Ukrainian forces were gradually pushing Russian forces out of the border Sumy region, where Moscow was able to establish a foothold in recent weeks, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Our units in Sumy region are gradually pushing back the occupiers,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address. “I thank you! Thanks to every soldier, sergeant and officer for this result."
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said there had been a concentration of Russian men and equipment in the Sumy region following months of Ukrainian operations across the border in Kursk. He advised caution to establish details of the situation on the ground.
Russian forces have been moving into Sumy region since April when Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a buffer zone following the eviction of Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region.
Ukraine, meanwhile, claimed that Russia had lost more than one million troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its invasion in February 2022.
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As Putin ramps up his summer offensive in Ukraine, will he succeed?
Key Points
- Ukrainian troops pushing back Russian forces in Sumy, says Zelensky
- Putin calls for quick development of drone forces
- Volodymyr Zelensky to attend G7 and hopes to meet Trump
- Ukraine's military says Russia has reached 1 million casualties
Russia hand soldiers' bodies to Ukraine
09:16 , Holly BancroftRussia handed back the bodies of 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers on Friday but did not receive any in exchange, state news agency TASS said, citing an unidentified source.
Ukraine confirmed earlier on Friday that it had received the 1,200 bodies from Russia as part of agreements reached between the two sides to exchange both prisoners of war and soldiers killed in action.
Russian aircraft intercepted over Baltic on Friday
08:46 , Holly BancroftA Russian aircraft was intercepted over the Baltic Sea by two British fighter jets on Friday, the Polish armed forces have said.
The Russian II-20 reconnaissance aircraft flew two kilometres inside Polish airspace, the ministry said.
"This is another case of provocative testing of the readiness of Nato countries' systems," the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command wrote on social media platform X.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Western military alliance ramped up its presence along its eastern flank, sending more fighter jets there and setting up ground-based air defences.
The army said a pair of British fighters, stationed in Poland as part of Nato's so-called Air Policing effort, were scrambled before the Polish border was breached. The planes intercepted and identified the plane, and the incident is being analysed by the appropriate Nato commands, the army said.
Putin's forces likely trying to level the frontlines in Dnipropetrovsk, says think tank
07:00 , Alex CroftRussian forces are likely attempting to level the frontlines in the Novopavlivka and Kurakhove directions to advance into Dnipropetrovsk oblast where Moscow’s offensive has picked pace in the recent days, a Washington-based think tank said.
“Russian forces first crossed the Donetsk-Dnipropetrovsk Oblast border northwest of Horikhove (northwest of Ukrainka and southeast of Novopavlivka) as of 9 June and will likely seek to secure further advances to level the current salients near Horikhove and Novoukrainka,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
It added that a Kremlin-affiliated Russian milblogger claimed that Russian forces “also seek to even out the frontline near Udachne (northeast of Novopavlivka along the T-0406 Pokrovsk-Mekhova highway) and Muravka (southeast of Udachne and north of Horikhove)”.
Ukrainian Southern Defence Forces spokesperson Colonel Vyacheslav Voloshyn also reported on Wednesday that Russian forces are using motorcycles in assaults to try to advance quickly and make it difficult for Ukraine to reinforce the area.
“Kremlin officials and Russian commentators have framed Russian efforts to advance into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast as efforts to create a ”buffer zone,” indicating that Russia continues to have wider territorial ambitions in Ukraine beyond the areas it has illegally annexed,” the ISW said.
Ukraine shares footage of drone strikes on Russian military vehicles
06:00 , Alex Croft🔥🔥🔥Guns, armored vehicles, cars, shelters, antennas — the list goes on.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) June 13, 2025
Thanks to the precision of Black Raven drone operators, all this russian scrap is going up in flames.
📹: 93rd Mechanized Brigade pic.twitter.com/JQT6uo6TS6
German defence minister arrives in Kyiv
05:00 , Alex CroftGerman defence minister Boris Pistorius visited Kyiv on Friday to discuss further weapons aid for Ukraine.
"The purpose of the trip is mainly to demonstrate... that Germany, that the new federal government, continues to stand by Ukraine in the current situation, which has not become any easier," Mr Pistorius told journalists upon his arrival in Kyiv yesterday.
Germany is Ukraine's second-biggest military backer after the United States, and German chancellor Friedrich Merz recently gave Ukraine the green light for "long range fire" with weapons supplied by Germany and others, angering Moscow.
