Oleksii Sobolev is Ukraine’s new Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture.

Trusted by international partners, respected by business, and effective in getting things done.

Also, he teaches at KSE — and we’re proud of it.

1/ Sobolev, 42, is from Kyiv. He holds a degree in Finance from Kyiv National Economic University. He started his career at Ernst & Young and later managed assets at Dragon Asset Management.

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Elon Musk ordered a blackout of Starlink coverage during Ukraine’s counteroffensive in Kherson in Sept. 2022.

SpaceX engineer Michael Nicolls: We have to do this. 100+ terminals went dark.

Drones died. Comms failed. Ukraine failed to encircle Russians at Beryslav, Reuters.

1/ The blackout hit Kherson and parts of Donetsk around September 30, 2022.

Ukrainian troops lost contact, lost drone feeds, and failed to encircle Russians at Beryslav.

A frontline officer: The encirclement stalled entirely. It failed.

2/

Q: What would it take to force Zelenskyy and Putin to sit down together, maybe with you?

Trump: It’s going to happen, but it should have happened 3 months ago. 1/ Q: Are you closer today to secondary sanctions on Russia?

Trump: We're looking at that whole situation. It could be that we'll have to put secondary sanctions.

Q: Sooner than 50 days?

Trump: Maybe, yeah. 2/

Russia is forcing kidnapped Ukrainian teens to prepare to fight Ukraine

Times: Vlad Rudenko was 16 when Russians raided his home in Kherson. They sent him to re-education camp in Crimea, then naval school

For 18 months, they made him sing Russian anthem and train with rifles 1/ Russians gave dummy rifles to 16- and 17-year-olds and live ammunition to older teens.

Vlad: The more it went on, the more I worried they were going to send us to fight. The Russians didn’t manage to take anything from me - they just deprived me of my childhood. 2/

FT calls Zelensky's signing of the NABU and SAPO bill a power grab and his biggest political crisis.

Protests erupt in Kyiv as western allies urge to rethink move against anti-corruption bodies.

But Zelenskyy heard society and EU, US partners and rewrote the law. 1/ Zelenskyy signed legislation bringing Ukraine's two main anti-corruption bodies NABU and SAPO under control of his handpicked prosecutor-general, sparking the biggest political crisis of his wartime presidency. 2/

Young Ukrainians are on the streets.

To defend anti-corruption agencies and EU accession. 1/ The protests began over a bill (№12414) that puts NABU and SAPO, Ukraine’s independent anti-corruption bodies, under the control of the Prosecutor General, who is appointed by the President.

KSE students also joined this meeting. 2/

All signs show that the U.S. will continue military support to Ukraine.

In the past 24 hours, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of 4 military aid packages to Ukraine worth $652 million.

It’s a positive step forward. 1/ $172M will go toward HAWK Phase III air defense systems and their support, including trucks, spare parts, repairs, and training. 2/

Russia is losing control over post-Soviet states.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan sign deals, push out Russian troops, and cut Moscow from talks, while Putin pulls forces to fight in Ukraine, Jeffrey Mankoff for Foreign Affairs. 1/ In early 2025, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed a border deal for the Fergana Valley without Russian mediation.

In March, they met Uzbekistan in Khujand for their first trilateral summit. 2/

Zelenskyy: I submitted a bill to lock out Russian interference in justice, law enforcement, and anti-corruption agencies. It gives real independence to NABU, SAPO, SBI, and Police.

Officers with access to secrets must take regular lie detector tests. The bill blocks abuses. 1/ Zelenskyy: We discussed the bill with NABU, SAPO, law enforcement, and partners. UK, Germany, and EU experts gave input.

I told the Government to involve all needed experts. Ukrainians respond with dignity. We’re a nation that doesn’t look away. 2/

The Guardian: Ukraine and Russia made no progress on a ceasefire but agreed to swap at least 1,200 prisoners each during 40-minute talks in Istanbul. [I hear otherwise]

Kyiv’s delegation suggested a Zelenskyy-Putin meeting by the end of August. Russia has not agreed. 1/ Moscow proposed 24-48 hour ceasefires; Ukraine demands a longer-term cessation of hostilities. Moscow said they are ready to return 3,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers.

Russia is reviewing a list of 339 children Ukraine says were abducted; Kyiv claims 19,000 were deported. 2/

Marjorie Taylor Greene falsely claimed Ukrainians protested Zelenskyy’s refusal to make peace with Putin.

That’s a lie. Ukrainians protested a bill, not the war, Kyiv Independent.

1/ On July 22–23, thousands marched across Ukraine to stop Bill 12414, which hands control of NABU and SAPO to the Prosecutor General.

