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

Another Russian Su-25 has been lost, this time to friendly fire near Soledar. The incident, caught on video, adds to the growing list of aviation mishaps plaguing Russia’s aging fleet.

A Russian Su-25 (NATO reporting name: “Frogfoot”) attack aircraft from the Russian Aerospace Forces reportedly crashed on Friday, June 13, according to Russian military bloggers.

Russian blogger Ilya Tumanov, who runs the Fighterbomber aviation Telegram channel, reported the crash and said the pilot was successfully rescued and is safe. The cause of the incident and the exact crash location were not disclosed.

The move came as US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrapped up his multi-day testimony binge on Capitol Hill during which he clashed with lawmakers over the administration’s Ukraine policy.

WASHINGTON DC – The Trump administration last night informed Congress that it has approved a proposed transfer of “major defense equipment” worth approximately $30M for Ukraine’s Armed Forces – Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent was informed by two congressional sources.

The move came as US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrapped up his multi-day spree of testimony on Capitol Hill, Thursday afternoon, trying to convince lawmakers that the current administration continued to “send presidential drawdown authorities” (PDA) to Ukraine without offering further details. Speaking to Kyiv Post on Friday, one administration official involved in the Executive Branch’s communications with Congress, said that US military aid for Ukraine under the Arms Export Control Act “has not stopped despite brief interruptions earlier this year”.

The Soviet-era combat aircraft struck key Russian targets in the Zaporizhzhia direction, destroying a UAV control point and an ammunition depot.

A Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter bomber has struck key Russian targets in the Zaporizhzhia direction, the Ukrainian Air Force reported on June 13.

The Air Force released a video via Telegram that showed a MiG-29 aircraft delivering precision strikes using guided aerial bombs. Kyiv Post could not independently verify the time and location of the footage.

A bus crashed on a motorway in western France on Friday, killing four people and seriously injuring 11 others, with 34 more sustaining minor injuries, local police said.

Four people were killed and 11 others seriously injured on Friday in a motorway accident in western France involving a bus carrying a group of Ukrainians, authorities said.

Thirty-four others sustained minor injuries in the incident on the motorway outside the town of Degre, said the police.

The bodies of 1,200 more Ukrainians, including fallen defenders, have been returned from Russia. Ukrainian authorities will now carry out identification procedures.

Ukraine has recovered the bodies of 1,200 more deceased citizens from Russia, some of whom are believed to be fallen Ukrainian defenders, according to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (POW).

“As a result of the repatriation measures, the bodies of 1,200 deceased have been returned to Ukraine,” the statement shared via Telegram said.

Behind the headlines, experts are very skeptical of Putin’s claims: production bottlenecks, sanctions, broken supply chains, and catastrophic battlefield losses paint a grim picture.

Russia condemned Israel’s strikes on Iran as “unprovoked” and warned of full-scale war, while Ukraine mocked Moscow’s stance, saying it “forgot to look in the mirror.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it strongly condemns Israel’s military operation against Iran and expressed deep concern over the growing escalation in the Middle East. The statement described the strikes on Iran as “unprovoked” and “categorically unacceptable,” targeting a sovereign UN member state, its citizens, peaceful cities, and nuclear infrastructure.

Following Russia’s sharp criticism of Israel, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry responded with irony.

Some 4.3 million Ukrainians are registered as refugees across the European Union, with Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic hosting the largest communities.

EU countries on Friday approved a one-year extension of the temporary protection offered to Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s war, allowing them to stay in the bloc until March 2027.

Some 4.3 million Ukrainians are registered as refugees across the European Union, with Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic hosting the largest communities.

The jump marked the biggest single-day move for oil benchmarks Brent and WTI since the beginning of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Oil prices spiked on Friday, June 13, by 8.8% after Israel launched strikes on Iran, escalating tensions in the Middle East and raising concerns over potential oil supply disruptions. 

Oil prices hit their highest point since January, according to data from Bloomberg Terminal at 1:42 p.m. Kyiv time.  

Israel’s total fighter fleet numbers about 330 jets. This means the operation mobilized about 60% of Israel’s entire air force.

Israel employed 200 fighter aircraft – nearly two-thirds of its entire air force – in a massive overnight airstrike against Iran’s nuclear sites and military targets, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday.

This staggering number of warplanes involved in a single operation marks one of the largest air assaults in Israel’s history.

Seeing an M142 HIMARS launcher popping out of a shipping container during President Trump’s recent visit to Fort Bragg set the blogosphere aflame – was the US inspired by the SBU’s operation?

During President Donald Trump’s June 10 visit to Fort Bragg, North Carolina images appeared of a US Army missile launcher – of the type used to fire High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and the latest Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) ballistic missiles – popping up from a standard shipping container.

This got several bloggers, including Ukraine’s “Real War” Telegram channel speculating that the US technology had been inspired by Ukraine’s Spiderweb operation.

Ukrainian forces have begun pushing back the Russian advance in Sumy region, though fighting continues near the border, Zelensky says.

Ukrainian forces are gradually pushing Russian troops out of the Sumy region, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Thursday, June 12.

Zelensky said he received a report from Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky regarding the situation in the Sumy direction, as well as in the Pokrovsk and Kursk sectors.

Satellite images from Planet Labs show ongoing construction and military-style activity at the Kerch airport, which sits in eastern Crimea.

A civilian airport in the Russian-occupied city of Kerch is being converted into a military base likely for launching drones at Ukraine, according to a new investigation by Schemes, a project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Satellite images from Planet Labs show ongoing construction and military-style activity at the Kerch airport, which sits in eastern Crimea. The photos, compared between February and June 2025, reveal new fortifications and camouflage structures around the runway.

