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Two submarines and a signed law: early August 2025
Summary
A look back at the developments in the days leading up to 5 August 2025, from Washington's naval order to Kyiv's anti-corruption reversal.
What was the situation in the days leading up to 5 August 2025? Two developments, one in Washington and one in Kyiv, set the backdrop.
On 1 August 2025, U.S. president Donald Trump ordered two United States Navy nuclear submarines to be deployed near Russia for potential military action against Russian forces. The order responded to statements by Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and the current deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Medvedev had addressed the deadline Trump had previously set for ending the war in Ukraine.
A day earlier, on 31 July 2025, President Zelensky signed a law restoring the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP). He did so amid warnings from the European Union and the G7 that financial support could be suspended if those agencies were suppressed.
Together, the two events showed pressure on Ukraine and Russia from outside: a U.S. deadline backed by a military signal in one case, and the prospect of withheld funding in the other.
