“Ukraine – Russia”

Laura Loomer, the online Maga provocateur, has never worked in the White House or anywhere else in the government, but her sudden conversion to the Ukrainian cause this week is significant because her social media posts often have real policy implications in the second Trump administration.

The rightwing commentator has spent the last few days in Kyiv, where she announced a newfound sympathy for Ukraine in its long war with Russia, and admitted that she had previously fallen for Russian propaganda.

Mykhailo Drapatyi became widely known in Ukraine when his armoured vehicle was the first to crash through pro-Russian barricades in the city of Mariupol in 2014. Yesterday, he was made commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, replacing the unpopular Oleksandr Syrskyi after a week of protests calling for his removal.

Ukraine’s allies have hailed the move as good news, putting a talented military professional in charge of the war effort and proving the continued vibrancy of Ukraine’s democracy. Look more closely, however, and this narrative is nothing but a spin job. Instead, Kyiv’s latest saga points to a country that is increasingly consumed by political dysfunction as it tries to distract audiences at home and abroad from its military struggles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is facing mounting political pressure after days of nationwide protests over the dismissal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Kyiv and at least sixteen other cities since July 16, marking the largest anti-government demonstrations in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

🚨🇺🇦Protests Against Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Regime Are Still Ongoing in Ukraine!

As Zelenskyy reshuffles ministers at will, Ukrainians – mostly women, as many men have been kidnappe – continue to protest.

EU is trying everything to hide this from the public. pic.twitter.com/1zwlllen6o

— Mario ZNA (@MarioBojic) July 20, 2026

The US does not have enough missiles to return to an all-out war with Iran, an American official has warned.

Donald Trump is considering his options to launch a “wider war” against Tehran as more American warplanes are deployed to the Middle East.

However, a US official familiar with administration discussions said the operation would be limited by dwindling stockpiles of air defence and long-range munitions.

🚨BREAKING :

American forces reportedly launched 7 consecutive airstrikes targeting Iranian military, missile, and drone bases at 3 PM ET today.
Massive fires reported at multiple sites with casualties feared.
IRGC headquarters is allegedly suppressing the news and banning… pic.twitter.com/h5yBrQlHWt

— US AIRFORCE 🇺🇲 (@usairforce_x) July 20, 2026

“No!” the woman cries. “May you be damned!” You can hear the despair in her voice, as masked men grab her husband, then bundle him into a waiting van. Within seconds, she’s alone, weeping in the middle of the street. This is Odesa, but scenes like it, captured on phones and posted online, hammer Ukrainian cities as relentlessly as Russian missiles. Since Putin’s full-scale invasion began, over a million Ukrainians have been conscripted to defend their homeland. And, as voluntary recruits have dried up, the army has begun resorting to the same methods faced by that couple in Odesa. People even have a term for it: “busification”.

They’re a 3 sides to this war now, Zelensky supporters, Putin and a growing anti-Zelensky anti-war faction.

Vasyl Krupych knows what it is to fight for Ukraine.

He describes terrifying scenes from battles in the eastern Donbas region where, sometimes praying, sometimes crying, the machine gunner somehow survived the onslaught by Russian troops.

But last December, by then serving in the rear, Krupych was attacked by his own countrymen whilst out searching for draft dodgers.

Polish prosecutors have charged an 18-year-old Ukrainian citizen, identified as Illia K., with carrying out 47 criminal acts on behalf of Russian intelligence in an alleged effort to inflame tensions between Poland and Ukraine.

Arrested in August 2025, he faces life imprisonment on charges that include recruiting accomplices through encrypted messaging apps and paying them with cryptocurrencies registered in Russia and China. He is also accused of preparing to fly a drone over President Karol Nawrocki’s motorcade during last year’s Armed Forces’ Day parade in Warsaw. He was arrested three days before the event.

Politics is never predictable, but it’s safe to say that few foresaw the remarkable collapse of support for Ukraine on the Polish Right. The nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party previously established Warsaw as Kyiv’s staunchest ally following Russia’s 2022 invasion. Yet its move to a far more skeptical position is the most dramatic manifestation of a Europe-wide shift from bipartisan support for Ukraine to fierce tribal division.

Volodymyr Zelensky must have felt a peculiar sense of déjà vu as thousands of Ukrainians chanted ‘Shame!’ beneath the windows of his office in central Kyiv yesterday. Exactly one year ago, they gathered to protest Zelensky’s attempt to strip Ukraine’s two key anti-corruption institutions of their independence, forcing him to back down. This time, Ukrainians rallied against their President’s decision to fire Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, holding cardboard signs demanding that he be reinstated.

⚡ Widespread protests against the dismissal of Defense Minister Fedorov are continuing nationwide. pic.twitter.com/bY9KsXsxvK

— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) July 18, 2026

“My operation is scheduled for tomorrow,” says the disfigured soldier, still recovering from his terrible injuries.

“I hope when I wake up after the anaesthetic, Fedorov will be back at the Ministry of Defence,” the unnamed soldier says in a video posted on Telegram. “Otherwise, everything I was fighting for will have been in vain.”

Among Ukraine’s battle-weary soldiers and wounded veterans, there’s a collective sense of outrage at this week’s political developments.

Massive protests against Zelenskyy!

Combat commanders are resigning and refusing to fight!

Defense Minister Fedorov has been removed from his post – many considered him one of the most effective officials.

Zelenskyy is replacing technocrats with loyalists who will let him… pic.twitter.com/eLz3FxcpQk

— Diana Panchenko 🇺🇦 (@Panchenko_X) July 16, 2026

The Ukrainian property tycoon who was targeted in a bombing in Monaco has accused Kyiv’s military intelligence agency of being responsible for the attack.

Multimillionaire Vadym Yermolaiev, his mistress Anna Nasobina and their 13-year-old son were injured when a bomb packed with bolts and pellets detonated at the entrance hall to the Sun Palace apartment building in the Mediterranean principality on June 29.

Nasobina is understood to have lost both legs in the explosion.

Protests have been taking place in several Ukrainian cities against President Volodymyr Zelensky’s surprise dismissal of popular Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

A crowd of people – mostly young – gathered in Kyiv, holding up signs reading “Hands off Fedorov” and “Stop sabotaging victory!” and chanting “Shame!”.

Zelensky has not yet explained his decision, which is causing significant upset among commentators and the military as well as parts of civil society.

More …

Thousands rally in Kyiv, other cities against Defense Minister Fedorov’s dismissal, demand reappointment

Zelensky has triggered protests across Ukraine after removing Defense Minister Fedorov in a major cabinet change.

Veterans, soldiers and activists have taken to the streets in Kyiv and several other cities. Many credit the removed minister with advancing drone capabilities and…

— NewsAgnika (@NewsAgnika) July 16, 2026

European Union member states agreed on Wednesday, July 15th to extend temporary protection rights for Ukrainian refugees until March 2028, while introducing a significant policy shift that excludes newly arriving men of military age. This decision, requested by Kyiv to help secure vital military manpower, means that the emergency protections—originally triggered after Russia’s 2022 invasion—will no longer cover new applicants who fail to satisfy their domestic military obligations back home. Under Ukrainian wartime laws, men aged 23 to 60 are generally prohibited from leaving the country.