Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief who now serves as ambassador to the UK, stated during a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors on Monday that Ukraine will not achieve NATO membership. According to Ukrainian news outlet Evropeiska Pravda, Zaluzhnyi noted that despite working for approximately 12 years to align Ukrainian forces with NATO standards, the country falls short of requirements. He characterized NATO as an organization guided by World War 2 doctrines that Ukraine’s armed forces cannot realistically meet given their current developmental level. While Ukraine has established NATO and EU membership as constitutional strategic objectives, officials have previously acknowledged that consensus among current NATO members does not exist for Ukraine’s accession.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian and Russian forces experienced minimal territorial changes during July. Analysis by the Institute for the Study of War indicated that Russian forces advanced less than 40 square kilometers in the month, a significant decrease from the 405 square kilometers gained monthly a year prior. Russian advances were concentrated in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy regions, while Ukrainian forces gained approximately 29 square kilometers in the Dnipropetrovsk region, continuing a trend that began in December 2025. Both sides maintained their aerial strike campaigns, with Ukraine conducting effective operations deep within Russian territory and occupied areas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed ambassador to the United States Olga Stefanishyna through a presidential decree on Monday, a move that followed weeks of anticipation and coincided with broader government changes including new appointments to the prime minister and defence minister positions. Stefanishyna attributed her departure to personal circumstances, highlighting her efforts to secure American weapons supplies during a period of shifting political conditions in Washington. The timing reflects Kyiv’s intensive advocacy efforts to obtain additional Patriot air defence systems to counter Russian aerial bombardment.
Military operations continued with drone and aerial strikes reported across both nations. Ukrainian drone operations struck targets in Russia’s Moscow region and near Saint Petersburg, with Russian officials reporting five deaths and six injuries in the Moscow region. Ukrainian forces also conducted drone attacks on the Black Sea resort town and Crimea peninsula, resulting in 11 fatalities according to Russian accounts. Within Ukraine, Russian aerial strikes killed civilians in Zaporizhzhia and near Kryvyi Rig, including an eight-year-old. Russian officials attributed a bombing at a Moscow restaurant that killed five people to Ukrainian responsibility, though Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the incident.
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