Russia and Ukraine met for peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month in a renewed push to settle the conflict, which began with Russia's invasion in February 2022, but efforts to end the three-year conflict with Russia faced headwinds.
The two sides disagree over issues including territorial concessions and the prospect of Ukraine's future Nato membership, however, and fighting has raged on, with a Russian drone attack killing several people this week.
Zelensky announces investment boost for Ukrainian air defence
04:01 , Alex CroftVolodymyr Zelensky has announced Kyiv is seeking to boost investment for Ukraine’s air defence infrastructure.
“We have some weapons still in development, some systems have already been developed, and we are trying to secure more funding for mass production,” Mr Zelensky said.
“These include various types of intercepter drones, among other things.”
He said he will “not disclose which systems are located where, or which energy facilities they protect”.
Pictured: Buildings damaged by Russian strike in frontline town of Kostiantynivka
03:00 , Alex Croft
Russia criticises Israel after attack on Iran
02:00 , Alex CroftRussia has criticised Israel following an attack on Iran, a key ally of Moscow.
"Russia is concerned and condemns the sharp escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media.
Russia and Iran have grown closer in recent years and Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian deepened military ties between their countries in January when they signed a 20-year strategic partnership pact.
Moscow supplies Iran with weapons and has bought Iranian arms.
EU to force companies to share details of Russian gas deals
Saturday 14 June 2025 00:29 , Alex CroftThe European Union will force countries to share details of Russian gas deals by 2027, according to documents seen by Reuters.
The Commission is preparing to propose legal measures to completely halt the EU's Russian gas imports by the end of 2027, and ban new Russian gas deals by the end of this year.
The proposals are due to be published on June 17.
Zelensky says Ukrainian troops pushing back Russian forces in Sumy
Friday 13 June 2025 23:30 , Alex CroftUkraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were gradually pushing Russian forces out of the border Sumy region, where Moscow was able to establish a foothold in recent weeks.
Russian forces have been moving into Sumy region since April when Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a buffer zone following the eviction of Ukrainian troops from Russia's western Kursk region.
Both Russian and Ukrainian reports indicate that Russian forces have seized a series of villages in Sumy, which has for many months also come under heavy Russian air attacks. And Russian reports said Moscow's troops were advancing in the area.
"Our units in Sumy region are gradually pushing back the occupiers," Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address. "I thank you! Thanks to every soldier, sergeant and officer for this result."
The Ukrainian president provided no further details and offered no proof of Ukrainian advances in the area.
Ukrainians face painful wait to learn if loved ones are among returned bodies
Friday 13 June 2025 22:31 , Alex CroftThis week Russia and Ukraine began implementing a deal reached at 2 June peace talks in Istanbul to hand over 1,000 prisoners of war each, and also a huge number of human remains.
Alongside the joyful scenes of soldiers returning home and hugging loved ones, there have been macabre images of men dressed in hazmat suits transferring body bags from refrigerated trucks.
Russia said it plans to hand over the remains of around 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers in this phase of the exchange. So far this week, it said it transferred 1,212 sets of remains, while Ukraine said it handed over the bodies of 27 Russian soldiers.
Volodymyr Umanets, a 69-year-old security guard, hopes his son will be among the Ukrainian prisoners of war now being handed over by Russia, but he knows he could be part of a more sombre homecoming: the repatriated remains of dead soldiers.
Not knowing which group his son, Sergiy, will be in is a torment. “I am told to wait. What else is left for me to do?” said Umanets, as tears welled up in his eyes.
For Ukraine, the repatriation of the remains marks the start of a long and painstaking process to identify who they are, how they died, and to notify their families.
The task is made more complicated because sometimes the returned soldiers were killed in explosions so their bodies are in fragments, according to Djordje Alempijevic, a professor of forensic science at Belgrade University who helped examine the remains of people killed in conflicts in the Western Balkans in the 1990s.
An added complication, he said, is that some of the remains have been stored for a long time, and they degrade, even if kept in refrigeration.
Former CIA director says Donald Trump’s plan for war in Ukraine is ‘naive and unsophisticated’
Friday 13 June 2025 21:29 , Alex CroftDonald Trump’s plan for peace in Ukraine has been branded “naive” and “unsophisticated” by former director of the CIA John Brennan.
