Mariia Zolkina on the NATO Summit, the Strikes on Kyiv, and Ukraine’s Attack on Russian oil tankers in the Azov Sea

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is at the 2026 NATO summit in Ankara that opened on Tuesday, to shore up support for Ukraine following two massive Russian strikes on Kyiv in the last week. While pushing for membership in the alliance, Zelenskyy again called on leaders to supply Ukraine with U.S. Patriot interceptor missiles needed to counter ballistic attacks. This comes as the death toll of Russia’s mass strikes against Kyiv on July 6 rose to 19 killed and more than 60 wounded. Zelenskyy also said Russia no longer has a safe rear area for its military assets, declaring: “We have completely eliminated the idea of Russia having a strategic rear.” Ukrainian drones overnight Tuesday struck 10 oil tankers belonging to Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” while they were sailing across the Azov Sea, reportedly towards Crimea.

These and other issues were discussed by Mariia Zolkina, Head of Regional Security and Conflict Studies at the Democratic Initiatives Foundation and Research Fellow at LSE IDEAS.