Hello,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired his commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and brought back the defence minister whose sacking triggered nationwide protests, in one of the biggest political crises since Russia's 2022 invasion.

This comes as the US struck Iran for an 11th straight night with President Donald Trump threatening to hit an underground nuclear site, and as Ukrainian drones again attacked warehouses of Russia's largest online retailer.

Read more below ⤵️

Top 5 Stories

1️⃣ 🇺🇸🇮🇷 US strikes Iran for an 11th night as Trump threatens nuclear site: The US launched an 11th consecutive night of strikes on Iran to degrade its ability to threaten Hormuz shipping, as President Donald Trump threatened to hit "very heavily" an underground nuclear site near Natanz known as Pickaxe Mountain, which Iran warned would be an "expansion of war." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators the war has cost $37.5bn so far and requested $87.6bn more in a fiery, protest-interrupted hearing, as Iran said it retaliated against US assets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

2️⃣ 🇺🇦🇷🇺 Ukrainian drones hit Russian retailer Wildberries again: Ukrainian drones struck warehouses of Russia's biggest online retailer, Wildberries, in the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions, injuring 15 people in the second such attack in four days after strikes on Saturday killed eight. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the logistics hubs supplied the Russian army with drone components and navigation gear, and that Ukraine had also hit an oil depot and vessels of Russia's "shadow fleet" in the Azov and Black seas.

3️⃣ 🇪🇺🇷🇺 EU pushes to finalise 21st Russia sanctions package: EU ambassadors met in Brussels to try to sign off the bloc's 21st sanctions package against Russia before the summer break, after previous attempts failed amid what Lithuania's envoy described as growing "fatigue" over measures that could hurt European economies. To win agreement the EU dropped proposed curbs on Russia's fishing sector, a ban on Russian soldiers entering Europe and sanctions on Patriarch Kirill, while Greece continued to oppose restrictions on Russian LNG.

4️⃣ 🇷🇺 Russia reroutes Siberian fuel to shield Moscow from shortages: Russian authorities are redirecting fuel from Siberia and ramping up imports from Belarus and India to prevent shortages in the wealthy Moscow region, after Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries cut national gasoline output to about 65% of seasonal demand, industry sources said. Crimea is the worst-hit region, introducing fuel rationing and curbing social life, while officials said the domestic market had only partly stabilised.

5️⃣ 🇰🇿🇷🇺 Black Sea pipeline halts Kazakh oil after tanker attacks: The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which handles about 80% of Kazakhstan's oil exports and 2% of global supply, stopped accepting Kazakh crude after suspending loadings at its Black Sea terminal following drone attacks on tankers, industry sources said. Russia accused Ukraine of targeting the tankers to destabilise global oil markets, while Ukraine did not comment and Kazakhstan said the loading facilities were not damaged.

Together with:

Go from AI overwhelmed to AI savvy professional

AI will eliminate 300 million jobs in the next 5 years.

Yours doesn't have to be one of them.

Here's how to future-proof your career:

• Join the Superhuman AI newsletter - read by 1M+ professionals

• Learn AI skills in 3 mins a day

• Become the AI expert on your team

Start learning AI now

Major Story

🇺🇦🇷🇺 Zelenskyy fires army chief and brings back sacked minister

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired his commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and appointed the popular general Mykhailo Drapatyi to lead the armed forces, after nationwide protests over last week's sacking of defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Zelenskyy offered Fedorov a "prominent position" in government to unify the technology sector, while naming former special operations commander Yevhen Khmara as the new defence minister.

Drapatyi, seen as a Fedorov ally who clashed with the old-school Syrskyi, will oversee a reorganisation of the army's command structure and its mobilisation drive.

Protesters had demanded Syrskyi's removal and Fedorov's reinstatement, threatening indefinite demonstrations, in one of the biggest political crises since Russia's 2022 invasion.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine's long-range drone strikes on Russian targets such as oil refineries would continue.

Together with:

Stop overpaying for wireless. Get a Tello plan for under $25

Unlimited everything. No contract. Just $25/mo. With Tello, you get reliable 5G coverage, zero hidden fees, and none of the bundles you never wanted.

Build Your Own Tello Plan

Other News

1️⃣ 🇱🇧🇺🇸 Trump vows to help Lebanon but sets no Israeli withdrawal timeline: US President Donald Trump promised to "help" Lebanon "a lot" during a White House meeting with President Joseph Aoun but gave no timeline for an Israeli withdrawal, claiming Israel was "in the process" of redeploying despite not having pulled back from areas it has occupied since March. Trump renewed a suggestion that Syria could intervene to disarm Hezbollah, said he would be willing to speak to the group, and authorised direct flights between the US and Lebanon.

2️⃣ 🇹🇷 Ousted Turkish opposition leader launches new party: Turkey's Özgür Özel announced plans to form a new political party after a court removed him as leader of the main opposition CHP in May, a ruling he and critics call part of a politically motivated crackdown by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Many of the CHP's 135 lawmakers are expected to defect to the new party, though some analysts warned the split could benefit Erdogan by fracturing the opposition.

3️⃣ 🇬🇧🇺🇸 Judge orders Trump to hand over records in BBC defamation case: A Florida judge ruled that President Donald Trump must release financial records the BBC is seeking to defend itself against his $10bn defamation lawsuit over a Panorama edit of his speech on the day of the 2021 Capitol riot. The BBC said it had produced 87,000 pages of documents while Trump's side released only 735, which it called a "sham production," as the corporation also seeks to have the case dismissed.

4️⃣ 🇧🇷🇺🇸 Brazil and US clash over Pix as tariffs loom: Brazil's state-run Pix instant-payment system has become a flashpoint after the US Trade Representative cited it to justify new 25% tariffs on Brazilian goods, arguing it disadvantages US payment firms like Visa and Mastercard. Pix now handles more than half of Brazil's transactions with 170 million users and is being studied by 65 institutions worldwide, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vowed "no one is going to change our Pix."

5️⃣ 🇮🇹🇲🇦 Morocco demands answers after man dies in Italian police restraint: Morocco asked Italy to "fully clarify" the death of 42-year-old Abderrahim Fakir, who died after being pinned chest-down by police in Bologna, an incident that sparked protests in which 54 officers and 11 demonstrators were injured. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the death "unacceptable" and demanded the "truth to the very end," while also condemning violence against police.

Weekly Updates?

Want weekly updates as well as daily?

Subscribe to our sister publication Geopolitics Weekly here ⤵️

Our Shop

Ukraine Phone Wallpaper Pack