July 10, 2025 7:19am

Ukraine Russia Photos

Ben Borges

The number includes 920 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

July 10, 2025 6:07am

Russia Photos

Ben Borges

Estonia may veto the European Union’s 18th sanctions package against Moscow if the Russian oil price cap is not lowered, Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhna said.

July 10, 2025 3:53am

Ukraine Russia Photos

Ben Borges

The Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) were responsible for every third Russian target hit in June, Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said.

July 10, 2025 2:44am

Photos

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Ben Borges

Does a viral video show Israeli soldiers celebrating the 2024 release of comrades who had been detained in connection with charges that nine soldiers had raped a Palestinian at a desert prison camp? No, that's not true: The video was first posted to X on November 10, 2023 and depicts a rowdy party unrelated to the Sde Teiman camp rape case. The prisoner center was set up after Israel's Knesset in December of 2023 passed the "Unlawful Combatants" law exempting some Palestinian detainees from prisoner of war protection. Arrests in the Sde Teiman rape case were made in July of 2024, eight months after the party video had been posted online.

The claims about the party video were made in a July 7, 2025 X.com post (archived here) by the @Partisan_12 account. The post opened: "Do you know what this celebration was for?" It continued:

1$rael released 9 soldiers who RAP€D PAIESTlNlAN hostages in detention centre... This is what western media hides from you!

This is what the post looked like on Twitter at the time this fact check was written:

The video does show Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers partying. But the event was a wartime morale-booster featuring Avihu Pinhasov, a former Israeli Eurovision contestant. Posted to X on November 10, 2023, the video was central to disciplinary actions taken against soldiers who attended the rager on an IDF base, as reported by The Jewish Chronicle (archived here) on November 17, 2023. Below is an embed of the original post:

כמה שאני אוהב אותם שמחים
אביהו פנחסוב קורע מצחוק. pic.twitter.com/ZTZ2PAZbdL

-- אורן חסקי 🇮🇱haski oren (@haski_oren) November 10, 2023

Here's how the video, seen millions of times, of the IDF base party featured in news coverage of the disciplinary case:

(Source: Screenshot made by Lead Stories of thejc.com web page.)

The Sde Teiman detention camp rape case has been widely covered by the press in Israel and in the U.S., including CNN (archived here) and The Washington Post (archived here). The detention center was set up at a desert Army post after Israel's Knesset adopted, on December 18, 2023, the "Unlawful Combatants Law" which exempted certain Palestinian combatants from protections granted by law to prisoners of war. The law was one of several measures adopted after the attack by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.

Some soldiers arrested on suspicion of raping and abusing a Palestinian held at Sde Teiman have indeed been released, but those releases were reported in August 2024, long after the rowdy party video was posted to X.

Lead Stories' search of Google News and Yahoo! News' indexes of news stories did not yield reports of the final disposition of the case, but The Times of Israel reported (archived here) five of the arrested soldiers were on house arrest.

Readers interested in more Lead Stories fact checks about the IDF will find them collected here.

July 10, 2025 1:24am

Ukraine Russia Photos

Ben Borges

Fires blazed at residential buildings in Kyiv during a mass drone attack on July 10. The assault comes a day after Russia launched its largest-ever drone and missile strike against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war.

July 10, 2025 1:15am

Russia Photos USA

Ben Borges

“Senate Republicans are committed to working with the House and White House to get this legislation through Congress and on to the president’s desk,” Majority Leader John Thune said.

July 10, 2025 1:00am

Russia

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Estonia has issued a stark warning to veto the European Union's proposed 18th sanctions package against Russia unless it includes a tougher cap on Russian oil prices, according to ERR. Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna announced the country's firm stance, emphasizing that the reduction of the oil price cap should be key in the forthcoming sanctions.

"We hold a very clear position that the reduction of the oil price cap must be incorporated into this package. We have a strong stance on this matter," Tsahkna stated. He explained that the European Commission initially proposed lowering the current cap from $60 a barrel to $45. Still, Mediterranean countries with significant shipping industries, notably Malta, oppose this provision. As a result, Estonia is prepared to veto the adoption of the 18th package without this critical price cap adjustment.

