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

The German politician has been a strong supporter of Ukraine and overcame opposition from Moscow to be elected president of the UN General Assembly.

Germany’s former foreign minister Annalena Baerbock was elected president of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly on Monday, despite strong opposition from Russia.

A new president is chosen for the largely ceremonial role every year in an uncontested election, in which countries rotate to nominate a candidate.

The UN General Assembly elected the five countries to its rotating non-permanent member seats for the upcoming term. Ukraine’s ally Latvia could be a strong voice for Kyiv on the Security Council.

The UN General Assembly on Tuesday elected five countries – Bahrain, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Latvia and Liberia – to serve as non-permanent Security Council members for the 2026-2027 term.

The Security Council, the international peace and security body of the United Nations, is comprised of 15 countries: permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, which each hold veto power; and 10 nations elected for staggered two-year terms.

After meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi said he was asked to stay in service and was assigned a new role.

Ukraine’s Ground Forces commander, Maj. Gen. Mykhailo Drapaty, has been appointed to lead Ukraine’s Joint Forces after offering to resign following a deadly Russian missile strike on a military training ground.

The strike on June 1 killed 12 Ukrainian soldiers and injured more than 60 at the 239th training center. Drapatyi had submitted his resignation the same day, saying he took full responsibility for the incident.

Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has expressed support for increased sanctions on Russia

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, told reporters on Monday that he advocates increased sanctions on Russia.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R–SC) is the author of a Senate bill that would greatly increase tariffs on any country that buys sanctioned Russian oil, gas, coal, or uranium. The bill has strong support in the Senate, and in remarks given in Kyiv last week, Graham said to expect that the “Senate will start moving on the sanctions bill” within a week.

Images published on Tuesday produced by China’s Mizarvision commercial satellite company shows multiple damaged aircraft at Russia’s Ivanovo Severny Airbase.

Ukraine’s Security Services (SBU) launched Operation Spiderweb on Sunday, that saw simultaneous drone strikes on five major Russian air bases in Murmansk, Ryazan, Irkutsk, Amur, and Ivanovo regions.

Statements by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Lt. Gen Vasyl Malyuk the head of the SBU shortly after the attacks claimed to have destroyed and damaged more than 40 strategic aircraft including Tu-95, Tu-22 and other heavy bombers along with an A-50 airborne early warning and command (AEW&C) aircraft. This represented around a third of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet at a cost of more than $2 billion (some estimated as $7 billion).

The stall in ceasefire negotiations and recent large-scale aerial attacks on Ukraine made the investor mood sour even further. Weekly Insight for June 2.

Bonds: Domestic debt rollover up in May

In May, the MoF faced only minor redemptions and managed to increase domestic debt rollover substantially.Last month, the MoF redeemed bonds worth EUR156m and UAH13bn while borrowing EUR200m and UAH33.3bn.

As a result, the April rollover ratio was 256% for UAH debt and 128% for EUR-denominated debt. YTD figures for the UAH debt rollover improved to 103% in 5M25 (89% in 4M25). Likewise, the EUR debt rollover rose to 82% in 5M25 from 59% in 4M25.

The party least favorable to continue the Netherlands’ strong support for Ukraine has experienced a rift due to disagreements over immigration issues.

The Dutch coalition government collapsed today due to disagreements over migration policy. Geert Wilders, leader of the nationalist populist right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV), withdrew his support for the coalition, citing insufficient backing from other parties for his migration ultimatum. A central demand of this ultimatum was a complete halt to asylum immigration.

The coalition partners right-wing liberal VVD, the central party NSC and the populist Farmer-Citizen Movement regret the decision of Geert Wilders.

21-year-old Ukrainian charged with arson targeting UK PM Starmer’s former homes, may have been recruited on social media by Russian intelligence, investigators say.

21-year-old Roman Lavrynovych, suspected of setting fire to property linked to the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, may have been recruited by Russian intelligence through Telegram Messenger.

According to an investigation by Schemes (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), an analysis of Lavrynovych’s online activity shows that between 2022 and 2025, he had actively searched for jobs through London-based Telegram groups aimed at foreigners – mainly in construction and hospitality, often for cash-in-hand work.

The deadly explosion in Russia’s Bryansk region that borders Ukraine caused a road bridge to collapse onto a railway line late Saturday and derail a passenger train, the authorities said.

Russia on Tuesday said Ukraine was behind rail blasts in its western border regions that derailed a passenger train, killing seven people and wounding dozens more at the weekend.

The deadly explosion in Russia’s Bryansk region that borders Ukraine caused a road bridge to collapse onto a railway line late Saturday and derail a passenger train, the authorities said.

