Monday, January 27

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A vehicle of the Ukrainian White Angels police evacuation team rolls down a street in Pokrovsk on Jan. 25 as Russian troops advance close to the city. (Genya Savilov / AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine strikes drone storage facility in Russia's Oryol Oblast and destroys 200 Shaheds, General Staff reports. Ukrainian Air Force units and Defense Forces struck drone storage facilities in Russia's western Oryol Oblast on Jan. 26, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on Facebook on Jan. 26.

Russia launched over 1,250 bombs, 750 drones at Ukraine during Trump's first week in office. Russia fired 1,250 aerial bombs, over 750 attack drones, and 20 missiles at Ukraine in the past week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan 26.

Zelensky appoints Ground Forces Commander as head of Khortytsia Group. President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, Commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, as the head of the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group on Jan. 26.

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Ukrainian troops avoid encirclement in Velyka Novosilka, military says. Ukrainian troops successfully withdrew from some areas to avoid being encircled but fighting is ongoing around the village, which lies around 15 kilometers east of the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Russia bombs itself with 'smart bomb,' Astra reports. The bomb, a UMPB-250, was found in a village in Belgorod Oblast, but there were no casualties or damage.

Explosions reported in Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk amid drone attack, apartment building damaged in Dnipro. Several explosions were heard overnight on Jan. 27 in the western Ukrainian cities of Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytskyi as Russia launched a drone attack on Ukraine.

Curated Theft | An investigation into the largest museum heist in Europe since World War II

International response

Fiber-optic cable between Latvia and Sweden significantly damaged in Baltic Sea, investigation underway. An underwater fiber optic cable belonging to the Latvian State Radio and Television Broadcasting Center (LVRTC) was significantly damaged on Jan. 26, reportedly due to external impact, according to LVRTC representative Vineta Sprugaine.

Washington orders USAID to suspend projects and funding in Ukraine, Suspilne reports. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), one of the largest official aid agencies in the world, has been told to stop projects in Ukraine following a 90-day foreign aid freeze imposed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ukrainian media Suspilne reported, citing sources in the agency.

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Ukraine war latest: Ukraine strikes drone storage facility in Russia's Oryol Oblast, General Staff reports

Ukrainian Air Force units and Defense Forces struck drone storage facilities in Russia's western Oryol Oblast on Jan. 26, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on Facebook on Jan. 26.

Photo: Andrew Roth/ The Washington Post via Getty Images

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Potential encirclement in Velyka Novosilka prompts questions about last-ditch withdrawal strategy

Located east of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, the vital road-junction village was once home to 5,000 people. It’s now facing a similar fate to other Donbas strongholds, where Ukraine's delayed withdrawals resulted in avoidable casualties.

Photo: Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu via Getty Images

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Transfer of Air Force personnel to infantry continues despite scandal

The Ukrainian military command's plan to throw high-skilled Air Force personnel into the infantry was said to be halted when the practice gained nationwide attention, followed by a condemnation from the president.

Photo: Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP / Getty Images

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How the Invictus Games help wounded veterans adapt to life after war

Nearly 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been injured and are unable to return to the front line. After coming back from the battlefield or captivity, they are often left to deal with their physical and mental trauma alone.

Photo: Invictus Games: Team Ukraine

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Belarus elections

Lukashenko poised to secure 7th term in Belarus 'sham' election. Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko has reportedly secured 86.82% of the vote, according to preliminary results announced by the country’s Central Election Commission.

Belarus releases American citizen amid controversial election. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio identified the U.S. citizen as Anastassia Nuhfer, who was detained in early December 2024.

Hungary blocks EU statement condemning Belarus election as undemocratic, RFE/RL reports. Without unanimous support from all 27 EU countries, EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas issued her own statement, declaring that the January 26 election in Belarus was "neither free nor fair."

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Wednesday, July 10

Russia’s war against Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg delivers remarks during the opening of the NATO 75th anniversary celebratory event at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium on July 9, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

US, NATO allies to deliver 'dozens' of air defense systems in coming months, including 4 Patriots. The U.S. and at least nine other NATO allies have agreed to send dozens of air defense systems in the coming months to Ukraine, including at least four Patriot batteries, according to a joint agreement issued on July 9.

US supplies Ukraine with Metal Shark high-speed boats. The boats are equipped with modern navigation and control systems, automatic fire extinguishing, as well as a video surveillance system, making them maneuverable, fast, and ergonomic, the State Border Guard Service said.

F-16s in Ukraine may 'create conditions for counterattack,' Polish general says. "Ukrainian aviation should receive long-range missiles to destroy Russia's infrastructure, including airfields. When this happens, the logistics of the Russian army will be cut off from the main forces. If this is done, Ukraine's army command should form a strike group and strike back," Kraszewski said.

NATO summit communique to describe Ukraine's path to alliance as 'irreversible,' CNN reports. The question of how strong guarantees to give Ukraine regarding its future membership in NATO has become a key source of debate inside the alliance, CNN reported. The final version of the document may contain changes, CNN wrote, but the presence of the "irreversible" Ukraine's accession to NATO would be "a significant signal to Kyiv and Moscow."

Ukraine struck airbase, oil depot, and energy facility in Russia overnight, source says. Ukrainian intelligence agencies carried out an attack against a Russian military airfield, an energy substation, and an oil depot in three different regions overnight on July 9, a military intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent.