In the first five months of his second term, the U.S. president has aggressively pushed for peace but refused to offer unconditional support to Kyiv in its defence against Russian aggression.
Mr Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his presidency while on the campaign trail, but diplomatic efforts have stalled and Russia has recently launched some of its largest attacks of the war so far.
Ex-CIA director says Trump’s plan for war in Ukraine is ‘naive and unsophisticated’
Watch: Residents evacuated after overnight Russian strike on Kharkiv kills 14 on Thursday
Friday 13 June 2025 20:30 , Alex CroftGlobal nuclear arms spending up 11 per cent in 2024, campaign group says
Friday 13 June 2025 19:29 , Alex CroftSpending on nuclear weapons by the world's nine nuclear-armed nations rose by 11 per cent in 2024, a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said today.
The $10bn annual increase to $100.2bn went towards modernising and in some cases expanding nuclear arsenals, according to ICAN, a global civil society coalition that seeks the total elimination of atomic weapons.
"Nuclear-armed countries could have paid the United Nations' budget 28 times with what they spent to build and maintain nuclear weapons in 2024," the report said.
“In terms of kind of the increase in spending in the UK and France, I think we certainly have seen, at least in the rhetoric of political leaders, a reference to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to the tensions, and that could be playing a role,” Alicia Sanders-Zakre, a policy and research coordinator at ICAN, told reporters at a briefing in Geneva.
Foreign ministers 'ready to toughen action' on Russia
Friday 13 June 2025 18:31 , Alex CroftForeign ministers from large European countries have said they are ready to step up pressure on Russia at a meeting in Rome.
The meeting was attended by officials from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and the European Union.
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and a Ukrainian representative also joined the talks.
"We reiterated our readiness to step up our pressure on Russia as it continues to refuse serious and credible commitments, including through further sanctions and countering their circumvention," the foreign ministers' statement said.
In photos: Daily life in Sumy as Russian forces advance
Friday 13 June 2025 17:29 , Alex Croft
Russia handed back 1,200 Ukrainians but got none in return - state media
Friday 13 June 2025 16:30 , Alex CroftRussia handed back the bodies of 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers on Friday but did not receive any in exchange, state news agency TASS claimed, citing an unidentified source.
Ukraine confirmed earlier on Friday that it had received the 1,200 bodies from Russia as part of agreements reached between the two sides to exchange both prisoners of war and soldiers killed in action.
Volodymyr Zelensky to attend G7 and hopes to meet Trump
Friday 13 June 2025 15:35 , Alex CroftUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will attend the G7 summit in Canada next week and hopes to meet Donald Trump there.
Mr Zelensky told a news briefing that he hopes to discuss continued support for Ukraine, sanctions against Russia, and future financing for Kyiv's reconstruction efforts during the summit.
Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky last met at the Vatican in April, ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis.
Pictured: Buildings damaged by Russian strike in frontline town of Kostiantynivka
Friday 13 June 2025 14:38Russia criticises Israel after attack on Iran
Friday 13 June 2025 14:00 , Daniel KeaneRussia has criticised Israel following an attack on Iran, a key ally of Moscow.
"Russia is concerned and condemns the sharp escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media.
Russia and Iran have grown closer in recent years and Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian deepened military ties between their countries in January when they signed a 20-year strategic partnership pact.
Moscow supplies Iran with weapons and has bought Iranian arms.
EU to force companies to share details of Russian gas deals
Friday 13 June 2025 13:30 , Daniel KeaneThe European Union will force countries to share details of Russian gas deals by 2027, according to documents seen by Reuters.
The Commission is preparing to propose legal measures to completely halt the EU's Russian gas imports by the end of 2027, and ban new Russian gas deals by the end of this year.
The proposals are due to be published on June 17.
Zelensky says Ukrainian troops pushing back Russian forces in Sumy
Friday 13 June 2025 13:00 , Arpan RaiUkraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were gradually pushing Russian forces out of the border Sumy region, where Moscow was able to establish a foothold in recent weeks.
Russian forces have been moving into Sumy region since April when Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a buffer zone following the eviction of Ukrainian troops from Russia's western Kursk region.
Both Russian and Ukrainian reports indicate that Russian forces have seized a series of villages in Sumy, which has for many months also come under heavy Russian air attacks. And Russian reports said Moscow's troops were advancing in the area.
