The grain corridor — a Black Sea shipping route that handles 90% of Ukraine’s agricultural exports — has not been officially closed, but it is under enormous strain as Russia steps up missile attacks on Odesa Oblast, Oleh Khomenko, CEO of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), told the Kyiv Independent on July 24.
President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on July 25, citing intelligence reports, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "preparing the conditions for expanding mobilization" as the toll of mounting Russian losses on the battlefield continues to surpass Russian recruitment efforts.
Russia once again bombarded Kyiv with ballistic missile attacks overnight on July 25, as President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of Russia's plan to launch a massive missile attack against the Ukrainian capital.
"Russia wants to bring in another 30,000 North Korean troops," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on July 25.
Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called for Russia's war against Ukraine to be frozen and urged a return to peace negotiations based on a revised version of the Istanbul talks.
Regional authorities reported that a mass Ukrainian drone attack damaged a residential building, a gas pipe, and unspecified "commercial property." While the facility was not identified, the report follows a string of Ukrainian strikes on logistics centers serving the Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries.
The devastation was particularly severe in Sloviansk, a front-line Donetsk Oblast city that remains home to over 40,000 residents.
The Kyiv Independent’s Business Desk covers the biggest news in business, economics, and tech from Ukraine, as well as global developments that shape the economy of the region.
The cause of the fire remains unclear. Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry announced a drone threat over Saratov Oblast the night of the fire, and the air base has been targeted in several previous Ukrainian strikes.