Following the victory of Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing conservative PiS party, in the presidential runoff election, PM Tusk has announced that he will seek a vote of confidence in the Sejm.

Following the victory of Karol Nawrocki, who is backed by the right-wing conservative PiS party, in Poland’s presidential runoff election, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced that he will seek a vote of confidence in the Sejm. Rafał Trzaskowski, the candidate of the liberal-conservative government camp, was narrowly defeated by Nawrocki on Sunday, having secured 49.1 percent against Nawrocki’s 50.9 percent. Commentators stress the European dimension of the result.

A bitter blow for progressives

In this Kyiv Post interview, Jason Jay Smart and former Navy SEAL Chuck Pfarrer break down Ukraine’s largest drone strike of the war – crippling Russia’s strategic airpower in a single night.

Last week Zelensky had said that “if Ukraine is not present at the NATO summit, it will be a victory for Putin, but not over Ukraine, but over NATO.”

Ukraine has been invited to a NATO summit later in June, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, after earlier warning it would be a “victory” for Russia if it was not there.

The heads of NATO states will gather in The Hague, Netherlands, from June 24-26, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s calls for alliance members to ramp up defence spending set to dominate the agenda.

Kyiv’s audacious Operation Spiderweb has shown NATO and the world what warfighting will look like in the future. The US should take note and think twice before saying Zelensky has no cards.

The world woke up Sunday morning to the news of a simply stunning Ukrainian drone raid deep into Russia, which produced extraordinary results. Ukraine is claiming the destruction of several scores of Russian long-range aircraft, constituting perhaps one third of Russia’s long-range strategic bomber fleet.

It is worth thinking through some of the implications of this, both for Russia and Ukraine, and the state of the war and peace process, but also global powers, and warfare in general.

Putin’s mouthpiece said no meeting between Putin, Trump, and Zelensky is planned, despite recent signals from Washington and also dismissed the likelihood of much progress in Istanbul peace talks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a meeting between Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Volodymyr Zelensky is unlikely to happen in the near future.

His statement came a day after the White House said it was “open” to the idea of such a meeting.

After Russian attacks on energy storage facilities and production infrastructure, Ukraine needs around $1.1 billion to secure gas supplies before the next winter’s heating season.

Ukraine has only half the gas supply needed for the upcoming winter after Russian strikes damaged storage facilities and production infrastructure; Kyiv estimates around €1 billion ($1.1 billion) will be required to fully prepare, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky said during a briefing with journalists on June 2: “We have a deficit. We’re dealing with this because there were massive attacks on gas storage facilities, gas production infrastructure and so on.”

The attack came just two days after Ukraine confirmed it carried out a large-scale drone strike on Russian airfields as part of Operation Spiderweb.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said Tuesday it carried out a new special operation that damaged the Crimean Bridge for the third time – this time using underwater explosives.

The SBU said the mission took months to plan and involved secretly planting explosives on the bridge’s underwater pillars. The blast went off at 4:44 a.m. Tuesday without harming any civilians, officials said.

Ukraine to receive a $41.6 million loan from EBRD to invest in Ukrgasvydobuvannya to upgrade to modern mobile drilling rigs for the first time under its new CEO.

Ukrgasvydobuvannya, subsidiary of Ukraine’s state-owned gas giant, Naftogaz Group, will receive a €36.4 million loan ($41.6 million) from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to modernize its gas drilling equipment, the companyʼs CEO Sergiy Koretskyi announced in a press release on June 2.

Ukrgasvydobuvannya will use EBRD funding to buy new mobile drilling rigs with lifting capacities of 125 and 180 tons. This will improve the company’s ability to carry out complex well workovers, especially at greater depths, the press release says.

According to Yermak, the group will meet with both Republican and Democrat lawmakers, as well as members of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

A delegation of top Ukrainian officials arrived in Washington on Tuesday, June 3, for talks with US officials on defense and economic issues, one day after the latest round of direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks ended without a breakthrough.

The group includes Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, and is led by Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. Ukrainian defense officials are also part of the delegation.

In an interview with the “Silicon Curtain” community, Bohdan Nahaylo explores Ukraine’s struggle for freedom, its cultural resilience, and what the world often overlooks about its rich history.

As the dust settles on Ukraine’s daring strike on Russia’s strategic bomber fleet, commentators are beginning to question the numbers Kyiv claimed. So what?

Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, the audacious and meticulously planned drone strike aimed at five airbases – Murmansk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, Irkutsk, and Amur, deep inside Russia – was proclaimed a resounding success by President Volodymyr Zelensky and Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk, the head of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), whose agency implemented the attacks.

