Russian and Chinese hackers attempted to use Claude for cyberattack… House of Representatives to vote on new sanctions against Russia… Suspect in Leipzig airport sabotage linked to Russian GRU.

OUR LEAD STORY:

Roman Mykhaltsov remembers the peaceful days in his home village of Zmiivka in the Kherson region like it was yesterday. Every house was a feast for the eyes, with white walls, tidy yards, and blooming orchards. On the main street, three churches — one Greek Catholic, one Orthodox, one Protestant — welcomed parishioners whether they were locals including the Swedes, Germans, and Boykos from western Ukraine, or occasional foreigners from faraway lands who ended up in southern Ukraine.

His favorite place, though, was a green ravine on the outskirts. In the shade of a lush mulberry tree, the villagers came here together to celebrate Easter and Trinity Sunday, cooked fish soup for everyone to mark the Fishermen’s Day in mid-July, and played volleyball at a nearby court on summer evenings. Even in winter, it was buzzing with life.

Once warm, hospitable, and bathing in the smells of incense and roses, Zmiivka now lies in ruins as Russia goes out of its way to subdue the village its colonial wars helped to found.

The village was established when Russia gained control over the southern Ukrainian lands between the rivers Dnipro and Southern Buh after the Second Russo-Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire. In 1781, the Empress Catherine II decided to forcibly relocate Swedish farmers there to develop the local economy. Promised furnished houses and fertile farms, about 900 settlers were marched on foot to the Ukrainian steppe from the Baltic island of Dagö (now Hiiumaa, Estonia), captured 60 years earlier in the aftermath of Russia’s Northern War against Sweden. They founded a prosperous settlement that survived over two centuries of Russian repression, maintained strong ties with mainland Sweden, and preserved the Old Swedish language, now forgotten anywhere else.

This brings the people and the cultural heritage of Sweden right into the middle of Russia’s war against Ukraine, prompting the country to respond decisively. In March 2024, Sweden became NATO’s newest member to protect itself from Russia’s increasingly bold geopolitical ambitions. Since the war began, it has also remained one of the sturdiest supporters of the Ukrainian cause.

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In June, Sweden announced the biggest military aid package it has ever given to Ukraine. As a result, Ukraine agreed to buy 16 Gripen fighter jets from the Swedish defense company Saab. During the Ukraine Recovery Conference, Sweden also allocated 137 million euros (about $157 million) to repair and defend Ukraine’s electric grid, the second-largest energy aid package after the U.S. Overall, Sweden gave about 18 per cent of contributions to the international Ukraine Energy Support Fund, only outperformed by Germany. As for military aid, Swedish ASC 890 radar jets are already working on the battlefield, and the Armed Forces of Sweden have been tasked with sending about $28 million to different specialized funds in Ukraine.

Sweden aims to support Ukraine, no matter the results of the upcoming parliamentary elections on September 13. This year, it is unclear whether the ruling right-wing bloc of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson or the center-left opposition led by Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats will win. Still, both sides stand with Ukraine to ensure Sweden’s own security and have sanctions on Russia, justice for the victims of its war crimes, and military and other aid to Ukraine on their agendas.

Zmiivka illustrates how even the most distant places might be interlinked through a common past, culture, values, and trade and technology; thus, international conflicts become an area of global responsibility. Its story shows how Russia, the U.S.S.R., and other empires forcibly change national borders, assimilate ethnic groups, and erase local cultures to survive and suppress potential opposition. Ironically, imperialist policies of coercion and division often backfire, unite the oppressed nations against the common enemy, and push the empires to destruction.

Roman spent years away from Zmiivka, working first on cargo ships that carried thousands of cars at a time to different parts of the world, and then at offshore oil and gas extraction facilities.

On February 24, 2022, he was in Namibia, in southwestern Africa. Roman immediately ended the contract and set off to Ukraine. The sky over Ukraine was already closed for commercial flights, so the way by bus through Poland took two weeks.

According to Roman, more than 50 out of approximately 2,000 Zmiivka residents are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and at least 18 have already died on the frontline. For the villagers, fighting for their freedom was never a question but rather a habit formed over the centuries of resistance to Russian and later Soviet imperialism.

“I, as well as most of my fellow villagers, have it ingrained in my genes,” Roman said proudly. “Zmiivka was always a village of dissenters. I grew up on the street where all of the neighbors, these elderly men and women, survived 20-25 years of deportation [to Soviet labor camps]. My grandfather, too, spent 13 years imprisoned in Siberia.”

The first Swedish settlers established Gammalsvenskby, “an Old Swedish village,” now known as Verbivka.

In the early 19th century, German farmers settled nearby and laid out three more villages. For the next hundred years, the four settlements developed separately and gravitated towards each other socially, economically, and physically until they became districts of 8 km-long modern-day Zmiivka.

“When the Bolsheviks came, some villagers went to Sweden again. They were forcibly deported [by the USSR in 1929], mainly to Gotland,” Roman said. “Not all of them could adjust to living there, so in one, two, three years, some people returned [to southern Ukraine]. There, they were either deported to Siberia or shot.”

Forceful resettlements by the USSR up to the 1950s added new ethnic groups to the tapestry of local culture. One of them was the Boykos brought from former Polish territories ceded to the Soviet Union in 1951 in exchange for an oil-rich area in the modern-day Lviv region. They were “evacuated” on freight trains, carrying scarce belongings, with no prospect of proper housing and compensation. Over time, a multicultural community accepted them. To this day, Zmiivka has a Boykos choir, and the locals are used to them singing carols during the winter holidays.

In independent Ukraine, Zmiivka saw the peak of cultural diversity. According to Roman, during the 2001 Census, it was home to 16 ethnic groups, including Swedes, Germans, Ukrainians, Jews, Hungarians, Chechens, Afghans, Koreans, and many others. At his school, Roman even had a teacher from Zimbabwe.

“He was 2 meters tall and looked like Michael Jordan,” he said.

In March 2022, Russians returned to erase the culture of Zmiivka again, as they did 100 years ago. For almost 9 months, until mid-November, it was occupied. According to Roman, when the Russian soldiers entered the village, they were shocked by its tidiness and comfort.

“Some of them said [that Zmiivka looked like] Buckingham Palace, they have no such villages. First things first, they destroyed the monument for Freedom Fighters next to our church with an armored vehicle — and it was the first thing we put back in place when katsaps [a pejorative term for Russians] fled.”

The invaders immediately began searching for “nationalists”. Certainly, the village where Russia has been dumping the dissenters for decades had plenty; even its head, Mykola Kurivchak, was kidnapped and allegedly tortured in captivity.

Russians went out of their way to destroy the Swedish heritage of Gammalsvenskby, including the flag of Sweden gifted personally by King Carl XVI Gustaf in 2008. For more than 8 months under Russian occupation, Mykola Kurivchak managed to hide the flag and keep it intact. Roman believes that the invaders were inherently wrong to think that destroyed buildings or stolen symbols would break Ukrainians.

During the “referendum” on joining Russia that occupiers held in the Kherson region in mid-September, Roman was on the other bank of Dnipro and couldn’t get in touch with his parents in Zmiivka. Later, one of the residents told him that the village fell silent, except for dogs released from their leashes barking in empty yards.

“Katsaps were walking from house to house with a list of villagers, and no one [came out]. Some hid in the maize field, others locked themselves inside their homes… People stayed [under occupation], but everyone refused to cooperate,” Roman quoted.

This kind of silent resistance scared and outraged Russians so much that they tried to demolish what they couldn’t subdue. According to Roman, Russians have allegedly launched about 300 guided aerial bombs on the Swedish village of Gammalsvenskby, which now lies in ruins. The Counteroffensive couldn’t independently verify this particular claim, as no statistics are gathered at a community level. However, Oleksandr Prokudin, the Head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration said that the Kherson region was attacked by a Russian drone or bomb once every two minutes as of August 2024.

“Today, it’s just a big landfill of unexploded munitions. Now, only two locals are staying there. It’s impossible to reach them, so no one knows if they are still alive. We can’t drive in there, because we’ll get shelled immediately,” Roman said.

To renovate Zmiivka, Roman headed a network of Ukrainian and Swedish volunteers and established the Heritage and Revival Fund of Gammalsvenskby, which provides humanitarian aid to the villagers mostly concentrated in Kryvyi Rih or scattered across nearby settlements. In the future, it looks to reunite the community of Zmiivka and build affordable modular housing for the locals to return to when the war ends.

Video: Thanks to Roman’s NGO and its Swedish partners, kids from Zmiivka enjoy their summer at a children’s camp in the Volyn region.

Still, what will revive Zmiivka’s vibrant community is its residents. Many of them have already expressed their willingness to return and work on rebuilding the village.

Zmiivka, even razed to the ground, is a place where Russia lost. Despite its efforts to alienate Swedish people and subdue Ukrainians, it gave two nations a common evil that brought them close enough to defeat it.

Want to read more stories about Ukrainians in other countries? Check these out:

The 280,000 Ukrainians at risk of U.S. deportation by Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova

How Ukrainians share Canadian soil with Indigenous by Oleksandra Khelemendyk

THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

RUSSIAN AND CHINESE HACKERS ATTEMPTED TO USE CLAUDE FOR CYBERATTACK: Anthropic exposed and blocked hacking groups from Russia and China that were attempting to exploit Claude. The attackers used artificial intelligence to create biological weapons, munitions and weapons systems.

All accounts involved have already been blocked and Claude’s security tools have been updated to fend off similar threats.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO VOTE ON NEW SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA: Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a bill to impose more sanctions against Russia, particularly on the Russian financial sector and energy exports.

The bill, which would impose 100% tariffs on the 5 top consumers of Russian fuel, was blocked by Democrats last week. They argued the bill would amplify Trump’s misuse of tariffs and drive up oil prices. Democrats are calling for revisions to the bill because they fear it gives the White House excessive authority to unilaterally lift sanctions or impose tariffs on allies, rather than ensuring that pressure is applied exclusively to Russia.

SUSPECT IN LEIPZIG AIRPORT SABOTAGE LINKED TO RUSSIAN GRU: One of the individuals detained in connection with the case involving an explosive package at a logistics hub in Leipzig was found to have ties to Russian military intelligence. Law enforcement officials believe he was part of a network of Russian agents who were planning a series of sabotage attacks on transportation facilities in Europe.

In early August, a drone carrying explosives was discovered near a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig Airport in Germany. While it crashed into the plane, it did not detonate. Following the incident, controls on Russians entering the country were tightened.

DUCK OF WAR:

A duck Myroslava saw while on her summer vacation.

Stay safe out there.

Best,
Oleksandra

Ukraine launches record-breaking long-range strike on gas condensate plants… Zelenskyy's flight delayed after Russian drone incursion into Moldova… NATO prevented Russian sabotage plot in the Arctic… Western military veterans allegedly trained Russians… Russia hits Ukraine's pharma sector again…

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine – It’s the last evening of my vacation.

I’m sitting in a taxi taking me to the Lviv railway station so I can return to Kyiv, and I can’t hold back my tears.

It’s not that I’m sad about returning to work and my normal routine. But when I get home, I know I won’t be able to sleep in my own bed. Once a cozy little nest, my own bed is now a place of constant fear, where even the deepest sleep comes at the risk of a ballistic missile or drone attack. I don’t trust monitoring channels anymore. I don’t trust anyone, except this primal fear that fills every cell of my body as soon as it starts getting dark.

And this fear is warranted. Russia has spent the whole summer launching large-scale ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, taking advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of interceptors. They also used drones, including jet-powered Shaheds. Russia ramped up its missile production and also relies on North Korean missiles to intensify the attacks.

On top of that, Moscow seems to be adopting a new tactic, launching jet-powered drones throughout the whole day to paralyze the entire city. On August 27, there were 13 air raid alerts in Kyiv — a record-setting number of attacks lasting more than half a day. Since then, the attacks have been almost non-stop.

Basements and underground parking garages no longer feel safe enough. That’s why more and more Kyiv residents have started spending the night in the metro, often heading down there even before an air raid alert is issued.

Even when there’s no attack, people would rather spend a night in the metro than wake up suddenly to explosions in their own bed, unprotected.

Read more

Kyiv stockpiles food and water for emergencies… Witkoff and Kushner in Kyiv for the first time… Ukraine lost $1.2 billion to fraud in 2024… Fallen soldier became father, update…

Editor’s note:

Because of Russia’s new tactics against the capital, air raid alerts in Kyiv now come in two levels: yellow for drone threats and red for missiles. In practice, though, it amounts to the same thing:

Meanwhile, our team is preparing for another winter: stocking up on food and water, working out backup power. The best thing you can do for our newsroom right now is subscribe to our newsletter.

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OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine – One day Stepan received a letter. A young woman thanked him for the app. She wrote that as soon as she received the alert, she went down to the shelter; at that moment, she couldn’t hear the siren outside. And when she came out of the shelter, the building was destroyed, and so was her apartment. “At that moment I felt like we had done something good,” Stepan recalled.

The war began on a Wednesday, and by Friday, Stepan Tanasiichuk was already taking his family to Western Ukraine, away from the fighting that was rapidly closing in on Kyiv. By Saturday, he had already begun work to resist the enemy. “We created a news feed on the National Bank’s website called ‘StopWar,’ and the payment details were for donations to the armed forces,” Stepan recalled.

But his greatest contribution was yet to come. Like millions of other Ukrainians, Stepan had to instantly find his place in the country’s defense. His Air Alert app, created in a matter of days, became the primary digital tool for survival for millions of people. Behind this phenomenal success lies not a commercial triumph but a colossal responsibility, where a mistake or a delay in notification is measured in human lives. It’s a testament to how war erases professional boundaries and transforms familiar mobile technologies into a lifeline for millions of people.

The app is especially critical now that a new wave of Russian strikes has exposed an even deadlier threat: due to an acute shortage of air defense systems and interceptors like the Patriot, ballistic missiles are increasingly detonating in Ukrainian cities even before the public sirens sound.

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Stepan says his invention was spurred on by the chaos unfolding in the first days of the full-scale invasion. On the third day, he began to notice posts on social media from acquaintances and friends saying they often couldn’t hear the public air raid sirens. He began to worry about his loved ones. Stepan had been working in software development for about 20 years and ran his own company, Stfalcon. It immediately occurred to him to develop an app that would alert residents to danger by sounding an alarm on their phones. Without putting off the idea until the next morning, he posted about his idea in a work chat.

“People weren’t sitting in the office going about their usual business; they were scattering in all directions. Some went to the villages, others tried to evacuate. Everyone was on the move, and I didn’t expect them to get back to work right away,” Stepan recalled. But six people from the team quickly agreed. “By Sunday, we had already assigned roles and discussed the next steps,” he says.

A few days later, the team ran into their first major obstacle: if a phone is in ‘Do Not Disturb’ or ‘Sleep’ mode, the app cannot send notifications. Stepan racked his brain trying to figure out how to solve this, as it was crucial for people to hear the signal in time.