Tsahkna also expressed hope for backing from major EU countries, reminding that the $60 cap has been enforced for two years without decrease due to Western resistance. Now, however, there appear to be signs of a renewed will from G7 nations to implement a stricter cap on Russian oil. Additionally, recent signals from the U.S. suggest an inclination towards increasing pressure on Russia with fresh restrictions.

The EU continues to ban member-state vessels from transporting Russian oil sold above the ceiling. Insurance companies and other service providers are similarly prohibited from supporting such transactions. Despite this, Russia has been selling oil above the cap to other global markets, leveraging its 'shadow fleet' of tankers.

July 10, 2025 12:53am

Ukraine Russia

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Ben Borges

Russian state corporation Rosatom has announced its intention to fully localize the production of lithium-ion batteries within Russia by the year 2030. This ambitious announcement followed Russia's capture of the Shevchenko settlement in Ukraine's Donetsk region, home to one of Ukraine's largest lithium deposits. Despite the ongoing conflict, Russia continues to import lithium from Chile.

Rosatom aims to achieve complete localization through two "gigafactories" situated in Russia: one in Kaliningrad Oblast (Neman) and the other within Moscow's boundaries (Krasnaya Pakhra in the Troitsky Administrative Okrug). This information was shared by Anastasia Mikhailova, CEO of Renera, a battery producer under Rosatom, during the "Innoprom-2025" forum.

This announcement comes merely weeks after international media, including Le Figaro, reported that Russian forces had established control over Shevchenko village and its nearby lithium deposit. The Shevchenko lithium site, discovered in the 1980s, is considered one of the most promising for development in Ukraine. According to Ukraine's State Geological and Subsoil Service, the local rocks contain lithium oxide at a concentration of 1.24%. For comparison, major deposits in Australia, where lithium is also extracted from minerals, have concentrations ranging from 1% to 3%.

Ukraine's lithium wealth includes four major deposits, two of which remain under Kyiv's control in the country's west. However, Shevchenko and Krutaya Balka, near the Sea of Azov, are now under Russian control.

Interestingly, Russian authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic reported gaining control over the Shevchenko lithium deposit as early as January this year. Despite this assertion, clashes persisted around the area throughout January, February, and into the spring of 2025.

Russia does not domestically mine lithium. Prior to the conflict, Chile and Argentina were primary suppliers of lithium carbonate to Russia. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that it would no longer receive lithium from these countries, despite them not imposing sanctions on Russia. Indeed, customs data for 2022-2023 show the absence of such imports.

Nonetheless, imports from Chile persisted, indirectly, with documentation originally labeling some Chilean lithium as exports from Belgium. In 2022-2023, Belgium emerged as the leading lithium supplier to Russia, despite not being a producer itself.

Two Belgian companies - SQM Europe N.V. and Umicore - handled shipments of lithium carbonate, later refined into pure metal or compounds. SQM Europe N.V. is linked to Chile's largest lithium producer, Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM). Umicore is a major Belgian chemical and metallurgical company. The Insider reached out to both firms for comment but has not yet received a response.

Customs data identifies Chilean companies Albemarle Limitada and SQM, alongside America's FMC Lithium, as the leading producers of lithium, holding a near-monopoly in its extraction and production market. SQM has stated that it adheres to "all international trade embargoes and sanctions" in response to inquiries from The Insider.

July 9, 2025 11:41pm

Ukraine Photos USA

Ben Borges

CNN reported earlier that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the pause without informing the White House, and Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from the decision in public comments.

July 9, 2025 10:44pm

Ukraine Russia Photos

Ben Borges

Rescuers retrieved the bodies of two victims from under the rubble, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. A third man was killed by a drone and another civilian injured in the front-line city of Kostiantynivka.

July 9, 2025 10:18pm

Ukraine

Ben Borges

New information has emerged regarding the 17th Army Corps of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. According to posts published on the unit’s official Facebook page, two additional brigades have been assigned…

Source

July 9, 2025 10:00pm

Ukraine Russia

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

As of now, Russian troops may not possess the necessary strength and resources to bypass the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration from the east, said Viktor Tregubov, spokesperson for the "Khortytsia" operational-strategic troop grouping, in a comment to Novosti Donbassa".

