Currently, there is funding for the Czech shell initiative for the first half of 2026. Ukraine received 1.5 million artillery shells through the Czech shell initiative last year. The Ukrainian Ambassador to the Czech Republic stated that 1.8 million rounds are expected to be delivered this year. Ukraine received almost 800,000 munitions from the Czech shell initiative during the first six months of 2025. At least some of the purchases are made using the proceeds from frozen Russian assets.

The US House of Representatives voted against an amendment to the Department of Defense appropriation act that would remove the military aid being provided to Ukraine. The vote tally was 76 no votes and 353 yes votes. All House democrats voted against it, while about 1/3 of the Republicans voted for it.

Denys Shmyhal, the former Prime Minister and now Defense Minister, and First Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Federov, announced they are working on plans to scale up production of Shahed interceptor drones, due to their becoming increasingly successful. They are also working on reducing the red tape required to get drones into the hands of frontline units. 

Shmyhal added that currently Ukraine produces 40% of its equipment used on the front and that President Zelenskyy has instructed them to reach 50%. This includes drones, armored vehicles, ammunition, and “everything our soldiers need,” He stated that currently they produce 35 times as much military equipment and arms as they did at the start of the full-scale invasion. 

11 More children, aged 10 to 17, have been brought to the Ukrainian-controlled part of the country from the occupied territories. This was made possible due to the efforts of the Bring Kids Back UA program and the help of Qatar. One group of children consisted of five brothers and sisters who had been taken into Russia and had disappeared without contact for a long time. They managed to make contact with an older sister still living in Ukraine and asked to be brought home. The Russians delayed and dragged out the process as long as possible, and it took more than a year of effort. 

Most of the 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks that Australia has promised to Ukraine have been delivered so far. The exact number delivered has not been specified, but they did say it was most of the ones promised and that the rest will be delivered in the coming months.

Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, reports that its soldiers have destroyed 2000 Russian tanks since the start of the full-scale invasion. Ukraine's general staff reports that more than 11,030 tanks have been destroyed in total. Oryx has visually confirmed the loss of 4074 Russian tanks. 

The German governor plans to transfer another patriot air defense system to Ukraine, but according to reporting by BILD, this will take 6 to 8 months at the earliest. The original plan was for the United States to provide Ukraine with equipment from its own stockpile, with Germany paying for the cost to replace it. Trump rejected this plan, so now European countries have to transfer equipment from their own stockpiles and order replacements from US defense companies. Switzerland was in the queue to receive patriot air defense systems, but the country has been given a lower priority, and it will have to wait longer to receive them.

According to a Czech military analyst quoted by denik.cz, the Swiss order that is being delayed included 17 launchers, 5 AN/MPQ-65 radars, 6 MIDS-LVT terminals (a data distribution system terminal designed to provide Link 16 standard communication), 5 AN/MSQ-132 control points,  70 GEM-T missiles (an upgraded version of PAC-2), and 72 PAC-3 MSE missiles.

German Bundeswehr Major General Christian Freuding said that Russia is preparing to launch 2000 drones at Ukraine simultaneously. He said the goal is to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. His estimate for the cost of a Shahed drone was $150,000. Between July 1 and July 15, Russia launched more than 4,000 drones at Ukraine. Mezhda.media reported that Russia is able to produce 170 Shaheds per day, with plans to produce 190 per day by the end of the year.

Germany and the United States agreed to deliver five Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine “as soon as possible.” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius reached an agreement with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during Washington meetings last week. Pistorius stated Germany will provide additional air defense systems and ammunition.

Ukrainian blogger Landmines and Coffee:

By the way, last week during the attack on Kharkiv, Gerans with cluster munitions were used again (as of now, there is information that supports this theory of cluster-armed Gerans).

As for the munitions themselves, here’s what can currently be said:

VZD-3M appears to be used as the fuze (based on photos).

The submunitions seem to use PVR-7 (PVV-7) explosive charges weighing 0.5 to 1 kg (again, based on photos).

This explains why these munitions often detonate chaotically — the VZD-3M fuzes have delayed activation due to metal elements inside, making the exact detonation timing unpredictable.