He found the solution on his own smartphone. Stepan remembered the Ajax app — an alarm system he had been using that sent emergency alerts capable of waking a person even when the phone was in silent mode or set to ‘Do Not Disturb.’

He had woken up in the middle of the night more than once because of these jarring alerts and knew just how effective they were. If the Ajax team had already figured out how to bypass the limitations of mobile operating systems, that same expertise could be used for missile threat alerts.

Without hesitation, he found the contact information for Ajax Systems’ engineers and learned of another obstacle: Breaking through the ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode would require special permission in an Apple developer account. “To get it, you have to convince Apple why you need such permission. And it would take some time for them to review the request. Well, missiles are flying, people are dying — we don’t have time,” Stepan recalled.

He suggested that Ajax publish the app through their developer account, but they surprised him by offering to join the development effort instead. “Everyone wanted to do something to somehow stop this war — not necessarily to win, but at least to be part of the process. We handed over part of the development to their team.”

From there, everything moved at breakneck speed. Everyone felt the weight of the responsibility that they had taken on and the urgency of the situation. The State Emergency Service and the Ministry of Digital Transformation were brought in, and some regional military administrations began to join the effort.

“On March 1, we issued our first real air raid alert.”

Soon, the team ran into another obstacle. “I posted a link to the app on social media and asked people to sign up to test it. Someone shared that link further. It went viral, and we unexpectedly received a huge influx of users that we hadn’t anticipated. By evening, we already had something like 100,000 or 140,000 users. We were stunned.”

By that time, the team realized they couldn’t handle the load. “We sat down to completely overhaul the mechanism for sending out these alerts. After a night of work, everything was updated.” Meanwhile, the app’s popularity had spiralled out of control. The media began reporting that such an app had been created, and more and more users started downloading it.

Stepan realized that this avalanche couldn’t be stopped and that there was no point in delaying the official release. The Ministry of Digital Transformation and the State Emergency Service announced that the “Air Raid Alert” app had gone live in Ukraine, and major publications had already officially reported on it.

“We got a million installs in an hour,” Stepan recalled. “We were impressed.”

Public warning systems were installed in Ukraine as far back as the 1970s and 1980s, but they weren’t fully up-to-date when the war erupted. They’ve been gradually modernized since then, and Kyiv now operates modern public warning systems similar to those in the U.S. and Europe, with two-person teams manning the systems and relaying the siren to loudspeakers in the streets when danger is incoming.

Once the app was launched, these teams also gained access to the app’s software and began issuing alerts through it simultaneously with the loudspeakers.

“It happened that our alerts arrived a few minutes earlier. That’s because all they had to do was press a single button, and the alert was sent out. But to send out traditional alerts, they had to go through a whole series of procedures, which took several minutes. Because of this, they decided on their own to first send an alert through the app and then begin their traditional announcement procedure,” Stepan explained.

There were also a few mishaps. The app has several different types of alerts, including one for radiation danger, which has a louder sound. Russia has repeatedly threatened Ukraine with nuclear weapons. Once, the operators on duty got confused and accidentally triggered this alert. “People there were really scared, because this is no joke,” Stepan said. After that, the team reconfigured the buttons to prevent such accidents.

In the first few months after the launch, the team actively developed the app’s features, adding new types of alerts (street fighting, artillery shelling, etc.). They added the ability to subscribe to multiple regions—meaning one can get alerts for areas where their loved ones live, in addition to their own region.

“There are still some complex features that we’re adding gradually, such as heightened danger alerts and certain unusual alerts. Specifically, we’re currently adding ballistic alerts to notifications because we have heightened danger alerts for missiles and UAVs, but none for ballistic threats. We’ve discussed with the Air Force a way to implement ballistic alerts,” Stepan said.

The team also boosts users’ morale with some tongue-in-cheek features. One striking example involved Operation “Spiderweb”, when Ukraine struck five military airfields deep behind Russian lines and put strategic bombers out of commission. At that time, the developers added an ironic Easter egg to the map: animated trucks driving toward the enemy’s border.

For the English-language version of the app, the developers enlisted the voice of Mark Hamill, the immortal Luke Skywalker from “Star Wars.” Now, the voice of a Jedi warns foreigners and diplomats in Ukraine about the threat of missile strikes, artillery shelling, or radiation hazards, and at the end of the alert, with that iconic intonation, reminds them: “The air alert is over. May the Force be with you.”

All-clear alert voiced by Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker, Star Wars). Almost YouTube channel (@almostco)

Although Stepan developed an app that has saved countless lives, he speaks about those early days of Air Alert — when he says he felt “like a celebrity” — with a tinge of sadness. “I thought I’d brag to my grandchildren that Grandpa once made a product like this, but over time, that feeling has faded a bit,” he says. Now, he can’t help but hope for the chance to send the one notification that will effectively pull the plug on Air Alert: “The war is over. Delete our app.”

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Interested in reading more stories of how air alert works? Check these out:

Nighttime with Ukraine’s drone hunting teams by Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova, William Glover Weiss, and Oleksandr Matviienko

LISTEN: The sounds of war we hear at night by Anastasiia Kryvoruchenko

Editor’s Note:

Because of Russia’s new tactics against the capital, air raid alerts in Kyiv now come in two levels: yellow for drone threats and red for missiles. In practice, though, it amounts to the same thing:

Meanwhile, our team is preparing for another winter: stocking up on food and water, working out backup power. Support us!

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THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By: Mariana Stadnyk

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

KYIV STOCKPILES FOOD AND WATER FOR EMERGENCIES: In preparation for winter, food and water is stocked up in Kyiv for use during prolonged electricity outages and other emergencies. The supplies will be prioritized for people with low income or in difficult life circumstances.

Kyiv will be able to provide hot meals to 25 thousand people and purchase 20 thousand food kits for use in emergencies.

The stockpiles can help victims of emergencies, provide for workers involved in emergency rescue and other urgent operations, and at points of invincibility, where people gather during blackouts.

WITKOFF AND KUSHNER IN KYIV FOR THE FIRST TIME: U.S. peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Kyiv for the first time this Sunday. They came to Ukraine after their third visit to Moscow on Saturday, during which they held three-hour talks with Putin. Russia halted its strikes on Kyiv for the visit, although other Ukrainian cities were attacked.

The U.S. envoys held talks with Zelenskyy, Ukrainian officials and national security advisers from the UK, Germany, and France. The parties spoke positively about the negotiations and expressed readiness for further trilateral talks.

However, there was no sign of any significant breakthrough.

UKRAINE LOST $1.2 BILLION TO FRAUD IN 2024: Internal government audits revealed fraud, waste, and mismanagement in Ukraine’s military procurement system, The New York Times reported. Companies got contracts without proving they could deliver the weapons. There were rarely repercussions for failing to deliver the weapons and overcharging for them.

According to the audits, new deals were granted to seven contractors despite open criminal investigations for fraud, failures to fulfil earlier deals, and proof of corruption. 18 companies got new deals after failing to perform previous ones, including six companies that did not deliver on a single contract. Overpaying for weapons when lower bids were available cost about $126 million.

FALLEN SOLDIER BECAME FATHER, UPDATE: Lyudmila Moriak, whose story was covered by The Counteroffensive, gave birth to her son Oles Moriak.

Oles is the son of Serhii, a soldier who died in 2024. Serhii froze his sperm to allow for the possibility of IVF. Lyudmila faced legal difficulties while trying to do IVF with Serhii’s reproductive material. The couple wasn’t married, and the right to the late partner’s reproductive cells is not automatically granted to the common-law wife by Ukrainian law.

CAT OF CONFLICT:

Mariana’s boyfriend’s kitten Emily is now conquering new heights in his apartment.

Stay safe out there!

Best,
Kateryna.

The headquarters of the SBU, Ukraine’s state security service, was hit by a Russian drone on September 4, President Zelenskyy announced Friday afternoon.

The organization is responsible for counterintelligence and law enforcement, comparable to the FBI in the U.S.

After the building was hit, a fire broke out, and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has already reported 7 victims, 6 of whom were hospitalized. The building, in the heart of the capital, is right nearby St. Sophia’s Cathedral, a key cultural landmark in Kyiv.

The explosions could be heard from The Counteroffensive’s office in the center of Kyiv. Soon after, dozens of policemen filled the area, ready to step in should things escalate, and more, strapped with AK-47s, manned checkpoints nearby.

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Meanwhile, local residents stood near barricades that blocked the scene, cutting off a main artery in central Kyiv. Honking and ambulance sirens filled the air as the aftermath ensnared much of the city center into gridlock.

The Counteroffensive was on the scene and took photos near the strike, but was warned by a man who identified himself as an SBU officer not to take photos and to delete any previously taken.

The officer also demanded evidence of a media credential from The Counteroffensive’s reporter, asking whether he is Chinese. Informed that the reporter is American, the SBU officer said wryly, “well, I’m not even sure if the Americans are our allies anymore.”

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KYIV, Ukraine – Democrats are among the most serious opponents to new Russia sanctions that are now stalled in the House of Representatives, Bloomberg reported.

The ‘Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act 2026’ is a bill that further sanctions Russia and extends U.S. sanctions on Iran, and was originally crafted by the late pro-Ukraine Sen. Lindsey Graham.

While the document enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate (passing 86-11), it is now facing serious opposition in the lower house, with Democrats unwilling to give President Trump more power and authority over the American economy.

The proposed legislation would give the president the power to impose harsh tariffs on the biggest buyers of Russian energy resources, which could mean sanctions on China, India and Turkey.

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It also targets Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’, Moscow’s tankers, which have continued to export crude oil to circumvent previous U.S. sanctions.

However, it does not require Trump to use these powers – only putting them at his disposal.

“The waiver in the bill is rather broad, and so the President could in theory choose to not implement any of the sanctions it contains,” Mykola Murskyj, senior advisor for Razom for Ukraine, told The Counteroffensive.

Still, Razom for Ukraine, a leading advocacy group in Washington, D.C., said that it supported passage of the bill.

“Although there are always things that could make a sanctions bill stronger, we urge the bill to be adopted as it stands. It’s strong and must be adopted,” Murskyj said, adding that he believed the bill would be “extremely effective” if implemented by Trump correctly.

Read more

Norway seized Russian ship to secure $4.2 bln for Ukraine… Ukraine negotiates with U.S. on Patriot production license… Moscow airports wary of Ukrainian drone threat…

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine – The military situation changed less on the frontline and more behind it in the last month of summer, with Russia continuing its “terror bombing” attacks on Ukrainian cities as its troops are unable to advance on the battlefield, keeping up its increased use of jet drones to evade air defenses.

The last week of August was especially brutal, as Russia relentlessly bombed Kyiv seven days in a row.

In our August military update, we highlight the most important developments, explain how Russia is shooting down Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo missiles, why Ukraine continues targeting Russian retailers, and how Ukrainians have been quietly liberating villages in the South.

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Ukrainian assault forces advance in the South

While the Russian military has failed to break through to the city of Slovyansk in its efforts to occupy the remainder of the Donetsk region, Ukrainian forces have been advancing in the South, on the border of three regions: Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk, according to an extensive report by Ukrainska Pravda. The operation itself started back in May, but the Ukrainian military kept quiet about it until now, revealing that more than 170,000 acres and 26 villages have been liberated.

It was the last operation planned by former commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskiy, with Ukrainian Assault Forces commander Oleh Apostol overseeing the operation. The goal was to thwart a planned Russian assault on Orihiv and push the Russians out of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Strategically, Ukrainians are fighting to keep the Russians from getting any closer to main regional centers like Dnipro and Zaporizhia. The latter has already fallen within the range of Russian drones, with enemy FPVs targeting civilians in the city. The Counteroffensive offers an inside look at civilian life in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv in our recent reporter’s notebook.

One of the units active in the operation is the 148th Separate Artillery Zhytomyr Brigade, providing necessary support for the assaulting forces.

“The main objective of our brigade is the artillery support of assaults and damage to enemy’s forces and equipment. In addition, we work with HIMARS systems, destroying targets on a tactical and operational level,” said Serhii Kolesnychenko, Communications Officer of the 148th Separate Artillery Zhytomyr Brigade.

Ukrainian forces had the element of surprise on their side and were able to infiltrate the rear of the Russian troops.

“This is an important development and proves that maneuver warfare is not dead. The principal goal should be to ensure that Ukraine succeeds at restoring operational maneuver before the Russians do,” Director of Innovation and Open Source Tradecraft and analyst at the Institute for the Study of War George Barros told The Counteroffensive.

The Russian command realized what was happening only during the second week of the assault, deploying the Rubicon drone unit to try and ‘firefight’ the Ukrainian advance. “The enemy is trying to hold the advance, moving in reserves and putting pressure with fire and infantry, so it is early to talk about the end of the operation. Combat is still in progress in the Oleksandrivskiy direction,” said Kolesnychenko.

Ukraine keeps striking Russian retailers, as Moscow targets groceries in Kyiv

After a successful drone campaign against Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, Ukrainian Unmanned Forces moved down the list and began hitting Ozon, the country’s second largest retailer, striking several warehouses in Russia.

Russian online retailers have been supporting the war in Ukraine by selling military equipment, with an investigation by The Counteroffensive uncovering an abundance of items on sale on the Wildberries website, including drone parts.

“Wildberries and Ozon represent nodes in Russia’s military logistics network. Destroying these facilities degrades Russia’s ability to sustain forces at scale in Ukraine. The strikes also significantly damage the Russian economy as small- and medium-sized businesses store significant amounts of merchandise within these facilities,” said ISW analyst George Barros.

Russia, meanwhile, has taken advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of air defenses and stepped up its terror-bombing of Ukrainian cities, using new Shaheds with jet engines and ballistic missiles to evade air defenses. Civilian life continues to be the primary target, with warehouses storing produce, medicine, and even books hit, resulting in shortages in grocery stores around Kyiv. Fozzy Group, which operates several popular supermarket chains like ‘Fora’ and ‘Silpo,’ was hit especially hard, with strikes resulting in shortages of common items, like fruits, vegetables, and even Coca-Cola in several stores.

Ahead of the new school year, Russian forces also targeted Ukrainian books, hitting 35 publishing facilities, as well as a second-hand book market in Kyiv, destroying millions of Ukrainian books.

Russians are shooting down Ukraine’s Flamingoes

Ukraine’s FP-5 “Flamingo” cruise missile is the most powerful tool it has for deep strikes on Russian territory, but there are reports that Russia has managed to shoot many of them down in recent weeks.

An independent monitor that relies on open-source tracking data reported that Russia has shot down 10 out of 11 total FP-5 missiles since the beginning of July, showing that Russia’s air defense is proving effective against these missiles. This report could not be verified by The Counteroffensive team, as there are no official figures for comparison.