However, according to him, the Russian forces do indeed have such plans. A significant concentration of forces is present—more than 100,000 personnel are currently operating in the Pokrovsk direction. The Russians are attacking heavily there, more than in any other area under our responsibility. They are now banking on claiming as much territory as possible where the space is relatively open. Where to proceed next—whether to focus on Kostiantynivka or the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration and attempts to encircle it from the eastern or northern sides—remains to be decided, Tregubov stated.

Tregubov highlighted that in this sector, as in other parts of the front, the Russians are deploying small infantry units. In the Pokrovsk direction, heavy equipment is slightly more prevalent but still within statistical error margins. Aviation is also being utilized.

Between December 2024 and February 2025, the Russian army launched a large-scale offensive aiming to encircle Pokrovsk from the western. However, the attempt was unsuccessful, forcing the invaders to retreat from the city's western outskirts.

Later, Russian armed forces split their Pokrovsk grouping and began moving in two directions—westward toward the Dnipropetrovsk region and eastward across the Pokrovsk-Kostiantynivka highway.

In late June, it was reported that Russian troops are attempting to encircle the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration.

July 9, 2025 9:52pm

Ukraine Photos

Ben Borges

The Czech Defense Ministry will provide 150 hours of training, worth approximately 32 million koruna (around $1.5 million), through the state-owned enterprise LOM Praha — at no charge to Ukraine.

July 9, 2025 9:05pm

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 11 minutes

Ben Borges

Key developments on July 9:

• ‘Nearly everything was aimed at Lutsk’ — Russia launches record 741 drones, missiles, targeting western Ukraine
• Trump says US will ‘take a look’ at sending new Patriot system to Ukraine amid Russian attacks
• In historic feat, Ukraine’s 3rd Brigade captures Russian troops using only drones and robots, military says
• Ukraine detains Chinese spies tasked with stealing Neptune missile technology, SBU says
• Slovakia continues to block EU’s 18th Russia sanctions package, media reports

Russia launched what appears to be its largest missile and drone attack against multiple Ukrainian cities overnight on July 9, with the far-western city of Lutsk coming under the heaviest attack of the war.

Russian forces deployed 728 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys, as well as seven Kh-101 or Iskander-K cruise missiles and six Kinzhal missiles, the Air Force said.

Late spring and early summer in Ukraine have been marked by disturbingly frequent mass attacks on civilian targets, with Russia regularly terrorizing cities with ballistic and cruise missiles alongside record-breaking numbers of kamikaze drones.

Explosions rocked Kyiv at around midnight on July 9, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that Russian drones were attacking the city center and that air defenses were shooting down targets.

Ukraine’s Air Force reported that dozens of Russian attack drones and ballistic missiles were also targeting Ukraine’s far-west regions, with alerts of overhead drones approaching the western cities of Lutsk, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, and Ternopil.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 296 drones and all seven cruise missiles, while 415 drones disappeared from radars, according to the statement.

“Most of the targets were shot down. Our interceptor drones were used — dozens of (Russian) targets were downed, and we are scaling up this technology,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X.

Explosions were heard in the city of Lutsk in western Volyn Oblast just before 4 a.m. local time, Suspilne reported, amid warning of drones and missiles overhead. The city was one of the hardest hit during the attack.

Volyn Oblast Governor Ivan Rudnytskyi said the region had approximately 50 drones and five missiles present in the airspace overnight, adding that “nearly everything was aimed at Lutsk."

Lutsk Mayor Ihor Polishchuk said that a fire damaged an “industrial site” as well as a garage, in what he called the “most massive Russian attack” on the city since the start of full-scale war.

Elsewhere in the region, the roof of a home in Khmelnytskyi Oblast caught fire, the regional military administration said.

At least one person was injured amid the attack, with a woman sustaining a chest fracture in the city of Brovary in Kyiv Oblast, the regional military administration reported.

Ukraine’s Air Force warned late on July 8 that Russia had launched MiG-31 aircraft from the Savasleyka airfield in Nizhny Novgorod, putting the entire country under an hours-long active missile threat. Swarms of drones were also heading towards multiple cities in Ukraine, the military said.

The Polish Air Force said it scrambled fighter jets amid the attack to protect Poland’s airspace. The air raid alerts were lifted in western Ukraine around 6:15 a.m. local time, after nearly seven hours of warnings from the Air Force.

