Institute for the Study of War
@thestudyofwar
ISW is a policy research organization focused on U.S. national security. Email: press@understandingwar.org. For more:
NEW: The Russian Navy is forming unmanned systems regiments, likely in part to protect Russian vessels from intensified Ukrainian strikes against Russian naval assets in the Black and Azov seas.(1/4) Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 26, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar072626 Other Key Takeaways:
NEW: The current level and type of US strikes have likely failed to meaningfully affect the Iranian regime’s willingness to pursue and secure its strategic objectives with force, including long-term control over the Strait of Hormuz. (1/5) Read more: isw.pub/IranUpdate07... Other Key Takeaways:
5/ Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 25, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar072526
NEW: Russian President Vladimir Putin likely used a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to justify his refusal to freeze the frontline in Ukraine and his decision to continue waging the war. (1/5) Read the full update: isw.pub/UkrWar072526
6/ One US official stated that some of these missiles have successfully evaded US defenses.
NEW: The Saudi-led coalition struck several Houthi targets across Yemen in order to degrade the Houthis’ capabilities to threaten Saudi-linked shipping in the Red Sea and strike Saudi critical infrastructure. The Houthis responded by attacking Saudi vessels and Red Sea ports. (1/6)
NEW: Ukrainian forces appear to have struck at least 10 Wildberries warehouses (the closest Russian equivalent to Amazon) in Russia and occupied Ukraine in the past week. (1/6) Read the full update: isw.pub/UkrWar072426
NEW: The China Coast Guard injured a Philippine navy service member during a small boat confrontation near the Philippine outpost at Second Thomas Shoal. (1/4) Read the full report: isw.pub/ChinaTaiwanU...
NEW: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the Russian narrative that the United States and Russia reached any kind of agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine during the August 2025 Alaska Summit. (1/4) Read the full update: isw.pub/UkrWar072326
NEW: The Houthis struck at least one Saudi vessel to enforce their naval blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 22. United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations confirmed on July 23 that the Houthis attacked an unspecified Saudi-flagged tanker with an “unknown projectile.” (1/6)
7/ Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 22, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar072226
NEW: The Kremlin continues to reiterate Russia’s commitment to its maximalist war aims of complete Ukrainian capitulation while Russian forces fail to achieve operationally significant gains. (1/7) Read the full report: isw.pub/UkrWar072226
NEW: ISW-CTP is tracking initial reports that the Houthis attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on July 22. (1/7) Read more: isw.pub/IranUpdate07...
NEW: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi and appointed the Ukrainian Joint Forces Task Force Commander Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi as his replacement. 🧵 (1/6) Read the full update: isw.pub/UkrWar072126
NEW: The Houthis likely decided to impose their blockade on Saudi Arabia to advance their own interests, though Iran probably encouraged them to impose the blockade for Tehran’s own purposes. (1/8) Read the full update: isw.pub/IranUpdate07...
NEW: WPK General Secretary Kim Jong Un announced during a July 11 meeting of the WPK, North Korean government, and KPA that former KPA GPB Vice Director of the Organizational Department Pak Hee Chol would be charged with corruption. (1/4) Full update: isw.pub/KoreanPenins...
Iran Update Special Report, July 20, 2026: The Houthis' announced naval blockade against Saudi Arabia could result in an expansion of the shipping crisis in the Middle East, as it will almost certainly increase the cost of shipping through the Red Sea. 🧵 (1/8) Read more: isw.pub/IranUpdate07...
6/ Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 20, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar072026
NEW: Russian milbloggers rebutted Russian official statements that Russian forces have secured the M-14 Rostov-Crimea highway — the primary land route connecting mainland Russia to occupied Crimea against Ukrainian mid-range drone strikes. 🧵(1/6) Read the full update: isw.pub/UkrWar072026
MORE: Russian forces conducted one of their largest ballistic missile strikes thus far in the war on the night of July 18-19, predominantly targeting Kyiv Oblast. Russian forces have launched more ballistic missiles against Ukraine thus far in July than Russia reportedly produces each month. 🧵(1/3)
NEW: Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi implied that a special committee within the SNSC made decisions on negotiations with the US without the direct input of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, which highlights the seemingly limited role that Mojtaba has played in regime decision-making.
NEW: Ukrainian forces continued their long-range strike campaign against Russian oil and energy infrastructure and naval vessels on July 18 and 19. 🧵(1/3) Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 19, 2026: isw.pub/UkrWar071926
NEW: Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov again aggrandized Russian battlefield advances in Donetsk Oblast on July 18, but several of his claims are not corroborated by any available evidence. isw.pub/UkrWar071826 Other Key Takeaways 🧵⬇️ 1/5
NEW: Russian Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov again aggrandized Russian battlefield advances in Donetsk Oblast on July 18, but several of his claims are not corroborated by any available evidence. Read the full assessment: isw.pub/UkrWar071826
1/ Iran is adapting to US defenses by firing high-speed, maneuverable missiles at US bases in the region, which highlights the threat that the advancement of Iran's ballistic missile program poses to US national security interests. Read the full update: isw.pub/IranUpdate07...
5/ Neither Ukrainian nor Russian forces made confirmed advances on July 17. Read the full update: isw.pub/UkrWar071726
NEW: The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) appears committed to optimizing Russian forces for continued positional warfare in Ukraine — not for the mechanized maneuver required to make rapid, large-scale gains. (1/5)
NEW: The United States has struck several bridges and railroads in southern Iran since ISW-CTP’s last data cutoff in order to disrupt supply routes to Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, according to a senior US official speaking to the Wall Street Journal. (1/8) Read more: isw.pub/IranUpdate07...