Some of the FP-5s still made it to their targets, though, with at least one striking the Vyatka Machine-Building Enterprise Avitek missile plant in Russia’s Kirov region, about 800 miles from the border with Ukraine. Satellite imagery showed the aftermath of the attack, with a factory workshop showing a large hole. The plant produces air defense systems and a wide variety of Russian cruise missiles used to ‘terror-bomb’ Ukrainian cities.

“The Flamingo missile flies very low, very close to the ground, which means that regular radars are not able to detect it. That’s why Russians use AEW&C, to be able to see the missiles,” aviation expert Kostiantyn Kryvolap told The Counteroffensive.

Russia has only one type of airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system—the Beriev A-50U plane (NATO code: Mainstay). The A-50 AEW&C system was developed back in Soviet times, with Russia modernizing only eight units in the 2010s, hence the ‘U’ designation. Even fewer are currently operational, since Ukraine has managed to shoot down two of these particularly valuable aircraft, prompting Russia to pull the remaining ones back from frontline duty—until now, apparently. Open-source intelligence estimates that Russia has only four operational A-50U aircraft remaining.

Working as ‘eyes in the sky’ for Russian air defenses, these planes patrol likely missile routes and spot incoming FP-5 cruise missiles early, giving Russian air defenses time to react. “They were flown specifically to intercept Flamingoes,” said Kryvolap.

Britain to help Ukraine produce its own Storm Shadow missiles

During his first visit to Kyiv, new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the transfer of classified technical information to help Ukraine manufacture its own Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles.

“By receiving the ability to manufacture Storm Shadow missiles, Ukraine will be able to augment its strike packages to go after hardened targets that drones are not able to effectively damage,” Barros told The Counteroffensive.

In return, Ukraine agreed to provide the UK with access to a trove of secret battlefield intelligence stored in the new Avengers Lab database, created by Ukrainian military and used by Ukrainian defense companies to train AI models.

“The models trained on this data can identify around seven out of ten military targets in real time,” Professor of UAV technologies Bogdan Dolintse told The Counteroffensive.

With the future of warfare linked more and more to developments in AI, access to real battlefield data is proving essential for creating effective AI-powered weapons and equipment. Britain is the first foreign country to gain access to such a database.

Leaked Russian documents reveal Moscow’s elite doubt victory in the war

The Black Mirror hacker group has published an internal document from Russia’s Sberbank outlining possible scenarios for the Russia-Ukraine war. Sberbank CEO German Gref is said to have mailed the analytical document to an unidentified business figure considered “influential” within the country.

Dated April 2026, the memo lists eight possible scenarios for the development of the war in the near future, with the probability of Russia winning on its own terms estimated at only 7 percent, which is likely to happen in the next 1-2 years. A Ukrainian victory that would see Russia give up its seized territories is estimated to have a 2 percent chance. The scenarios seen as having a higher probability were a deal between the two countries involving help from U.S. President Donald Trump (32%) and a gradual dying down of fighting by both sides (22%). The most likely scenario was one in which the war is resolved diplomatically, and neither side achieves victory on their terms.

The author of the memo is unknown, and the points outlined in it rely on official statistics from the Russian government, meaning the analysis is skewed.

“Even assuming it’s real, it doesn’t mean it is representative of the Kremlin’s assessment,” Barros told The Counteroffensive.

But the economic difficulties for Russia detailed in the analysis have only intensified since the memo was written in the spring. Ukraine has drastically stepped up attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, crippling Moscow’s ability to refine oil into petroleum and causing massive fuel shortages across the country. The Russian government is still trying to address the shortage, extending the fuel export ban through September, as well as importing gasoline and diesel from other countries.

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Interested in more coverage about the military situation in Ukraine? Read these stories:

With no Patriots, Ukraine builds missiles by Oleksandra Khelemendyk and Mariana Lastovyria

Five days of terror with Russian jet-powered drones by Anastasiia Kryvoruchenko

Russia turned our hometowns into hunting grounds by Oleksandra Poda and Oleksandra Khelemendyk

NEWSFLASH: Ukraine has a new defense minister by Oleksandra Poda, Mariana Lastovyria, and Petro Gordon

THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By: Oleksandra Khelemendyk

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

NORWAY SEIZED RUSSIAN SHIP TO SECURE $4.2 BLN FOR UKRAINE: On September 2, Norway stopped a Russian commercial vessel off the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard to enforce a $4.22 billion compensation claim for Naftogaz, a Ukrainian oil and gas company.

In 2014, Russia seized Naftogaz’s assets when it occupied Crimea, and in April 2023, the Hague ordered Russia ​to compensate the company for the losses, but it evaded responsibility for over three years. On Tuesday, Naftogaz’s lawyers applied to a Norwegian court to arrest and sell the cruise ship, Professor Molchanov. A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson called Norway’s seizure of the vessel an act of ‘piracy’.

Naftogaz also seeks to obtain compensation from Russia via Russian frozen assets in the U.S., the U.K., France, and Finland.

UKRAINE NEGOTIATES WITH U.S. ON PATRIOT PRODUCTION LICENSE: In an interview on the Today Show, Marco Rubio said that the U.S. is currently in talks with Ukraine regarding granting licenses to allow for the Ukrainian production of Patriot air defense missiles.

The issue was initially raised by Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Ankara on July 8. Later, Trump backtracked on his proposal and said that the U.S. has to be careful about giving lethal weapons to Ukraine. In late August, Ukraine received some Patriot missiles but is still experiencing a shortage. It also lacks air defense missiles for its F-16 jets.

According to Rubio, even if the talks are successful for Ukraine, setting up sufficient domestic production of Patriot missiles will take years.

MOSCOW AIRPORTS WARY OF UKRAINIAN DRONE THREAT: Three airports in Moscow suspended operations Wednesday night. The airports of Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo imposed restrictions for two nights in a row. In total, 329 flights were delayed and 43 were cancelled.

This came after President Zelenskyy warned international airlines that using Russia’s airspace will become increasingly unsafe due to increased Ukrainian drone attacks. This comes in response to a week of daily Russian drone attacks on Kyiv.

Foreign airlines have already cancelled at least 27 flights to and from Moscow on Wednesday, according to Russian media. Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency claimed that Ukraine breached international law and promised to ensure that normal operations of the air transport system would be restored.

DOG OF WAR:

Terra was found by her owner at a pet shelter in the Kyiv region and brought to her forever home. Despite the bullet stuck in her body, Terra looks happy and seems to enjoy catching rays.

Stay safe out there!

Best,
Petro.

Back-to-school celebrations to be scaled down… Poland ramps up domestic defense production… Russia tries to overwhelm Ukrainian government agencies… Trump invites Russia to G20 meeting.

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine - Russians are constantly adapting their tactics to inflict as much damage as possible on Ukrainian cities while keeping civilians in fear and tension.

Over the past five days, Russians have been launching mostly jet-powered Shaheds one after another. As a result there were more than 10 air raid alerts each day in Kyiv, accompanied by explosions and the sounds of air defense systems operating.

Russia has launched about 2,500 drones as of August 30, said Serhii ‘Flash’ Beskrestnov, the president’s adviser on the development of defense technologies. Meanwhile, in July, that number stood at 1,500.

The Geran-3, the Russian jet-powered counterpart to the Shahed, is capable of flying at about 300 km/h. But the Geran-4 flies at a speed of 500 km/h, which can outpace Ukraine’s interceptors. Ukrainian companies are now racing to develop interceptors capable of countering this threat.

For the Russians, developing jet-powered drones came with serious challenges. Standard Russian Shaheds are made of very light and inexpensive material, and the drone’s assembly itself is also of poor quality. When they first tried to attach a jet engine to a standard kamikaze drone, the drone simply fell apart. Starting with the base model, the Geran-2, the Russians worked on the Geran-3 and then the Geran-4.

“The bottom line is that the jet-powered Shahed is nothing like the regular one... It looks different on the outside. Different materials are used in its construction. It is much more expensive than the conventional one,” Maksym Klymenko, CEO of Amazing Drones, which creates interceptors in partnership with Japan’s Terra Drone, told The Arsenal.

The main difference between the new Geran jet models is their higher speed, which can exceed 450 km/h, whereas a standard Shahed flies at about 180 km/h.

However, jet-powered Shaheds have a shorter range because it is difficult to accommodate a large fuel tank, and the fuel burns up faster to maintain high speeds.

“They won’t have a range of thousands of kilometers, but they’ll still be able to reach Kyiv,” Klymenko said.

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On July 2, Russia carried out yet another large-scale combined attack. What set this attack apart was that most of the drones used were jet-powered – a clear sign that Moscow is betting on this technology and gradually scaling it up.

“I wouldn’t draw the conclusion from a single attack that Russia has already fully transitioned to mass production [of jet-powered suicide drones]... Part of the effect could be the accumulation of a certain batch and its simultaneous deployment… To draw a conclusion, we need to see this pattern repeated in several attacks,” an air defense soldier from the Kyiv region, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Arsenal.

The challenges of creating faster drones

Drones that operate at high speeds require durable materials and a specialized design. They take longer to assemble and are also more expensive.

While the standard version of Russian Shaheds costs about $20,000–$50,000, the cost of a jet-powered version exceeds $100,000, according to Klymenko.

There are few weapons capable of countering jet-powered Shaheds right now. These include high-speed interceptors — which are still in development — and anti-aircraft missile systems.

“Missiles are one way. They can’t wait. They can’t park. You just shoot them and you either hit the target or you don’t, but you can’t really chase the target [with a missile],” Tomas Petru, founder of Alatyr Group, the developer of a hybrid rocket-electric vertical take-off and landing interceptor , told The Arsenal.

The most common quadcopter-type interceptors, such as the P1-SUN, Sting, or Terra, are unlikely to reach speeds of 400–500 km/h, according to Klymenko.

Greater battery consumption is required to reach a high speed, reducing the flight time of such an interceptor. In other words, flight time may drop from 15–18 minutes to 6–8 minutes, Klymenko said. Everything will need to be done faster — from detection to the destruction of the drone.

With an enemy drone flying through air defense sectors more quickly, pilots will also face certain challenges, especially when it comes to maneuvering the interceptor, which loses stability more easily at high speeds and has a limited flight time. In conditions where most control is manual, interception will become very difficult for pilots.

In early June, General Cherry, a Ukrainian drone developer, and the R&D company STRIX announced the joint development of a propulsion system for General Cherry’s Bullet interceptor drone. The propulsion is working on chemicals that generate thrust through the burning in the engine. The company has also made design changes to accommodate higher speeds. The company did not disclose the specifications of the updated drone and did not provide a comment to The Arsenal.

Among other companies working to make their interceptors faster are Wild Hornets, the makers of one of the most widely used interceptors, the STING, and Amazing Drones, which is collaborating with Terra Drone to increase the speed of interceptors in order to counter jet-powered drones.

What are the solutions?

“Generally, it would make sense to have a faster interceptor than your target is,” Petru said.

One way to make a drone faster is to add a solid-fuel rocket motor. “The biggest difference is that the rocket motor has about 700% more energy per kilogram than a battery,” Petru said.

But there are many factors that influence the interceptor’s speed, not just the battery or engine power alone.

A drone’s ability to accelerate is most affected by the speed of its propeller blades; when they approach the speed of sound in the air, the drone loses its ability to fly any faster.

And the difficulties Ukrainian manufacturers face in upgrading interceptors to take down jet-powered drones also expose certain weak spots in Russia’s use of high-speed Shaheds.

For one, the increased speed of the Shahed alters its maneuverability and flight behaviour, forcing pilots to adapt, and it changes the time required to lock onto and destroy a target.

There have already been cases of jet-powered Shahed drones being shot down by interceptors at average speeds. This happens when a Russian drone loses speed in certain areas and flies at a lower speed of about 350 km/h, at which point it can be shot down.

“Maybe someone somewhere is already reaching those speeds. But they need to work on the battery, the motors — they need to be more durable — and the propellers,” Klymenko said.

Even now, despite the lack of scalable technology capable of flying faster than jet-powered drones, the military is finding ways to shoot down such targets. The strategic placement of radars, pilot training, and technical improvements to interceptors have made this possible, Kot, an air defense officer who operates drone interceptors, told The Arsenal.

However, large-scale combined attacks and the drones’ flight altitude remain weak points — recently, they have been flying at altitudes of 4,000–5,000 meters, making them harder to shoot down, Kot added.

In addition to increasing the interceptor’s speed, interception tactics and the performance of the entire air defense system are also important.

“If the target is moving faster than the interceptor or close to its maximum speed, the pilot doesn’t simply catch up to it. He has to work to intercept it—reach the meet point in advance, correctly assess the trajectory, time, and speed margin,” the anonymous air defense soldier said.

AI in interceptors could be the answer to the proliferation of jet-powered suicide drones, helping to automatically lock onto targets and reduce response time to threats, the soldier added.

Interested in reading more stories about defense tech? Check these out:

How Ukraine is cutting off Russia’s land corridor to Crimea by Zoriana Semenovych and Tim Mak

A Ukrainian nuclear program: Could it be done? by Mariana Lastovyria

The Stolen Ukrainian Military Dolphins of the Black Sea by Alessandra Hay, William Glover Weiss and Tim Mak

THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By Mariana Stadnyk

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL CELEBRATIONS TO BE SCALED DOWN: Celebrations marking the start of the school year, which begins on September 1, will be held only if the security situation allows it, Ukraine’s Prime Minister announced after a meeting with Ukraine’s Education Minister. Before holding the events, each locality must determine the risk of holding celebrations in their area and there should be no mass events in regions at risk of Russian attacks. Russia continues a massive wave of strikes on the capital, which started on August 27.

The Kyiv Regional Military Administration has also recommended refraining from holding mass celebrations in the Kyiv region and advises that schools deciding to hold celebrations should conduct them in the shelter if possible.

POLAND RAMPS UP DOMESTIC DEFENSE PRODUCTION: Poland spent $8.15 billion on defence procurement from Polish companies and joint ventures with central European countries last year — four times more than in 2022, according to Reuters. Poland is seeking to minimize dependence on foreign suppliers to reduce risks linked with the delivery.

Poland has one of the biggest armies in the EU — with over 220,000 active servicemen. This year it allocated about $61.45 billion in core defense spending, almost reaching the NATO goal of allocating 5% of GDP to defense by 2035.

RUSSIA TRIES TO OVERWHELM UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: Russia started Operation Postman in May, sending complaints to Ukrainian government agencies and law enforcements, RBC-Ukraine reported. More than 500 complaints were sent, only under 100 received responses.

Russians use personal information of real Ukrainians and send emails with complaints on their behalf. They base complaints on issues existing in Ukrainian society with the aim of overwhelming the bureaucratic system and feigning public discontent.

One of the campaign’s targets is the Ukrainian army. The complaints launched can lead to inspections into military units and their commanders. It distracts the units from other tasks and discredits commanders. In this operation, Russia may be testing which agencies respond to fake complaints and which complaints are likely to trigger an official investigation.