Explosions were also reported in communities closer to the front line, including Dnipro, Sumy, as well as over Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Russian ballistic missiles and kamikaze drones have targeted Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with renewed ferocity in recent weeks, killing dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds more.

Zelensky meets Pope Leo XIV in Rome ahead of Ukraine Recovery Conference

President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Rome on July 9 and is set to meet with Pope Leo XIV, Suspilne broadcaster reported, citing the presidential spokesperson.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

Trump says US will ‘take a look’ at sending new Patriot system to Ukraine amid Russian attacks

U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 9 that his administration is “going to have to take a look” at supplying Ukraine with another Patriot air defense system.

“They would like it. They’ve asked for it,” Trump told reporters in the White House. “I know they made the request. We’re going to have to take a look at it."

“When you talk about a system like that… they’re doing it because they want to prevent death,” he added. “They’re getting hit hard, very hard. So we’re looking at it."

The comments follow a July 8 reporting by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the White House is considering sending Ukraine a Patriot battery in what would be the administration’s first major new weapons transfer since taking office in January.

A U.S. defense official told WSJ that Trump has asked the Pentagon to explore options for supplying Ukraine with more arms, including whether additional Patriots could be sourced from allied countries.

According to Axios, the White House is working on a deal under which Germany would sell a Patriot battery to Ukraine, with the U.S. and European allies sharing the cost.

The proposal comes amid a series of conflicting signals from Washington. On July 2, the Pentagon announced a pause in deliveries of key military aid to Kyiv, including Patriot interceptors and precision-guided munitions.

Trump later denied involvement in the decision and expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin for failing to pursue a ceasefire.

Kyiv has repeatedly urged Western partners to expand air defense coverage as Russian forces continue to target Ukrainian cities with drones, missiles, and aerial bombs.

Patriot batteries, with their high-precision tracking and interception capabilities, are a cornerstone of Ukraine’s layered air defense system.

Washington has so far delivered three Patriot batteries to Ukraine, while Germany has sent three more. A European coalition has contributed an additional battery, though not all systems are currently operational due to maintenance rotations.

If approved, a new transfer would mark Trump’s first major military package to Ukraine not initiated by the previous Biden administration.

‘We need to learn how to live without America’ — Ukraine’s survival amid faltering U.S. aid

Ukrainians breathed a sigh of relief of sorts this week after it was confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered the continuation of shipments of critical military aid after a brief pause. The days-long hiccup alarmed a Ukraine beset with ever-escalating Russian air strikes and a dwindling supply of the means to stop them, and is just the latest instalment of a saga riven with uncertainty over Washington’s willingness to give Ukraine what it needs to defend itself against Russia. A

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post

In historic feat, Ukraine’s 3rd Brigade captures Russian troops using only drones and robots, military says

Ukrainian forces have for the first time captured Russian troops without the use of infantry, relying solely on drones and ground-based robotic systems, Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade said on July 9.

“For the first time in history: Russian soldiers surrendered to the 3rd Assault Brigade’s ground drones,” the statement read.

Ukraine has increasingly employed drone and robotic technologies on the battlefield as part of its broader strategy to minimize troop losses and adapt to evolving threats along the front line during Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The operation took place in Kharkiv Oblast in northeastern Ukraine, where the brigade deployed first-person view (FPV) drones and kamikaze ground robotic platforms to attack Russian fortifications, the brigade said in a statement.

The exact date of the operation was not provided.

According to the brigade, Ukrainian forces targeted and destroyed Russian bunkers with kamikaze drones and robotic ground vehicles. As another robot approached a damaged Russian holdout, the remaining Russian soldiers reportedly chose to surrender.

The captured troops were then guided out of the combat zone by drones and taken into custody by Ukrainian forces, the brigade said.

The brigade added that the Russian positions had previously resisted capture by neighboring Ukrainian units, but the successful assault by unmanned systems allowed Ukrainian forces to take control of both Russian fortifications and a nearby forest line.

