Ukraine’s drone forces claimed to have hit 116 vessels in the Sea of Azov in the past nine days as Vladimir Putin vowed a powerful retaliation to Ukrainian attacks on its territory.
The commander of Ukraine’s drone forces said its drones struck several tankers and cargo ships with the aim of damaging Russia’s “shadow fleet”. Russia is considering rerouting cargo from the Sea of Azov after increased Ukrainian attacks on shipping, the transport ministry said on Tuesday.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov called the attacks an “acts of terrorism”. It comes as Putin said Moscow would respond to Ukrainian attacks on its territory with retaliatory strikes that would be “several times more powerful”, adding that the scale of such responses would increase.
Ukraine’s military also said it struck two Russian oil refineries in the Bashkortostan and Krasnodar regions, sparking fires at the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat complex and the Afipsky refinery, with Russian authorities confirming both blazes.
Russian-controlled Sevastopol in Crimea imposed rolling power cuts after Ukrainian attacks, while fuel shortages linked to strikes on refineries and logistics have led to gasoline restrictions across Crimea.
Ukraine expects to be able to make Patriot missiles by year-end
Ukraine expects to have the technical capability to make interceptor missiles for US-made Patriot air defence systems by the end of this year, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday.
Zelensky told reporters that Ukraine has a prospective launcher and missile for the developing European anti-ballistic project Freyja, and hopes its tests will be successful.
James Reynolds15 July 2026 16:14
Ukraine and the EU have sealed a “drone deal” to combine Kyiv’s expertise with European industrial capacity to establish joint projects and scale up production, European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
“We need to combine our strengths,” von der Leyen said in a speech in Kyiv at a ceremony to mark the country’s Statehood Day. “This deal will bring together Ukrainian ingenuity and Europe’s industrial scale.”
Ukraine has signed a series of such deals with individual countries. At last week’s NATO summit in Akara, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed three more, saying that brought the total to nine.
But Wednesday’s deal is the first agreement intended to cover countries and companies across the European Union.
Von der Leyen said the EU could offer advantages to Ukraine such as “huge technological and industrial capacity” and “safe and secure production sites”.
Meanwhile Ukraine has developed a highly sophisticated drone industry after having only limited expertise in the sector when Russia invaded its smaller neighbour in February 2022.
James Reynolds15 July 2026 16:00
Zelensky backs expanded role for Europe in peace talks
With European leaders gathering in Kyiv, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says he wants Europe to have a greater role in peace talks with Russia.
The US has taken a step back from talks since getting entangled in its war with Iran. In its place, European nations – seen generally as more friendly to Ukraine, or at least invested in security – have jostled for a greater role in dealing with Russia.
James Reynolds15 July 2026 15:26
Ukraine’s military hits major power plant in Russian-occupied Crimea
Ukraine’s military said on Wednesday it had struck a power plant in Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea, which accounts for nearly 50% of electricity generation in the peninsula.
Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said on Telegram that the plant, Balaklava thermal power station, had been struck on Tuesday night.
James Reynolds15 July 2026 15:22
Information from Nato members shows Russia attempted sabotage, Latvia’s president says
Information from Nato member states shows that Russia has made various attempts to conduct sabotage, Latvian president Edgars Rinkevics said on Wednesday.
“Information we are getting from Lithuanian, Latvian and other NATO states, from various agencies there, shows various attempts to do sabotage and to lower the security in our states,” Rinkevics said at a press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius.
Rinkevics did not specify which countries the attempts had been directed at.
James Reynolds15 July 2026 15:00
Kremlin rejects claims Moscow planning attacks on infrastructure
The Kremlin on Wednesday rejected Lithuanian allegations that Moscow is planning attacks on the country’s infrastructure, describing them as a pretext for militarisation against Russia.
Lithuania has intelligence that Russia is planning attacks on infrastructure, and security around energy and transport sites will be tightened as a precaution, President Gitanas Nauseda said in an interview on Wednesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “This is simply the latest batch of scare stories designed to continue brainwashing the population and preparing it for further militarisation.
“To achieve this, they need to cast another country – in this case, ours – as the enemy, and use that pretext to continue building up NATO military infrastructure in all its forms across the Baltic states.”
James Reynolds15 July 2026 14:00
Recap: Starmer praised by Macron as becomes first UK PM to receive France’s highest honour
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been awarded the Legion of Honour, France’s highest national honour, by President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in recognition of his work on European security in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Starmer, who is due to step down on July 20 having lost the confidence of his Labour Party, has worked closely with Macron during the war in Ukraine, including establishing the Coalition of the Willing group of countries supporting Ukraine.
The British leader was presented with the honour on Monday after attending his final meeting of that coalition.
On Tuesday he attended Bastille Day celebrations, which saw British armed forces joining their French counterparts in the parade for the first time in more than 20 years.
“Prime minister, dear Keir, I wanted to reiterate my gratitude and the gratitude of the French people, obviously for your years as a prime minister,” Macron said, according to a statement released by Starmer’s office.
“But I have to say, beyond that, for your personal leadership and your commitments for obviously your country, but the security of our Europe, Ukraine, the bilateral relationship, your decency.”
James Reynolds15 July 2026 13:00
Putin ‘will never make peace in Ukraine’ – Here’s the reason why
Putin ‘will never make peace in Ukraine’ – Here’s the reason why
Despite four grinding years and Ukraine now successfully smashing Russia’s energy infrastructure, Vladimir Putin has no interest in trying to end the war for one key reason, Bill Browder tells Sam Kiley on the ‘World of Trouble’ podcastSam Kiley15 July 2026 12:30
EU to announce new initiatives to integrate defence at Kyiv summit
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, says she will unveil new initiatives to integrate defence industries at the summit in Kyiv today.
James Reynolds15 July 2026 12:00
Lithuania says Russia is planning attacks on infrastructure
Lithuania has intelligence that Russia is planning attacks on infrastructure, and security around energy and transport sites will be tightened as a precaution, President Gitanas Nauseda said in an interview published on Wednesday.
Nauseda said he had no information on when or where the attacks were planned, and did not say that his country was the target, in his interview with BNS news agency.
“We have such signals, which we receive from our (intelligence) services. They do not clearly identify place or time … because the opponent is not at the end of its planning, and we only know about the planning or the goal,” he said.
“It could be various means aimed at physically damaging critical infrastructure. … Anything that halts the functioning of these sites,” he added.
Lithuania — a NATO member which shares land borders with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and with Moscow’s ally Belarus — has tripled its defence spending since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
James Reynolds15 July 2026 11:30NewerOlder