TRUMP INVITES RUSSIA TO G20 MEETING: The Trump administration invited Russia’s Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, to the G20 meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, Politico report. The decision was opposed by EU officials, who also refused to take a photo with Siluanov. This is the first time Russia attended the forum in person since 2022.

The Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held one-on-one talks with his Russian counterpart and discussed Trump’s peace plan for ending the war in Ukraine. Bessent underscored that no economic relief would be provided for Russia until the peace is reached.

DOG OF WAR:

This little corgi made sure the parents were caffeinated enough before the first day of school.

Stay safe out there.

Best,
Anastasiia

Russians strike ammo depot in Kyiv region again… Fedorov appointed to advisor on innovation to the Italian Minister of Defense… Gasoline production in Russia has fallen to 70% due to drone attacks… Russia’s casualties exceed its monthly recruitment of 6,000 officers and soldiers.

OUR LEAD STORY:

Kyiv, Ukraine — Viktor Yarema has spent the past decade working out of an old Soviet building to eradicate all traces of one of the Soviet Union’s worst legacies: corruption.

Originally a regional prosecutor, he confesses it was actually his wife who pushed him to join the newly created anti-corruption bureau back in 2015.

“My wife pushed me to apply. ‘It’s your thing,’ she said. ‘Because you’re just,” Viktor recalled.

Situated in a former Soviet military appliance factory, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) plays a vital role in steering the country toward a more promising path of development and getting rid of corruption, which is the second-largest problem for Ukraine only after the war with Russia. The need for NABU is perhaps clearer now than ever, after the bureau’s work recently exposed corruption involving officials in President Zelensky’s office.

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NABU grabbed headlines by publicizing that work, dubbed ‘Operation Forrest Gump.’ Among those incriminated were an official from the Office of the President, former and current Ukrainian MPs, and officials from the banking sector. That investigators are willing to tackle corruption even by high-level officials sends a clear signal to European countries that Kyiv has embraced societal reforms necessary for closer cooperation.

Created specifically to tackle corruption by top government officials, the bureau got to work right after its establishment in 2015, during Russia’s first phase of war against Ukraine, building cases against deputies, judges and other government officials, and exposing the scale of government corruption in the process. So far, the team’s efforts to root out government corruption have brought results, despite the perception of Ukraine as that of a corrupt country in the West. Since the bureau’s establishment, Ukraine gained several points on the Corruption Perception Index made by Transparency International.

Viktor, 36, has been working as a NABU detective for more than ten years. His area of expertise is land. His team was behind the case over an illegal land seizure on the territory of the ‘Stolychyi’ market in Kyiv, as well as other cases involving thousands of acres of Ukrainian land.

The NABU building has a history of its own. Originally a military factory producing equipment for Soviet nuclear submarines, it was repurposed for the agency’s needs, but still hasn’t been completely renovated, and thus still carries some of the old Soviet style inside. The operation inside is anything but Soviet, however, resembling more of a modern beehive.

Viktor’s workspace isn’t luxurious, but it is effective: every item on his desk and nearby has a purpose, especially if that purpose is to keep the detective caffeinated.

“It is impossible to imagine a detective without a cup of coffee,” Viktor said. A coffee machine sits on top of a safe decorated extensively with stickers.

Viktor also showed inside his safe, the contents of which hint at some kind of Hollywood thriller: licence plates, police equipment, and tons of case files and other secretive papers.

Although he does not spend all his time in the office. An average day for a NABU detective can be described using one word: ‘irregular.’ “My workday could begin at night, I could be somewhere at an illegal office, doing fieldwork or meeting informants,” Viktor said.

NABU’s work just happens to be especially challenging, as their suspects often hold high-level positions in the government. Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that since the bureau’s inception in 2015, there have been numerous attempts to sabotage its efforts and put pressure on the detectives and people associated with cases.

“Due to the fact that most of the persons under bureau’s investigations are pretty influential people, they actively counteract, including systematic attacks in the media [on bureau],” Serhii Varenchuk said in a statement to The Counteroffensive.

Serhii Varenchuk is an anti-corruption expert and a Chairman of the Board for ‘ID Ukraine’, a non-government organization specializing in helping government institutions become more transparent. He also spent 8 years working as a NABU detective.

“I have two bosses, one had an illegal violent search conducted on his property, confiscating electronic devices, while another found audio surveillance devices in his apartment this year,” Viktor said.

However, the biggest attack on the bureau came in July of last year when Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada voted for a bill that would effectively mean the liquidation of anti-corruption institutions like NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

“On the day of the vote for this bill, I said that I won’t be a detective by the end of the day, because we all will get arrested,” Viktor said.

But the public was against it. Massive protests erupted in Kyiv near President Zelensky’s office, with demonstrators calling for the bill to be pulled and the country’s anti-corruption institutions to be kept independent. The government scrapped the legislation and Ukraine saved its corruption-fighting agencies.

“It was very heartwarming. It motivated me to do my job better and I’m still running on that motivation today,” said Viktor.

Within the bureau, those protests were seen as the people’s support for independent anti-corruption institutions as a necessary concept. “What have we proved to everyone? That we are independent. And that’s how it’s supposed to be,” explained Viktor.

While NABU is a government agency, it occupies a unique position in that it is an independent institution that fights corruption, so NABU detectives must be held to a very high moral and ethical standard.

“My life has to be crystal clear. Everything that I possess is in the official declaration. We joke that [working at NABU] is similar to how monks live. I can’t afford to do drunken debauchery or be rude to someone,” Viktor said.

Cooperation between departments is part of a wider corporate culture in the bureau that favors teamwork, honesty, and diligence. “It is important to work as a team, because you are unlikely to get any results alone,” said Viktor.

For better cooperation, NABU workers have a running club that has been operating since 2018. The detective himself is an avid runner who also enjoys listening to music and painting. “I carry a sketchbook with me and sketch when I’m inspired or when I have free time,” said Viktor. It is a distraction for him, with the subjects being animals, nature and other things.

Still, chasing top-government corruption leaves almost no time to rest, with criminals only becoming more cunning as they devise new ways to try and evade investigators. “They [criminals] can engage in counter-surveillance activities; they employ former police officers who are familiar with these methods. Sometimes they have the latest equipment that we [at NABU] get jealous of,” said Viktor.

The bureau is very active on social media, constantly reporting on operations and even releasing highlights and visual surveillance, letting the Ukrainian public hear and see the people responsible for stealing.

“In most cases, our defendants are Russian speakers. If you watch our investigations, for example the latest ‘Forrest Gump,’ there isn’t a single word in Ukrainian there. It seems that we are fighting corruption somewhere in Rostov [a city in Russia where Ukraine’s former President Yanukovych flew during Euromaidan in 2013]. I have no idea why it is this way, maybe just a coincidence,” Viktor quipped.

Of course, just as with other government institutions, the question of corruption and independence of the bureau is a frequent topic of discussion in Ukraine. The bureau has a civil council that oversees the team’s work, and every candidate has to apply for a contest, including detectives already working at the bureau. “We joke a bit that our whole professional life is in contests. We constantly go through them,” Viktor said.

While other executive bodies of the Ukrainian government have thousands of personnel, NABU only has 270 detectives. That’s why they’re prioritizing their operations, concentrating forces on systemic corruption of the top government officials.

The work of anti-corruption investigators is especially crucial in countering the widespread perception of Ukraine as inherently corrupt, a narrative that Russians have long exploited in their propaganda to justify the war. “We are a very serious factor that a top government official has to take into consideration when choosing whether to engage in corruption. It is said that we are everywhere, it’s not far from the truth, actually, ” Viktor said.

“It is a paradox, but because of successful cases in fighting corruption, more people gained knowledge about it,” Serhii Yaremchuk said in a statement to The Counteroffensive.

As Viktor sees it, no country is truly free from corruption. But corruption in Ukraine is very public, whereas anti-corruption officials in the U.S. tend to be reluctant to publicize their work out of fear of reputational damage to the country.

“In the United States, the question of lobbying is not fully explained, how it combines with corruption,” said Viktor.

After more than a decade chasing corruption in high places, Viktor is still dreaming about a day when he will no longer be needed.

“I hope that at some point [the bureau] will be closed because we just won’t have anymore work.”

Interested in more stories of how special services work? Explore these:

Betray Ukraine, or lose your son by Mariana Stadnyk

Peter Strzok on Kash Patel’s “ill-advised” trip to Russia by Mariana Lastovyria and Tim Mak.

Ukrainian sabotage groups operating behind Russian lines by Mariana Lastovyria

THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

RUSSIANS STRIKE AMMO DEPOT IN KYIV REGION AGAIN: Russia struck an ammunition depot near Kyiv with a drone, causing large-scale explosions to follow. As of 2pm on August 29, 37 people are known to have been killed, and dozens wounded. The attack caused a massive fire to break out, while heavy smoke blanketed the capital and forced the closure of a strategic highway leading from the capital to western Ukraine. Evacuations have begun in the Myla village, where the attack on the ammunition depot happened.

A few months ago, a similar explosion at a depot near a residential area occurred in Vyshneve, in the Kyiv region. Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi called the repetition of such mistakes in the fifth year of full-scale war “criminal negligence.” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also strongly condemned the storage of ammunition near civilian facilities and stated that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the National Police had opened criminal investigations into official negligence on the part of officials.

FEDOROV APPOINTED TO ADVISOR ON INNOVATION TO THE ITALIAN MINISTER OF DEFENSE: Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has taken up the position of advisor on military technology at the Italian Ministry of Defense. The head of the ministry, Guido Crozetto, described him as a key driver of military innovation.

The 35-year-old Fedorov received the offer from Italy after he was dismissed from his post as defense minister in July. His dismissal prompted massive protests which lasted for weeks. Initially Fedorov said he would refuse any position which was not reinstating him to his position as the defense minister.

GASOLINE PRODUCTION IN RUSSIA HAS FALLEN TO 70% DUE TO DRONE ATTACKS: Attack drones have shut down major oil refineries in Perm, Nizhny Novgorod, and Yaroslavl, reducing Russia’s gasoline output to 70% of market demand by the end of August, according to Reuters.

Due to shortages, Russia has reintroduced rationing and quota systems, and the Kremlin is forced to urgently increase fuel imports from Belarus and Asian countries.

RUSSIA’S CASUALTIES EXCEED ITS MONTHLY RECRUITMENT OF 6,000 OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS: According to Western government officials who spoke to The Guardian, Russia is losing 6,000 more troops in Ukraine than it is able to recruit each month, despite recruiting about 1,000 people per day.

As announcing a new mobilization would be politically risky, Putin is compensating for the manpower shortage with intensified strikes on Ukraine’s civilian and energy infrastructure, one Western official said.

CAT OF CONFLICT:

“The best package is a kitten,” said Ally, who spotted this cutie in Kyiv.

Stay safe out there!

Best,
Petro

CIA chief in Moscow warns Russians not to escalate against NATO… Top container shipper pauses voyages to Russia in Black Sea… Moscow threatens to bomb UK military bases… Five drones entered Moldova during the latest Russian attack…

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine – Dzhygit heard his friend’s voice uttering what almost sounded like a final farewell in a video message he received just after leaving his position on the frontline.

“Stay safe. You have a wonderful daughter and a wife. Stay safe, brother,” his friend said in the brief message.

There was no internet at the front lines, so Artur Hasparian (call sign — Dzhygit) hadn’t been able to get this video before. Now that he was safe and had finally watched it, he understood that his close friend Mykhailo was in danger; he was being blackmailed by Russia’s FSB.

And, what’s worse, he had gone to Russia himself in a desperate bid to save his son from the certain death his blackmailers were promising.

Dzhygit first learned about Mykhailo Puryshev’s situation, like many others, through social media. On August 17, Mykhailo’s team published a video revealing the insidious scheme that had prompted him to embark on his dangerous trip to Russia: the FSB demanded that he either cooperate with them and inform on Ukrainian troops’ positions — or watch his own son, who resides in Russia, be forcefully sent to the frontline to fight.

The only thing more shocking than Mykhailo’s situation is that this is happening all the time. This is just the latest example of a scheme Russian security services like the Federal Security Service (FSB) have been using to recruit spies and saboteurs. The FSB has been using relatives who live in Russia or temporarily occupied territories to blackmail Ukrainians into conducting operations for Moscow. Prisoners of war have also been used as leverage, with their loved ones told the only way to keep them free from harm in captivity is by spying or carrying out tasks for Russia.

This tactic of threatening loved ones, especially children, should set off alarm bells far beyond Ukraine, as the Kremlin has already expanded this practice to the West. Intelligence officials warned earlier this year of Russia’s Wagner Group targeting vulnerable people in Europe to recruit them for acts of sabotage meant to create chaos in NATO countries.

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Dzhygit is now watching the disturbing tactic be used against his close friend. Having served in the military since 2008, Dzhygit took a break in 2015 but rejoined when the full-scale invasion started. He served in the Donetsk region: near the villages of Volodymyrivka, Hrafske, Zaitseve, Klischiivka, Andriivka and the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka. In 2023, he volunteered for a rescue operation to save people in the aftermath of the Kakhovka Dam destruction on June 6, 2023.

Map showing some of the localities where Dzhygit served.

That’s how he met Mykhailo. At that time, Mykhailo was determined to rescue people trapped in Oleshky on the flooded left bank of the Kherson region.

Dzhygit remembers Mykhailo getting upset and pushing back when the Red Cross and the UN tried to block people from going to the left bank after the Russians, who were in control of the area, refused to make a safety corridor for evacuations. They had deemed the operation too dangerous and cautioned others against it. But Mykhailo simply could not sit still while people in Oleshky needed help.

Footage of the evacuation of children from Oleshky filmed by Dzhygit. Source: his Instagram account.

“Misha was insisting and saying that he’d go on his own anyway, but I was convinced that it was a completely ridiculous and stupid idea,” said Dzhygit.

But the operation didn’t seem so stupid when Mykhailo’s red-colored boats reappeared with ten rescued children aboard. Another ten adults and some animals were also saved.

Since then, Dzhygit and Mykhailo have stayed close.

Mykhailo Puryshev was well known to many people long before the meeting with Dzhygit, being a former Ukrainian serviceman and volunteer who helped people in de-occupied and frontline cities and evacuated more than 200 people from Mariupol when it was under siege in 2022.

Dzhygit said there’s no special trick to this – Mykhailo just does these things selflessly, and somehow he manages to stay alive: “His guardian angel and the Higher Powers — God was with him.”

This time, though, he wasn’t the one at risk — his son was. And Mykhailo was seen by the Russians as a person with military connections and access to information they needed. For them, it was perhaps just a bonus that his teenage son happened to be living in Russia with his mom, an unwitting pawn to be used for coercion.

