Yevhen Khmara in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, on Aug. 18, 2026.
Opinion

Shells, stalled contracts, and no armor for wounded — Ukraine's new defense minister's problem list

by Bohdan Miroshnychenko

Weapons production in Ukraine has a mountain of problems: short contracts, scandals over ammunition and other complex equipment procurement, inefficient drone purchasing, leaky quality control and oversight of manufacturers' capabilities, export rules that don't work, funding shortages, and more. All of this ultimately adds up to poor supply for troops at the front. Neither the dismissed minister Mykhailo Fedorov nor any other "six-month defense minister" has come even close to solving these p

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Ukraine war latest: Kyiv under near-constant air raid alerts for 5th day as Russia steps up jet-powered drone attacks

Key developments on Aug. 31: * Kyiv endures 5th day of near-constant air raid alerts as Russian jet-powered drones continue to swarm city * Exclusive: Musk opposes allowing Ukraine to use Starlink for strikes on Russia, despite recent media reports, sources say * Ukrainian forces reportedly target Wildberries warehouse in Yekaterinburg, over 1,600 kilometers from border * Ukraine's military intelligence reveals technical details of Russian Zircon missiles * Zelensky replaces State Border G

Exiled university prepares for new academic year, expecting influx of students from missile-battered cities

One of Ukraine's first relocated universities expects a 50% increase in enrollment as students from across the country flock westward from missile-ravaged eastern regions. The Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University (DonNU), displaced after its home city in eastern Ukraine was overrun by Russian proxy forces in 2014, is set to start its 12th academic year in its new temporary home — the central-western Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia. After a rocky relocation that saw the university's student numbe

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