UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights
🇺🇦🇲🇩 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha discussed Russia’s attacks in the Black Sea and alternative grain export routes with Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi.
The ministers agreed to coordinate with international partners to strengthen alternative export routes and ensure the continued shipment of Ukrainian grain
Meanwhile, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotskyi said that, following the recent Russian attacks, shipowners have temporarily suspended voyages to Ukrainian ports. He stressed that this does not amount to a full blockade of Ukraine’s maritime exports.
❗️Russia struck Izium in the Kharkiv region with three guided aerial bombs (KABs), destroying a Nova Poshta branch, according to the Izium City Military Administration.
🇪🇺 EU imposes sanctions on Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation at talks with Ukraine
⚡️ A trilateral meeting involving Ukraine, Russia, and the United States should take place by the fall, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
🔥 Ukrainian border guards destroyed a Russian Buk-M3 air defense system worth an estimated $50 million.
Operators from the Phoenix unit struck the Buk-M3 while it was on the move in the Donetsk region. According to the report, Russian forces were openly transferring the system toward the front line when it was hit.
🔥 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the destruction of the Avitek enterprise in Kirov, Russia, as well as an oil facility located nearly 1,350 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
“The enterprise in Kirov supplies components for the occupier’s aviation and missile systems, which are used, among other things, in massive strikes on our cities and communities. Thank you to our soldiers for your precision. Our response is absolutely fair.
Our long-range sanctions also reached an oil facility almost 1,350 kilometers away. There were other strikes as well.
🫡🇺🇦 For the first time in the history of Ukraine’s modern Navy, it has received the right to command NATO forces.
For the first time, the Ukrainian Navy has been certified by NATO to command multinational mine countermeasure forces. The certification followed a successful second-level NEL-2 evaluation during the Sea Breeze 2026 exercises, after which the Ukrainian headquarters was awarded Mission Capable status.
Russia has issued a navigation warning for vessels operating in its exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea amid Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Russia’s shadow fleet, Bloomberg reports.
According to the report, Russia’s Ministry of Defense has distributed the warning to all ships operating within the country’s exclusive economic zone, which extends up to 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) from the coastline.
The zone includes access to several major Russian ports, including Novorossiysk, a key hub for the country’s oil exports.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, between July 8 and July 20, Ukrainian forces struck at least 124 Russian-linked vessels in the Black and Azov seas, including 89 tankers.
Russian oil and gas earnings, which account for about one-fifth of the total budget, are expected to surge by 60% in July compared to the same month last year.
Despite this single-month increase, overall Russian oil and gas revenues for the January to July period are projected to fall 11% year-on-year to roughly 4.9 trillion rubles ($62.5 billion), Reuters reports on July 23.
🇵🇱 Poland has proposed that the United States establish a trilateral partnership with Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, according to PAP.
The proposal was announced by Poland’s Deputy Minister of National Defense, Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, during a visit to Washington.
❗️Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has warned that Russia is intensifying espionage, cyberattacks, and sabotage targeting German companies that cooperate with Ukraine, according to the Center for Strategic Communications, citing a report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).
The BfV said the threat from Russian espionage and sabotage is particularly high for defense companies involved in supplying or supporting Ukraine.
The agency also noted that, in spring 2026, Russia’s Defense Ministry published a list of 21 European companies it accused of manufacturing and supplying drones to Ukraine. Three German companies were included, and Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev publicly described them as potential military targets.
German intelligence also reported several uncovered espionage cases. One suspect is accused of passing information to Russia about military aid to Ukraine and companies developing drones and robotic systems.
According to investigators, two other suspects monitored an individual working for a company that supplies drones and drone components to Ukraine.
The BfV also identified logistics routes used to deliver military aid to Ukraine as a priority target for Russian intelligence services.
According to the report, the Kremlin is increasingly relying on so-called “low-level agents”—individuals without formal intelligence training who are recruited through messaging apps to carry out isolated espionage or sabotage tasks.