The FSB first contacted Mykhailo on July 16. He answered a call from his son that day, only for the teen to tell him someone wanted to speak with him.

“I’d like to make friends with you,” an FSB officer told Mykhailo, who recorded the whole conversation. “We aren’t enemies. We need certain information. You need your kid not to be drafted into the army.”

Although Russian security services threaten negative consequences if the person they’re trying to recruit alerts anyone to the situation, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense recommends contacting police. Carrying out the smallest tasks even under duress will still be considered treason during wartime and lead to criminal charges. Mykhailo’s team confirmed that he contacted Ukrainian law enforcement regarding the blackmail, but said the solutions proposed put other people, including his son, at risk.

According to Mykhailo’s team, he didn’t give any information to the FSB during their conversations.

There were five such phone calls overall, with the FSB repeatedly promising Mykhailo he’d soon be able to speak with his son. When the blackmailers failed to keep that promise, he decided to go and try to save his son himself.

“That was just like him,” Dzhygit said. “If anyone is going to suffer for him, he will go himself and say, ‘Here I am; take me.’”

Mykhailo landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on August 17, and for two days, the Ukrainian public was left to wonder if he’d been quietly tossed in a cell or had suffered an even worse fate.

He resurfaced with another video posted on August 19 announcing that he was safe and out of Russia. It’s still unclear what happened during his trip.

Mykhailo announced he is safe. Posted on his Instagram account.

While Mykhailo’s case drew widespread attention, there are many cases that go largely unnoticed, as the FSB’s recruitment of Ukrainians is systematic.

In 2025, 120 minors contacted police about attempts by the Russian security services to recruit them, and about 60 other minors cooperated with the FSB and were subsequently charged. So far, the Security Service of Ukraine has recorded more than 300 acts of sabotage and terrorism by Russia in 2026 alone.

The FSB usually tries to recruit people by offering them money, blackmailing them, or convincing them, through false representations, that they are taking part in a “secret mission” done for the benefit of their country.

Military personnel and their families are especially vulnerable to these schemes, along with internally displaced persons and young people — those who are considered the easiest to manipulate or those who are useful for their access to valuable information.

In Mykhailo’s case, he was both vulnerable and useful, with an 18-year-old son from his first marriage in Russia and knowledge of the Ukrainian military.

Mykhailo has left Russia, but the outcome of his trip is still a mystery: his whereabouts following his departure from Russia have not been made public yet, and it’s unclear if he managed to save his son.

But Dzhygit was very happy to hear his friend had made it out.

He believes Mykhailo did what any real father would do: “There are people who criticize him, but they haven’t been in his position,” Dzhygit said.

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Interested in more stories about Russian security services? Take a look at these stories:

Peter Strzok on Kash Patel’s “ill-advised” trip to Russia by Mariana Lastovyria and Tim Mak

Russia uses video games to recruit kids by Oleksandra Khelemendyk

How I unmasked a Russian agent, one of Ukraine’s greatest enemies by Tim Mak and Anastasiia Kryvoruchenko

Investigating the Russian spy killed by the FBI

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THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By: Petro Gordon

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

CIA CHIEF IN MOSCOW WARNS RUSSIANS NOT TO ESCALATE AGAINST NATO: The unannounced visit of CIA chief John Ratcliffe to Moscow earlier this week was meant to press Russia to not escalate against NATO, particularly in the Baltics, as well as to reduce its support for Iran, according to Politico. The warning against escalation came after Moscow issued a series of threats against NATO’s, and particularly the UK’s, support of Ukraine.

The visit, which was the first known visit of a CIA director to Moscow under Trump, comes as Russia is still failing to achieve any significant military gains in Ukraine, with both sides intensifying strikes deep into their adversaries territory.

The CIA director’s last Moscow visit was in November of 2021, when Ratcliffe’s predecessor, William Burns met with Putin. Just three months after the visit, Russia invaded Ukraine.

TOP CONTAINER SHIPPER PAUSES VOYAGES TO RUSSIA IN BLACK SEA: The largest container shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) has suspended ships going to and from Russian Novorossiysk port in the Black Sea, after one of the company’s vessels was attacked by a drone, Bloomberg reports.

The Black Sea became increasingly dangerous for vessels in July, as both Russia and Ukraine targeted commercial ships, aiming to strain each other’s economies. The attacks on these vessels have driven up prices of wheat to record highs.

MOSCOW THREATENS TO BOMB UK MILITARY BASES: Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned that it could target UK military bases in response to the country’s support for Ukraine, the Independent reports.

The statement comes after the UK announced a significant deepening of military cooperation with Ukraine, including the transfer of classified UK data to Ukraine, which would allow Ukraine to produce SCALP cruise missiles. The UK also became the first country to receive access to Ukraine’s AI Avengers Lab which contains troves of secret battlefield intelligence.

FIVE DRONES ENTERED MOLDOVA DURING THE LATEST RUSSIAN ATTACK: According to Moldovan Defense Ministry, five drones crossed into Moldovan airspace during the latest Russian attack on Ukraine. The Moldovan military took no action against drones, monitoring them until they left the country’s airspace.

The incident is the latest in what has become frequent violations of Moldovan airspace during Russia’s attacks on Ukraine. Russia has also intensified strikes on Ukraine-Moldovan border, disturbing its ability to export grain.

DOG OF WAR:

Dara, Petro’s friend’s dog, is also committed to staying up to date with the news.

Stay safe out there!

Best,
Mariana.

Witkoff and Kushner's visit to Ukraine postponed again… Zelenskyy: Russia to draft 300,000 troops after September elections… UK shares classified data with Kyiv for missile production… Russia targets Europe's weapons factories…

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine – On August 24, 1991, millions of people were glued to their old TV sets. Thousands of people huddled near the Verkhovna Rada Building holding bright blue-and-yellow flags and chanting, “Independence!” Before their eyes, an independent Ukraine was rising from the ashes of the Soviet Union.

But there was a catch: the majority of parliamentary seats were held by the Communists. Everyone kept wondering: would they vote for it?

346 votes for independence, only one vote against. The flag of the Ukrainian SSR was lowered from the building.

The Ukrainian flag is carried into the Verkhovna Rada chamber following the declaration of Independence on August 24, 1991.

That day the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, which was later supported in a nationwide referendum in December 1991 by more than 90 percent of Ukrainians. In every region, the share of votes marked ”Yes” to the question “Do you confirm the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine?” never fell below 54 percent.

Over the years, Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence has retained a deeply emotional significance. It was a moment when, despite decades of repression and attempts to destroy Ukrainians as a nation, independence was achieved through a largely nonviolent process.

But only during this war, as their freedom has faced an existential threat, have Ukrainians truly come to understand the significance of what happened more than three decades ago — and to grasp that freedom can never be taken for granted. It is a choice that must be defended every day.

To celebrate Ukraine’s Independence Day, The Counteroffensive’s reporters spoke with their closest relations about what it is like to fall asleep in one country and wake up in another, without even leaving their homes.

Mariana Lastovyria: My family was promised to become millionaires but never did

In the early 1990s, my then-thirteen-year-old dad, already a Pioneer (a member of the Children’s Communist Organization of the USSR) was preparing to formally join the age group in the Communist Youth League (Komsomol) — which was mandatory for schoolchildren. But one day he came to school and realized they no longer existed; they had been disbanded. Komsomol badges were traded in for vyshyvankas. Leaflets appeared at bus stops in our city, Kovel, arguing that Ukraine could sustain itself economically. They did not need the Soviet Union anymore.

At that time the USSR was close to collapse; censorship was loosening enough that entertaining a Ukrainian identity felt less risky. Underground political movements surfaced, most notably Narodnyi Rukh, which was founded in 1989 to support Gorbachev’s reforms before shifting toward independence.

“My parents took me to Rukh rallies at our stadium. The stands were packed. Along the fences around the stadium hung posters with the numbers of Holodomor and Stalinist repression victims,” he recalled.

At school, my dad and his classmates started constantly drawing tryzubs — the national symbol on the coat of arms of Ukraine — on their desks with the word ‘Воля’ (liberty) written within it. Even during that time, tryzub held a sacral meaning.

At the same time, my grandmother and grandfather recalled that a legend began circulating: every Ukrainian was supposed to become a millionaire. According to the story, the Ukrainian Hetman Pavlo Polubotok, before the Russians threw him into prison in 1723, allegedly deposited gold with an interest-bearing English bank account. Supposedly, he had left a will stating that as soon as Ukraine became independent, the money would be returned to the state.

Some Ukrainians genuinely believed this. Statuettes of Polubotok stood in shop windows, bought as gifts. My grandmother Valentyna still laughs, recalling how at the pharmacy where she worked, everyone was given busts of Polubotok as gifts during a staff meeting. The gold was never found.

My family supported Ukrainian independence, even though we never did become millionaires. “Your grandfather instilled in me from childhood a hatred of the Soviet Union,” my dad used to tell me.

On August 24, 1991, my dad was playing a tune on the piano at home when my grandmother and grandfather came into the room and said that the Verkhovna Rada had voted for independence. He nodded happily and kept playing.

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Ally: Why people in Kharkiv would bring fizzy drinks with them

My grandmother Lubov (meaning love in Ukrainian) tried to explain how events unfolded back then by drawing comparisons with the present day. She said that the Declaration of Independence was preceded by mass protests in Kharkiv, with crowds that extended as far as the newly built Oleksiyivka neighbourhood — quite a distance from the traditional rallying point in front of the regional state administration building four miles away.

“Back then there were no cardboard signs, but the protests weren’t as peaceful either,” she told me during a phone call. “There were a lot of clashes, so people would bring fizzy drinks with them so that, in the event of a heated argument, they could shake the drink, pop the cap, and spray their opponent.”

My grandmother was quite the active citizen. She attended rallies and brought my 14-year-old father with her.

“On the night Ukraine’s independence was declared, grandfather [my grandfather] and I were sitting in front of the TV,” my grandmother recalled. “Back then, there weren’t TVs like we have now; it was a system where the picture and sound were separate. There was terrible static, but we didn’t go to sleep. All night long, they [members of Parliament] fought and argued, and it wasn’t until dawn that they finally reached a decision.”

My grandmother is quite advanced in age, and she often has a hard time remembering things. She forgot simple words like ‘TV’ or ‘soda’ right in the middle of our conversation, but she remembered her emotions clearly: “Those were such interesting times — so much was happening! Interesting times in a good way, not like today.”

Mariana Stadnyk: Moscow’s failed coup led to independence

When Ukraine became independent my parents were thirteen. My dad Ihor, who grew up in the Ternopil region, watched everything on TV with great interest, especially the tanks that were deployed in Moscow during the attempted coup at the end of August 1991. It was organized by eight Communist Party hardliners in the Soviet government who opposed Gorbachev’s reforms and feared the collapse of the USSR after signing the New Union Treaty, which was to be signed on August 20, 1991.

The so-called ‘gang of eight’ detained the USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev at his dacha in Crimea, formed the State Committee on the State of Emergency (GKChP) on 19 August, and tried to seize power in the country. The coup failed quickly; on 22 August Gorbachev returned to Moscow, the organizers lost their posts, and didn’t reach their goal of preventing collapse of the USSR.

My mom Oksana, who grew up in the Vinnytsia region, remembers how scared the members of the GKChP looked as they sat behind a long table and how the USSR Vice-President Gennady Yanayev’s hands trembled as he read the state of emergency announcement. She found it hilarious at that time.

My mom’s classmate, whose father was in the military, was concerned. “The military was put on alert because this was serious,” she told my mom. At that time, my mom didn’t really think about it much. Now she understands that the events could have unfolded quite differently and the military could have been involved.

At the same time, my dad understood that something extraordinary had happened when Rada voted for Ukrainian independence just two days after the coup. Only three years before, when an education inspector asked students about how the Ukrainian flag looked at my dad’s school and his classmate said it was blue and yellow — not red with a Soviet emblem and a blue stripe at the bottom — there was a big scandal. In 1991, however, a huge blue-and-yellow flag was solemnly brought into the Verkhovna Rada building and raised above its dome.

Soon after that, new symbols appeared everywhere — new flag, new anthem, new coat of arms. The Soviet school uniforms with white aprons disappeared along with the Pioneer’s red scarves; education suddenly changed and myths about Lenin were debunked. TV and radio began broadcasting Verkhovna Rada sessions, and for the first time you could hear every politician’s speech.

At that time my parents didn’t fully understand how long Ukraine had been fighting for independence and didn’t appreciate it enough. It took watching that independence nearly slip away for its true value to become clear.

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Interested in reading more stories about Ukrainian Independence? Take a look at these:

Where Ukraine’s eff-you attitude comes from by Anastasiia Kryvoruchenko, Mariana Lastovyria, and Sofia Konoplytska

The Granite Revolution sparked Ukrainian independence by Alessandra Hay, William Glover Weiss, and Tim Mak

Marking Ukrainian Independence Day: We speak to those who declared it 32 years ago by Myroslava Tanska-Vikulova

THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By: Oleksandra Poda

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

WITKOFF AND KUSHNER’S VISIT TO UKRAINE POSTPONED AGAIN: U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner first-ever visit to Kyiv was called off again. This time, because of the wave of Russian missile and drone strikes that battered the capital last week. The trip has been delayed repeatedly since early April, when Zelenskyy said the envoys had confirmed they would come “on April 1 or 2” but never did. By postponing the trip, the officials will miss Ukraine’s Independence Day.

Although Witkoff and Kushner will not attend, on August 23-24, Kyiv is set to hold one of the largest diplomatic gatherings in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion. The leaders of the UK, Canada, Moldova, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Norway and the European Council President are scheduled to visit Kyiv. The officials will arrive by train despite facing the same security concerns Washington cited as grounds for caution. Former U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg also arrived.

ZELENSKYY: RUSSIA TO DRAFT 300,000 TROOPS AFTER SEPTEMBER ELECTIONS: Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s intelligence predicts that Russia will launch a new mobilization, recruiting approximately 300,000 troops following the State Duma elections on September 20. Zelenskyy has also said that this mobilization will be further increased in 2027 to reach a goal of 500,000 troops.

Reporting from the WSJ has found Russian officials reviewing mobilization procedures in the Kaliningrad region, testing its ability to provide the necessary resources for these troops.

A mobilization of this size would extend the war’s timeline, providing Russia with the manpower to sustain operations well into 2027 and beyond. Zelenskyy used this announcement to highlight the decrease in weapons deliveries from previous years.

UK SHARES CLASSIFIED DATA WITH KYIV FOR MISSILE PRODUCTION: The British government has approved the transfer of classified technical data to Ukraine, which will enable the country to produce SCALP long-range cruise missiles domestically. With a range of up to 560 kilometers, SCALP missiles are among the most effective weapons in Ukraine’s arsenal for striking deep into Russian territory to target logistics, airfields, and command centers.

