“Ukraine – Russia”

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies uncovered a major graft scheme in the procurement of military drones and electronic warfare equipment, two days after their independence was restored in a humiliating U-turn for Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Ukrainian president had pushed through a controversial bill that removed the autonomy of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo), placing them under the control of the General Prosecutor’s Office, which is led by Zelensky loyalists and mistrusted by many Ukrainians.

He is becoming a liability

As uneventful diplomatic talks in Istanbul wrapped up with little more than discussions of a prisoners-of-war swap and vague promises of further meetings, Volodymyr Zelensky found himself facing a crisis much closer to home: unprecedented protests erupting across major Ukrainian cities.

Thousands took to the streets to denounce a controversial law that, according to Zelensky, was designed to “curtail Russian influence” — but which would, in reality, compromise the independence of the country’s two leading anti-corruption agencies at a time when both were reportedly closing in on senior members of Zelensky’s own administration.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a law allowing people over the age of 60 to voluntarily join the armed forces, which have struggled to find recruits since the Russian invasion started in February 2022.

ODESA, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tried to dismantle his country’s anti-corruption infrastructure last week in a shameful power grab that has stained his domestic and international credibility. Yet, the mass protests that followed, which forced Zelenskyy to quickly reverse course, illustrate that Ukrainian democracy remains resilient and that illiberal governance will not be tolerated by its citizens.

E.U. Cuts $1.7 billion in Aid to Ukraine Over Corruption Concerns

Remember when Zelensky said he doesn't even know where $100 Billion is of the money that the U.S. gave him??? pic.twitter.com/MNDbpDbtwR

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 29, 2025

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s anticorruption policies have already provoked Ukraine’s first antigovernment protests since the Russian invasion in 2022. Now, it seems, they may cost the country a portion of its foreign aid from the European Union, in a clear rebuke from the bloc, once a staunch ally.

The European Union said on Friday that it would withhold 1.5 billion euros, or $1.7 billion, from an overall fund of 4.5 billion euros whose disbursement is dependent on achieving good governance standards and that can’t be used for military purchases. The decision is not final, however, and the funding can be restored if Ukraine meets certain benchmarks.

… The E.U.’s decision capped a tumultuous week for Mr. Zelensky, who first pushed a measure through Parliament that stripped the independence of two anticorruption agencies, raising protests from foreign leaders as well as the Ukrainian people.

For the first time since Russia’s 2022 invasion, large-scale protests filled Kyiv’s streets this week. The immediate cause was President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to sign a new law which guts the independence of the country’s anti-corruption bodies, placing them under the oversight of his hand-picked appointee. This has not come out of the blue. Instead, it appears to be part of a larger effort to consolidate his own power, and follows a major bureaucratic shake-up which merged several ministries and shuffled his top advisors.

The heroic president’s support for a Bill that targets anti-corruption bodies is a terrible error

Ukraine’s wartime unity has frayed. On Tuesday, hundreds of protesters congregated in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa to campaign against the Verkhovna Rada’s quick-fire passage of Bill 12414.

This legislation subordinates Ukraine’s two primary anti-corruption bodies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo), to the control of a prosecutor general appointed by president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian authorities have systematically involved children in the design and testing of drones for the country’s war in Ukraine through nationwide competitions that begin with innocent-seeming video games and end up with the most talented students headhunted by defence companies, an investigation has found.

The revelations, part of an investigation by the exiled Russian news outlet the Insider, are the latest to show just how much Russia’s leaders are dragging the country’s youth into the war effort in Ukraine, with “patriotic” and militarised education often spilling over into outright participation.

“The kids are actively involved in modelling components of systems for various drones,” one of the teenagers involved told a journalist. “I know of several people at least who were modelling UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] components for major enterprises.”

It’s not surprising. The US Army created a highly regarded first person shooter some years back: America’s Army game sets five Guinness World Records

US President Donald Trump’s belated realisation that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict could finally provide the breakthrough Kyiv desperately needs to win the war.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has persisted in his belief that, because of the strong personal relationship he enjoys with Putin, he could persuade the Russian despot to agree to a lasting ceasefire.