"Our units in Sumy region are gradually pushing back the occupiers," Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address. "I thank you! Thanks to every soldier, sergeant and officer for this result."
The Ukrainian president provided no further details and offered no proof of Ukrainian advances in the area.
Volodymyr Zelensky to attend G7 and hopes to meet Trump
Friday 13 June 2025 12:30 , Arpan RaiUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will attend the G7 summit in Canada next week and hopes to meet Donald Trump there.
Mr Zelensky told a news briefing that he hopes to discuss continued support for Ukraine, sanctions against Russia, and future financing for Kyiv's reconstruction efforts during the summit.
Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky last met at the Vatican in April, ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis.
Zelenskiy says Ukrainian troops pushing back Russian forces in Sumy
Friday 13 June 2025 12:00 , Arpan RaiRussian president Vladimir Putin said that drones had played a major role in the conflict in Ukraine and called for the rapid development and deployment of separate drone forces within the military.
"We are currently creating unmanned systems troops as a separate branch of the military and we need to ensure their rapid and high-quality deployment and development," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying at a meeting on arms development.
Mr Putin told the second day of the gathering that Russia was well aware how Ukraine was dealing with the issue.
"But on the whole, I do not believe we are lagging behind on anything," he was quoted as saying. "More to the point, it seems to me we are bringing together good experience with a view to creating just such forces."
Ukraine's military says Russia has reached 1 million casualties
Friday 13 June 2025 11:30 , Arpan RaiUkraine’s military has claimed that Russian troop losses have reached one million.
Of those million soldiers either killed or wounded, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said well over half of those casualties - more than 628,000 -occurred in the last year and a half.
“This is the price the enemy pays for unleashing a bloody war in Ukraine,” the armed forces said.
Sumy witnessing Russian onslaught because of Kursk operations, says Zelensky aide
Friday 13 June 2025 11:00 , Arpan RaiUkrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said there had been a concentration of Russian men and equipment in Sumy region because of months of military operations across the border in Kursk region. He advised caution to establish details of the situation on the ground.
"I think (Ukraine's) military has the situation under control and I think we shall see a different picture in the coming days," Podolyak told Ukrainian TV Channel 24.
The popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState, which charts the position of Russian troops using open-source materials, reported Russian gains in recent days around villages inside the border.
Other Ukrainian bloggers said on Thursday that Russian forces had advanced to within 20 km (12 miles) of the city of Sumy and were likely to move southward on villages to secure high ground outside the city.
Russian media reported similar advances through the region. One military site "Voyennoe Obozrenie" said Russian forces had made "significant progress" and were now positioned south of a major highway.
Recap: What is happening in Sumy as Russian forces reportedly advance?
Friday 13 June 2025 10:30 , Arpan RaiRussian forces have been moving into Sumy region since April when Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a buffer zone after he said all Ukrainian troops had been evicted from a months-long incursion into Russia's western Kursk region.
Both Russian and Ukrainian reports indicate that Russian forces have seized a series of villages in the region, which has for many months also come under heavy Russian air attacks. And Russian reports said Moscow's troops were advancing in the area.
Russia, which controls just under one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, has seized over 190 sq kms (73 square miles) of the Sumy region in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open-source maps.
Russian troops have captured more ground in the past days, advancing to around 20 kilometres from Sumy’s northern suburbs, bringing the city closer to being within the range of long-range artillery and drones.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in their attacks, but thousands of civilians have died in the three-year-long conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
Number of displaced people arriving in Sumy is increasing, NGO says
Friday 13 June 2025 10:00 , Arpan RaiThe number of displaced people arriving in Ukraine’s war-hit Sumy region is increasing, said Kateryna Arisoi, head of Pluriton, a non-governmental organisation that operates a shelter for internally displaced people.
“We are seeing the frontline slowly moving toward Sumy,” she said. "So far evacuation has been ordered in more than 200 settlements."
Last week, a Russian rocket attack on Sumy killed three people and injured 28, including three children, while also damaging several buildings.
Top US diplomat questions need for Nato in deleted social media post
Friday 13 June 2025 09:37 , Arpan RaiThe number two US diplomat questioned the need for Nato in a post on X – which he later deleted – as the alliance prepares for an annual summit expected to be dominated by a US demand for higher defence spending and Russia's war on Ukraine.
Deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau was replying to a social media thread by Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to Nato. Mr Whitaker in his post said that what happened in the Indo-Pacific mattered for transatlantic security.
"He obviously didn't get the memo our of our Deputies Committee meeting on this very issue," Mr Landau wrote at 6.56pm on Wednesday, referring to Whitaker. "Nato is still a solution in search of a problem."
It was not clear if Mr Landau meant for his message to be public or if he intended to send Whitaker's post to a third person.
"This was a casual, lighthearted remark intended for a brief, private exchange," a State Department spokesperson said in emailed comments.
"The Deputy Secretary’s comment was in the context of his desire to improve Nato and ensure it remains focused on its mission," the spokesperson said.
Mr Landau's post was later deleted.
Ukrainians face painful wait to learn if loved ones are among returned bodies
Friday 13 June 2025 09:34 , Arpan RaiThis week Russia and Ukraine began implementing a deal reached at 2 June peace talks in Istanbul to hand over 1,000 prisoners of war each, and also a huge number of human remains.
Alongside the joyful scenes of soldiers returning home and hugging loved ones, there have been macabre images of men dressed in hazmat suits transferring body bags from refrigerated trucks.
Russia said it plans to hand over the remains of around 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers in this phase of the exchange. So far this week, it said it transferred 1,212 sets of remains, while Ukraine said it handed over the bodies of 27 Russian soldiers.
Volodymyr Umanets, a 69-year-old security guard, hopes his son will be among the Ukrainian prisoners of war now being handed over by Russia, but he knows he could be part of a more sombre homecoming: the repatriated remains of dead soldiers.
Not knowing which group his son, Sergiy, will be in is a torment. “I am told to wait. What else is left for me to do?” said Umanets, as tears welled up in his eyes.
For Ukraine, the repatriation of the remains marks the start of a long and painstaking process to identify who they are, how they died, and to notify their families.
The task is made more complicated because sometimes the returned soldiers were killed in explosions so their bodies are in fragments, according to Djordje Alempijevic, a professor of forensic science at Belgrade University who helped examine the remains of people killed in conflicts in the Western Balkans in the 1990s.
An added complication, he said, is that some of the remains have been stored for a long time, and they degrade, even if kept in refrigeration.
Former CIA director says Donald Trump’s plan for war in Ukraine is ‘naive and unsophisticated’
Friday 13 June 2025 09:11 , Arpan RaiDonald Trump’s plan for peace in Ukraine has been branded “naive” and “unsophisticated” by former director of the CIA John Brennan.
In the first five months of his second term, the US president has aggressively pushed for peace but refused to offer unconditional support to Kyiv in its defence against Russian aggression.
Ex-CIA director says Trump’s plan for war in Ukraine is ‘naive and unsophisticated’
Zelensky announces investment boost for Ukrainian air defence
Friday 13 June 2025 08:50 , Arpan RaiVolodymyr Zelensky has announced Kyiv is seeking to boost investment for Ukraine’s air defence infrastructure.
“We have some weapons still in development, some systems have already been developed, and we are trying to secure more funding for mass production,” Mr Zelensky said.
“These include various types of intercepter drones, among other things.”
He said he will “not disclose which systems are located where, or which energy facilities they protect”.
Global nuclear arms spending up 11 per cent in 2024, campaign group says
Friday 13 June 2025 08:30 , Arpan RaiSpending on nuclear weapons by the world's nine nuclear-armed nations rose by 11 per cent in 2024, a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said today.
The $10bn annual increase to $100.2bn went towards modernising and in some cases expanding nuclear arsenals, according to ICAN, a global civil society coalition that seeks the total elimination of atomic weapons.
"Nuclear-armed countries could have paid the United Nations' budget 28 times with what they spent to build and maintain nuclear weapons in 2024," the report said.
“In terms of kind of the increase in spending in the UK and France, I think we certainly have seen, at least in the rhetoric of political leaders, a reference to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to the tensions, and that could be playing a role,” Alicia Sanders-Zakre, a policy and research coordinator at ICAN, told reporters at a briefing in Geneva.
Foreign ministers 'ready to toughen action' on Russia
Friday 13 June 2025 08:15 , Arpan RaiForeign ministers from large European countries have said they are ready to step up pressure on Russia at a meeting in Rome.
The meeting was attended by officials from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and the European Union.