Last month, Moscow recalled its ambassador to the UK, Andrii Kelin, and reiterated earlier warnings of ‘consequences’ for British military assistance to Ukraine.

RUSSIA TARGETS EUROPE’S WEAPONS FACTORIES: Russia has launched a continent-wide, systematic campaign targeting weapons manufacturing facilities across Europe — testing how far Russia can push NATO.

This campaign involves recruiting local nationals, often through criminal networks, to carry out arson, tamper with equipment, and gather intelligence at factories producing artillery shells, drones, armored vehicles, and other military equipment intended for Ukraine.

Confirmed or suspected incidents have been recorded in Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom.

CAT OF CONFLICT:

This cat is taking in the morning breeze. It knows it’s going to be unbearably hot in a few hours, so it’s enjoying the weather while it can.

Stay safe out there!

Best,
Oleksandra, Mariana and Mariana.

Ukraine targets another major Russian retailer… Russia strikes a shopping mall, injuring 100 people… Around 80 Ukrainian troops deserted while on training in Germany…

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine – The last time I walked through the streets in Kharkiv was in 2025. I was visiting my hometown to introduce my daughter, who was 5 at the time, to relatives she had never met and is now unlikely to ever see again. The city has become exponentially more dangerous due to a new threat that had previously been limited to the frontline — FPV drones.

FPV drones are cheap, so Russia can launch them by the dozen as a constant presence in the sky. And because a human operator flies each one in real time, it can follow a moving target, turning an ordinary drive or walk into something closer to being hunted.

Read more

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine – The Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, voted to confirm the long-awaited appointment of two ministerial positions: the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Yevhenii Khmara was appointed head of the Ministry of Defense, while Andrii Sybiha was appointed head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Rada’s vote ended a month-long hiatus that began on July 16, when Zelenskyy initiated a major government reshuffle by dismissing Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and the entire Cabinet of Ministers. After dismissing Fedorov, Zelenskyy failed to communicate why Fedorov, widely associated with Ukrainian technological advancement, had been replaced, triggering a wave of mass protests.

The Counteroffensive spoke with Ukrainian lawmakers just before the vote on their position regarding the assignment, as well as with protesters who gathered near the Rada, to understand what the future of the demonstrations might look like.

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Read more

NATO is within Russian hi-tech drones strike range… Russian warship deployed close to a German island… Latvia wants compensation for neighbouring Russia… Russia marks foreign mercenaries…

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine – You leave your apartment and squint against the blazing sun as bright yellow spots float on the inside of your eyelids. You feel a cool breeze on your skin and gasp at the salty air while the waves murmur soothingly in the distance. That’s what you’ve missed for years, so you just let time freeze and soak up the sun.

Suddenly, distant seagull squawking turns into a piercing, ominous sound you’ve never pictured but have always been waiting for in the back of your mind. “That’s an air raid alert!” the hotel staff is calling. “Everyone to the shelter, please! A missile is flying here.”

Anna is the one who has to handle such situations confidently and ensure that each guest is safe.

The full-scale invasion changed the concept of summer vacations in Ukraine beyond recognition. After Russia completely seized the Azov shoreline and restrictions were imposed on men wishing to leave the country, thousands of tourists flooded the beaches of the Odesa region, the only remaining seaside destination. They continue to arrive despite dozens of Russian drones and missiles flying overhead to attack international ports, sea vessels, roads, and bridges.

This summer, 38 out of 45 beaches in the city of Odesa alone are open for tourists and have bomb shelters nearby. Still, the enemy attacks have already led to civilian casualties. On June 23, a 26-year-old woman died, and a man was injured due to a Russian drone strike.

Explosion on Langeron Beach in Odesa. August 16, 2026. Source: Telegram channel.

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In July 2026, the Russian strikes resulted in a record number of civilian casualties, 70 percent more than the same month the previous year.

Tourists killed while enjoying their summer vacation only make up a small share, but it still means that Ukraine has no safe places to rest within the country. For many, vacations are sometimes the only way to recharge; Ukrainians’ minds often remain in survival mode even then, leaving no chance to escape traumatic experiences.

A drone attack on a Ukrainian beach might have no less economic impact on the hospitality industry than a sinking cargo ship has on international trade in grains. Anna Zapsha, a hotel administrator in the village of Zatoka on the Black Sea, recalled how the outbreak of the war almost put an end to her parents’ new business and forced her family to live on their savings.

“We opened in 2021, and in 2022, the full-fledged war began. This is probably one of the biggest crises our family has ever faced, because everyone pitched in, everyone was counting on it. The only thing we were relying on was what we’d earned over four months — and we hadn’t worked at all that year,” she said.

Echoes of the early years of war are still evident for her family and other hotel owners in the area. The Odesa region and Zatoka, located on the coastal spit, were heavily bombed, so her family halted construction of a new building and a swimming pool. Under constant threat, they still can’t bring themselves to expand, but their competitors on the western side of the bay had it even worse. According to Anna, several hotels there were completely damaged by Russian strikes, while others had their property seized for not having paid land taxes on time.

The hotel got back to work in 2023, rather spontaneously. Anna, a university student, came to Zatoka from Kyiv, and her parents returned from her hometown of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi in the Odesa region just “to change the scenery” for a few days. Then, people started coming and asking to stay.

“We weren’t expecting that at all, because we don’t have any staff — it was just me, my mom, and my dad. People would come just for the weekend because everyone was still afraid to travel. And we took whatever little money they gave us, there weren’t any set prices,” Anna recalled.

Further on, the situation began to improve. Each year brought more visitors, and it got busier. In 2026, all 30 rooms at Anna’s family hotel were booked from early June. According to her, the hotel might have attracted some of the guests due to the difficulties that people face on their way to other areas of Zatoka. Since spring of 2022, Russian missiles have often hit the bridge over the Dniester estuary, so now the part of Zatoka is only accessible through the territory of Moldova.

“To get there, you have to drive through Palanka, the border crossing with Moldova, and take a detour. To cross the border, you need to get an invitation on the Border Service’s website if you’re a man,” Anna explained. “We’re in the part closer to Odesa, so, if I may say so, we got lucky.”

In about five years of working at her family hotel, Anna mastered multiple skills, sometimes completely unexpected. Once, Anna even had to decorate a room for newlyweds on their honeymoon. She still remembers a couple who returned married the next season and brought their child with them a year later. In her opinion, what makes the guests return is the coziness her family is trying to maintain in the hotel.

“They often come here for the atmosphere — they feel like they’re at home. That’s what we have to do. People come here on vacation and stay for a week, and during this week, we want to do our absolute best to help them and make sure they’re comfortable,” Anna said.

When drones or missiles are approaching, this home-like feeling plays out in a different way. During an air raid alert, Anna and her parents try to warn the guests and see them go to safety. The hotel has a shelter, but not all visitors use it. Firstly, near the water, it’s almost impossible to make it deep enough and totally safe. Secondly — and that’s even more disturbing — most guests come from places where attacks are nothing new. The visitors from Kyiv, which faces missile attacks once every few days, and frontline regions, such as Kharkiv, Sumy, or Chernihiv, tend to behave casually, no matter the danger.

But the dangers along the Odesa region’s coastline are unique. First, there are sea mines. After every storm, currents can wash explosive objects ashore. According to Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk, some of these mines can detonate before bomb disposal experts arrive because they have already been activated by the sea. A mine that explodes in the water is particularly dangerous because the shock wave is significantly more powerful than an airborne explosion. Some beaches along the coast have officially closed this year due to an unconfirmed mine threat, and most other beaches remain closed and have not been cleared of mines.

Second, the Odesa region experiences missile strikes with a different reaction time than most other regions of the country. Due to its proximity to occupied Crimea, where the launchers are located, ballistic missiles take less time to reach Odesa compared to Kyiv, depending on the launch point.

Anna herself has a brother who is serving in the army, so she is always open to talking to the visitors who need it. She might talk to a guest for an hour, listening about their military service or the pets they have brought from the frontline. According to her, the most important skill in hospitality is to treat everyone with patience and respect. Veterans probably need even more of these, as they are often insecure because of their injuries or mental health conditions.

“We had an experience with a soldier who stuttered due to PTSD and asked if that was okay for us. For some reason, soldiers worry a lot about how civilians will react to things,” Anna noticed. “Although in reality, we’re the ones who have to adapt to them.”

Anna still remembers the terrible days of winter and spring 2022, when Russian amphibious units could have landed in Odesa, as well as the end of June, when the Ukrainian army liberated Snake Island. If it weren’t for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, her family’s business would remain no more than a shattered dream, so stopping to chat or asking other visitors to turn the music down is the least she can do to help soldiers relax.

As for her own ways to wind down after a hectic summer season, Anna jokes that she would never go to the beach.

“Locals don’t go to the seaside,” she laughed. “In two months I’ve been here, I’ve only been to the beach one time, and I don’t go there anymore.”

Instead, she prefers hiking through mountains and enjoys exploring new cities in Ukraine or abroad. Wherever she goes, she tries not to pack every day with tours and activities but gives herself a few slow mornings and lazy days to breathe.

Despite the uncertainty and danger of war, with drones and missiles falling on resort towns, Ukrainians live on and deserve to have some rest. For some, this is the only way to keep themselves going.

“Everyone chooses a resort the best they can. Everywhere’s a nightmare right now. We’re living in conditions where we just adapted, but we need to change the picture so our minds don’t… well, so we don’t go off the deep end,” Anna said.

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Interested in how other Ukrainian businesses are doing during the war? Explore our earlier stories:

Chinese generators explode during Kharkiv blackouts by Oleksandra Poda

How conscription pushes women into “male jobs” by Oleksandra Poda

Investigation: How Russia steals Ukraine’s trillion-dollar mineral wealth by Yelyzaveta Tkachenko and Veronika Romanova

Inside an inclusive Ukrainian bakery by Oleksandra Khelemendyk

THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By: Mariana Stadnyk

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

NATO IS WITHIN RUSSIAN HI-TECH DRONES STRIKE RANGE: Russia has built 10 new secret bases with launch pads for its most powerful long-range suicide drones, all within striking distance of NATO countries, according to an investigation done by The Telegraph. Some of the bases have already been used to attack Ukraine.

The bases, some of which have already been used to attack Ukraine, are able to store over 1,000 drones at once – evidence of Moscow’s plan to expand drone capabilities. Out of 59 new launch rails for drones, 20 have an extended length, indicating that they will be used to launch some of Russia’s newest long-range drones.

U.S. intelligence recently warned that Russia is likely to launch an attack on a NATO country in the next few years in order to test the alliance.

RUSSIAN WARSHIP DEPLOYED CLOSE TO A GERMAN ISLAND: The Russian Admiral Kasatonov frigate, equipped with cruise and hypersonic missiles, was deployed near the German island of Fehmarn last week, The Telegraph reported. By Monday, the vessel’s location was unclear as the ship’s tracker was turned off.

In addition to the Admiral Kasatonov, the Admiral Levchenko was seen in July near the same island and believed to be protecting the Russian shadow fleet.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to attack British and EU vessels for the seizure of the shadow fleet ships, which he described as “piracy”. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian national security council, stated that Russia could attack any merchant ship belonging to a country transporting cargo in the interests of Ukraine.

LATVIA WANTS COMPENSATION FOR NEIGHBOURING RUSSIA: In advance of the national election in October, Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs asked the EU to give Latvia €7 billion from the EU’s next seven-year budget to compensate for the financial cost of sharing a border with Russia, Politico reported. While Latvia has sharply increased defense spending since the war in Ukraine, trade with Russia has decreased dramatically.

Kulbergs has said that while Latvia is providing security to other European countries, this is pushing Latvia’s budget deficit to its limit. Meanwhile, Latvian defense spending often fuels European economies, as Latvia ends up purchasing weapons from other EU countries. Another candidate, Ainārs Šlesers, believes the EU should compensate Latvia every time the country supports sanctions on Russia.

Latvia, along with other Baltic states, have come under threat from Russia over the course of the war. Russian drones have violated the airspace of Baltic countries and Russia has repeatedly threatened the Baltics for their support for Ukraine.

RUSSIA MARKS FOREIGN MERCENARIES: Instead of using standard military identification tags, Russia has resorted to marking the skin or clothing of foreign mercenaries with serial numbers using henna as a method of identification, Ukraine’s military intelligence reported.

Although the markings are not permanent, they cannot be washed off with water and must be remade if they start to fade. These serial numbers make it easier for Russian police to identify deserters.

CATOF CONFLICT:

Mariana’s boyfriend has recently adopted this small kitten, taking her from a local shelter. But on her first day in her new home, she faced a ballistic attack:(

Stay safe out there!

Best,
Oleksandra and Oleksandra.

The U.S. Senate passes Graham sanctions against Russia… FSB hardliners playing a more central role in Russia’s politics… Russia puts stake in its largest airport up for sale amid budget deficit… Dismissed defmin pushes to expand Starlink for strikes on Russia… Kim Jong-Un earned $14 billion from his alliance with Russia…

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine – When the sound of a blast rips through my head, as though my skull were being crushed with a sledgehammer, it’s already too late.

I leap out of bed before I’m fully awake, grabbing the slippers and things I left by the apartment door the night before in preparation for a quick getaway once the explosions engulf the city. It is too late. Too late to run downstairs. Too late to grab the chair I had planned to take for a night in the shelter. Too late to even throw a shirt over my body. The paralysis hits in the hallway as I count how many times the sky caves in.

My phone keeps lighting up with alerts. I send my loved ones another meme of a cow with the caption, ‘Just wondering how much longer I can endure this,’ to let them know I am still alive. I ask myself this question every time Russians interrupt my sleep with dozens of ballistic missiles. Because the question has already been carved into my mind. I send this stupid cow dozens of times throughout the night.

How much longer can I endure this?

In early July, U.S. President Donald Trump teased the idea of granting Ukraine a license to produce its own Patriot interceptors — the U.S.-made air defense system capable of defending Ukrainian skies against Russian missiles. Weeks later, he reversed course, leaving Ukraine dependent on a dwindling supply of interceptors just as Russia escalated its ballistic missile campaign, especially on the capital.

Russia launched a wartime-record 126 ballistic missiles in July alone, according to The New York Times, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s advisers now warn they are capable of launching close to that number each month. At the same time, Patriot systems have increasingly been diverted to protect U.S. forces in the Middle East amidst America’s war in Iran.

Figures cited in news articles tell you Ukraine is running out of Patriot interceptors in a matter-of-fact manner. But we are here to share with you what cold, faceless numbers can’t: what it actually feels like each night.

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Mariana Lastovyria: I’ve never related to ‘Tom and Jerry’ more

“Alisa and I bought tourniquets. Tomorrow we’ll get respirators too,” my neighbor told me. During every attack, she sits beside me near the elevator on the first floor of our building with her 10-year-old daughter, waiting for the explosions to stop. I now only make it there at my own risk — either during the short pauses between attacks or when, after calculating the missile’s speed, I realize I have about 40 seconds to get into the elevator.