The artificial intelligence (AI) enhanced kamikaze drones smuggled into Russia and remotely deployed from cargo trucks caught the airfield defenders napping, as they were set up to intercept conventional aerial threats, not swarms of short-range UAVs.

Tuesday’s Russian rocket strike on the north eastern Ukrainian city killed 3 and injured 20 which led President Zelensky to say, “we lose people to Russian terror every day.”

Local authorities reported that the type of weapon used is still being verified, and damage assessments are ongoing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack “brutal,” noting that one of the MLRS shells did not explode and pierced the wall of a ninth-floor apartment. According to him, this is clear evidence of Russia’s continued intention to wage war.

Without Ukraine, NATO risks becoming just another ineffectual club with expensive aircraft and hollow words. With Ukraine, it would be a meaningful alliance.

In the past few days, Ukraine has once again proven that it no longer plays by rules imposed by others. While global powers weigh their strategies, drowning in endless security conferences and declarations without results, Ukrainian forces carried out one of the boldest and most intelligent military operations of this war. Using drones launched from mobile platforms, from trucks, deep inside Russian territory, they precisely struck Tu-95 strategic bombers. Aircraft that once symbolized Russian military might, safely taking off from airbases hundreds of kilometers from the front line until yesterday, are now reduced to debris. There are no safe zones anymore. No untouchable targets.

Ukrainians hit them. Directly. With surgical precision. For the first time since the war started, the enemy felt the kind of pain it has long inflicted on others. This strike is not just a military success. It is a demonstration of creativity, courage, military intellect, and an unshakable resolve to accept nothing less than full freedom. The fact that these drones were launched from mobile platforms deep within Russia marks a new phase in the war. Nothing is out of reach anymore. Neither the symbols nor the instruments of Russian imperialism.

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 3, Russia has lost 990,800 troops after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 – including 1,100 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. 

Despite the traditional rhetoric of Slavic brothers united in common cause, Serbia continues to look out for its own interest, knowing Moscow is willing to sacrifice the Serbs.

On Thursday, May 29, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused Serbia of “an attempt to stab Russia in the back.” It blamed Serbia’s defense companies of supplying weapons to Ukraine and stated that they “have one obvious purpose: to kill and maim Russian servicemen and civilians.” The SVR emphasized that the arms sales are conducted via a “simple scheme using fake end-user certificates and intermediary countries” to act as “a cover for anti-Russian actions.” Oddly, the day after  the SVR’s statement, there was an explosion at the defense company Krušik, in Serbia, which was mentioned in the statement. 

This SVR news may be shocking to some, but for those who have been closely following Serbia-Russia relations for years, it comes as no surprise. According to a leaked classified Pentagon document in 2023, Serbia committed to send Ukraine “lethal aid or had supplied it already.” Serbia’s then Minister of Defense denied this statement: “Serbia did not, nor will it be selling weapons to the Ukrainian nor the Russian side, nor to countries surrounding that conflict.” Then, in 2024, the Financial Times reported that Serbia had exported 800 million euros worth of ammunition to Ukraine through third parties since February 2022.

There has been no official confirmation of any scheduled meetings between Yermak or Zelensky and the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, is traveling to the United States, according to a report by RBC-Ukraine citing unnamed sources.

Earlier, Russian “RBC News” outlet reported that an Airbus A319 used by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was tracked flying to the US, based on data from FlightAware and AirNav.

Russian forces are pushing closer to Sumy City in Ukraine’s northeast, seeking to bring it within artillery range, but their chances of seizing the city remain low, the ISW said.

Russian forces are intensifying their offensive in the northern Sumy region along three axes north and northeast of Sumy City, with the apparent goal of positioning artillery within striking distance of the regional capital, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

As per the latest report from the Institute, footage published on June 2 confirms recent Russian advances north of Andriivka and northeast of Yablunivka.

Just hours after peace talks in Turkey, Russia launched drone attacks on Chernihiv, Balakliia, and Odesa, killing one and wounding at least eight civilians across Ukraine.

Just hours after the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey, Russia once again launched deadly attacks on Ukrainian civilians.

In the early hours of June 3, Russian drones attacked the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, causing widespread destruction. Fires broke out across the city, residential buildings were damaged, and four people were injured.

Poland, Romania, Lithuania, after meeting in Vilnius, confirmed their commitment to the path towards Ukrainian NATO membership, and called for further pressure on Russia, including more sanctions.

Nordic, Baltic and Central European NATO members are committed to Ukrainian membership of the military alliance, the leaders of Poland, Romania and Lithuania said following a summit of the so-called Bucharest Nine (B9) and the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) countries on Monday.