They chanted: Veto the law. One sign read: 12414 is the number of betrayal. No one demanded peace talks.

2/

The US should cut half its forces in Europe by 2029 to push Europe toward self-defense.

Start by pulling post-2022 surge troops by 2026, then armored brigades and most air power by 2029, retaining only key nuclear and intel assets for stability — C.S. Chivvis, FA. 1/ European NATO states pledged to boost defense spending to 5% of GDP, building momentum for self-defense.

The US should cut troops from 80,000 to 60,000 by end-2026, then halve total forces by 2029, withdrawing the armored brigade deployed since 2017. 2/

Ukraine's drone advantage is eroding. Russia's Rubicon program counters with fiber-optic drones and tactics.

The battle between ground and high-altitude aircraft now determines war outcomes, making traditional air superiority doctrine obsolete, F.S. Gady, Foreign policy 1/ Russia’s Rubicon Center, launched in August 2024, systematically counters Ukraine’s drone edge. Russian UAVs now strike 25 km behind Ukrainian lines.

In response, Ukraine formed the Unmanned Systems Forces, unifying drone units. 2/

FT: Second only to Zelenskyy — but unelected, unaccountable, and more powerful than most ministers.

Andriy Yermak makes battlefield calls, picks ministers, negotiates with the U.S., China, and even Russia.

FT says it profiles the shadow cardinal of Ukraine’s wartime power.
1/ Yermak is not a general or a career diplomat. Yet he now acts as Ukraine’s key fixer: combining roles of PM, foreign minister, and defense strategist.

Western leaders rarely meet Zelenskyy without first talking to Yermak. His influence has grown far beyond protocol.

2/

Budanov: Marco Rubio and Keith Kellogg are key Ukraine supporters in Trump's team. They advocate for continued and increased support of Ukraine.
His interview for Kyiv Post.

1/ Budanov: Keith Kellogg has supported Ukraine since before the full-scale invasion.

He criticized past indecision and pushed for modern weapons to help Ukraine defend and counterattack.

His stance is clear.

2/

WSJ: China’s oil demand will peak by 2027. After decades of growth, the world’s #1 importer is switching to EVs and drilling at Everest-depths to cut dependence.

Xi: The energy rice bowl must be held in our own hands.

1/ China now sells nearly 50% electric or plug-in cars—up from 6% in 2020.

Beijing spent $231B since 2009 on EV support, including $100B+ in tax breaks.

Cities replaced diesel buses; buyers got free green plates.

Result: 14M chargers(9× more than in 2020)

2/

The Bulwark: Tulsi Gabbard accuses Obama, Brennan, Clapper, and Comey of staging a “years-long coup” against Trump using falsified Russiagate evidence.

Russian media is already amplifying the memo.

1/ Gabbard’s memo claims Obama ordered intel agencies to fabricate new findings in Dec 2016, despite prior assessments showing no Russian tampering with vote infrastructure.

2/

Zelensky signed bill No. 12414 on Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, NABU and SAPO. The law was published in the Voice of Ukraine newspaper and came into force today.

Here are the main things that happened: 1/ Zelenskyy said that the anti-corruption infrastructure would work, but without Russian influence.

Prosecutor General ensures that punishment is inevitable, including for officials who have fled Ukraine and for criminal proceedings worth billions that have been put on hold. 2/

Ukraine appears serious about the next round of negotiations with Russia. Zelenskyy approved to send a delegation:

Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council(NSDC)

– Oleksandr Dyakov, Deputy Chief of Staff, Naval Forces Command

1/ – Serhiy Kyslytsya, First Deputy Foreign Minister

– Yuriy Kovbasa, Ombudsman’s rep on security and defense (non-staff)

– Heorhiy Kuzmychov, protocol officer, Commander-in-Chief’s Office

– Oleh Luhovskyi, First Deputy Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service

2/

Ukraine’s new Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko says Kyiv may seek a new IMF loan. The war budget needs $75B over two years and donors have pledged only half, she told Bloomberg.

1/ Talks could begin in August.

Svyrydenko: If the baseline scenario assumes the war will continue into next year, we will have a new IMF program.

2/

UK imposed sanctions on 135 Russian oil tankers and 2 firms to disrupt Russia's shadow fleet carrying $24B worth of cargo this year — Reuters.

FM David Lammy said the sanctions would dismantle Putin's shadow fleet and drain Russia's war chest of its critical oil revenues. 1/ Intershipping Services LLC registers vessels under the Gabonese flag, enabling transport of up to $10B worth of goods annually for the Russian state.

EU agreed its 18th sanctions package on Friday, planning to cut the crude oil price cap from $60 to $47.60 per barrel. 2/