I look at her daughter, who is reading aloud from Telegram channels what kind of weapon is flying toward our city. And suddenly, I feel an overwhelming sadness for all of us. Because this 10-year-old girl knows the difference between Zircon missiles and S-300s. Among her fairy-tale books and the toy fox she tucks into her backpack at night, she carries a flashlight and will soon add a respirator, just in case we find ourselves buried under the rubble.

People are no longer thinking about packing passports, documents, or valuables. They are turning to basics: a whistle to call rescuers; a respirator to breathe through dust and smoke after a strike; wet wipes and water to clean yourself.

This month, I have not had a single truly restful night. Either explosions rip you out of sleep, or you lie awake until 3 a.m., waiting for the next attack.

No one is surprised anymore that Russia has weaponized sleep. But being jolted awake by the blast of a ballistic missile every other night adds an entirely new layer of horror. Your body has no chance to brace for the danger, yet it is never given the opportunity to relax and process the trauma either. I feel as though I’m living in a constant state of alert, bolting into the hallway at every sudden noise in the night, even when it’s just a passing car or a train rolling beneath my window.

If I could weigh the amount of exhaustion accumulated over this month, it would outweigh a black hole. And I imagine millions of Ukrainians are carrying the same weight.

I know that these days, news of yet another attack on Kyiv doesn’t get much attention. But I am so frustrated that the validity of our war trauma is now measured by the number of missiles launched at the city. As if 30 ballistic missiles are something we should have learned to accept as normal. As if 20 bodies ripped apart are somehow less tragic than a hundred.

Life in Kyiv now feels like we are under thousands of spotlights — watched, exposed, yet ignored until the picture becomes horrific enough that no one can look away.

Jackie Cole: From the vantage point of an American in Kyiv

If you’re reading this outside of Ukraine, and especially if you have a loved one inside the country, the nights that make international headlines are likely etched into your brain. Maybe you remember Tuesday night of last week, when Russia launched the deadliest strike on Kyiv this year. Indeed, it’s often the superlatives that make headlines. The largest-ever attack over a 24-hour period or the most drones used in a single night.

“U stayin safe over there?” a friend texted the day after a record number of Kyiv residents flooded the metro. “Reading about these threats from Russia.”

He wasn’t wrong to worry. I will never acclimate, as some said I would, to hiding underground while missiles rain down and take civilian lives, steal childhoods, and chip away at the sanity of those lucky enough to survive.

But, living in Kyiv for a few months, I’ve also learned that the shorter, “smaller” attacks carve a different kind of emotional scar. Those headline-making nights are also the ones Ukraine and its allies have intelligence to predict. Hours before the first launch, I plug in a portable battery, pack water and a chocolate bar, and sleep in proper pajamas for the public shelter nearby. Yes, the dread builds long before the missiles arrive, but it’s a productive kind of dread when you’re privileged enough to have time, and a shelter, to prepare.

Back in May, on a night without advanced warning of a large-scale combined attack, a siren at 3 a.m. often blended into the background of a vivid dream. I’d squint my eyes open just enough to scroll through Telegram and learn which Russian weapons were flying and in which direction. I had time to understand the threat and act which, sometimes, meant rolling over and dozing back to sleep.

Also, back then, the crescendo of a siren was often coupled with strangely comforting ‘booms,’ a signal that Ukrainian air defenses were at work to keep us safe.

Two months later, ballistic missiles, once relatively rare and mostly used to target energy infrastructure, became commonplace in Kyiv.

The warning time disappeared with the defenses. Now, when 30 ballistic missiles streak toward the capital without the usual heads-up of a drone barrage to first overwhelm Ukraine’s interceptors, there may be only seconds of warning, if any at all. With no time to reach shelter, I race to the hallway and crouch between the two walls with my roommate, singing Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen to drown out the blasts shaking our bedroom doors.

Mariana Stadnyk: Who’s faster, me or the missile?

Each time there is a ballistic attack I am faced with a dilemma: Should I run to the shelter or stay at home since the missiles are already on their way? If a missile hits my home, I will likely die. If a missile hits nearby while I’m outside, I will also likely die.

It is much more dangerous to be outside, running to shelter during the attack — there’s nothing to stop shrapnel and debris from flying towards you. During Russia’s attack on August 1, seven people died while trying to get to a shelter less than 50 meters from their house.

Yet I feel much safer in the shelter. So when there are no warnings of new missiles, I run out.

“Will I be faster than the next missile or is the missile faster than me?” I try to calculate each time before exiting my apartment building.

I know that playing a racing game against a missile isn’t the wisest. There was one time when the missile was faster: I heard a loud click and an even louder explosion while I was outside and nothing could protect me. I am lucky the missile didn’t hit nearby.

A building or a basic shelter (like basements, ground-floor areas of buildings, underground parking garages and underground walkways) can save you from debris, but not from a direct hit.

In Kyiv, out of more than 4,300 registered protective structures, only 512 are legally classified as shelters: sealed structures designed for people to stay in for an extended period of time in the event of an emergency. However, some of them are accessible only to certain categories of citizens, like employees of specific enterprises. The school basement where I usually stay during the attacks is a basic shelter — not the best option — but a wave of relief still washes over me every time I run down the stairs.

This sprint towards the shelter, not the sound of explosions — as some may think — is the scariest part of the attack for me. Although my body reacts to explosions — my heart races and I shudder with every new sound — they actually calm me down. When you hear an explosion, it means that it’s over: the missile hit somewhere else, but I’m safe.

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Interested in more coverage about the mental state of our team during wartime? Take a look at these stories:

How mothers explain war to our children

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Overnight in the subway, thanks to Russian bombings

THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By: Oleksandra Poda

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

THE U.S. SENATE PASSES GRAHAM SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA: On August 7, the U.S. Senate passed the “Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026” by a vote of 86 to 11 — a sweeping piece of legislation introducing sanctions against Russia and significantly increasing pressure on countries that purchase Russian energy. Under the bill, the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas could face tariffs of up to 100% on their imports to the United States.

The bill now awaits consideration by the House of Representatives, which returns from recess in September.

FSB HARDLINERS PLAYING A MORE CENTRAL ROLE IN RUSSIA’S POLITICS: According to Bloomberg, citing sources close to the Kremlin, Putin is increasingly sidelining Russia’s economic and political advisers in favor of FSB hardliners. The FSB has gained near-unlimited power to open criminal cases against virtually anyone, with sources saying “no one knows who they’ll come for next.”

RUSSIA PUTS STAKE IN ITS LARGEST AIRPORT UP FOR SALE AMID BUDGET DEFICIT: On August 6, Putin signed a decree removing Sheremetyevo International Airport from Russia’s list of strategic enterprises. This move allowed for the sale of the state’s 30.4% stake to Russian buyers. The state still has a “golden share” which gives the state control over management decisions.

Sheremetyevo is Russia’s largest airport, with a capacity of 87 million passengers per year. Despite sanctions and the closure of international air routes, the airport remains profitable.

The move comes as Russia finds itself amid a serious budget deficit, which was 2.5% of GDP in the first half of 2026.

DISMISSED DEFMIN PUSHES TO EXPAND STARLINK FOR STRIKES ON RUSSIA: After his dismissal, former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has continued pushing Elon Musk through informal channels to grant Ukraine expanded Starlink capabilities, specifically to target Russian ballistic missile systems, The Atlantic reported. Musk has refused, arguing that the risk of provoking further Russian escalation is too high.

Zelenskyy also raised the Starlink issue directly with Trump during their July 28 meeting at the White House, but Trump did not agree to intervene.

KIM JONG-UN EARNED $14 BILLION FROM HIS ALLIANCE WITH RUSSIA: According to Bloomberg, North Korea received up to $22 billion in foreign revenue between 2022 and 2025 — nearly four times more than in the previous four years. Over 90% of this revenue, approximately $14 billion, came from military cooperation with Russia, including the supply of ammunition, ballistic missiles, and manpower.

These funds allowed North Korea to finance its nuclear and missile programs and saturate the domestic market with consumer goods for the first time in a decade.

CAT OF CONFLICT:

Compot the cat is not a big fan of heat waves, as you can see by his facial expression.

Stay safe out there!

Best,
Jackie, Mariana and Mariana

The U.S. restores intel sharing with Ukraine… Explosive drone at a German airport… Russia imports record volumes of fuel from Belarus.

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine — This July will be remembered for some of Ukraine’s most successful deep strikes on logistics hubs and oil refineries, which are continuing to bring the war home to ordinary Russians. Yet it also laid bare the precarious state of Ukraine’s own critical and civilian infrastructure — it can no longer be fully shielded from ballistic missiles as interceptor stocks dwindle.

In this issue, The Counteroffensive will break down what Ukraine expects from the blackout campaign this winter, the desperate need of the anti-ballistic program, how the armed forces innovatively deploy sea drones in land operations, and July’s most important battlefield updates.

Read more

Zaluzhnyy: Ukraine will never join NATO; Romania imports energy from Ukraine; Georgian oil refinery turns away from Russian oil; Trump to give Taiwan $14 billion arms package; Taiwan to raise awareness about China’s influence.

OUR LEAD STORY:

TAIPEI, Taiwan – When a baby smiles with doe-like sparkling eyes, makes babbling sound, or giggles, most parents melt.

Dr. Wu En-Tsz, an obstetrician-gynecologist working in Taipei, has seen countless adorable babies. When she sees the first ultrasound image of a new life, she feels delighted.

As much affection as she has toward newborns, she doesn’t want one herself. “I often tell people I’m an OB-GYN who doesn’t want to have a baby,” said En-Tsz, who works for Dianthus MFM Clinic. “I want to focus on myself more instead of taking care of others.”

Taiwan is just one country experiencing a gradual decrease in birth rate — now a global trend.

The responsibility of bearing children, and often raising them, has always fallen on women, but modern women are feeling suffocated and reluctant to sacrifice their careers for children. With the addition of economic burdens such as rising housing prices and limited care-taking resources, more and more families hesitate to have kids.

But in Taiwan, this is becoming a national risk issue; as Beijing intensifies its gray-zone warfare and cross-strait tensions by sending fighter jets across the middle line of the Taiwan Strait or coast guard ships around Taiwan to challenge the authority of the Taiwanese government, Taiwan’s plummeting birth rate represents a severe existential vulnerability.

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China has a population of 1.4 billion. Taiwan, with only 23.4 million people, is less than 0.02 percent that of its adversarial neighbor. In addition, the birth rate of Taiwan hit a record low last year, and the lowest globally. The data published predicted that by 2065, the population of Taiwan would be cut in half.

Some solutions include expanding conscription to women and enhancing autonomous technical system, according to a report published in April by The Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taiwanese think tank.

En-Tsz is not your typical OB-GYN. She has a sleeve of tattoos on her right arm; the most noticeable one is a snake wrapped around a bleeding pen. The tattoo sometimes causes hostile attention, and encountering judgmental clients can be difficult.

“When they are not satisfied with the medical service, they often target my tattoo,” En-Tsz said.

She recalled her experience in the second year of her internship as a resident physician. “I’ve seen mothers with cancer, and some just had babies not long ago. I felt terrified,” En-Tsz said.

Unlike most doctors, who specialize in a single organ or system, En-Tsz finds fulfillment in guiding new life from conception to birth. She chose to become an OB-GYN because she prefers to deal with life than with death.

The families — her patients — always share their happiness with her. “I often heard them tell me that I’m the first person their baby sees. It makes me feel close to them.”

Increasingly, though, she’s detecting fewer births.

And, in some ways, this decrease in birth rate is a warning sign to the country’s future military strength is weakening. Taiwan’s military manpower has already been declining in recent years. Data from the Ministry of the Interior shows that the number of conscripts in 2022 hit its lowest in nearly 10 years. The amount of filing early retirement surged from 401 in 2020 to 1,565 in 2024, about four times growth in just four years.

Taiwan’s Defense Department admits that the number of eligible men to be conscripted has also been falling. The number went below 100,000 for the first time in 2023. But the prediction says it could fall lower than 80,000 due to the birth rate drop.

Air defense pilots may be hit hardest. Chinese PLA fighters have become much more aggressive in the past five years by sending fighter jets across the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, so Taiwan needs to speed up recruiting eligible pilots. But according to congressional data, the island only added 21 fighter jet pilots from 2011 to 2019.

One of the many reasons why some women today refuse to have children in Taiwan is that they feel that raising children falls primarily on them.

“Men weren’t educated to manage a relationship,” said En-Tsz, who shared her own experience. Her father was a sailor who did not spend much time taking care of her when she was little. After her parents’ divorce, her mother disappeared. Her father needed to work on the ocean for long periods, so his sister — her aunt — raised her.

Looking back on her childhood, En-Tsz did not see clearly what a father’s role should be. “I didn’t get to see what a complete family was supposed to be like.”

As a neglected child, En-Tsz was afraid to have a kid who could suffer the same upbringing. “I’m not very good at being a caretaker,” she said.

“I got married because I want to find someone to have a family,” she added, but her family plan doesn’t include having a baby. Two people supporting each other is enough.

Taiwanese women are becoming more empowered to pursue their careers, but society lags behind in supporting pregnancy while pursuing a career.

Ironically, some independent women looking for better careers chose to serve in the military. Taiwan’s Defense Department renewed its recruitment standard to broaden the inclusion of female soldiers in 2018, and the gender ratio has been growing.

Besides expanding women’s recruitment, the military increased incentives to join. In June, 2025, Taiwan’s Congress passed a bill adding around $1,000 in subsidies per soldier. Since this July, the military has started incentivizing birth by extending the unpaid leave of absence period for service crew members.

Maternity and childcare leave are granted by law in Taiwan. But outside of the military, women pursuing higher positions are less likely to use it for fear of losing opportunities for promotion, according to Leona Cheng, a full-time sales at an engineering company. Daycare or close family is sometimes an option, but unexpected incidents happen; when a child stays home sick, a mother often must stay home.

If a man is expected to economically support the family, they inevitably share less of the burden of taking care of the baby.

Limited public resources are also a factor: public childcare centers are sufficient to cover only 4 percent of Taiwanese babies aged 2 years old. Education costs have risen to a record high, and rising inflation places additional strains on would-be Taiwanese parents.

“I feel my kids would live in a difficult era,” Lia Hsu, a mother with two kids working in the tech industry, said. “My kids are lovely, but I work so many hours a day. It’s hard for me to spend quality time with them and at the same time balance my career.”

For those who work outside of the tech industry, their salaries are lagging behind their assets. The burden of debt is just another obstacle between a woman and having a child.

Traditional family expectations and a difficult child-bearing society might be significant reasons for Taiwanese women to avoid seeking children, but building a solid safety net to protect future talents is crucial for the island under threat.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Taiwanese military has been learning to build a more autonomous defense, involving more drones. But even that is facing a manpower problem — data from the Budget Office last year showed a severe shortage of drone operators. The army planned to train 1,000 operators in the year, but only released 300 training spots due to the lack of drone training talent.

