Ukraine War News Today - Top Stories and Breaking Updates from Kyiv Post

Warsaw’s liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, 53, was narrowly ahead with 50.3 percent of votes against nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki, 42, on 49.7 percent, according to the Ipsos exit poll.

The centrist and nationalist candidates vying for the Polish presidency were neck and neck, an exit poll showed on Sunday, each predicting victory in a vote with major implications for Poland’s pro-EU government.

Warsaw’s liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, 53, a government ally, was narrowly ahead with 50.3 percent of votes against nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki, 42, on 49.7 percent, according to the Ipsos exit poll.

He said commanders must be held personally accountable for their troops’ safety and warned that without this accountability, the army cannot improve or win the war.

The commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, Mykhailo Drapaty, unexpectedly resigned Sunday, June 1, taking full responsibility for a missile strike on a military training site that killed 12 soldiers and injured more than 60 others.

In a public statement on Facebook, Drapaty said he felt personally responsible for the tragedy and admitted he failed to enforce his orders strictly enough to prevent the loss of life.

Kyiv initially delayed confirmation, requesting to review the Russian memorandum in advance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Ukraine will participate in the second round of negotiations with Russia, set to take place in Istanbul on Monday, June 2.

“Our delegation will attend the talks on Monday,” Zelensky said in a statement posted to his official Telegram channel. “We are doing everything to protect our independence, our state, and our people.”

The army did not reveal the location of the strike but said it was not a mass gathering and that most of the soldiers were in shelters at the time of the attack.

A Russian missile strike hit a Ukrainian army training area on Sunday, June 1, killing at least 12 soldiers and wounding more than 60 others, Ukraine’s military said.

The army did not reveal the location of the strike but said it was not a mass gathering and that most of the soldiers were in shelters at the time of the attack.

During the special operation, Ukraine’s SBU targeted four major Russian airbases and damaged or destroyed dozens of bombers used in attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has officially confirmed it carried out a major drone strike against Russian military airfields, damaging or destroying what it claims is 34 percent of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers, in a long-planned covert operation codenamed “Spiderweb.”

The SBU said the strikes, which targeted airfields housing Russia’s long-range bombers, resulted in an estimated $7 billion in damage – a figure that has not yet been independently verified.

During the special operation, Ukraine’s SBU targeted four major Russian airbases and damaged or destroyed dozens of bombers used in attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has officially confirmed it carried out a major drone strike against Russian military airfields, damaging or destroying what it claims is 34 percent of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers, in a long-planned covert operation codenamed “Spiderweb.”

The SBU said the strikes, which targeted airfields housing Russia’s long-range bombers, resulted in an estimated $7 billion in damage – a figure that has not yet been independently verified.

Nearly three years on since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Coventry University Group continues to help the country to rebuild and prepare for a brighter future.

An expert in peace and security from Coventry University has spoken at an event in Kyiv organized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on education reform and its contribution to the country’s reconstruction and resilience.

The President’s Forum in Ukraine’s capital city heard from a number of important voices, including Sir Ciaran Devane, Director of the university’s Research Centre for Peace and Security. He addressed the forum and spoke on the contribution of higher education to reconstruction in Ukraine.

In an intercepted call, a Russian woman says repeated internet outages in Saransk and Mordovia after a drone strike have left residents cut off and in the dark.

A Russian woman confirms the success of a Ukrainian drone strike on a defense factory in Saransk, almost 600 kilometers from the border, in a call intercepted by Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR) on Saturday, May 31.

“They hit the factory. They f**cking blew up half of Saransk,” she says in a panicked voice.

There is room for naivety: the upcoming June 2 talks in Istanbul are part of a diplomatic smokescreen being used by the Kremlin to delay Western aid while intensifying territorial offensives.

Russia’s imminent return to the negotiating table in Istanbul is not a step toward peace but a tactic to delay Western aid while expanding its military operations. The Kremlin’s diplomatic overtures mask an aggressive strategy of escalation, making sustained Western support for Ukraine more urgent than ever.

The Kremlin’s uncompromising position

The Strategic Defence Review will assess the threats facing the UK amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and pressure from Donald Trump for NATO allies to bolster their own defences.

Britain will invest £1.5 billion ($2 billion) in new weapons factories to ramp up defence production capacity, the government said on Saturday, ahead of a major review of its armed forces and military strategy.

The Strategic Defence Review, due to be published Monday, will assess the threats facing the UK amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and pressure from US President Donald Trump for NATO allies to bolster their own defences.

In a separate development early June 1, two bridges collapsed in Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk regions, both of which border Ukraine.

A freight train carrying fuel was blown up overnight near the village of Akimivka in the Melitopol district of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR) reported Sunday, June 1.

The area is under Russian occupation. According to HUR, the targeted train was military and en route to Russian-occupied Crimea.

Daily updates from the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) regarding frontline developments and casualty figures amidst Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As of June 1, Russia has lost 988,560 troops after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 – including 1,230 troops over the past day, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 

The figures are approximate estimations and include all troops who are put out of action for some time due to deaths or injuries. 

The attack came just days before Monday’s planned peace talks in Istanbul unilaterally initiated by Moscow, which Kyiv has not confirmed.

Russia launched a large-scale overnight air assault on Ukraine, targeting the capital Kyiv and multiple other cities with a combination of ballistic missiles and attack drones, Ukrainian officials said Sunday, June 1.

Kyiv Post correspondents based in the capital heard explosions in Kyiv shortly after air raid sirens went off around 1:43 a.m. local time. Ukraine’s Air Force reported that high-speed targets, including missiles, were approaching from the Sumy region in the northeast, heading toward the capital.

The story of how a Ukrainian football (soccer) team’s barely believable European triumph achieved in the face of Russia’s first, 2014, invasion turned sour only four years later.

It remains one of the great underdog stories of European football. In the shadow of Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine, with war ravaging the country’s economy and its domestic football league, FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk defied the odds. In a fairy tale run, they marched all the way to the Europa League final, narrowly losing to Sevilla in a dramatic showdown in Warsaw.

But just four years later, the club had collapsed into amateur football, before  eventually folding. From their peak, the departure of key players, mounting financial troubles, and ownership neglect, particularly by the oligarch Ihor Kolomoysky, sparked a rapid unraveling of the club whose origins date back to 1918. Unpaid debts, transfer bans, points deductions, and successive relegations led to the club’s downfall.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the Russian soldiers surrendered “because abuse in units is worse than captivity.”

The Ukrainian Air Force has said it captured a group of Russian soldiers in Russia’s eastern Kursk region, claiming the troops surrendered after they were subject to inhumane treatment by their own commanders.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the Russian soldiers surrendered “because abuse in units is worse than captivity.” 

The twin bridge collapses came just days before a potential meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul, part of a US-backed push to revive stalled peace talks.

Two railway bridges collapsed just hours apart in separate regions of Russia, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens. One of the incidents is being investigated as possible sabotage, according to officials.

The first collapse happened late Saturday, May 31 in the Bryansk region, near the border with Ukraine. A road bridge fell onto a railway line at 10:44 p.m., causing a passenger train to derail.

Warsaw’s pro-EU mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, 53, an ally of the centrist government, faces off against nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki, 42.

Poles are set to vote on Sunday in a knife-edge presidential election with major implications for the country’s role in Europe and for abortion and LGBTQ rights.

Warsaw’s pro-EU mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, 53, an ally of the centrist government, faces off against nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki, 42.