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UN assessment suggests Kyiv children's hospital suffered direct hit by Russian missile. Evidence from the scene of the children's hospital in Kyiv indicates "a high likelihood" of a direct hit by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile on July 8, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMUN) said on July 9.

Republican Party committee approves 2024 platform, makes no mention of Ukraine, Russia. The 16-page document, which must be still approved at the upcoming Republican National Convention, focuses primarily on domestic issues.

Zelensky says Indian PM's embrace with Putin a 'huge disappointment' after Russian mass attack on Ukraine. "It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world's largest democracy hug the world's most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day," President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.

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Ukraine war latest: Rescue operations end at Kyiv children's hospital, at least 33 killed in capital overall

Search and rescue operations at the site of a Russian missile attack on Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv concluded on July 9, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Anadolu via Getty Images

F-16s, multi-billion pledge, more Patriots, 'irreversible' membership – what Ukraine will and won't get at the NATO Summit

While 75th birthdays are usually a cause for joy and celebration, NATO's marking of this milestone at a three-day summit in Washington from 9-11 July is likely to be a rather more muted affair.

Photo: Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images

Russia probes for air defense gaps to wreak havoc on Kyiv

Rather than evidence of some technological edge on Russia's side, experts linked the destruction wrought by the attack to Moscow's consistent probing for weaknesses in Ukrainian air defenses.

Photo: Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images

Russian propagandists spin conflicting disinformation in bid to evade responsibility for missile strike on children’s hospital

As some Russian talking heads call for more Ukrainians to be killed, Zelensky’s top aide urges more Western help to stop a war of ‘genocide.’

Photo: Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Rescue operations end at Kyiv children's hospital, at least 33 killed in capital overall. In total, at least 33 people, including four children, were killed in Kyiv as a result of the July 8 attack, officials said the following day. Another 10 children are among the 117 injured.

International response

Saudi Arabia issued vague threats to G7 against seizing frozen Russian assets, Bloomberg reports. Saudi officials reportedly made "veiled threats" to Group of Seven (G7) nations hinting that the kingdom would sell some European debt holdings if Western allies seized about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets, Bloomberg reported on July 9, citing its sources.

North Korean military trainers travel to Russia weeks after signing of partnership agreement. A delegation of North Korean military trainers led by the head of a prestigious military academy in Pyongyang has begun a trip to Russia, North Korean state media reported on July 9.

'When innocent children killed, the heart bleeds,' Modi comments on Russian July 8 attack after meeting with Putin. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow on July 8 in what was his first trip to Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Threat of Russian sabotage led to heightened security at US military bases in Europe, CNN reports. The heightened security alert was first reported earlier in July as being connected to a possible terrorist threat directed at several U.S. military installations across Europe, including the facility in Germany where the U.S. European Command is based.

US announces moves against Russia-linked bot farm aimed at spreading disinformation. According to the Justice Department, the bot farm was organized by a Russian national who worked as the deputy editor-in-chief of RT in 2022, and expanded with funding from the Kremlin and collaboration with an official from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

Moscow court orders arrest in absentia of Yulia Navalnaya. A Moscow court said that it had "approved the request of the investigators and decided a preventive measure in the form of detention for two months." Yulia Navalnaya currently lives outside of Russia, but would face jail time if she returns.

Bulgaria sues Russian Gazprom, seeking compensation of more than $430 million. In 2023, the Russian gas giant suspended Bulgargaz's long-term contract, which covered 90% of the quantities of natural gas delivered by Bulgargaz to customers.

Switzerland announces new sanctions against Russia. Switzerland announced new sanctions against Russia on July 8, bringing the country further in line with the EU's 14th round of sanctions adopted in response to the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow agrees to discharge all Indians recruited into Russian army, Indian outlet reports. Moscow agreed to release all Indians serving in the Russian army and facilitate their return after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Vladimir Putin, Indian news publication NDTV reported on July 9, citing unnamed sources.

US provides Poland with $2 billion for financing of F-35s, Patriots, Abrams. The U.S. will provide Poland with a second $2 billion Foreign Military Financing loan to purchase defense equipment from the U.S., the State Department announced on July 8.

In other news

Ukrainian state defense company opens office in US. Ukraine's state-owned defense company Ukrainian Defense Industry, also known as Ukroboronprom, has opened a representative office in Washington as Kyiv seeks to strengthen defense partnerships abroad amid Russia's war.

Nearly $37,000 stolen from bank accounts of fallen soldiers in Dnipro. The suspects, with the help of an employee of the Regional Bureau of Forensic Medicine, stole payment cards and mobile phones registered in the online banking system from dead soldiers in a morgue.

Ukraine to be represented at 2024 Olympics by smallest number of athletes in history. Only 140 Ukrainian athletes will compete at the Olympic Games in Paris this year, the smallest number in the history of the country's participation in the games, as Russia's war has damaged or destroyed sports' facilities and frequent air raid alerts interrupt training.

EU freezes $32 million in defense funds for Georgia, halts accession process amid ‘low point’ in relations. Brussels has frozen 30 million euros ($32 million) in defense sector funding for Georgia after halting its EU accession process in June, EU Ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski said on July 9.

Bloomberg names 12 oligarchs who earn billions in payouts from Russia's war economy. Russia's wartime economy has earned a dozen oligarchs $11 billion in dividends as Russian natural resource and finance giants earn record profits during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on July 9.

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