NATO allies declared their support for Ukraine’s “irreversible path” towards membership at last year’s Washington summit. But President Donald Trump has since said that prior U.S. support for Ukraine’s NATO bid was a cause of the war and has indicated that Kyiv will not get membership.

Turkish Erdogan proposed that Putin, Zelensky and Trump come together for a third round later this month in either Istanbul or Ankara.

US President Donald Trump is “open” to meeting his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in Turkey, the White House said, after the two sides failed on Monday to make headway towards an elusive ceasefire.

Delegations from both sides did, however, agree another large-scale prisoner exchange in their meeting in Istanbul, which in mid-May also hosted their first round of face-to-face talks.

Despite some harsh rhetoric during the brutal campaign, the new right-wing pro-MAGA president is unlikely to steer Poland in an anti-Ukrainian direction.

On Sunday, June 1, the second round of the presidential election was held in Poland. Contrary to first exit polls, Karol Nawrocki, the candidate supported by Law and Justice (PiS), won with 50.89% of the vote. Rafał Trzaskowski, the Mayor of Warsaw and member of the ruling Civic Platform (PO), received 49.11%. Voter turnout reached 71.6%. Nawrocki will be sworn in as President on August 6.

The first exit poll released at 9 p.m. CET indicated a victory for Trzaskowski, estimating his support at 50.7%, while Nawrocki stood at 49.3%. However, the celebrations in Trzaskowski’s campaign headquarters turned out to be premature and ill-founded, as a significant portion of respondents did not disclose their voting preferences, and Poland’s right wing is often underestimated in polling.

The Ukrainians’ bold attack on Russia’s air fleet fully debunks Putin’s personal and national mythology. It shows how exposed and weak he and his regime are in reality.

The destruction by Ukraine of at least 40 of Russia’s best strategic bombers is of immense significance in several respects. And, it may be the beginning of the end of the full-scale war raging now for more than three years.

First, the technological innovation and audacity of Ukraine’s attack is unparalleled in warfare’s history. Operation Spiderweb, directly managed by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, took place nearly simultaneously at five separate air bases, one more than 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) inside Russia, and featured low-cost, handheld drones smuggled by vehicles into the vast Eurasian country. It marks a major milestone in the transformation of the war – and indeed warfare itself – to primarily drone-based combat.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Ukrainian and Russian delegations met in Istanbul on June 2 and only reached agreements about prisoner of war (POW) exchanges. Russia’s refusal to give Ukraine its memorandum with its terms for a peace settlement before the meeting ensured that the meeting was largely unproductive and further protracted the negotiation process.
• Ukrainian and Russian media published the major points of both sides’ memorandums on June 1 and 2, respectively.
• Russia’s memorandum reflects the Kremlin’s long-standing public demands for Ukraine to make significant territorial and political concessions while Russia offers no concessions of its own.
• The Russian delegation dismissed Russia’s systemic kidnapping of Ukrainian children.
• Russian forces appear to be intensifying efforts to widen the frontline in northern Sumy Oblast along three axes of advance north and northeast of Sumy City.
• Open-source analysts continue to clarify the battlefield damage following the Ukrainian long-range drone strike series on June 1.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Velyka Novosilka. Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman, Chasiv Yar, and Toretsk.

Sen. Chuck Schumer: “Putin is a clear villain and a bully. So where is Donald Trump’s backbone? Where is his conviction? Where is that toughness he likes to project?”

WASHINGTON DC – The top Democrats in the US Senate on Monday sharply criticized President Donald Trump for failing to firmly support Ukraine against Russia, amid the Kremlin’s continuing refusal to engage in serious peace talks, Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent reports from Capitol Hill.

The move came as Russian and Ukrainian representatives met for a second round of direct talks in Istanbul on Monday, but with no progress toward ending the war. Russian leader Vladimir Putin still refuses to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and he is unwilling to accept US-backed ceasefire proposals.

Kremlin refutes Kyiv’s charges that about 20,000 Ukrainian children have been basically kidnapped and deported across the border, saying the figure, instead, is in the “hundreds, at most.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky told a briefing room on Monday that during the negotiations in Istanbul, the Russians called Ukraine’s demands to return stolen children a “show for childless European old ladies” while at the same time admitting that they had abducted several hundred children.

“I would like our journalists and our people to understand their attitude toward the humanitarian aspect [of the war],” Zelensky said. “The first thing they told us was that we ‘should not organize a show for childless European old ladies.’ This is their attitude towards our raising the issue of children.”