Russia responsible for MH17 downing, international law violations in Ukraine, Europe’s human rights court rules

The ruling also found Russia responsible for the deadly downing of Flight MH17, a Malaysian airliner shot down by Russian proxy forces in Ukraine in July 2014.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

Ukraine detains Chinese spies tasked with stealing Neptune missile technology, SBU says

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained two Chinese nationals in Kyiv suspected of attempting to steal classified military technology related to Ukraine’s Neptune cruise missile system, the agency announced on July 9.

According to the SBU, the two individuals, a 24-year-old former student of a Kyiv technical university and his father, were gathering secret documentation with the intent to illegally transfer it to Chinese intelligence.

The younger man, who remained in Ukraine after being expelled from university in 2023 for poor academic performance, allegedly attempted to recruit a Ukrainian national with access to classified defense technologies in order to obtain technical data on the RK-360MC Neptune missile system.

China has emerged as one of Moscow’s key wartime partners, helping Russia circumvent sanctions and becoming the largest supplier of dual-use goods aiding its defense sector.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly accused China of backing Russia and signed an order on July 8 imposing sanctions on five Chinese-registered companies for allegedly supplying components found in Russian Shahed-type drones used to attack Ukraine.

The Neptune, a Ukrainian-developed coastal defense missile, gained international attention after it was used to sink the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva in 2022.

The SBU said the former student was caught “red-handed” during the transfer of sensitive documents, and his father was detained shortly afterward. Investigators allege the elder suspect, who resides in China but made periodic visits to Ukraine, personally supervised his son’s espionage activities.

Searches of the suspects' belongings uncovered mobile phones containing evidence of coordinated efforts to spy on Ukrainian military technology, including encrypted communications between the two men.

Both suspects have been charged with espionage. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison and confiscation of property.

Ukraine struck a Russian warehouse storing ammunition and reconnaissance drones with a Neptune missile near the village of Chaltyr in Russia’s Rostov Oblast in a January operation carried out by the SBU and Ukraine’s Navy.

Kremlin exacts loyalty amid tightening crackdown on Russian elite

The Kremlin’s grip on the Russian elite appears to be closing ever tighter as two major figures of Russian business and security structures were detained in the past few days. Konstantin Strukov, a billionaire running a gold mining empire, and Viktor Strigunov, a former top officer in Russia’s National Guard, are now facing corruption accusations. While separate cases, they point to a push by Russian higher-ups to purge corrupt or potentially disloyal figures as Moscow grinds forward its full-

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

Slovakia continues to block EU’s 18th Russia sanctions package, media reports

EU ambassadors failed to approve the bloc’s 18th package of sanctions against Russia during a July 9 Committee of Permanent Representatives meeting, as Slovakia continued to block the measures, European Pravda reported, citing three unnamed EU diplomats.

Since EU sanctions require unanimous backing, a single country’s veto prevents the package from being implemented. In late June, both Slovakia and Hungary opposed the draft sanctions, stalling their adoption.

According to European Pravda, Slovakia’s position has not changed, despite what one EU diplomat described as “good and productive” talks between Bratislava and the European Commission on July 3.

Unlike Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has consistently opposed sanctions and military aid for Ukraine, Slovakia has not previously tried to block new EU measures.

Bratislava asked for a delay in adopting the latest package until the EU clarifies the financial implications of RePowerEU — an initiative to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2030.

The sanctions package will be discussed again at a meeting scheduled for July 11. Sources told the outlet that a final agreement is expected this week, with formal adoption likely to take place at the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on July 15.

The 18th package includes new restrictions on Russia’s energy and banking sectors, as well as bans on transactions connected to the Nord Stream pipeline project.

These measures are part of the EU’s broader effort to increase economic pressure on Moscow as the Kremlin rejects calls for an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine.

While the EU advances its sanctions framework, the United States has not introduced any new sanctions on Russia since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Note from the author:

Ukraine War Latest is put together by the Kyiv Independent news desk team, who keep you informed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you value our work and want to ensure we have the resources to continue, join the Kyiv Independent community.

July 9, 2025 9:00pm

Ukraine Russia

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

In response to ongoing, large-scale Russian airstrikes on Ukraine, Germany is intensifying its efforts to bolster Ukraine's air defense systems. On Wednesday, July 9, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in the Bundestag that he is optimistic about collaborating with the United States in this effort. Merz emphasized his intention to negotiate "arrangements" with the U.S. administration to provide Ukraine with additional air defense systems.