Nato secretary general Mark Rutte and a Ukrainian representative also joined the talks.
"We reiterated our readiness to step up our pressure on Russia as it continues to refuse serious and credible commitments, including through further sanctions and countering their circumvention," the foreign ministers' statement said.
In photos: Daily life in Sumy as Russian forces advance
Friday 13 June 2025 07:59 , Arpan Rai
Putin's forces likely trying to level the frontlines in Dnipropetrovsk, says think tank
Friday 13 June 2025 07:44 , Arpan RaiRussian forces are likely attempting to level the frontlines in the Novopavlivka and Kurakhove directions to advance into Dnipropetrovsk oblast where Moscow’s offensive has picked pace in the recent days, a Washington-based think tank said.
“Russian forces first crossed the Donetsk-Dnipropetrovsk Oblast border northwest of Horikhove (northwest of Ukrainka and southeast of Novopavlivka) as of 9 June and will likely seek to secure further advances to level the current salients near Horikhove and Novoukrainka,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
It added that a Kremlin-affiliated Russian milblogger claimed that Russian forces “also seek to even out the frontline near Udachne (northeast of Novopavlivka along the T-0406 Pokrovsk-Mekhova highway) and Muravka (southeast of Udachne and north of Horikhove)”.
Ukrainian Southern Defence Forces spokesperson Colonel Vyacheslav Voloshyn also reported on Wednesday that Russian forces are using motorcycles in assaults to try to advance quickly and make it difficult for Ukraine to reinforce the area.
“Kremlin officials and Russian commentators have framed Russian efforts to advance into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast as efforts to create a ”buffer zone,” indicating that Russia continues to have wider territorial ambitions in Ukraine beyond the areas it has illegally annexed,” the ISW said.
3 killed and scores injured as Russia targets Ukraine with new attacks
Friday 13 June 2025 07:19 , Arpan RaiRussian forces have pummeled Ukraine with drones and other weapons, killing three people and injuring scores of others despite international pressure to accept a ceasefire, officials said yesterday.
According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched a barrage of 63 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight. It said that air defences destroyed 28 drones while another 21 were jammed.
Ukraine’s police said two people were killed and six were injured over the past 24 hours in the eastern Donetsk region, the focus of the Russian offensive. One person was killed and 14 others were also injured in the southern Kherson region, which is partly occupied by Russian forces, police said.
3 killed and scores injured as Russia targets Ukraine with new attacks
Putin calls for quick development of drone forces
Friday 13 June 2025 06:53 , Arpan RaiRussian president Vladimir Putin said that drones had played a major role in the conflict in Ukraine and called for the rapid development and deployment of separate drone forces within the military.
"We are currently creating unmanned systems troops as a separate branch of the military and we need to ensure their rapid and high-quality deployment and development," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying at a meeting on arms development.
Mr Putin told the second day of the gathering that Russia was well aware how Ukraine was dealing with the issue.
"But on the whole, I do not believe we are lagging behind on anything," he was quoted as saying. "More to the point, it seems to me we are bringing together good experience with a view to creating just such forces."
The Russian president also stressed developing air defences, which he said had destroyed more than 80,000 targets during the conflict that Russia still calls a special military operation.
"In this respect, a new state armaments programme must ensure the construction of a versatile air defence system capable of operating in any circumstances and efficiently striking air attack weapons, regardless of their type," he said.
Drones have played a leading role for both sides in the more than three-year-old conflict pitting Moscow against Kyiv. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has since the outbreak of the war in February 2022 stressed the importance of developing a domestic drone development and production industry.
Germany not considering sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, defence minister says
Friday 13 June 2025 06:30 , Arpan RaiGermany is not considering delivering Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine despite Kyiv's repeated requests, the country’s defence minister Boris Pistorius said.
Although Germany is one of Ukraine's main military backers, Berlin has never supplied Taurus missiles, which have a range in excess of 300 miles (480 km).
Answering a journalist's question during his fifth visit to Kyiv since the start of the war, Mr Pistorius said, "Since you asked me whether we are considering this, my answer is no."
In the same news conference, the minister said his country's military support for Ukraine had reached €7bn ($8.12bn) this year and a further €1.9bn were pending parliamentary approval.
Global nuclear arms spending up 11 per cent in 2024, campaign group says
Friday 13 June 2025 06:23 , Arpan RaiSpending on nuclear weapons by the world's nine nuclear-armed nations rose by 11 per cent in 2024, a report by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said today.