En-Tsz believes too many talents in Taiwan are flooding into the tech industry, shrinking the talent in other fields, including defense.

“A bigger population doesn’t always guarantee victory in a war,” En-Tsz said. But a country like Taiwan, without a consolidated security net, could be in serious trouble if the birth rate continues on this downward spiral.

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Interested in topics about Taiwan? Take a deep dive into some of our related coverage.

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THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By: Mariana Stadnyk

ZALUZHNYY: UKRAINE WILL NEVER JOIN NATO: Ukrainian ambassador to Britain and former Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyy believes that Ukraine’s accession to NATO is not viable, Evropeiska Pravda reports.

Zaluzhnyy expressed skepticism over NATO’s ability to counter Russia while acknowledging that Ukraine is reliant on NATO technology. In his opinion, other blocs and alliances would be more effective for Ukraine, like a possible European military bloc or the JEF coalition — a Northern European military partnership for expeditionary operations.

ROMANIA IMPORTS ENERGY FROM UKRAINE: The Romanian energy company Nuclearelectrica started buying energy from Ukraine as the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant shut down its energy unit for the first time.

The Danube river that supplies cooling water for the power plant has reached record lows causing Romania to suffer an energy deficit. Romania executed a controlled explosion with the aim of directing the water to the last operating nuclear reactor in the country.

GEORGIAN OIL REFINERY TURNS AWAY FROM RUSSIAN OIL: The only oil refinery in Georgia, situated in Kulevi, will refine crude oil from Kazakhstan and Libya, completely phasing out Russian oil in August-September.

The refinery started diversifying oil supplies this spring with the aim of exporting into the EU. This July the refinery has been hit with EU sanctions, as it has been processing Russian oil since its establishment in 2025.

TRUMP TO GIVE TAIWAN $14 BILLION ARMS PACKAGE: Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul announced that the U.S. President Donald Trump will soon present the next arms package, worth around $14 billion, for Taiwan to the Congress.

The previous $11 billion package for Taiwan was the largest foreign military sales package ever. It included HIMARS rocket systems, Javelin anti-tank missiles and loitering munitions.

During his trip to Beijing this May Trump referred to the package as a “very good negotiating chip”. McCaul underscored that China would not affect the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

TAIWAN TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT CHINA’S INFLUENCE: The Mainland Affairs Council will collaborate with schools to counter China’s influence, as many Taiwanese students participate in exchange programs with the PRC.

According to the Control Yuan report, Beijing uses its educational exchange programs to influence young Taiwanese students. The cross-strait educational exchanges have seen thousands of Taiwanese students going to China, but only 16 Chinese students participating last year.

DOG OF PIECE:

Look at this fluff! She’s such a sweetheart. We hung out with her at the park, catching so much attention because it’s so rare to see such a big dog in Taiwan.

Stay safe out there!

Best,
Elaine

Ukraine only shot down 2 out of 35 russian missiles… Trump denies promise to grant Ukraine a Patriot license… A mass march took place in Kyiv, as protests enter their third week.

OUR LEAD STORY:

KYIV, Ukraine – Coming from the well-funded and well-supplied American military, former Marine officer Issac Luna never thought that he would be shopping on Amazon for military equipment and drone parts. Or that civilian marketplaces would play huge roles in supplying militaries in the age of modern warfare.

“I went from being a major in the U.S. Marines to a basic soldier in the Ukrainian army with no pay,” Issac said.

Unlike the U.S., the Russian military is unofficially relying on civilian marketplaces to provide the necessary equipment for its soldiers. Because of that, a standalone economic sector emerged in Russia where private businesses have become de facto suppliers of military equipment, facilitated by Russia’s largest online marketplace, Wildberries.

Early on the night of July 31, Ukrainian drones struck a Wildberries warehouse in Volgograd, almost 1,300 km from the Ukrainian border. It was the 11th successful attack on Wildberries warehouses by the Ukrainian military since the campaign began roughly two weeks ago.

Wildberries is a major international e-commerce platform founded in Russia that handles roughly 45 percent of the country’s online retail sales. It sells everything from clothing, cookware, footwear, and cosmetics to military and dual-use goods, and thus is often referred to as the “Russian Amazon” in the media.

Having already dealt a heavy blow to Russia’s oil refining industry, Ukraine is now concentrating on Wildberries, a key logistics artery, in a bid to deepen the economic damage and further strain Russia’s military capabilities. For Kyiv, it is a chance to force the Kremlin to the negotiating table after unsuccessful attempts to reach a ceasefire under Donald Trump’s mediation.

“The Ukrainian side justifies the strikes by stating that the warehouses were used to supply the Russian army and defense industry with dual-use goods and components necessary for the war,” said Viktor Kevliuk, a security analyst from the independent Kyiv-based think tank Center for Defense Strategies.

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Before the strikes began, the marketplace featured a dedicated product tag labeling hundreds of thousands of items ‘For the SMO,’ short for the propaganda term the Kremlin uses for the war, meaning “Special Military Operation.” The tag was widely used by Russian servicemen to browse military-related items, like drones or body armor. After Wildberries warehouses started going up in flames, the tag was deleted, though the products were simply moved to other categories.

“It signaled they were a “patriotic” company that supports the invasion,” Isaac said.

The Counteroffensive has gone down the rabbit hole — the Wildberries website — and taken a close look at what Russian civilians and members of the military are buying on the so-called Russian Amazon.

The marketplace sports a large array of military goods like vests and helmets, but also items required to build drones, with military marketing still in place from the sellers. There is also an abundance of goods that highlight the massive scale of anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western propaganda peddled by the Russian state. Items like military uniforms for children and books with pseudohistoric narratives show how Russia uses all it can — from books to fashion — for its militaristic objectives.

Issac Luna, 45, joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2003 as a basic infantryman. He rose to the rank of an officer before leaving the American military in 2017 to pursue business and investing. What he didn’t know was that in just five years he would be far from his comfortable home in Houston, Texas — fighting the Russians as a volunteer in Ukraine’s International Legion and struggling to equip himself and his comrades.

“I would say that my experience with the logistics was kind of the first punch in the face that I encountered with the reality of this war,” Issac said.

According to Issac, the logistics of the American military are set up in a way that a regular soldier would almost never need to purchase equipment on a civilian marketplace like Amazon. Everything is procured within the military itself, and goods like uniforms, Kevlar vests, and night vision are in abundance.

But in Ukraine, the situation was drastically different. The Ukrainian Armed Forces grew exponentially in a very short time in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion. And much like the Ukrainian volunteers, foreign fighters like Issac encountered a shortage of everything — from uniforms and boots to the more advanced stuff like night vision or signal jammers.

“There were not enough boots of the right size. The uniforms, everybody had different uniforms,” he said.

He relied on his own resources and help from volunteers to offset the shortage. A few needed items were procured through civilian marketplaces like Amazon, he said. But in Russia, soldiers turn to civilian marketplaces on a larger scale because the quality of official equipment provided is subpar.

“I noticed that in the early days of the war, the Russians were wearing body armor that was very outdated. And now, what I see them wearing, the footage is more, like, newer and more sophisticated. Most of it is from China,” Issac said.

Wildberries is used by millions of Russian customers, and it’s known as a platform where even small businesses can sell their goods. Approximately 4.5 million online purchases are made with Wildberries daily. Ukraine has already hit 15 percent of its warehouses, according to The Moscow Times.

The strikes have reached Moscow, St.Petersburg, Penza, Yekaterinburg and other cities, causing not only financial damage to Russian citizens, but also decreased morale among Russians.

“I think it is an extraordinary strategic move for Ukraine,” said Issac.

After 2023, Issac left the legion and created a non-profit organization called ‘Victory Team’ to help supply Ukrainians fighting for their survival. That’s when he started using civilian marketplaces like Amazon to procure the necessary equipment.

“Boots and uniforms and body armor. And flak jackets. They exist on Amazon, not for the U.S. military, but for hobbyists or people who are in the security industry, police, and private militias,” Issac said.

In 2023, when the warfare switched to drones, Issac had to search for complete drones as well as drone parts on Amazon.

“We were still relying on Mavic DJI drones [civilian drones that the military used for reconnaissance]. Most recently, even some of the components still come from Amazon, like some of the electronics for drones,” Issac said.

Mirroring the Ukrainians, the Russian military also started using drones on the frontline in 2023. But drones of various types and the spare parts needed for them were not something that the Russian military was supplying officially. In that situation, Russian soldiers turned to online retailers like Wildberries.

Within the Russian military, poor quality pushes soldiers to look for custom alternatives on the civilian market. And Wildberries, as the largest among those, became an unofficial part of the Russian military procurement system. Russian volunteers and soldiers use it to purchase sanctioned drone spare parts, walkie-talkies, electronics, body armor, etc.

Russian Wildberries customers are becoming increasingly outraged over damaged parcels or lost funds due to the warehouse strikes. In one particularly outrageous case, Russian media reported that a Russian gamer received a $1 water bottle instead of a $ 1,000 graphics card. Wildberries said that claim was fake, however, and The Counteroffensive could not independently verify it. Just before the attacks started, though, Wildberries took steps to avoid having to pay compensation, renewing an internal policy to state that the company is no longer liable for destroyed parcels in the event of Ukrainian drone attacks.

“No more packages — whether it’s a drone or a vibrator in a purple box — are making it to Stalingrad anymore,” quipped Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces.

Destruction of the Wildberries warehouses mostly affects thousands of small and medium-sized companies that purchase equipment or resell items on the platform.

Analyst Viktor Kevliuk estimates the direct financial losses from the strikes so far at about 150-235 billion rubles ( $1.9–2.7 billion). Restocking the warehouses will cost up to 60 more billion rubles (about $750 million), with smaller companies bearing the costs.

For many of them, this means the immediate loss of the business, a Ukrainian financial analyst Oleh Bielinskyi said. Amid Russia’s bleak economic situation, this outcome is even more likely. The company’s recent decision to relocate some warehouses to Kazakhstan, in his opinion, would make them inaccessible to Ukrainian drones but send the prices for the delivery of goods soaring.

Issac is still in Ukraine, working to bring investments into the country’s defense sector. He’s following developments in the war closely, including the ongoing Ukrainian strikes on Wildberries.

“They finally realized their participation in the war had a cost when their warehouses exploded,” Isaac said.

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THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:

By: Oleksandra Poda

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

UKRAINE ONLY SHOT DOWN 2 OUT OF 35 RUSSIAN MISSILES: On the night of August 1, Russia attacked Ukraine with 35 missiles of various types and 185 drones. Most of the strikes targeted the capital. Ukrainian air defense systems shot down two missiles and 154 drones. Meanwhile, 26 ballistic missiles and four anti-ship missiles reached their targets.

At least nine people were killed and more than 30 were wounded. According to Kyiv Mayor Klitschko, the area where medical transport was stationed was damaged. Five ambulances were completely burned, and 20 vehicles serving the capital’s healthcare facilities were severely damaged.

TRUMP DENIES PROMISE TO GRANT UKRAINE A PATRIOT LICENSE: On July 31, during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, Trump stated that the U.S. “has not agreed” to grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot missiles, backtracking on a promise he had made personally and publicly to Zelenskyy in mid-July at the NATO summit in Ankara and reaffirmed during a meeting at the White House on July 29. “It’s a very extraordinary weapon, and . . . we have to be a little bit careful of who we license it to. We don’t really license equipment,” he said.

This contradicts Zelenskyy’s public statement after the July 29 meeting, in which he wrote that the two leaders had discussed Ukraine’s production of Patriot interceptors.

A MASS MARCH TOOK PLACE IN KYIV, AS PROTESTS ENTER THEIR THIRD WEEK: On July 31, thousands of Ukrainians marched down Khreshchatyk Street, marking the 16th day of demonstrations since the resignation of Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. The organizer of the march, Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a veteran, called on Zelenskyy to listen to the Ukrainian people and give Fedorov a year to implement reforms. In a July 29 interview, Fedorov hinted that his efforts to increase transparency in defense procurement may have been one of the reasons for his resignation.

Although Zelenskyy has partially met the protesters’ demands by dismissing Commander-in-Chief Syrsky and replacing him with Drapaty, he has not reinstated Fedorov to the Ministry of Defense.

DOG OF WAR:

After a sleepless night caused by a massive Russian attack, this little dog fell asleep almost as soon as she lay down on the small sofa in the coffee shop.

Stay safe out there!

Best,
Petro, Oleksandra and Mariana

Ukraine has lost an F-16 during a combat mission; Poland suspects a Russian missile has fallen on its territory; Former Defense Minister Fedorov spoke about the reasons behind his dismissal; Ukraine and NATO launch grant program for defense technologies.

OUR LEAD STORY:

Deep inside the concrete jungle of the Ukrainian city, technology is developing that could defend not just Ukrainian plains, but also Japanese ocean cliffs.

Oleksii Oleksiuk, CEO of Ukrainian drone company UkrDefense, never thought that an advanced country such as Japan would be interested in his drone interceptors. The war in Ukraine, however, is pushing modern warfare into the next gear.

For decades, Japan has relied on U.S. support and pacifist status as a cornerstone of its security. But that sense of stability is now shaken.

While many European countries expelled Russian spies after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Japan expelled only 8 Russian officials. Russia used that free access to bolster its intelligence presence in Tokyo, making it a spy ‘paradise’ for Moscow, the New York Times recently reported.

Apart from that, the United States, whose military power and presence have guaranteed Japan’s security since WWII, is proving to be an unreliable ally under Donald Trump. China has transformed itself into a powerhouse, systematically building up its military and receiving intelligence, training and modern technology from Russia, while increasingly viewing Japan as a foe. So now, Japan is turning to Ukraine — a country with one of the biggest areas of expertise in modern warfare — to help rearm itself.

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According to The Telegraph, China has been quietly preparing for war, building replicas of Taiwanese military bases and American aircraft carriers. While there is no immediate threat for Japan, the government is preparing for an altercation with China for the disputed Senkaku Islands, in which Ukrainian unmanned technology might compensate for Japan’s lack of manpower, just like in the case of Ukraine.

This turn of events suggests that the post-WWII order is becoming more and more irrelevant, as even pacifist countries are now seeking ways to renew militarization.

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Russia and North Korea completing suspected joint war supply route; U.S. to spread out $400 mln in Ukraine aid until 2029; Ukraine is producing drones faster than the U.S.; Kazakhstan forced to cut oil production after drone attacks on Russia.

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Russia struck a Kyiv military training ground… U.S. used Ukraine-tested drone in Iran… Day 9 of protests in Ukraine…

Author’s Note:

Sometimes illnesses strike so suddenly that it’s impossible to prepare for them. This is especially difficult during war when places like medicine warehouses come under att…

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