Monday, July 7th news on the conflict in Ukraine, live

• It is the 1,229th day of war in Ukraine
• Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory continue: in the last few hours, Moscow's missiles and drones have caused the death of at least 4 people.
• Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit committed suicide: he had been removed this morning by Vladimir Putin.

News on the death of a second Russian official

A second Russian official - Andrei Korneichuk, deputy director of the Rosavtodor heritage department - reportedly died today at the Transport Ministry headquarters in Moscow.

According to several Telegram channels, the man suddenly collapsed during a meeting, probably due to cardiac arrest.

Korneichuk, 42, reportedly died minutes after news of Starovoit's removal spread.

The Investigative Committee has not yet opened criminal proceedings in the deaths, but has confirmed that investigations are underway in both cases.

Zelensky and the incisive choices of the Volenterosi

I spoke with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. We coordinated our joint diplomatic efforts and discussed expectations for the next meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, which will be held in Rome in a few days.

Written by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on X, he specifies that Kiev is working to ensure that the decisions taken are as incisive as possible.

We also discussed additional funding to be allocated this month for the domestic production of Ukrainian drones, mainly interceptor drones. We agreed to work on strengthening other formats of cooperation with key partners, in particular the Ramstein format. Greater protection for human lives is needed.

​Zelensky's words come after the halt - decided by the United States - to the supply of some weapons to Kiev.

15:21|July 07

Russian Transport Minister Dies by Suicide: Putin Removed Him a Few Hours Ago

Roman Starovoit, who was officially removed from his post as Russian Transport Minister by Vladimir Putin this morning, has committed suicide. The news, which was first reported by some Russian media, was confirmed by the Russian Investigative Committee. 

A spokeswoman for the Committee, Svetlana Petrenko, said that Starovoit's lifeless body, with a gunshot wound, was found in his car in Odintsovo, a town west of Moscow. The most widely accepted version is suicide, the spokeswoman added, quoted by the Tass agency.

Before being appointed transport minister, Starovoit - who was 53 years old - served as governor of the Russian region of Kursk, on the border with Ukraine, from 2019 to 2024. The minister's death comes amid a corruption investigation into the construction of defensive fortifications in that region.

According to the Telegram channel 112, cited by Meduza, Starovoit's former deputy and successor as governor of Kursk, Alexey Smirnov, has testified against him. Smirnov is currently under arrest in a criminal case involving embezzlement of more than a billion rubles (over $12 million).

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Starovoit's death also comes just hours after a weekend of chaos for Russian air travel, with hundreds of flights grounded in recent days due to the threat posed by Ukrainian drone strikes. 

It is not yet clear whether Starovoit killed himself before or after Putin announced his dismissal - an announcement that gave no official reason. 

It is, however, the first suicide by a Russian official of this rank in years, and the first linked to decisions made during the war in Ukraine. 

13:30|July 07

Russian Attacks Injuries Rise: 17 in Zaporizhzhia, 33 in Kharkiv

In the city of Zaporizhzhia, the number of injured in the attack by Russian forces has risen to 17, while in Kharkiv the toll has risen to 33. This was reported by the RBC Ukraine news agency, citing the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional state administration, Ivan Fedorov, and the State Emergency Service. According to Fedorov, four people are hospitalized in Zaporizhzhia. During the second shelling of Kharkiv, the Russians attacked the Kholodnohirsk district. Residential, administrative and warehouse buildings, commercial facilities and cars were targeted.

13:29|July 07

Two Recruitment Centers Hit by Drones: 4 Injured

The Ukrainian military said Russian drones struck two recruitment centers in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, injuring four in total. The strikes are part of an integrated enemy operation aimed at stopping the mobilization in Ukraine, the government-backed Center for Strategic Communications, a news agency in Kiev, reported on social media. In recent days, Moscow has struck recruitment centers in the cities of Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rig and Poltava. Mobilization is a highly controversial issue in Ukraine, where dozens of citizens have died trying to escape and avoid conscription.

