Ukraine and Belgium are drawing up a bilateral agreement to deepen cooperation on drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after meeting Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot in Kyiv on 18 August. The two also discussed strengthening Ukraine's air power and shielding it from Russian attacks.

Cheap drones now decide much of the fighting, and Kyiv has turned years of learning to fly and defeat them into leverage—trading that edge for weapons and money with a lengthening line of Western partners.

A new deal takes shape

Teams on both sides are now writing the text of the Drone Deal and weighing possible dates to sign it, ArmyInform reported. Ukraine is ready to share its own expertise in unmanned systems with partners, Zelenskyy said.

Defense ran through the meeting, with both sides focused on strengthening Ukraine's combat aviation and defending its skies.

"I expect that we will be able to implement what we discussed, and there will be more protection from Russian strikes," Zelenskyy said.

Belgium has promised 30 F-16 fighter jets—the largest F-16 pledge from any single country—though none have reached Ukraine yet, with deliveries tied to Belgium's own switch to newer aircraft.

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Belgium's deeper backing

Zelenskyy thanked Belgium for more than $1.28 billion in support this year, covering defense and civilian needs alike, and for backing Ukraine's move toward the European Union. The military share flows from a standing pledge: since 2025, Belgium has committed to at least $1.16 billion in defense aid a year.

A 2024 security pact locked in that relationship, making a small Western European country one of Ukraine's steadier partners. Belgian firms also service the F-16s Ukraine already flies, the jets delivered by other partners in the coalition.

A young Ukrainian aviation technician has been killed in a helicopter crash on a combat mission. A military helicopter crashed during a combat flight mission in Kirovohrad Oblast on 31 July, the Smila City Council reports.

The crash claimed the life of a 28-year-old who serviced the aircraft that defends Ukraine's skies. Senior Lieutenant Yaroslav Demchevskyi, a 28-year-old onboard aviation technician of a helicopter flight in a helicopter squadron of a Ukrainian military unit, died when the helicopter fell.

He died on a mission to protect the aircraft

Demchevskyi was killed while carrying out a specific task. He died during a combat flight mission to disperse aviation equipment when the helicopter fell, according to the city council. The city honored his service.

"Yaroslav Demchevskyi died carrying out a combat flight mission to disperse aviation equipment as a result of the helicopter's fall. He defended the Ukrainian sky to the last," the Ukrainian authorities said.

The cause has not been disclosed

The circumstances of the crash remain unexplained. Neither the Ministry of Defense nor the Air Force has published data on the causes of the helicopter's crash in Kirovohrad Oblast.

Information about the incident became known only through the Smila City Council's official announcement about organizing the farewell ceremony for Demchevskyi. Without an official account from the military, the cause, whether a technical failure, an accident, or Russian action, is not established.

A loss recorded by a hometown

For now, the fullest account of Demchevskyi's death comes from the community that will bury him.

The dispersal mission that killed him is itself a mark of the war: aircraft must be constantly moved and hidden because Russia hunts them on the ground, and it was in that work, safeguarding the machines that defend the sky, that Demchevskyi lost his life. He was 28.

Russia has shifted its scarce fleet of A-50U airborne radar aircraft to near-daily operations, according to an analysis by Ukrainian OSINT channel Cyberboroshno. After barely flying against Ukraine for most of June, the aircraft are now patrolling almost nightly to detect Ukrainian drones, operating from airfields deep inside Russia and, on 7 July, four were airborne at once—almost the country's entire combat-ready fleet.

From barely flying to daily duty

For most of June, Russia hardly sent its A-50U airborne radar planes up against Ukraine, according to Cyberboroshno. Its analysts studied more than 1,600 reports between 4 June and 2 August. Early in that window, the only real activity involved a repaired aircraft, tail number Red 47, returning to service.

That changed on 23 June, when one plane began patrolling over Russia's interior above Ulyanovsk and Samara oblasts, mostly at night. Those flights continued for the rest of the period, roughly 60 sorties in all. Basing later shifted deeper into the rear, from Ivanovo and Ulyanovsk to airfields near Perm, Orenburg, and Chelyabinsk. On 7 July, Russia put four A-50U planes in the air at once—close to its entire combat-ready fleet.

Ukraine's missiles are what's driving the surge

Russia's ground defenses struggle to catch Ukraine's long-range cruise missiles, so airborne radar helps spot them early. On 4 July, Cyberboroshno said an A-50U played a decisive role in helping repel one such Ukrainian missile strike.

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Why every one of these planes matters

The A-50U is Russia's flying radar—an airborne command post that scans the sky for hundreds of kilometers and guides fighters and missiles. Ukraine shot one down over the Sea of Azov on 14 January 2024, and says it downed the second over Russia's Krasnodar Krai on 23 February 2024. 

Russia entered its all-out war with fewer than ten of these aircraft in service, and the only plant that builds and maintains them has since slid into deep losses, with a strike destroying the prototype of the successor meant to replace them. A single A-50U can track aircraft and cruise missiles out to 700 km. Every sortie forced by Ukraine’s attacks eats into the aircraft’s limited flight life and risks a plane Russia cannot replace.

Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Russia's former Transport Minister Roman Starovoit shot himself dead in Odintsovo following his dismissal by President Vladimir Putin on July 7, the pro-government newspaper Izvestia reported, citing unnamed sources.

Starovoit's ouster came after nearly 500 flights were grounded at major Russian airports on July 5–6 due to security threats from Ukrainian drone attacks.

