Ukraine: Briefing
Tomorrow morning (9 July), the Security Council will hold an open briefing on Ukraine. The meeting was requested by Ukraine in a 6 July letter and supported by the Council’s European members (Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, and the UK). The anticipated briefers are Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo and Acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Indrika Ratwatte. Ukraine and several regional countries are expected to participate under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, while the European Union (EU) is expected to take part under rule 39.
The 6 July letter refers to two recent large-scale Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine in the past week. The first assault, which took place overnight between 1 and 2 July, reportedly lasted nearly 12 hours and killed at least 31 civilians in Kyiv, according to Ukrainian authorities. More recently, an overnight attack between 5 and 6 July reportedly inflicted a heavy toll in Kyiv. The 6 July letter notes that several multi-storey apartment buildings were either directly hit or severely damaged, killing at least 21 civilians and injuring dozens of others in the capital and the surrounding region. It further argues that these attacks demonstrate Russia’s “sustained pattern of deliberately targeting densely populated urban areas and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine” and underscore “the urgent need for a resolute international response”.
Over the past several months, the Security Council has met frequently to discuss developments in Ukraine or the spillover effects of the war, holding four such meetings in June alone. Two of these meetings, which were requested by Ukraine in response to large-scale Russian attacks, were held on 8 and 22 June. (For more information, see our 5 and 19 June What’s in Blue stories.) On 1 June, the Council convened for a meeting under the “Threats to international peace and security” agenda item at Romania’s request following what it alleged was the entry of a Russian drone carrying explosives into Romanian airspace overnight between 28 and 29 May. The most recent meeting, held on 29 June under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item, was requested by Belarus in a 26 June letter to the Council, citing allegations that a 17 June Ukrainian drone strike had hit a bus carrying Belarusian schoolchildren in Russia’s Bryansk region, killing a woman and injuring eight people, including six children. Ukraine’s military has denied the allegation.
Russia has described its recent attacks as a response to Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes against targets inside Russia, including energy infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has argued that such attacks are aimed at increasing pressure on Russia to engage in negotiations to end the war. On 6 July, Ukraine carried out its farthest assault, striking Russia’s Omsk oil refinery, which is located in Siberia, approximately 2,700 kilometres from Ukrainian-held territory. An 18 June attack by Ukraine against several Russian cities, including Moscow, reportedly involved almost 1,000 drones, marking the largest Ukrainian barrage on Russian soil to date. Additionally, Ukraine has escalated its aerial campaign against Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It has targeted air defence and radar systems, bridges and roads, as well as the energy grid and fuel reserves across the peninsula, causing power outages and fuel and water shortages.
The war in Ukraine was a central topic of discussion at the latest summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which concluded today (8 July) in Ankara, Türkiye. Zelenskyy participated in the two-day conference, during which he reiterated his urgent appeal to allies to provide Ukraine with air defence systems. Ukrainian officials have been warning that the country’s supply of American-made Patriot air defence interceptors, which are key to its ability to defend itself against Russian missiles, has been depleted. The consequences of such shortages were evident during Russia’s 5-6 July attack. Ukraine’s air force reported that it had failed to intercept any of the 23 ballistic missiles launched in that barrage.
In the declaration issued after the summit, NATO members pledged $80 billion in military equipment, assistance, and training for Ukraine. Additionally, during a meeting between Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the summit, the latter announced that Washington would grant Kyiv a license to manufacture Patriot air defence systems, permission that the US had previously only given to Germany and Japan. Experts have noted, however, that it may take several years for Ukraine to start producing the systems, due to the complexity of the manufacturing process and difficulty in procuring the necessary components.
At tomorrow’s meeting, the briefers are likely to express alarm about the continuing toll of Russian missile and drone attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. They might echo messages conveyed by Secretary-General António Guterres, who strongly condemned the 1-2 July and 5-6 July overnight attacks, stressing that “attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur, are a clear violation of international humanitarian law and must stop immediately”. They may also reiterate his call for an immediate de-escalation leading to a full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire.
The briefers may also draw on the latest report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which was issued on 29 June and covers developments between 1 December 2025 and 31 May. During that period, hostilities killed at least 1,272 civilians and injured 6,871 others in Ukraine, constituting a 40 percent increase compared with the same period in the previous year. The briefers and several Council members are also likely to express concern about attacks affecting humanitarian and medical personnel. According to the OHCHR report, 82 medical workers and 41 emergency service personnel were killed in the first half of the year. In addition, the UN reported that, as of late June, at least six humanitarian workers had been killed in Ukraine and 36 others injured, with the Kherson region recording the highest number of such incidents. Most recently, on 24 June, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Norwegian People’s Aid, which has been supporting de-mining efforts in Ukraine, reported that two of its staff members were killed in a Russian strike in Kherson.
Council members are expected to remain divided in their assessments of responsibility for the latest escalation and the prospects for diplomacy. The European members of the Council are likely to condemn Russia’s recent missile and drone attacks, describe them as part of a broader campaign against Ukraine’s civilian population and infrastructure, and reiterate their call on Moscow to accept a full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire.
Several other Council members are likely to focus on de-escalation, protection of civilians, and the need to avoid a wider regional confrontation. These members—including Bahrain, China, Pakistan, and Somalia—may reiterate calls for dialogue and diplomacy, urge the parties to agree to a cessation of hostilities, and warn against steps that could further widen the conflict.
Russia is likely to reject allegations that it targets civilians and argue that its strikes are directed at military facilities, defence-related production sites, and energy infrastructure used for military purposes. It may also accuse Ukraine’s allies of prolonging the conflict by providing military support to the country and of ignoring the Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory and their effects on civilians. On 3 July, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly told his military commanders to “analyze the involvement” of European countries “in actual combat operations”, in order to “make responsible decisions in the future”.
Russia may further accuse Ukraine of a pattern of belligerent behaviour. It may note in this regard that, on 2 July, a German court issued an indictment against a Ukrainian national for his role in the 26 September 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Ukraine has denied involvement in the incident.
