War briefing on Ukraine: Zelenskyy appoints Olha Stefanishyna as US ambassador

After months of anticipation, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has named Olha Stefanishyna, a former top cabinet official, as Ukraine‘s ambassador to the United States. She succeeds Oksana Markarova, who served as ambassador for six years—during which she witnessed more than three years of full-scale conflict with Russia—and who was criticized by Republicans for her partisanship. It was announced in July that Markarova would be replaced. Stefanishyna was a key figure in the country’s assimilation into western institutions during her tenure as minister of justice and deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration in Zelenskyy’s cabinet.

According to Kyiv’s military administration, a Russian nighttime attack on the Ukrainian capital left at least eight people dead, dozens injured, and 20 buildings damaged early Thursday. On Telegram, the government reported that a kindergarten had caught fire, while Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that a five-story structure had collapsed. The chief of the city’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, claimed that Moscow had “systematically” targeted residential structures with ballistic and cruise missiles as well as Iranian-made Shahed drones fired from various angles.

Zelenskyy announced his officials will meet US counterparts in New York on Fridayas the Ukrainian president continues to push for a one-on-one meeting with Vladimir putin despite Kremlin refusals. Following “meetings in Switzerland” on Thursday, Zelenskyy stated that “meetings with President Trump’s team will take place in New York, in the United States, on Friday.” The encounter was previously reported to American media by Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer and Donald Trump‘s official envoy.

Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, stated on Wednesday that he and Rustem Umerov, the chairman of the security council, were in Riyadh in preparation for the US negotiations. According to Yermak, the discussions in Riyadh centered on Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the process of bringing about peace in Ukraine. According to Yermak, they had meetings with the national security adviser and the Saudi defense minister. Before traveling to New York, Zelenskyy said the delegation would also have discussions in Switzerland on Thursday.

Following weeks of Ukrainian drone strikes that severely damaged the nation’s refining capabilities, Russians are now having difficulty filling their fuel tanks, according to Pjotr Sauer. While prices have risen to all-time highs and drivers have been waiting in line for hours, gas stations have run out of fuel. Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, has been among the hardest hit. The drone threat has forced the peninsula’s airports to close, driving tourists onto the highways and adding to the already limited supply of supplies. The peninsula typically receives a swarm of Russian vacationers in the summer.

According to Zelenskyy, Russian strikes on civilian infrastructure caused “more than 100,000 households” in Ukraine to experience blackouts on Wednesday. “Sadly, there was damage to energy facilities. Power disruptions were brought on by the attack in the Chernihiv, Sumy, and Poltava regions. Every emergency service is on the ground trying to get the power back as soon as possible.

FriedrichMerz said “Russia is and will remain, for the long term, the greatest threat to freedom, peace and stability in Europe” as Germany’s chancellor announced a strengthening of its armed forces. The German cabinet has signed off on a draft bill to build up the ranks of military volunteersthat leaves the door open to a resumption of conscription, which Germany had until 2011.

The opening of Europe’s largest munitions plant by German manufacturer Rheinmetall on Wednesday was praised by NATO commander Mark Rutte as strengthening western defenses. By 2027, the Unterluess facility in northern Germany will have the capacity to produce 350,000 artillery shells annually.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, stated on Wednesday that his country is considering ways to share combat data with friends, referring to the data as one of Kyiv’s “cards” to fortify its stance as it seeks assistance from friendly nations. Fedorov, the head of Ukraine’s ministry of digitalization, stated that Ukraine was “extremely cautious” about sharing its data, saying, “The data we have is priceless for any country.” Large datasets are crucial for training artificial intelligence (AI) models to recognise patterns and make predictions.

According to NATO, all of its members are expected to meet the alliance’s long-standing defense spending goal of 2% of GDP this year. At a summit in The Hague in June, the allies decided to raise the threshold, aiming for 5% of GDP, which would include 3.5% for core defense spending and 1.5% for a broader range of sectors like infrastructure and cybersecurity.