The $10bn annual increase to $100.2bn went towards modernising and in some cases expanding nuclear arsenals, according to ICAN, a global civil society coalition that seeks the total elimination of atomic weapons.
"Nuclear-armed countries could have paid the United Nations' budget 28 times with what they spent to build and maintain nuclear weapons in 2024," the report said.
“In terms of kind of the increase in spending in the UK and France, I think we certainly have seen, at least in the rhetoric of political leaders, a reference to the ongoing war in Ukraine, to the tensions, and that could be playing a role,” Alicia Sanders-Zakre, a policy and research coordinator at ICAN, told reporters at a briefing in Geneva.
The US recorded the largest annual increase in nuclear spending in 2024, rising by $5.3bn, the report said. Its total expenditure of $56.8bn exceeded the combined spending of all other nuclear-armed states, it said.
China spent $12.5bn, followed by Britain at $10.4bn, which was an increase of $2.2bn, ICAN said.
It said the other nuclear-armed states were France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and Russia.
Former CIA director says Donald Trump’s plan for war in Ukraine is ‘naive and unsophisticated’
Friday 13 June 2025 06:07 , Arpan RaiDonald Trump’s plan for peace in Ukraine has been branded “naive” and “unsophisticated” by former director of the CIA John Brennan.
In the first five months of his second term, the US president has aggressively pushed for peace but refused to offer unconditional support to Kyiv in its defence against Russian aggression.
Mr Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his presidency while on the campaign trail, but diplomatic efforts have stalled and Russia has recently launched some of its largest attacks of the war so far.
Speaking on Sky News, Mr Brennan said the US president’s approach to forcing through a quick peace deal in Ukraine was “naive” and “unsophisticated”.
"I think that Donald Trump doesn't know what he will do,” said Brennan when asked what the president will do next to secure peace in Ukraine.
My colleague Alex Croft reports:
Ex-CIA director says Trump’s plan for war in Ukraine is ‘naive and unsophisticated’
Zelensky announces investment boost for Ukrainian air defence
Friday 13 June 2025 05:58 , Arpan RaiVolodymyr Zelensky has announced Kyiv is seeking to boost investment for Ukraine’s air defence infrastructure.
“We have some weapons still in development, some systems have already been developed, and we are trying to secure more funding for mass production,” Mr Zelensky said.
“These include various types of intercepter drones, among other things.”
He said he will “not disclose which systems are located where, or which energy facilities they protect”.
German defence minister arrives in Kyiv
Friday 13 June 2025 05:34 , Arpan RaiGerman defence minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv to discuss further weapons aid for Ukraine.
"The purpose of the trip is mainly to demonstrate... that Germany, that the new federal government, continues to stand by Ukraine in the current situation, which has not become any easier," Mr Pistorius told journalists upon his arrival in Kyiv yesterday.
Germany is Ukraine's second-biggest military backer after the United States, and German chancellor Friedrich Merz recently gave Ukraine the green light for "long range fire" with weapons supplied by Germany and others, angering Moscow.
Russia and Ukraine met for peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month in a renewed push to settle the conflict, which began with Russia's invasion in February 2022, but efforts to end the three-year conflict with Russia faced headwinds.
The two sides disagree over issues including territorial concessions and the prospect of Ukraine's future Nato membership, however, and fighting has raged on, with a Russian drone attack killing several people this week.
US is committed to 'supporting the Russian people' and finding a 'durable peace'
Friday 13 June 2025 05:21The US secretary of state has reaffirmed America’s desire to foster closer ties with Russia as well as “constructive engagement” to bring about an end to the war in Ukraine.
Marco Rubio congratulated Russians on the Russia Day holiday, to mark the day the country declared its sovereignty in 1990.
“The United States remains committed to supporting the Russian people as they continue to build on their aspirations for a brighter future,” he said in a statement published on the Department of State website.
“We also take this opportunity to reaffirm the United States’ desire for constructive engagement with the Russian Federation to bring about a durable peace between Russia and Ukraine.”
He continued: “It is our hope that peace will foster more mutually beneficial relations between our countries.”
