to build its own capability rather than depend solely on additional U.S. deliveries, telling Zelenskyy that Washington could "tell you to make them yourselves."If implemented, the proposal would represent a shift from emergency weapons transfers toward longer-term defence-industrial cooperation. Rather than relying exclusively on shipments from existing U.S. inventories, licensed production could eventually expand the industrial base supporting Ukraine’s air-defence network. The practical scope of the proposal, however – including whether it would cover…
Russia Accelerates Ballistic Strikes on Kyiv
Russia struck Kyiv with ballistic missiles for the third time in less than a week overnight on July 7–8, killing one woman and wounding two as Ukraine again failed to intercept any of the ballistic missiles fired at the capital.Ukraine’s air force said it downed 139 of 169 drones launched across the country, but none of the five ballistic missiles used in the attack, Reuters reported. Fires broke out in warehouses and non-residential buildings in Kyiv, while Kharkiv also came under missile attack.The drone figures show that Ukraine can still defeat much of Russia’s mass unmanned barrage. But they also hide the harder problem: ballistic missiles require scarce Patriot-class interceptors, and Kyiv’s stock of those weapons is under acute pressure.The pattern is becoming more severe. Since the start of July, Russian strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region have killed 60 people, according to Reuters. Ukrainian air-force data cited by…
NATO’s GlobalEye Deal Tests Europe’s Surveillance Autonomy
NATO’s decision to move toward Saab’s GlobalEye as its next airborne early warning and control platform is a major signal of Europe’s growing defence-industrial weight — but not a clean break from U.S. systems.The announcement came on July 7 at the NATO summit in Ankara, where Secretary General Mark Rutte said allies would begin joint procurement of up to 10 GlobalEye aircraft to replace the alliance’s ageing Boeing E-3 AWACS fleet. Reuters reported that the potential deal could be worth up to about $4.5 billion, with deliveries possible from 2030 if a contract is signed soon.The decision is still at the negotiation stage. Saab said NATO will begin formal talks with the company through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, and that Saab has not yet signed a contract or received an order linked to the announcement.GlobalEye was selected over Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail, making the choice politically significant as well…