12:07|July 07

Moscow to Trump, BRICS Policies Are Not Against Third Countries

The interaction within the BRICS framework has never been and will never be directed against any third country: this is how the Kremlin commented on the words with which US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of additional duties of 10% on countries that he said were aligned with the group that includes, among others, China, India, Brazil and Russia. This was reported by the Interfax agency.

11:31 AM|July 7

Moscow, first occupied village in Dnipropetrovsk region

The Russian Defense Ministry said that over the past 24 hours, Moscow's troops have captured another settlement in the Sumy region and the first in the Dnipropetrovsk region. These are the villages of Bessalovka and Dachnoye, respectively.

10:48 AM|July 7

Media, Kellogg to meet Zelensky in Rome

U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, will meet with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome on the sidelines of the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference, which will be held on July 10-11, the Kyiv Post reports, citing two well-informed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

10:47 AM|July 7

Kiev, 1000 Russian drones and 1000 air bombs last week

In total, about 1,270 drones, 39 missiles and almost a thousand KABs (guided aerial bombs, ed.) were used last week. This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram, after a new attack in the night with 101 drones, the vast majority of which were Russian-Iranian `shaheds´. We sincerely hope - says the Ukrainian leader - that our partners will respect all the agreements made. Air defense is essential for the protection of life. We are already very dynamically implementing agreements on investments in our weapons production, especially all types of drones.

7:24 AM|July 7

Telegram, Bombs and Bitcoin: How Russians Hire Spies Among Ukrainian Teenagers

By Marta Serafini

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​In some cases the pretext is a treasure hunt, in others there is a reward in bitcoins good for buying a new iPhone, sometimes simple brainwashing is enough. Not a week goes by now without the Ukrainian authorities announcing that they have arrested a teenager accused of sabotage or espionage on behalf of the enemy. According to the SBU, Kiev's internal security intelligence, it is a real recruitment campaign launched by Moscow to destabilize the country from within that even recalls that implemented by ISIS in the Middle East or by the Taliban in Afghanistan. And while the comparison is certainly strong, the result is that teenagers driven by curiosity and fragility - some of them are orphans or displaced people - are transformed, even without realizing it, into unwitting agents. In the best of cases they become prey to online propaganda spread in a language, Russian, that everyone, even the youngest, understands and speaks. In the worst case, they end up being sent to plant explosives without even realizing the risk they are running.

​Continue reading here the full article.

Russian airstrikes on the country: 4 dead and 32 injured

A series of Russian air strikes in several regions of Ukraine today left four people dead and 32 injured, local authorities said. In the Sumy region in eastern Ukraine bordering Russia alone, two people were killed and two others were injured. One person was killed and two were injured in a Russian air strike in Kherson Oblast, while one person was killed in Odessa Oblast. In the Kharkiv Oblast, 23 people were injured, and five were injured in Dnipropetrovsk, according to governors and mayors of the affected areas.

6:38 AM|July 7

Ukraine: At least 17 injured in Kharkiv drone strike

A Russian drone strike has injured at least 17 people in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, local authorities said. A first drone injured 12 people, including two children, in Shevchenkivsky District, and a second injured five, including a child, in Slobidsky District, regional governor Oleg Synegubov wrote on Telegram.

5:09 AM|July 7

Trump, I'm Helping Ukraine, Disappointed With Putin

I am helping Ukraine. I am helping them a lot. Donald Trump said this, reiterating that if he had been president there would not have been a war. The phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky was very good. I am disappointed with

Putin, he added.

5:05 AM|July 6

Ukraine: Kiev drone strikes, traffic suspended at several airports in Russia

Ukrainian drone strikes have forced Russian authorities to suspend air traffic at several airports in the country, including Moscow's Sheremetyevo and St. Petersburg's Pulkovo. Air traffic has also been disrupted at Kirov Airport, 800 kilometers northeast of Moscow. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said six drones were shot down heading toward the city. Seven more were destroyed in the Kaluga region, southwest of the capital. And two more were destroyed near St. Petersburg.

July 7, 05:05 - Updated July 7, 17:20