Number of displaced people arriving in Sumy is increasing, NGO says
Friday 13 June 2025 04:58 , Arpan RaiThe number of displaced people arriving in Ukraine’s war-hit Sumy region is increasing, said Kateryna Arisoi, head of Pluriton, a non-governmental organisation that operates a shelter for internally displaced people.
“We are seeing the frontline slowly moving toward Sumy,” she said. "So far evacuation has been ordered in more than 200 settlements."
Last week, a Russian rocket attack on Sumy killed three people and injured 28, including three children, while also damaging several buildings.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in their attacks, but thousands of civilians have died in the three-year-long conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
Russia, which controls just under one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, has seized over 190 sq kms (73 square miles) of the Sumy region in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open-source maps.
Russian troops have captured more ground in the past days, advancing to around 20 kilometres from Sumy’s northern suburbs, bringing the city closer to being within the range of long-range artillery and drones.
Ukraine's military says Russia has reached 1 million casualties
Friday 13 June 2025 04:21 , Arpan RaiUkraine’s military has claimed that Russian troop losses have reached one million.
Of those million soldiers either killed or wounded, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said well over half of those casualties - more than 628,000 -occurred in the last year and a half.
“This is the price the enemy pays for unleashing a bloody war in Ukraine,” the armed forces said.
Zelenskiy says Ukrainian troops pushing back Russian forces in Sumy
Friday 13 June 2025 04:17 , Arpan RaiUkraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were gradually pushing Russian forces out of the border Sumy region, where Moscow was able to establish a foothold in recent weeks.
Russian forces have been moving into Sumy region since April when Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a buffer zone following the eviction of Ukrainian troops from Russia's western Kursk region.
Both Russian and Ukrainian reports indicate that Russian forces have seized a series of villages in Sumy, which has for many months also come under heavy Russian air attacks. And Russian reports said Moscow's troops were advancing in the area.
"Our units in Sumy region are gradually pushing back the occupiers," Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address. "I thank you! Thanks to every soldier, sergeant and officer for this result."
The Ukrainian president provided no further details and offered no proof of Ukrainian advances in the area.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said there had been a concentration of Russian men and equipment in the Sumy region because of months of military operations across the border in Kursk region. He advised caution to establish details of the situation on the ground.
"I think the military has the situation under control and I think we shall see a different picture in the coming days," Mr Podolyak told Ukrainian TV Channel 24.
Ukraine’s drone attack targeted Russian planes at five air bases
Friday 13 June 2025 04:05 , Arpan RaiRussia has redeployed dozens of its long-range bombers to bases in the Far East following Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web attack earlier this month.
The Kyiv Independent, citing independent Russian outlet Agentstvo, said all Tu-160 bombers had been evacuated from Belaya airfield in Irkutsk Oblast and Olenya airfield in Murmansk Oblast.
Ukraine’s drone strike attack targeted Russian planes at five air bases.
Volodymyr Zelensky to attend G7 and hopes to meet Trump
Friday 13 June 2025 03:54 , Arpan RaiUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he will attend the G7 summit in Canada next week and hopes to meet Donald Trump there.
Mr Zelensky told a news briefing that he hopes to discuss continued support for Ukraine, sanctions against Russia, and future financing for Kyiv's reconstruction efforts during the summit.
Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky last met at the Vatican in April, ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis.
Putin calls for quick development of drone forces
Friday 13 June 2025 03:53 , Arpan RaiRussian president Vladimir Putin said that drones had played a major role in the conflict in Ukraine and called for the rapid development and deployment of separate drone forces within the military.
"We are currently creating unmanned systems troops as a separate branch of the military and we need to ensure their rapid and high-quality deployment and development," Russian news agencies quoted him as saying at a meeting on arms development.
Mr Putin told the second day of the gathering that Russia was well aware how Ukraine was dealing with the issue.
"But on the whole, I do not believe we are lagging behind on anything," he was quoted as saying. "More to the point, it seems to me we are bringing together good experience with a view to creating just such forces."
The Russian president also stressed developing air defences, which he said had destroyed more than 80,000 targets during the conflict that Russia still calls a special military operation.
"In this respect, a new state armaments programme must ensure the construction of a versatile air defence system capable of operating in any circumstances and efficiently striking air attack weapons, regardless of their type," he said.
Drones have played a leading role for both sides in the more than three-year-old conflict pitting Moscow against Kyiv. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has since the outbreak of the war in February 2022 stressed the importance of developing a domestic drone development and production industry.
