Sacked Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov warns about exhausted soldiers, chaotic command and lies to the public.
This SUMMER: EU leaders on the beach, Putin blocked by Ukrainian dronesSome EU leaders are jetting to hotels and mansions as Europe slows down for summer, but Putin is not expected at his favourite palace in Sochi due to Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine’s new French and Swedish jets will pose threat to Russia’s top warplanes (Ukraine Battlefield update: Day 1,605)Kyiv’s pilots prepare to fly cutting-edge Rafales against Russian jets, amid a bruising power struggle in Ukraine’s defence leadership.
With an EU-wide LNG embargo looming in 2027, the battle over a Danish shipyard has become a test of whether Europe can close loopholes that keep Russian gas flowing.
Even the relevant EU commissioner, Dubravka Šuica, acknowledged the central obstacle: “To be open, the key problem is access to Gaza,” she said.
Russia and China have a plan to disable Starlink, as Ukraine war comes to space (Ukraine Battlefield update: Day 1,604)By treating Starlink as a “space blockade” that must be broken, Moscow and Beijing are turning the Ukraine war into a test case for who will control the orbital infrastructure behind future global conflicts.
Pakistani women and children pick cotton in bonded labour for a few euros a day while Europe’s biggest fashion brands exploit legal loopholes to keep their clothes and their consciences officially clean.
India is set to join the EU’s Horizon programme in October, the latest incentive offered by Brussels as it aims to boost trade ties with Delhi.
Russia is running out of missiles, had to skimp on defence of a nuclear‑submarine base (Ukraine Battlefield update: Day 1,603)Russia’s scramble to plug holes in its air defences is now exposing key bases, as Ukraine claws back ground in the south and steps up drone and naval strikes.
The European Commission and MEPs held a closed-door meeting to discuss the Taliban. Magnus Brunner, the EU home affairs commissioner, was speaking at the meeting and appeared “completely lost” on the subject, said one EU source.
As Albania’s EU membership momentum hits full steam, Brussels’ institutions and Albanian civil society speak out about what accession with current environmental scandals could mean for the EU’s credibility
Russian oil industry set back 20 years by Ukrainian strikes (Ukraine Battlefield update: Day 1,602)With refinery output crashing to 20-year lows, tens of millions of Russians now face soaring fuel and food prices, rolling shortages and a budget hole the Kremlin can no longer hide.
![[Interview] The US Democrat trying to convince Brussels to stand up to Trump on methane](https://static.euobserver.com/2026/07/Captura-de-Pantalla-2026-07-13-a-las-18.28.15.png)
US congressman Sean Casten, a longtime champion of methane rules in Washington, recently wrote a letter urging EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen not to cave to US pressure to weaken the regulation. EUobserver asked him why he believes delay is a mistake.
Missing the wood for the trees – the EU’s unloved deforestation law reaches endgameThe EU’s deforestation law may not be as popular as when it was passed with massive majorities in 2023 – but has already spawned imitation from the UK.
“The option that got the most support was banning trade with illegal settlements,” said EU foreign affairs chief Kallas, after talks with the 27 foreign ministers on Monday.
EU foreign ministers have imposed a ban on Sudan’s gold trade in a bid to curb financing of its civil war – but they ignored MEPs’ demands to designate a militia accused of genocide as a terror group.
Kidnapping, murder, and Ukrainian brigade chief on the run, after insults to his wife (Ukraine Battlefield update: Day 1,601)Ukraine’s 155th brigade chief, Luchanov, is on the run after murders of two men over insults to his wife in the village of Kalynivka, near Kyiv, in June.
Ukraine’s war planners see a paradoxical path ahead: even as battles grind on around Donbas, the real turning point may come from collapsing Russian logistics deep behind the front.
Meta is being investigated for its deliberately addictive design features. “If features such as infinite scroll or surveillance advertising aren’t safe, they shouldn’t be on social media in the first place,” said one tech expert.
Without Patriots, Ukraine turns to drones and jamming against Russian Iskanders (Ukraine battlefield update, Day 1,598)Ukrainian drones are quietly mauling Russia’s Azov fleet and missile industry even as a single mis‑sited ammunition depot in Vyshneve shows how one strike can turn a Kyiv neighbourhood into a toxic war zone within minutes.