"Our aid to Ukraine won't falter due to financial constraints or staffing shortages. Where we are currently lacking is in the production of military equipment, weapons, and ammunition," stated Merz. He accused Russia of perpetuating "grave war crimes in Ukraine almost daily" with its attacks.

Germany's Ministry of Defense also announced ongoing partner collaborations to enhance Ukraine's air defense. A ministry spokesperson indicated that discussions are underway with partner nations about potentially providing Ukraine with "unused resources." Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will discuss air defense topics during his upcoming visit to the U.S. next week, focusing on joint efforts to reinforce Ukraine against Russian attacks, according to a ministry representative.

The spokesperson described the images coming from Ukraine as horrifying, with destroyed civilian infrastructure, energy facilities, and daily attacks involving hundreds of missiles and drones. "These developments are affecting everyone deeply," the spokesperson said, adding that Russia aims to stretch Ukraine's air defense "to its breaking point."

According to Kyiv, Russia has launched its most massive airstrikes on Ukraine in recent days since the conflict began. On July 9, Ukrainian Air Forces reported that Russia primarily targeted western Ukraine, employing 728 drones and 13 missiles. Impressively, 711 drones and at least 7 of the missiles were intercepted. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of once again attempting to derail any ceasefire efforts.

July 9, 2025 8:42pm

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Ukraine will require more than $40 billion in external financial support in 2026 to sustain its economy and war effort, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on July 9.

“The key task should be to develop mechanisms and tools that will allow us to attract these funds,” Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.

The remarks come as Kyiv scrambles to secure long-term financing while preparing to co-host the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome on July 10–11.

Shmyhal noted that the government submitted budget amendments in late June to increase defense spending by nearly $10 billion, bringing the total for security and defense in 2025 to around $50 billion, or 26% of Ukraine’s GDP.

“This will help to effectively counter the enemy,” he said, adding that Ukraine’s record defense budget includes $16.4 billion earmarked for weapons procurement.

While the budget’s own revenues are projected at $48.5 billion, the government has already secured $22 billion in foreign financing for 2025.

His comments follow a July 8 Financial Times article citing a projected budget deficit of $8 billion to $19 billion for 2026, largely due to declining U.S. contributions and the ongoing war.

A senior EU official told the outlet that many donors had previously expected a peace deal in 2025, but are now forced to revise their funding plans as Russia continues its offensive and rejects calls for an unconditional ceasefire.

‘We need to learn how to live without America’ — Ukraine’s survival amid faltering U.S. aid

Ukrainians breathed a sigh of relief of sorts this week after it was confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered the continuation of shipments of critical military aid after a brief pause. The days-long hiccup alarmed a Ukraine beset with ever-escalating Russian air strikes and a dwindling supply of the means to stop them, and is just the latest instalment of a saga riven with uncertainty over Washington’s willingness to give Ukraine what it needs to defend itself against Russia. A

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post

July 9, 2025 8:23pm

Ukraine Russia

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) detained two Chinese nationals in Kyiv on charges of espionage. According to reports from the SBU and Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office shared on July 9, the two individuals were reportedly attempting to transfer confidential documents related to Ukraine's RK-360MC "Neptune" missile system to Chinese security agencies.

The investigation reveals that one of the suspects is a 24-year-old former student from a Kyiv technical university. "He remained in Kyiv after being expelled in 2023 for academic failure," stated the SBU on their Telegram channel. "The other involved individual is the former student's father, who predominantly resided in China but occasionally visited Ukraine to personally oversee his son's espionage activities."

Authorities have disclosed that the former student tried to recruit a Ukrainian citizen linked to the development of cutting-edge Defense Forces weapons to gain access to the classified materials. The young man was apprehended early in his espionage attempts while receiving sensitive documents, the Ukrainian security service noted.

The father reportedly entered Ukraine on July 7 and visited the Chinese embassy in Kyiv the next day. "The prosecution plans to serve him with a notice of suspicion for espionage and request the court for his remand," reports the Office of Ukraine's Prosecutor General on their website.

The SBU's press service reminds that the "Neptune" missile system is designed to target all types of combat and landing ships. It notably played a pivotal role in the destruction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's flagship cruiser "Moskva."