Overview

• In Kyiv’s Sofia Square, President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed foreign guests and defense chiefs from Sweden, Denmark, Romania, Lithuania and Canada, awarding honors to supporters including U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg and Sweden’s Pål Jonson.
• Sweden’s foreign minister reaffirmed long-term support across political, military and development tracks, citing a new Nordic purchase of U.S. air-defense ammunition via NATO valued at SEK 5 billion.
• President Donald Trump sent a public Independence Day letter backing a negotiated settlement to end the war, which Zelensky publicly thanked and framed as a push toward real peace for Ukraine.
• Global observances featured blue-and-yellow illuminations and diaspora events, including Delhi’s Qutub Minar and community gatherings in San Francisco and Sacramento that combined remembrance with fundraising.
• Russian officials said a drone strike sparked a transformer fire at a Kursk-region nuclear power facility with no casualties and normal radiation readings, as international calls for caution around nuclear sites continued.