Ukraine downs 43 Russian drones overnight, Air Force reports

A fire broke out in Moscow Oblast overnight on July 20 as Ukraine reportedly launched a drone attack targeting the Russian capital, local Telegram channels reported.

According to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, WhatsApp, owned by Meta tech giant, is a likely target for blocking.

Ukrainian forces downed 18 out of the 57 drones, including Shahed-type attack drones and decoys, launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported.

An Embraer 190AR plane operated by Azarbaijan Airlines crashed in Kazakhstan on Dec. 25, after coming under fire over Russia's Chechnya. Thirty-eight people were killed.

The number includes 1,040 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

The Atesh partisan group sabotaged a railway in Russia's Tula Oblast, causing "serious disruptions" to Russian logistics, the group claimed in a Telegram post on July 20.

The staggering figure described by German Major General Christian Freuding, who heads the Ukraine task force at the German Defense Ministry, comes as Russia continues to expand its drone production.

Instead of being brought to the Ukrainian border, 56 Ukrainian deportees were taken to a basement facility in Georgia where they were being held in a transit zone, aid group Volunteers Tbilisi reported.

Oleksandr Usyk retained his heavyweight title and preserved his unbeaten record with a commanding fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois on July 19 at Wembley Stadium.

Ukrainian lawmakers are considering whether to allow men ages 18 to 24 to travel abroad, a move that would ease current wartime restrictions, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk said on July 19.

Newly appointed Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal met with Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on July 19 to discuss scaling up battlefield technologies, with a focus on interceptor drones and anti-Shahed systems.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 19 that Ukraine has proposed new peace talks with Russia for next week, with National Security Council Secretary Rustem Umerov extending the offer and signaling readiness for high-level discussions.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 19 announced the updated composition of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, following the country's latest government reshuffle. While most members remain the same, one notable change is the appointment of Rustem Umerov as the council’s new secretary.

A new initiative will examine how the Ukrainian language describes foreign locations while at home, with the aim of standardizing and promoting a Ukrainian spelling, said Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.