Ukrainian Raids Spark Concerns Over Kyiv's Anti-Graft Efforts
An unnamed employee of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, known as NABU, was detained in Kyiv under suspicion of spying for Russia, the Prosecutor General's Office said Monday in a statement. He is accused of sending data on the identities of Ukrainian law enforcement officers to Russia's intelligence services, it said.
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Axios
3 hours ago
- Axios
Witkoff to travel to Russia ahead of U.S. sanctions, Trump says
President Trump said on Thursday that White House envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Russia in the coming days ahead of the sanctions the U.S. is going to impose on Moscow over the war in Ukraine. Why it matters: Trump's deadline to President Vladimir Putin will expire in eight days. If the Russian president doesn't agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine by then, the U.S. will impose new sanctions on Russia for the first time since Trump assumed office. While Trump voiced skepticism about the effectiveness of the upcoming sanctions on Russia, he made clear he is going to do it. Trump has resisted for six months to impose the sanctions that will potentially deal a heavy penalty to buyers of Russian oil, notably China and India, in the process. What he's saying:"It is disgusting what they are doing. Very sad. It should be stopped. It's a disgrace," Trump said when asked about the Russian bombing of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. "We are going to put sanctions. I am not sure it bothers him or if it has any effect, but we are going to do it," he added. Catch up quick: Two weeks ago, Trump said he is giving Putin a 50-day deadline to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine. Trump's deadline came after he became convinced the Russian president wasn't negotiating in good faith. Earlier this week, Trump shortened the deadline he gave Putin and said that considering Putin's position, there is no reason to wait 50 days. What we're watching: Witkoff's trip to Russia and a possible meeting with Putin hasn't been fully finalized, a source with knowledge says. If Witkoff goes, it will be his first trip to Russia in three months.
The Hill
3 hours ago
- The Hill
Bipartisan pair of senators seek billions in new Ukraine aid
A bipartisan pair of senators introduced legislation Thursday calling for tens of billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine to be spent over the next two years, as Russian President Vladimir Putin rebuffs calls from President Trump to halt the war. The bill was introduced by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a member of the Appropriations Committee. The top line figure for the bill comes in at over $50 billion, according to Shaheen's office. The Shaheen-Murkowski bill comes as the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced on Thursday a defense funding bill with $1 billion in military assistance related to Ukraine. Still, the bill's passage faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Congress, where GOP leaders in the House and Senate have deferred to Trump over which legislation makes it to the floor. The administration has slashed foreign aid so far, and administration officials and some GOP lawmakers regularly rally against sending U.S. military and assistance abroad. While Congress approved $60 billion in Ukraine funding in April 2024, 18 senators voted against it, including Vice President Vance, then the Republican senator from Ohio. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune has held back putting on the floor a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill — with a veto-proof majority of co-sponsors — at the request of Trump, who wants to decide when to impose sanctions on Russia if Moscow fails to negotiate an end to the war. Trump has set an Aug. 8 deadline. But Shaheen and Murkowski are framing their legislation as giving Trump additional tools to force Putin to the negotiating table — by scaling up Ukraine's military capabilities to withstand Russian attacks. The legislation also sets up guardrails to protect against executive action limiting assistance to Ukraine. The language responds to Trump's decision in March to pause intelligence sharing to Ukraine for one week after a public spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, and a decision by the Pentagon earlier this month to pause certain weapons transfers to Ukraine pending a review. Shaheen and Murkowski's legislation provides billions of dollars in direct military assistance to Ukraine, but much of the funding is intended for investing in military production in the U.S., and also seeks novel ways of raising funds to pay for support for Kyiv. This includes using interest earned from frozen Russian assets in the U.S. to fund assistance for Kyiv, sending to Ukraine 'seized,' 'illicit' weapons from non-state actors or using the sale of those weapons to fund military equipment for Ukraine, and prioritizing American military production for purchases by U.S.