The following day, an explosion aboard the Eco Wizard tanker at the Ust-Luga port in Leningrad Oblast triggered an ammonia leak, adding to the crisis engulfing Russia's transportation sector.

Starovoit, sanctioned by Ukraine and Western countries for his role in the war against Ukraine, had served as governor of Russia's Kursk Oblast before being appointed transport minister in May 2024.

According to Russian media, Starovoit's body was found near Moscow. Preliminary findings suggest that the suicide may be linked to a possible criminal case.

Media outlets report that the former minister shot himself using an honorary firearm he had received from the Interior Ministry in 2023.

According to media reports, former Kursk Oblast official Aleksei Smirnov, who had previously served as Starovoit's deputy, had provided testimony implicating Starovoit. Smirnov himself was arrested earlier on suspicion of embezzling 1 billion rubles (over $12 million) during the construction of defensive structures in the border region.

An investigation into the large-scale theft of state funds in Kursk Oblast is currently underway, with several of Starovoit's former deputies remaining under suspicion, including Smirnov, who briefly served as acting governor.

State-controlled RIA Novosti, citing Russia's Investigative Committee, reported that Starovoit's body was discovered inside his private vehicle with a gunshot wound. Investigative teams from Russia's Main Investigative Directorate are reportedly working at the scene to determine the exact circumstances. The primary theory under consideration is suicide.

The timing of the death remains unclear. Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee, confirmed the death to RTVI, stating only that it occurred "quite some time ago," without elaborating further.

Death of top Russian oil executive fuels fresh scrutiny of elite’s ‘window falls’

The unexplained death of a top Russian oil executive on July 4 is fueling renewed scrutiny over the rising number of high-profile Russian officials and businessmen who have died under mysterious circumstances, specifically, have fallen out of windows. Andrei Badalov, vice president of Transneft, Russia’s largest state-controlled pipeline transport company,

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Transport Minister Roman Starovoit on July 7, following a series of high-profile disruptions to Russia's aviation and shipping sectors.

The official decree was published on Russia's legal information portal. No reason was given, but Starovoit's departure comes after nearly 300 flights were grounded at major Russian airports on July 5–6 due to security threats from Ukrainian drone attacks.

Adding to the turmoil, an explosion aboard the Eco Wizard tanker at the Ust-Luga port in Leningrad Oblast caused an ammonia leak on July 6, prompting an emergency response.

Starovoit, sanctioned by Ukraine and Western countries for his role in the war against Ukraine, had served as governor of Russia's Kursk Oblast before being appointed transport minister in May 2024.

According to the Russian state-controlled newspaper Vedomosti, Deputy Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin, a former Novgorod Oblast governor, is a leading candidate to replace Starovoit.

On July 6, the Russian Federal Aviation Agency confirmed that 287 flights were delayed or canceled at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport, and Nizhny Novgorod's Strigino Airport due to safety concerns from drone activity.

Kyiv's drone campaign, which has increasingly disrupted civilian air travel in Russia, is part of Ukraine's broader strategy to undermine Russia's logistics far beyond the front line.

Russian authorities said the ammonia leak at Ust-Luga was "minor," but the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, Baza, reported that an unexplained explosion preceded the incident.

The Eco Wizard tanker is believed to be part of Russia's "shadow fleet" — a network of vessels used to bypass international sanctions on Russian oil and chemical exports. Five tankers have been damaged by explosions at Russian ports since the start of 2025.

The Kremlin has not made a formal statement on the minister's dismissal.

Death of top Russian oil executive fuels fresh scrutiny of elite’s ‘window falls’

The unexplained death of a top Russian oil executive on July 4 is fueling renewed scrutiny over the rising number of high-profile Russian officials and businessmen who have died under mysterious circumstances, specifically, have fallen out of windows. Andrei Badalov, vice president of Transneft, Russia’s largest state-controlled pipeline transport company,

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

Russia has redeployed dozens of long-range bombers to more remote bases within the country, Russian independent media outlet Agentstvo reported on June 11, citing OSINT analyst AviVector.

The relocation comes in the wake of Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb, the unprecedented mass drone strike on June 1 that targeted four Russian air bases deep inside the country.  

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said 117 drones were launched from hidden positions across Russia, damaging 41 aircraft, including Tu-95, Tu-22M3, and Tu-160 bombers.

According to Agentstvo, all Tu-160 bombers have been evacuated from Belaya airfield in Irkutsk Oblast and Olenya airfield in Murmansk Oblast. Some were relocated to Anadyr in Chukotka, Yelizovo in Kamchatka, and Borisoglebskoye in Tatarstan.

Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS bombers were also redeployed. Eleven Tu-22M3s and all Tu-95MS aircraft near Murmansk reportedly relocated to the Ukrainka airfield in Amur Oblast, Engels-2 in Saratov Oblast, Borisoglebskoye in Tatarstan, and Mozdok in North Ossetia.

The reported relocation of bombers is the latest sign that Ukraine's drone warfare is forcing the Kremlin to rethink its strategic posture, even far from the front lines.

Western analysts and military officials praised Ukraine's ingenuity in the Spiderweb operation. NATO Admiral Pierre Vandier called the mission a modern reinvention of the "Trojan Horse," demonstrating Ukraine's growing technical sophistication and deep-strike capability.

President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that roughly half of the targeted aircraft are damaged beyond repair. Russia has acknowledged losses but insisted all damaged aircraft will be restored.