One of the Shahed bombs. Grooves have been cut into it to increase its fragmentation upon detonation. These bombs are too small to seriously damage major military infrastructure or equipment, and they are dropped over cities. The only purpose they serve currently is to endanger civilians.

Recently, photos have been published showing a Shahed with a bomb compartment.

This hatch opens up and releases the bombs. This hatch is not found on the standard Kamikaze shaheds. 

Markings on the side of a Ukrainian S-300 air defense system show the 49 aerial targets it has successfully intercepted.

Those targets include:

•  9 Shahed-136

•  3 UAVs (Recon)

•  2 UAVs of unknown type

•  21 cruise missiles

• 6 Su-25

•  1 Su-34

•  7 helicopters

Censor.net reported that, according to its sources, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces dealt considerable damage to Russia’s military on July 20th. 

From Censor.net:

 

• “204 units of personnel, of which 109 were liquidated;

• 68 vehicles and 40 motorcycles;

• 26 artillery systems, 5 armored vehicles, and 1 tank.

"In addition, 28 enemy unmanned aerial vehicles (copter and wing) were destroyed, and 14 UAV operators' take-off points were destroyed. In total, during July (01-20.07), 15430 targets were destroyed/injured, of which 3231 were enemy personnel."

The Czech program "A Gift for Putin" has raised about 2.5 million euros to purchase six towed D-30 howitzers, each named after members of the Czechoslovak Resistance from World War II. The campaign is also collecting money for ammunition and other military equipment. Since 2022, the campaign has funded and delivered a T-72 Avenger tank, an RM-70 MLRS with 365 rockets, 10 tons of explosives for drones, a Black Hawk helicopter, 15 Viktor anti-aircraft systems, 6 heavy Vampire bombers, 100 Mavic 3 Pro drones, a Božena 5 remote demining system, it financed the repair of two captured BTR-82A APCs, and has provided thousands of rounds of both large and small caliber ammunition, tactical gear, used vehicles, and other supplies.

Russia struck Kyiv on July 20-21 with drones and missiles, killing one man in Solomianskyi district and injuring nine people, including a 15-year-old girl. Five people aged 36-55 sustained shrapnel wounds in Darnytskyi district. An elderly woman was hospitalized. Damage occurred across seven districts: Holosiivskyi, Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi, Obolonskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Solomianskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi. Russian forces targeted residential buildings, one kindergarten, one supermarket, kiosks, garages, cars, a warehouse, and the Lukianivska metro station ground level. A police car was damaged while en route to respond to a call. Psychologists provided support to 60 people. 

Ukraine was attacked by 426 Shaheds and decoy drones, as well as 24 missiles.

Drones launched: 426

• drones shot down: 200

• drones lost/downed by EW: 203

Total: 403/426

Missiles downed

• Kinzhal: 5/5

• Iskander-K: 1/1

• Kalibr: 4/4

• Kh-101: 14/14

The missile and drone flight paths.

A Russian Kh-69 cruise missile’s cluster munition warhead is being removed from a residential area in Kyiv.

NATO countries continue their efforts to prepare themselves against Russian aggression. Denmark has placed an order for 32 coastal radars, with 2 being placed in Greenland. These radars will be part of a modernization program that will run through 2025-2026. The radars incorporate AI to detect targets/threats. Romania is going to place an order of 200 Mistral 3 MANPADS. France has deployed a SAMP/T air defense system to Romania as well. These are high-end air defense systems comparable to the Patriot system. The SAMP/T in Romania is being operated by a crew of 100. France has successfully tested the Mutant, a domestically produced alternative to the Switchblade 600. The Mutant was produced in cooperation between MBDA France and French drone manufacturer Delair. They are producing two different models of the mutant, the RCH-140 and the RCH-170. They have an 18 kg warhead and hit targets at ranges of 50 to 70 km. It can target both stationary and moving targets. The French military plans to purchase 2000 of them. The Mutant uses initial guidance instead of satellite positioning, allowing it to operate in the face of heavy electronic warfare.

