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Here’s where things stand on Thursday 24 July 2025:

Fighting

• A Russian drone strike on an energy facility in Ukraine’s northern region of Sumy caused power cuts for 220,000 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that the supply had been restored to most of those affected.
• Russia’s air defence systems destroyed 33 Ukrainian drones overnight in six regions, the Russian Ministry of Defence said.

Ceasefire

• Ukraine has brought home a new group of prisoners of war from Russia, Zelenskyy said, adding that the release means that more than 1,000 captive soldiers have now returned as a result of talks with Moscow in Turkiye. It is unclear how many Russian soldiers were returned in exchange for the Ukrainian prisoners.
• Russia and Ukraine discussed further prisoner swaps at a brief session of peace talks in Istanbul, but the sides remain far apart on ceasefire terms and a possible meeting of their leaders. “We have progress on the humanitarian track, with no progress on a cessation of hostilities,” Ukraine’s chief delegate, Rustem Umerov, said after the 40-minute talks.
• Umerov said Ukraine had proposed a meeting before the end of August between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Moscow’s chief delegate, Vladimir Medinsky, said Russia had agreed at the talks with Ukraine to exchange more prisoners of war, including more than 3,000 bodies of dead soldiers.

Military aid

• The US Department of State said it approved $322m in proposed weapons sales to Ukraine to enhance its air defence capabilities and provide armoured combat vehicles. The potential sales include $150m for the supply, maintenance, repair and overhaul of US armoured vehicles in Ukraine, and $172m for surface-to-air missile systems.
• US President Donald Trump touted a recent deal between the United States and NATO, whereby European allies would buy weapons and send them to Ukraine. “They’re going to pay the United States of America 100 percent of the cost of all military equipment, and much of it will go to Ukraine,” Trump said in Washington, DC.
• Chinese-made engines are being covertly shipped via front companies to a state-owned drone manufacturer in Russia, labelled as “industrial refrigeration units” to avoid Western sanctions, according to three European security officials and documents reviewed by the Reuters news agency.
• Zelenskyy said he discussed strengthening Ukraine’s air defences with Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Politics

• Zelenskyy has bowed to pressure from Ukraine’s first wartime street protests, which took place over two days in cities across the country, demanding the reversal of a law curbing the independence of anticorruption agencies.
• In his evening address to the nation, Zelenskyy said he would submit a new bill to ensure the rule of law and retain the independence of the anticorruption agencies.

Regional developments

• Russian Tu-95MS nuclear-capable strategic bombers completed a routine patrol flight over international waters in the Bering Sea, the Russian Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Russian Defence Ministry.
• Russia also began major navy drills involving more than 150 vessels and 15,000 military personnel in the Pacific and Arctic oceans, and in the Baltic and Caspian seas, the Defence Ministry said.
• The so-called “July Storm” exercise from July 23 to July 27 will test the readiness of the Russian fleet for non-standard operations, the use of long-range weapons and other advanced technology, including unmanned systems.

Russia seeking to create ‘buffer zones’ in Ukraine, says Kremlin

The latest talks in Istanbul were followed by more prisoner exchanges, but yielded no breakthrough in ending the war.

Russian forces are pushing to create “buffer zones” along the border with Ukraine, the Kremlin has said, as fighting rages on in the wake of a third round of peace talks that again failed to yield any progress towards a ceasefire, in a fourth year of war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the comments during a briefing on Thursday, signalling that Russia had no intention of de-escalating its war on Ukraine following a brief meeting Wednesday between delegations in Istanbul that lasted just 40 minutes.

Negotiators in the Turkish city discussed further prisoner swaps, but remained far apart on a ceasefire and a proposed face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sought by the latter.

At a news conference in Istanbul following the talks, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, said an exchange of prisoners had been carried out on the Ukraine-Belarus border, with about 250 people returned to each side.

More than 1,000 Ukrainians returned

Zelenskyy confirmed the exchange, saying in a post on social media that Wednesday’s prisoner swap – the ninth stage of an exchange process agreed to by the parties in Istanbul – meant that more than 1,000 Ukrainian prisoners had been returned under the agreement.

“For a thousand families, this means the joy of embracing their loved ones again,” Zelenskyy said, adding that many of the prisoners had been in captivity for more than three years.

“It is important that the exchanges are ongoing and our people are coming home,” he said.

“We  will continue doing everything possible to ensure that every one of our people returns from captivity.”

