Institute for the Study of War: Russian forces likely losing confidence in security of Crimea

Ukraine endured the largest aerial attack since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, with at least six civilians killed and 39 injured across multiple regions over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian officials said on July 9.

The operation took place in Kharkiv Oblast in northeastern Ukraine, where the brigade deployed first-person view (FPV) drones and kamikaze ground robotic platforms to attack Russian fortifications, the brigade said in a statement.

According to the SBU, the two individuals, a 24-year-old former student of a Kyiv technical university and his father, were gathering classified documentation with the intent to illegally transfer it to Chinese intelligence.

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.

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.

"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.

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 number includes 1,050 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.