The Ukrainian military has begun using modular plastic pontoons for water crossings. The segments can link together and make a bridge of any size or length. They were first used in Kursk and are capable of carrying infantry and light vehicles. The modularity also makes them repairable; damaged sections can be pulled out and replaced with new ones. So far, the longest pontoon bridge made with one in the field was 30 m long. 

2 Sergeants from Ukraine's 63rd Brigade managed to capture 7 Russian soldiers in the Serebriansky Forest area near Kreminna. Initially, the Ukrainian troops managed to find two Russians hiding in a position who were willing to surrender without resistance. From there, they found another position that had five more Russians, but these were willing to fight. After firing their rifles and throwing some grenades, they were eventually convinced to surrender. The captured Russian soldiers had been very poorly supplied, having no water at all, old rifles, tourniquets in a single pack of cigarettes.

Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Ghosts unit struck Russian air defense systems in the Donetsk region. Two S-300V launchers, three 48Ya6-K1 Podlyot radars, two Niobium-SV radars, and one P-18 radar were damaged/destroyed.

Ukraine managed to successfully strike a Russian air defense system in the Belgorod region. This is what the OSINT group Kiberborshno said about it. 

Kiberboroshno:

According to the report of the General Staff, on July 20, a S-300P system was hit in the Belgorod region. Our team has extensive experience in searching for and identifying enemy radar and missile system assets, so we immediately noticed that the video shows the destruction not of the S-300P, but elements of the S-400 system, in particular the 92N6E multi-function radar on the MZKT-7930 chassis, as well as two BAZ-69092-012 "Voshchina-1" tractors transporting power units to supply the radar itself. The 92N6E radar provides "target illumination" for the missiles and is the most important element of the system, without which the missiles do not fly. Therefore, the destruction of such an element completely disables the system. 

Kiberboroshno’s image showing the 92N6E radar and the Voschina-1 tractors

Ukrainian drone company Kvertus has begun mass-producing “AD Berserk” EW ground drones. The AD Beeserk has a range of up to 20km and a 12-hour battery life. Kvertus claims it can block signals at all frequencies used by drones. The company says they are working on dozens of orders that they have already received.

One of Kvertus’ AD Berserk ground drones. 

Russian blogger: urga_74

“Enemy Tactics: How They Lure Us Into FPV Drone Strikes

The enemy is getting smarter — they don’t just spray fire blindly anymore. Now they act like seasoned hunters: strike, then go silent. They pause for 2 to 6 days — not by accident, but as a tactic.

During those quiet spells, guys at the front start to relax: someone heads to the latrine without a helmet, someone walks upright along a trail, someone lights a smoke standing tall. That’s it — the enemy is watching. They analyze where and how often people appear, mark the spots, and then — a volley of 10–15 FPV drones.

📍The enemy’s main goal is to bait you.

That “quiet” period isn’t mercy — it’s a trap. The enemy knows that when there’s no incoming fire, people let their guard down, and discipline in movement breaks down. That’s when they launch swarms of drones at previously exposed positions. No need for spotters — everything is done through video feeds and tracking our movements.

🚶 Movement — only by command

To avoid starring in an enemy FPV drone stream, you move around only with the commander’s permission. Doesn’t matter if it’s to get water, use the latrine, or smoke — the go-ahead only comes after the electronic warfare (EW) system is switched on. Once you’re back — EW goes off. Yeah, it’s inconvenient. But life’s more important.

📡 EW is your friend, not a miracle worker

Another trick is intercepting the video feed from drones — helps locate them and know when to freeze. But lately, even that’s been less effective. The enemy is adapting — using new systems, new firmware.

🧨 Autopilot: the enemy’s new trend

Some of the nastiest drones — like “Baba Yaga” and “Valkyrie” — fly on autopilot. They emit no signal, so EW has nothing to jam. Then, 10–15 seconds before impact, a human operator takes control — and by then, it’s too late to do anything.

📌 The enemy is working smart.

They don’t rush. They study, provoke, mask their attacks with silence. Which means — we have to be even more disciplined. No freelancing. Move only under command, with EW cover, and always remember: every step is a choice between survival or catching a drone to the face.

Quote of the Day:

“Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be hedgehogs.”

-Mark Twain