The Kremlin has commented on Donald Trump’s decision to boost weapons shipments heading to Ukraine. Elsewhere, the EU has failed to approve a new sanctions package on Russia. Follow the latest below.
Wednesday 16 July 2025 22:01, UK
Thank you for following our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
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Before we sign off, here’s a brief rundown of what’s happened today:
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has chosen Yulia Svyrydenko, a 39-year-old economist, as his new wartime prime minister.
Svyrydenko, currently the deputy prime minister and economy minister, is the only candidate for the post and is expected to take over in a reshuffled cabinet.
She’ll be tasked with further building up Ukraine’s arms industry and rejuvenating the country’s economy, which has remained buoyant thanks to help from Western lenders.
Svyrydenko is also well known in Washington, having played a role in building ties with the US and serving as one of Kyiv’s main negotiators in a minerals deal with Donald Trump’s administration.
Her nomination will send a signal to the US that Kyiv is prioritising its relationship with the White House, political analyst Mykola Davydiuk told Reuters.
“For us, it’s a partnership that’s not just about money but about values, about joint projects and generally about our common movement forward together,” he said, explaining his view of Zelenskyy’s thinking.
Svyrydenko’s outgoing predecessor, Denys Shmyhal, will likely become the country’s new defence minister, highlighting the importance Kyiv is now placing on its defence industry as its best option in defending itself from Russia’s invasion.
Keith Kellogg’s week-long visit to Kyiv has taken him to a memorial recognising the toll the war has had on Ukraine’s children.
Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine shared images of his visit on X.
Children’s charity Unicef says more than 2,520 children have been killed or injured since the war began in February 2022.
It also estimates that one in every three Ukrainian children has witnessed someone being killed or injured since the war broke out.
The proposed new EU budget includes €100bn (£87bn) for Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced.
The proposed package for 2028-2034 doubles the current budget for Ukraine, “to support recovery, resilience, and their path to EU membership,” von der Leyen said.
She said the new aid package would be vital for the long-term planning of Ukraine’s future.
Overall, von der Leyen said the proposed €2trn (£1.7trn) budget for the EU “matches Europe’s ambition… confronts Europe’s challenges and… strengthens our independence”.
Moscow is ramping up pressure on residents of the occupied regions of Ukraine to push them towards becoming Russian citizens.
Moscow’s process of “passportisation” involves using coercive measures such as the denial of essential services, fines and legal pressures to consolidate control and erase Ukrainian identity.
Among the latest tactics being deployed is asking all residents to confirm they have Russian documentation in order to continue using mobile SIM cards, or risk becoming disconnected from the mobile network by 1 November.
Analysts at the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) thinktank say the results of this are twofold. The move will force residents into accepting Russian citizenship, as well as tightening control over the information space in occupied territory.
For context: Russia illegally annexed four eastern regions of Ukraine following its full-scale invasion in 2022 and now controls around 20% of the country.
It claims to have full territorial control of Luhansk and between 60-75% of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
The ISW previously estimated that Russia’s military would need to keep fighting for at least 83 more years to capture the remaining 80% of Ukraine.
A bombing attack by Russian forces on a shopping centre and market in an eastern Ukrainian town has killed at least two people and injured up to 27, officials said.
“The Russians have again deliberately targeted an area where there are lots of people – a shopping centre in the middle of the town” of Dobropillia, the governor of the Donetsk region, Vadym Filashkin, said. “This time with a 500kg (1,100lb) air bomb.”
Earlier Filashkin said 30 trading stalls and 300 apartments had been damaged.
He told Ukrainian TV: “The occupier dropped the bomb at a time when Dobropillia was crowded with people. Many were out shopping. The occupier specifically targeted the shopping centre. All nearby shopping centres have been either destroyed or damaged.”
Ukraine’s national emergency services put the number of injured at 27.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “simply horrific, stupid Russian terror” in his nightly video address.
“There is no military logic to their strikes, only an effort to take as many lives as possible.”
Online footage showed areas around the shopping centre on fire and smoke billowing into the sky.
The town lies northwest of Pokrovsk, which Russian forces have been slowly advancing towards over the last few months.
Vladimir Putin is yet to publicly comment on Donald Trump’s 50-day peace ultimatum on Russia.
Instead, he’s been busying himself with stately visits, including one today to the Magnitogorsk iron and steel works company in Russia’s southwestern Chelyabinsk region.
The facility, one of the largest steel companies in the world, was delisted from the London Stock Exchange following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he’s signed the required documents to nominate Denys Shmyhal the country’s new defence minister.
Shmyhal submitted his resignation as prime minister this week as part of a government reshuffle.
Announcing the news, Zelenskyy said Shmyhal would be responsible for ramping up Ukraine’s weapons production to help the country “push the war into Russia”.
Yulia Svyrydenko, currently the deputy prime minister and economy minister, is expected to become Ukraine’s new prime minister. Former defence minister Rustem Umerov is tipped to become Kyiv’s new ambassador to the US.
Patriot owner nations and key Ukraine donors are set to meet next week to discuss further aid for Kyiv, a source close to the talks has told Reuters.
Donald Trump has already said an undisclosed number of the air defence systems would be sent for use in Ukraine – and that the European Union would pay for them.
Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the UK, the Netherlands and Canada all want to be part of the initiative to fund the Patriot systems, NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Monday.
Why are they important?
Patriot systems are highly effective against sophisticated Russian weapons like ballistic and cruise missiles.
With a radar range exceeding 150km and their ability to engage multiple targets at one, the systems are vital in protecting large civilian areas and critical infrastructure.
Beyond their technical prowess, Patriots also signal strong US and NATO support for Ukraine, boosting morale and demonstrating political commitment to Kyiv.
A coordinated international operation has taken down a pro-Russian cybercrime network linked to cyber attacks on Ukraine and its allies, Europol has announced.
The operation, codenamed Eastwood, targeted the group NoName057(16), which Dutch authorities identified last month as being behind a series of denial-of-service attacks, including a video address by Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Swiss parliament and the Eurovision Song Contest.
The EU’s police agency said the international operation “led to the disruption of an attack-infrastructure consisting of over one hundred computer systems worldwide, while a major part of the group’s central server infrastructure was taken offline.”
Authorities in Germany issued six arrest warrants for suspects in Russia, two of them accused of being the group’s main leaders, Europol said. One suspect was placed under preliminary arrest in France and another detained in Spain, it added.
Europol said members of the cybercrime group initially targeted Ukrainian institutions, “but have shifted their focus to attacking countries that support Ukraine in the ongoing defence against the Russian war of aggression, many of which are members of NATO.”
Authorities in the countries involved in the operation also contacted hundreds of people believed to support the group to inform them of the crackdown and their alleged liability for its actions.
“Individuals acting for NoName057(16) are mainly Russian-speaking sympathisers who use automated tools to carry out distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks,” Europol said.
“Operating without formal leadership or sophisticated technical skills, they are motivated by ideology and rewards.”
It said people recruited by the group were paid in cryptocurrency and motivated using online-gaming dynamics, such as leaderboards and badges.
“This gamified manipulation, often targeted at younger offenders, was emotionally reinforced by a narrative of defending Russia or avenging political events,” Europol said.
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