In pictures: Kyiv hit by all-night attack

Explosions rocked Kyiv for hours overnight as it was targeted by constant waves of Russian drones.

Officials said the attack damaged residential buildings, businesses, a school, a medical facility, railway lines and other civilian infrastructure in multiple districts.

Local journalists said smoke from the explosions clogged the air even in neighbourhoods far from the attacks sites.

In his latest update, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 23 people are known to been injured so far, with 14 of them hospitalised.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, warned residents to close their windows due to dangerous levels of “combustion products” in the air.

“Russia, a terrorist country, has wreaked havoc,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram. “The Russians bring nothing but terror and murder. That is a fact.”

WASHINGTON DC – A group of Democratic lawmakers from both chambers of the US Congress on Thursday urged the Trump administration to reverse its decision to pause shipments of munitions and arms to Ukraine.

“This decision places Ukraine’s future in jeopardy, encourages Vladimir Putin, and sows doubt among our closest allies. We urge you to reverse this decision and redouble your efforts to support Ukraine as it fights for its future,” fourteen lawmakers, led by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), said in a joint letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

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The letter was signed by Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Congress members Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Jason Crow (D-CO), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), John Garamendi (D-CA), Jared Golden (D-ME), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Austin Scott (R-GA), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), and Maggie Goodlander (D-NH).

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The lawmakers pressed Hegseth for information about the decision to freeze military shipments to Ukraine, highlighting strategic concerns that a pause in munitions could embolden US adversaries and undermine trust among US allies.

The move came as the US President Donald Trump complained Thursday afternoon that the US provided “too many weapons” to Ukraine under the previous administration, his first public comments on the pause in some shipments as Russia escalates its latest offensive.

Other Topics of Interest China Can’t Abide a Russian Loss in Ukraine, Beijing’s Foreign Minister Tells EU While continuing to deny that Beijing is materially participating in Moscow’s full-scale invasion, Wang Yi reportedly admits to EU top diplomat that a Russian defeat is strategically bad for China.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One for a flight to Iowa, Trump also suggested he wasn’t completely cutting off American assistance to Ukraine.

However, the Democrats in their letter highlighted the following munitions as reportedly being suspended: Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Interceptors, 155mm artillery shells, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, Stinger MANPADS, AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missiles, AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles.

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The legislators went on to add that while the Trump administration had repeatedly stressed the need to reallocate resources to the Indo-Pacific, Russia “remains the most immediate and pressing threat to our security, and that of our allies.”

“We recognize the threat our adversaries present in the Indo-Pacific and Middle East, and the need for deterrence. We also appreciate the need to maintain critical stockpiles of arms and munitions for our own use.

“However, the decision to halt shipments to Ukraine, reportedly to redirect them to other theaters, is a strategic mistake,” the authors said.

The lawmakers also emphasized the administration’s peace-through-strength approach, saying that it “requires us to use our strength.”

“Congress stands ready to provide you with the authorities and funding to replenish our munitions stockpiles to prepare for future conflicts. However, Ukraine’s fight for freedom is not hypothetical,” they noted, adding, “it is happening now and we must stand with them by providing the arms they need to defend themselves.”

The signatories of the letter requested Hegseth answer the following questions in writing and in a classified briefing by July 31st, 2025:

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“What arms and munitions initially scheduled for delivery to Ukraine have been paused as a result of this decision? Where are those munitions being redirected? Are other munitions scheduled to be redirected? If so, where are they being sent? Based on Department of Defense assessments, how long would Ukraine be able to maintain its rates of expenditure for those munitions before their reserves are exhausted?”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly explained Beijing’s logic in supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine in a conversation this week with the European Union’s top diplomat.

According to several people familiar with the conversation, Wang told the EU’s High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, that China cannot abide a Russian loss because it fears the United States then would be empowered to put that much more leverage on Beijing.

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In its exclusive report, South China Morning Post (SCMP) described the exchange as a “marathon four-hour debate on a wide range of geopolitical and commercial grievances” in which Wang offered Kallas several “history lessons and lectures”.

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“One interpretation of Wang’s statement in Brussels is that while China did not ask for the war, its prolongation may suit Beijing’s strategic needs, so long as the US remains engaged in Ukraine,” the SCMP wrote.

Beijing has long contended that it is “not party” to the Russo-Ukraine war, and regularly denies accusations that it has supplied weapons or other components to Moscow’s war machine.

Nonetheless, the EU has called on Beijing to stop its flow of technology to Moscow that helps its drone-production industry, especially.

At the ‘Fair Play’ conference in Kyiv last week, dedicated to introducing additional sanctions against Russia, the EU’s special envoy on sanctions enforcement related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, David O’Sullivan estimated about 80 percent of the components that Russia uses in weapons production come via China, and this is the biggest challenge for the EU’s sanctions policy.

Other Topics of Interest US Lawmakers Call on Hegseth to Reverse Decision to Freeze Shipments to Kyiv Senator Richard Blumenthal: “This decision places Ukraine’s future in jeopardy, encourages Vladimir Putin, and sows doubt among our closest allies.”

In her Wednesday meeting with Wang, Kallas “called on China to put an end to its distortive practices, including its restrictions on rare earths exports, which pose significant risks to European companies and endanger the reliability of global supply chains,” a statement from her office said.

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The 27-member bloc is set to vote shortly on whether to blacklist two small Chinese banks for flouting its sanctions on Russia, SCMP reported. Those measures would be included in the EU’s in its 18th package of sanctions on Moscow, which also call for the cessation of Russian imports of fossil fuels into Europe.

In pictures: Kyiv hit by all-night attack

Explosions rocked Kyiv for hours overnight as it was targeted by constant waves of Russian drones.

Officials said the attack damaged residential buildings, businesses, a school, a medical facility, railway lines and other civilian infrastructure in multiple districts.

Local journalists said smoke from the explosions clogged the air even in neighbourhoods far from the attacks sites.

In his latest update, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 23 people are known to been injured so far, with 14 of them hospitalised.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, warned residents to close their windows due to dangerous levels of “combustion products” in the air.

“Russia, a terrorist country, has wreaked havoc,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram. “The Russians bring nothing but terror and murder. That is a fact.”

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