A new study by the Center for Social and Economic Research found that the Ukrainian budget loses out on $10-17 billion each year due to tax optimization and evasion schemes.
Additional payments made outside of one’s official salary, commonly referred to as payments “in envelopes,” are the top way to evade taxes. Each year, up to $11 billion in additional payments are paid in envelopes, causing budget losses of up to $5.8 billion.
Smuggling is in second place, causing losses of up to $4.6 billion. Offshore schemes, practiced by companies and high net-worth Ukrainians, are in third place, accounting for losses of up to $1.3 billion.
The Kyiv Independent is an award-winning English-language media outlet that offers on-the-ground reporting from Ukraine. The publication has received international recognition for its coverage of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to maintain backing for Ukraine "even against the pressure of the political left and the pro-Russian right in this house."
Lithuania and Finland plan to begin domestic anti-personnel mine manufacturing in 2026, with some of the supplies potentially earmarked for Ukraine to counter the Russian threat, Reuters reported on July 9.
Mariia Buhaiova, born in 2007, disappeared on July 4 after leaving a tourist village in Carovigno, a coastal municipality in the Apulia region, where she had been completing an internship.
President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Rome on July 9 and is set to meet with Pope Leo XIV, Suspilne broadcaster reported, citing the presidential spokesperson.
Yevgeny Primakov, the head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Russia's foreign aid and cultural outreach arm, said Russia's Foreign Ministry is currently drafting legislation that would establish a formal framework for international development efforts.
Russia launched another mass missile and drone attack overnight on July 9, targeting Ukrainian cities, including in the country's far-west regions located hundreds of kilometers from the front line.
"We have, of course, the resumption of shipments to Ukraine. The president has been vocal about this," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during a press briefing on July 8.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers rejected a nominee to lead the economic crimes agency, drawing swift criticism from lawmakers and businesses over alleged interference in the selection process.
Ukraine endured the largest aerial attack since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, with at least five civilians killed and 39 injured across multiple regions over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian officials said on July 9.
Sources told CNN that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who currently lacks a chief of staff or senior advisers, believed the move aligned with President Donald Trump's "America First" priorities.
"With Putin I said, 'If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb the sh*t out of Moscow. I’m telling you I have no choice,'" Donald Trump told a group of donors in 2024, according to CNN.
The European Union is considering establishing a fund for Ukraine worth 100 billion euros ($117 billion) in the next seven-year EU budget, Bloomberg reported on July 8, citing sources familiar with the proposal.
The European Union's 15th, 16th, and 17th packages of sanctions against Russia are now "fully effective in Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 8.