Russia may be using informal meetings in Baku and Abu Dhabi to promote an “alternative peace” for Ukraine on Moscow’s terms, according to Deutsche Welle.
Since 2022, former senior Russian and German officials have met four times in this format—three meetings in Baku and one in Abu Dhabi.
While the delegations have changed over time, several participants have remained constant. On the German side, these include former CDU politician and ex-chief of staff to Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ronald Pofalla, and Brandenburg Prime Minister and SPD politician Matthias Platzeck.
Both have kept a relatively low public profile in recent years but have continued traveling to Russia. According to Deutsche Welle, Platzeck has visited the country at least nine times since the start of the full-scale invasion. In an interview with Der Tagesspiegel in 2025, he said his main concern was “how this terrible war can be stopped and what peace afterward should look like.”
On the Russian side, a regular participant is former Prime Minister and Gazprom executive Viktor Zubkov. All three previously took part in the German-Russian forum “Petersburg Dialogue,” which Germany suspended in 2021 before dissolving it in 2023.
The publication notes that active German politicians rarely attend such meetings. One exception was SPD Bundestag member Ralf Stegner, who traveled to Baku in April 2025. Stegner is associated with the party’s pacifist wing and has advocated dialogue with Russia.
The Baku meeting was also attended by former Swiss ambassador Tim Guldimann and former OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, both of whom have longstanding professional ties to Russia. Russia was additionally represented by Alexei Gromyko, director of the Institute of Europe at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“My impression is that these trips primarily benefit one side—the Russian side—which can present its position and use its influence in certain circles to spread it,” journalist and Russia expert Katja Gloger told Deutsche Welle.
She noted that Gromyko has argued in his writings for influencing Western politicians to promote an “alternative peace.”
“Clearly, the goal is to spread narratives that shape the debate in Germany in the way the Kremlin wants. Can Pofalla and Platzeck directly influence politics? No. But they help create a certain atmosphere. Otherwise, why would relatively senior Russian officials meet with private German citizens?” Gloger said.
Russian airlines are increasingly dismantling aircraft for spare parts to keep the rest of their fleets operational, according to Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR). @notimagain
About 95% of passenger traffic in Russia is carried by Western-made aircraft, primarily Boeing and Airbus. On medium- and long-haul routes, dependence on Western aircraft is virtually 100%.
Due to sanctions, Russia is unable to properly maintain these fleets. According to HUR, many aircraft have already exceeded their manufacturer-certified service life. They are reportedly being repaired without the required certification, while replacement parts are either produced domestically or procured through third countries.
HUR says “aircraft cannibalization” has become widespread, with planes being dismantled for spare parts to keep others in service. According to the agency, even relatively new and fully operational aircraft are being stripped for components.
Russia has also struggled to expand domestic aircraft production. Although Moscow previously pledged to build nearly 1,000 civilian aircraft by 2030, backed by an investment of about $12 billion, HUR estimates current production capacity at only around 26 aircraft per year. The MS-21 and Superjet programs continue to face engine and performance issues, while no full replacement has yet been developed for the aging An-2 and An-24/26 aircraft.
According to HUR, 158 Russian airfields are currently operating with safety violations, and 134 require reconstruction or major repairs.
❤️🩹🦿 Ten-year-old Ukrainian gymnast Oleksandra Pascal, who lost her leg in a Russian missile strike, performed her “Dance of Freedom” in Times Square, New York.
Oleksandra lost her leg in 2022 after a Russian missile attack on the Odesa region. Despite her injury, she continued pursuing gymnastics. https://t.me/United24media/44478
👏 UNESCO has added the Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora in temporarily occupied Sevastopol to the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The decision officially recognizes the threats facing the site as a result of Russia’s temporary occupation of Crimea, including illegal excavations, unauthorized construction, the destruction of archaeological context, and the removal of cultural artifacts.
❗️Five people were killed and nine others injured after Russia struck Sloviansk, Donetsk region, with two aerial bombs, according to the Regional Military Administration.
The attack damaged 10 private homes, a business, and the premises of the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Latvia.