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A key accomplishment credited to former defence minister Fedorov involves disabling Starlink terminals for Russian operators.
Star Wars: Russia and China pursue ways to neutralize Starlink.
Russian protection against Ukrainian drones relies on basic metal enclosures.
Map of the day: 200 radar installations targeted.
Videos of the day: Russian tankers set ablaze.

Block Russian forces from Starlink connectivity.

Outgoing Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov placed this measure at the top of his list of initiatives. He noted that it had sharply curtailed Russia capacity to conduct effective drone operations.

Events on the battlefield, noted repeatedly in prior reports, confirm this assessment.

The absence of major Russian advances at present can also be attributed in part to his efforts. The 35-year-old minister departs amid a disputed cabinet change ordered by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

How an effective minister disrupted the Russian advance. Fedorov launched steps that resulted in Starlink access being cut off for Russian units inside Ukraine, shifting momentum toward Ukraine. Working with SpaceX, he established a whitelist system that deactivated terminals in Russian possession by default.

Fedorov expressed gratitude to SpaceX leader Elon Musk, calling him a true advocate of liberty and ally to Ukrainians.

Russian units suddenly lost communications. Command structures for formations broke down and offensive moves stopped across several sectors, according to adviser Serhii Beskrestnov. This represented one of Ukraine asymmetric responses that helped regain strategic initiative.

As Reuters noted, Fedorov, then serving as digitalisation minister, advocated in 2022 for military adoption of Musk RS-30M satellite terminals.

Since that time the compact terminals have appeared with reconnaissance teams near Chasiv Yar and supported news operations at the NV website during extended power failures. They have proven essential for continuity amid Russia full-scale campaign.

China and Russia share a strategy to eliminate Starlink. The episode did not conclude the contest for control. An investigation by The Insider, produced jointly with Der Spiegel and Le Monde, revealed that Russia and China coordinated actions against the Starlink constellation during closed discussions.

The effort encompassed legal, diplomatic and destructive measures. Presentations reviewed by investigators showed agreements on space weapons, satellite neutralization and combined air-defence networks.

China suggested that Russian counterparts actively target Starlink satellites. Engineers from leading Chinese space and defence organizations examined the topic at a closed session in Guangzhou.

Participants reviewed the resilient military network architecture of Starlink, which lacks a single transmission point and therefore resists straightforward disruption.

They also examined a core challenge for any assault: disabling one ground station or node would leave overall network capacity largely intact, a situation Chinese analysts labeled a serious concern. They characterized Starlink as establishing a space blockade by securing low-Earth-orbit zones and key spectrum bands to the exclusion of others.

Investigators reported that the participants framed their actions as defensive measures. This led to an initial phase of coordinated legal and diplomatic pressure citing collision risks, with the goal of building an international coalition to impose regulatory limits on SpaceX.

A subsequent phase would involve securing frequency bands and orbital positions needed for Starlink growth. Chinese representatives outlined a shared electromagnetic jamming framework to degrade performance.

In a third phase the campaign would advance to cyberattacks and physical destruction of satellites through low-cost techniques.

Documents and meeting records indicate, according to Le Monde, that China and Russia maintain military ties that extend well beyond a declared strategic partnership without threat to third parties.

This illustrates the nature of future conflict. Ukrainian drone and international-law specialist Yevhen Pronin observed that the investigation highlights how both nations treat next-generation satellite constellations as central to contemporary warfare.

He added that the materials do not yet demonstrate full capability to neutralize the system. The documents instead underscore the military edge Starlink has delivered since the full-scale invasion began, Pronin told Dennik N.

The practical outcome, he said, is that space has become a distinct domain of military activity.

Targets once limited to aircraft, vessels or ground sites now include satellite networks that enable communications, navigation, drone operations and intelligence sharing. Further development of anti-satellite tools can therefore be expected from Russia, China, the United States and allied nations, the expert noted.

Future wars will hinge increasingly on the ability to manage space infrastructure, satellite links and data systems rather than solely on tank or aircraft counts. Ukraine has provided the first large-scale demonstration of how decisive such technological superiority can prove, he concluded.

Russia is also working on its own low-Earth-orbit satellite network, a step Pronin views as consistent with military logic.

The Kremlin has recognized the importance of satellite internet and the risks of depending on foreign or private systems. It is therefore advancing domestic projects. Russia nevertheless trails Starlink significantly in satellite numbers, infrastructure scale, deployment speed and operational experience.

Creating a complete equivalent in the near term will be very challenging. Closer cooperation with China, which possesses greater production and space resources, represents a more plausible path, Pronin stated.

Russian countermeasures expose military shortcomings. The Rostec conglomerate unveiled a new protective system named Spiderweb intended to shield refineries, fuel depots and other key sites from Ukrainian drone strikes. The Institute for the Study of War described it as a simple metal framework rather than an advanced solution.

Rostec asserts the structure can absorb direct impact from a 200 kg drone traveling at 250 km per hour and is designed mainly for oil facilities, fuel terminals and power substations.

ISW analysts interpret the announcement as evidence of serious deficiencies in Russian air defence. Recent reports also noted ammunition shortfalls that prompted relocation of missiles from Arctic bases.

A photograph released by the Crimean branch of RIA Novosti shows the system resembling a reinforced cage.

Oil refining volumes in Russia have dropped to levels last seen two decades ago, reaching 3.8 million barrels daily, owing to Ukrainian strikes.

The name chosen for the cages matches that of a Ukrainian operation conducted last year that embarrassed Moscow and raised security alarms, evident during the 9 May parade on Red Square.

In summer 2025 Ukraine security service used drone strikes inside Russia to destroy several strategic bombers at multiple airfields under Operation Spiderweb.

Map of the day

How Ukraine impaired Russian sensors. French blogger Clement Molin tallied 200 Ukrainian strikes on Russian air-defence and radar systems since the start of the year.

Videos of the day

Russian vessels on fire. Ukrainian unmanned units have struck roughly 136 vessels from Russia shadow fleet in recent weeks, converting the Sea of Azov and Black Sea into what some describe as Russia Hormuz strait. A sailor reportedly captured footage of one incident. Ukraine also confronts difficulties in the region. Reuters reports that Russian attacks have eliminated about one-third of Ukraine grain-export capacity through Black Sea ports.

Ukraine SBU security service released video of naval-drone strikes on the Russian tankers Louise 1 and Banda.

Equipment losses

No change recorded on Thursday.

Russia has confirmed losses of 23,837 pieces of heavy equipment (23,806 on Tuesday, 7 July). Of these, 18,815 were destroyed (18,785), 993 damaged (992), 1,199 abandoned by crews (1,199) and 2,830 captured (2,830). This total includes 4,427 tanks (4,424), of which 3,329 were destroyed in combat (3,327).
Ukraine has lost 11,690 pieces of equipment (11,683), of which 9,123 were destroyed (9,068), 689 damaged (687), 687 abandoned (683) and 1,191 captured (1,191). This includes 1,443 tanks (1,440), of which 1,104 were destroyed in combat (1,101).

Note: Neither side issues regular reports on fatalities or equipment losses. Ukraine releases daily figures for Russian casualties and destroyed equipment that cannot be independently verified. This summary draws on data from the Oryx project, which records equipment losses only when supported by photographic evidence since the war began.