Drone and missile attacks

Following the brief meeting in Istanbul, Russia and Ukraine continued their air attacks against each other, with Russian drones and missiles targeting Ukrainian territory overnight and casualties reported in Russia.

Russia launched 103 attack drones and four missiles at Ukraine overnight, killing three people in the Kharkiv region, Zelenskyy said in a social media post on Thursday. More than 10 others were wounded in Cherkasy, including a 9-year-old child, he added.

He  noted that, just a day earlier, Ukraine’s delegation in Istanbul had reiterated its “proposal for an immediate and full ceasefire”.

“In response, Russian drones struck residential buildings and the Pryvoz market in Odesa, apartment blocks in Cherkasy, energy infrastructure in the Kharkiv region, a university gym in Zaporizhzhia,” he said.

“We will make every effort to ensure that diplomacy works,” he added. “But it is Russia that must end this war.”

In Russia, emergency officials in the Krasnodar region on the Black Sea said debris from a falling drone struck and killed a woman in the Adler district near the resort city of Sochi, while a second woman was seriously injured, the Reuters news agency reported.

Zelenskyy promises new bill amid growing pressure over anticorruption law

Protesters rally for a second day after Ukrainian leader signs law curbing powers of anticorruption agencies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised to introduce new legislation amid continuing protests and international criticism over a law passed earlier this week that critics say undermines Ukraine’s fight against corruption.

The controversial law, passed on Tuesday, places the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) under the direct authority of the country’s prosecutor general – an official appointed by the president. Critics say the law strips the agencies of their independence and could allow political interference.

While  Zelenskyy has defended the law as a necessary response to suspected “Russian influence” within the agencies, European Union officials and rights groups say that it contains no specific provisions to target Kremlin-linked operatives and warn it could derail any Ukrainian accession bid to the European Union.

“I have analysed all concerns,” Zelenskyy wrote on X following a meeting with top government and law enforcement officials.

Writing about the proposal of the new bill, he said: “We will prepare and submit a bill to the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] that ensures the strength of the rule-of-law system. There will be no Russian influence or interference … and all the norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be in place.”

Public anger and European backlash

On Tuesday night, thousands of Ukrainians rallied in Kyiv and other major cities in rare wartime protests. More than 1,000 demonstrators defied martial law, which bans large public gatherings, to express their anger at the government, while on Wednesday, more protests took place in the capital.

“This This is complete nonsense from the president’s office,” 20-year-old student Solomiia Telishevska told the news agency Reuters, referring to the law signed by Zelenskyy on Tuesday. “This contradicts what we are fighting for and what we are striving for, namely to [join] the European Union.”

Cleaning up systemic corruption has long been a core requirement for Ukraine’s EU membership and for unlocking billions in foreign aid. The law’s passage risks alienating Kyiv’s Western allies as the war grinds on.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has demanded “explanations” from Zelenskyy, with a spokesperson confirming on Wednesday that she conveyed “strong concerns about the consequences of the amendments”. Germany’s Johann Wadephul, deputy leader of the Christian Democratic Union, warned on X that the restrictions were “hampering Ukraine’s path to the EU”.

Anticorruption bodies targeted

The storm erupted days after law enforcement raided NABU offices and arrested an employee on suspicion of spying for Russia. Another employee was accused of illegal business ties to Moscow. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) agency also carried out searches and arrests related to other alleged infractions, including a traffic incident.

Zelenskyy suggested these incidents justified the law passed on Tuesday, but Ukrainian analysts have warned the changes could erode public trust in Zelenskyy’s leadership during a critical phase of the war.

NABU was created in 2015 after Ukraine’s 2014 pro-European revolution to tackle deep-rooted government corruption. The agency has investigated multiple high-profile cases, including figures close to Zelenskyy’s administration.

Transparency International Ukraine denounced the raids as “an attempt by the authorities to undermine the independence of Ukraine’s post-Revolution of Dignity anti-corruption institutions”.

Some Ukrainians believe the government is protecting loyal insiders at the expense of transparency. “Those who swore to protect the laws and the constitution have instead chosen to shield their inner circle, even at the expense of Ukrainian democracy,” said veteran Oleh Symoroz, who lost both legs in 2022 fighting Russian forces.

The political firestorm risks creating deeper rifts within Ukraine at a time when unity is vital in Kyiv’s war against Russia. Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Center for Civil Liberties, warned the law could play directly into the Kremlin’s hands. “This is a gift to Putin,” she said.

Russian officials have already seized on the controversy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked there was “a lot of corruption” when asked about the protests in Kyiv.