-allies to then be sent to Ukraine. The bill also codifies Trump's so-called minerals deal with Ukraine, called the Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, which was established in May. U.S. military assistance to Ukraine is expected to be counted as a U.S. contribution into the fund. Direct funding for military assistance for Ukraine includes $30 billion lasting until 2027 and provides $3 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Ukraine over the next two fiscal years. The bill increases the Presidential Drawdown Authority from $100 million to $6 billion each year, allowing the U.S. to pull directly from Pentagon weapons stockpiles to send to Ukraine, with the money to pay for backfilling those stocks. The bill also provides $600 million for the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement to support Ukrainian law enforcement and anti-corruption programming. It provides $50 million for war crimes prosecutions. Shaheen and Murkowski also include $1 billion for a trilateral drone initiative — for research, development and production of drones with Ukraine and Taiwan — to learn lessons from Ukraine's fight against Russia. The bill also creates a task force 'to process lessons learned from Ukraine's fight, including modern warfighting doctrine' and how to counter U.S. vulnerabilities to drone attacks. 'This bipartisan bill is a win for America,' Shaheen said in a statement. 'It supports our defense industrial base, American manufacturers and workers — all while ensuring the U.S. military learns from Ukraine's battlefield innovations. Make no mistake: unprovoked violence against U.S. partners by would-be aggressors in the Kremlin and Beijing will be met by unshakable resolve from the U.S. and our allies.' 'I'm pleased to work with Senator Shaheen in introducing the Supporting Ukraine Act of 2025, which reaffirms our commitment to both Ukraine's sovereignty and America's national interests,' Murkowski said in a statement. 'By providing critical funding for military and humanitarian assistance, this legislation ensures Ukraine can continue to resist Russia's illegal and brutal war.' She added, 'We are also incorporating the use of seized Russian assets to hold aggressors accountable, while strengthening America's military preparedness by applying valuable battlefield insights from Ukraine's fight and sharing these lessons with critical partners like Taiwan. It's time to reaffirm our leadership on the world stage and show that our support for our allies is unwavering.'
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Russia's Jet Powered Shahed Kamikaze Drone Is A Big Problem For Ukraine
A deadly Russian attack on Kyiv and other cities overnight included the use of the jet-powered variant of the Shahed drone, several Ukrainian officials said. The strike highlighted growing concerns that these weapons are harder to track and intercept than propeller-driven Shaheds because of how fast and high they fly. Until alternatives are found, these drones will require Ukraine to use expensive and precious surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) that can cost millions apiece. This looming challenge is something we predicted in detail last year, which you can read more about here. The attack included eight jet-powered Shaheds among more than 300 launched, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ignat said. While just a small fraction of the strike package, these drones can evade many current Ukrainian air defenses. 'Basically, on radar it is displayed as a cruise missile by flight parameters, because the speed there can be 500-plus kilometers per hour (310mph),' he explained. 'Not all means that we use today can intercept such targets.' There are reports from Ukrainian spotters that the RF has launched multiple jet powered Shaheds at Ukraine tonight. The faster speed of these UAVs can defeat interceptor drones and makes it harder for mobile gun crews to track and shoot them down.#OSINT #UkraineRussiaWar — OSINT Intuit (@UKikaski) July 30, 2025 At least 13 people were killed and more than 130 injured in this latest barrage, which also included eight Iskander-K cruise missiles, Ukrainian officials state. Since the night hours, our rescuers, firefighters, medics, and all the necessary emergency services have been working at the sites of Russian missile and drone strikes. The Dnipro, Poltava, Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv regions have been affected. The capital was the primary target of… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 31, 2025 The jet-powered drones appear to be a version of the Shahed-238 drone that Iran first presented last November. According to documents that were leaked in April 2023, the Shahed-238 has a range of between 620 and 1,240 miles and can climb to an altitude of up to nearly six miles. The warhead weighs 50 kg (about 110 pounds) and its turbojet engine produced a maximum speed of up to 600 kmh (about 370 mph). In comparison, the basic Shahed-136 reportedly has a maximum range of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) and a cruising speed of 180km/h (111mph), a similar speed as a small general aviation light aircraft. 'Such characteristics make the Shahed-238 virtually unattainable for both mobile fire groups equipped with small arms and cannon weapons and for interceptor drones with electric motors,' the Ukrainian Militarnyi defense news outlet posited. That assessment concurs with what we wrote last November. 