Summary
Highlights
Ukraine carried out the largest maritime strike of the war, hitting eight sanctioned Russian tankerships, one dry cargo vessel, and one ferry north of the Kerch Strait. These vessels, described as 'easy pickings' due to being parked, were part of the Russian Black Sea Shadow Fleet, which is now significantly impacted, complicating fuel and lubricant supplies to Russian forces in occupied Crimea.
The SBU Special Forces, specifically the Birds of Magyar unit, captured and sunk eight tankers in one night, noting they were all subject to international sanctions. This event, occurring on July 7th, is expected to create a 'chilling effect' on anyone involved in supplying oil to or from Russia. In total, 10 vessels were struck, including a cargo vessel in the Sea of Azov and a ferry near Crimea, impacting Russian logistics.
Beyond the naval strikes, Ukrainian forces targeted two defense industry enterprises in the Bryansk region, an airfield, an oil depot in Belgorod, bridges, and a main gas distribution hub. Over the past week, SBU special forces conducted 13 long-range strikes on Russian military targets, including airbases, oil refineries, fuel depots, drone sites, and a communications hub. The new FP-1 ER attack drone variant can now reach targets over 2,000 miles away, as demonstrated by a strike on the Omsk refinery.
Russian forces conducted overnight strikes, with 108 out of 123 targets shot down, an 87% interception rate, although damage and casualties still occurred in places like Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvyi Rih, and Kharkiv. The video mentions the final toll of a past Russian attack on the capital was 19 killed and 61 injured, including children.
Approximately 1,200 Russian soldiers were removed from the battlefield, a number that indicates significant attrition. High losses were also reported for tanks, armored fighting vehicles, artillery systems, vehicles, fuel tanks, and unmanned aerial and ground vehicles. The overall engagement and casualty numbers are below the 7-day average, but drone losses are heavy, and 90 missiles were intercepted in the last week, the most this year.
Combat engagements were noted in Bakhmut (32 attacks), north and northwest of New York (25 attacks), Hulyaipole (14 attacks), and Lyman (11 attacks), where a 'Lyman pocket' salient has formed. Ukrainian ground robotics maker Tencor donated 29 Termit unmanned ground vehicles for logistics, casualty evacuation, and strike missions. A significant trend is that Russian casualties in the first half of 2026 exceeded new recruits, the first time this has happened since the full-scale invasion, indicating increasing pressure for Putin to mobilize.