Ukraine's former top military commander, now ambassador to the UK, has poured cold water on any dreams of Nato membership. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, in remarks quoted by Ukrainian news site Evropeiska Pravda, told a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors on Monday that the country simply doesn't cut it militarily. "I know Nato really well. For about 12 years I personally worked on making sure we met Nato standards, and every year I heard tales about how we would join Nato any day now," he said. "Unfortunately, we will never actually join." His reasoning? It's "impossible with the level of development that the armed forces of Ukraine have … to join an organisation guided by World War 2 doctrines." Ouch. Ukraine's constitution still lists Nato and EU membership as strategic goals, but even Kyiv admits not all members would roll out the welcome mat. Zaluzhnyi was sacked as top commander in 2024 after clashing with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over war strategy.

Meanwhile, on the frontlines, July was a bit of a snooze fest. According to an Agence France-Presse analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces gained less than 40 sq km (15 sq miles) in July, after a 30 sq km gain the previous month. That's a far cry from a year earlier, when they were gobbling up an average of 405 sq km a month. Kyiv has been landing effective strikes deep into Russia and occupied Ukraine, even as Russia keeps bombing. The few Russian gains were in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy, while Ukraine clawed back 29 sq km in the Dnipropetrovsk region, continuing a trend since December 2025.

In diplomatic shuffles, Zelenskyy has dismissed his ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna, via decree on Monday. The move was expected, part of a broader shake-up that's already seen the prime minister and defence minister replaced. It comes as Kyiv lobbies Washington hard for more Patriot air defence missiles. Stefanishyna took to Facebook to say it was "my own decision, driven by personal circumstances," and boasted of her achievements: "We boosted the supply of American weapons and maintained support right when the political climate in Washington was changing and not in our favour."

On the grim reaper front, Ukrainian drone attacks on a Black Sea resort and Crimea killed 11 people, Russian officials claim. Seven people, including three children, died when "drone debris" hit a beach in Arkhipo-Osipovka, said the crisis taskforce for Russia's southern Krasnodar region. Another four were killed in Crimea, per Moscow-installed governor Sergey Aksyonov. Russia also blames Ukraine for a bombing at a Moscow restaurant that killed five and injured 19, with speculation that a senior Russian military commander was the target. Ukrainian authorities haven't commented.

In Ukraine, one person died and dozens were injured in Russian aerial bombings on residential areas in Zaporizhzhia, said regional chief Ivan Fedorov. Near Kryvyi Rig, a Russian attack killed three, including an eight-year-old, at a service station, according to the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration chief.

And in a plot twist, prominent Russian anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin has fled to Paris as Moscow tightens the screws on dissent before parliamentary elections later this year. Nadezhdin, 63, gained international fame during the 2024 presidential election when his long-shot campaign against Vladimir Putin briefly gained momentum before he was barred. He remained one of the last well-known Russians to publicly oppose the war.