'Even more advanced air defenses will be more challenged by much higher-performance Shaheds. Reduced reaction times would make taking them out tougher, especially when employed in large numbers and when part of layered attacks that can include both types of Shaheds, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.' The howling sounds of the recent Russian 'Shahed' attacks on Odesa indicate that some are the latest variant, the turbojet-powered 'Geran-3'.They represent a significant challenge for gun-based air defenses due to their diving speed of 700km/hr. — Roy (@GrandpaRoy2) April 25, 2025 While not the first use of these weapons, Russia's deployment of jet-powered one-way attack drones comes as Ukraine is already struggling to defend against the improved capabilities and tactics of the propeller-driven Shaheds and the vastly greater numbers in which they are being produced. Among the countermeasures to this problem have been the creation and use of interceptor drones. They are based on uniquely-configured first-person view (FPV) drones Ukraine has been using to counter Russian reconnaissance drones for the past year. These counter-air FPV drones have to fly faster and higher than their standard FPV counterparts used for striking ground targets. Ukrainian interceptor drones – STRILA and BUREWIY. STRILA can reach speeds of up to 350 km/h and destroy Russian Geran UAVs. BUREWIY is designed to shoot down Russia's Zala, Orlan and SuperCam ISR drones. — Samuel Bendett (@sambendett) June 24, 2025 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently called for the production of 1,000 of these interceptors a day. However, Ukraine's top tech official earlier this week warned that these may not be effective against the jet-powered Shaheds. Predicting that Russia 'will definitely switch to jet drones,' First Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukraine needs to boost its ability to defeat them. 'We need to work on this,' he said on the government's national television broadcast Monday night. 'They are already integrating various solutions that allow Shaheds to bypass interceptors, and we are implementing other solutions. Therefore, this is a daily change of tactics.' Ukraine is being warned to prepare for jet-powered Shahed drones that fly faster, hit harder, and are tougher to — UNITED24 Media (@United24media) July 28, 2025 One noted Ukrainian military-political observer suggested that Russia used the jet drones in this attack to determine the effectiveness of the new interceptors. 'It is quite possible that today's use of a group of jet drones was caused by testing such a means of destruction against anti-aircraft drones,' Alexander Kovalenko stated on Telegram Thursday. 'In other words, it is possible that the Russians were trying to find out how effective anti-aircraft interceptor drones are against jet kamikaze drones. This fits well with the current attempts of the [Russians] to find a quick solution to counter anti-aircraft drones besides changing the tactics of using Shahed-136 and carrying out their additional modernization.' While Ukraine is developing interceptors that could counter the jet-powered Shaheds, developing them at scale is proving to be a challenge due to Russian attacks on production facilities and supply chain issues, Fedorov noted. 'In parallel with scaling and finding people for scaling, purchasing components, businesses have to constantly change locations, work on the security of their production,' he said. There is a question, however, about just how many of these weapons Russia can make. While they are now making 2,000 propeller-driven Shaheds per month with plans to boost that to 5,000, adding jet engines makes them harder to produce. Inside Russia's Geran-2 drone factory in TatarstanRare footage reveals the Alabuga plant's mass production of tens of thousands of deadly kamikaze dronesDesigned to attack in relentless swarms — 'Gerans' punch through Ukraine's defenses — outmaneuvering even F-16s — RT (@RT_com) July 20, 2025 'Such drones, compared to the conventional Shahed-136, have two major drawbacks that limit their use — the complexity of production and price,' Militarnyi noted. 'Due to their much higher speeds, drones need to withstand much greater loads, so they must have a stronger body and more powerful guidance drives, which must be manufactured with greater precision and smaller tolerances than can be allowed on slower drones.' The drones' turbojet engines are another factor. These are more complex and expensive to produce than the small reciprocating engines used by the Shahed-136s. This could limit production scalability and would pull resources away from producing more -136s for every jet-powered derivative built. China, which is supporting Russia via providing materials and components for its wartime buildup, could be a critical aspect of supplying what's needed to produce these engines. With all this in mind, it remains to be seen whether Russia can scale up the production of the Shahed-238s to make them a prominent threat. There is also an open question of whether Ukraine will be able to develop interceptor drones capable of mitigating that threat. As we noted earlier, this is especially important because the cost of those weapons is a fraction of the price of high-end SAM capable of reaching altitudes that jets cruise at. A single AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) fired by one of Ukraine's National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) that have shot down plenty of Shaheds costs roughly between $500,000 and $1 million. Meanwhile, Patriot PAC-3 interceptors cost about $4 million a piece. At least for now, it's most likely that we will see jet-powered Shaheds layered-in with Shahed-136s in an attempt to complicate mass attacks and thus Ukraine's ability to defend against them. But Russia clearly sees the Shahed-136 as a way to bleed Ukraine of advanced interceptors, which are increasingly scarce, at the lowest possible cost, which would open the country up to unfettered attacks by more destructive weapons. Contact the author: howard@ Solve the daily Crossword