The US president must be tough against Putin to shed his unwanted “Taco” nickname.

Donald Trump’s critics have taken great joy in giving him a nickname: “Taco,” the first letters of the words “Trump Always Chickens Out.” When he was asked by a reporter about this acronym at a recent press conference, the president was less than delighted. For a man with a formidable ego, it was not what he wanted to hear.

The name “Taco” was given to President Trump because of his dithering over tariffs – saying he was going to impose a huge import tax on various foreign countries and then, at the last moment, changing his mind. In his defense, the president claimed, with some justification, “It’s called negotiation.”

G7 country leaders are due to meet on June 15-17 in Canada, where they will discuss the price cap first agreed upon in late 2022, following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A majority of countries in the Group of Seven (G7) nations are prepared to lower the price cap on Russian oil, even if US President Donald Trump won’t support the move, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The cap is aimed at curbing Russia’s ability to finance its military operations against Ukraine. 

Despite a long tradition of warm relations with Russia, Serbia has stepped out of Moscow’s shadow to show support for Ukraine as victim of Kremlin aggression.

When Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić arrived in Odesa on June 10, it was not just a visit. It was a political and moral step rarely seen in today’s world – an act that carries weight despite the avalanche of pressure, condemnations, and threats coming from the other side of Europe. At a time when many are silent, weighing in, or retreating in the face of Moscow’s aggressive narrative, Vučić decided to be present, to be visible, and to choose a side – the side of the victim, not the aggressor.

Vučić’s visit to Ukraine, the first since Russia’s brutal invasion began in 2022, comes at a time when the Kremlin is increasing pressure on all states that maintain even the slightest contact with Kyiv, which it considers its zone of interest. In recent weeks, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) released a statement directly accusing the Serbian president of “betraying fraternal Slavic peoples” and supplying Ukraine with ammunition and weapons. During Vučić’s visit to Odesa, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said from the highest state level, “The countries traveling to Odesa should ask themselves whose side they are on.”

Israel’s attack marks only the latest setback for Trump’s lofty goal set out at the start of his second term of being a “man of peace.”

US President Donald Trump on Thursday implored Israel not to attack Iran and declared once again his goal was to be a peacemaker.

Hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of Trump’s closest international allies, brazenly defied his advice by unleashing a major military campaign described as a “preemptive” strike against Iran’s nuclear program.

Israel launched major airstrikes on Iran, hitting nuclear and military sites and killing top commanders. Iran responded with drones, and global tensions are rising. Here’s what we know so far.

Israel launched a major airstrike campaign on Iran early Friday, June 13, hitting nuclear and military sites across the country in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “very successful” opening phase of a broader operation.

The attacks killed high-ranking Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists, damaged key facilities, and escalated fears of a wider war in the region. Iran responded by launching about 100 drones toward Israel, which the Israeli military said it was working to intercept.

Secretary Hegseth denies reports he halted Pentagon cyber ops against the Kremlin while trying to defend Trump White House pro-Russian policies vs the US bipartisan pro-Ukrainian stance.

WASHINGTON DC – US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday strongly defended the Trump administration’s policy towards Ukraine and Russia, while also denying reports that the Pentagon had paused cyber operations against Moscow.

“We did not!” the Pentagon head told lawmakers in the final day of his multi-day spree of testimony on Capitol Hill, when pressed by the House Armed Committee members about recent reports that the US Cyber Command last month briefly stopped its offensive operations aimed at Russia as a negotiating tactic.

Banks once considered doing business with defense manufacturers akin to making a deal with the devil – that was before Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine and the West changed the ground rules

Europe’s drive to rearm in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been met with a shift in perception among European banks toward doing business with weapons manufacturers.

For decades, banks viewed relationships with the defense sector as “dirty money” that could damage their reputations. But that perception has changed dramatically since Feb. 24, 2022, in parallel with the European Union and its member states increasing their defense spending.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces have sustained over one million casualties since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, over half of which occurred since January 2024.
• Russian forces have reportedly sustained an average of 1,286 casualties per day between January and early June 2025 in exchange for marginal territorial gains.
• Russian forces recently advanced across the western Donetsk-Dnipropetrovsk Oblast border northwest of Kurakhove as part of a multi-pronged effort to advance into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
• Russian forces are likely attempting to level the frontlines in the Novopavlivka and Kurakhove directions to advance into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
• The Ukrainian forces continue to demonstrate their ability to conduct successful long-range strikes that target Russia’s defense industrial base (DIB).
• Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war (POWs) again on June 12, in accordance with agreements the parties previously reached during talks in Istanbul on June 2.
• Southeastern European countries reiterated their support for Ukraine on June 11, including Serbia signaling its willingness to improve bilateral relations with Ukraine.
• Germany pledged to supply Ukraine with additional financial and materiel support, including air defense systems.
• Ukrainian forces advanced near Toretsk. Russian forces advanced in northern Sumy Oblast and near Siversk and Kurakhove.

Described as a left-wing Socialist, Sweden’s Ylva Johansson has a long record of protecting migrant rights and safety.

The European Union will appoint former EC commissioner Ylva Johansson to its newly planned post of special envoy for Ukrainian nationals residing in the EU, Politico reported on Thursday.

The role will involve “enhancing coordination, representing the interests of Ukrainians and implementing practical support tools” for them across the EU, Politico reported.

Key Republican senator Chuck Grassley: “Had the West given the Ukrainians what they needed earlier, they might have pushed Russia out of their country by now.”

WASHINGTON DC – Now that US President Donald Trump’s apparent “two weeks” deadline laid out for the Kremlin is up without a ceasefire in Ukraine, key Republican Senators are taking a fresh swipe at the White House for its inaction towards Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“Weakness is what provokes a KGB man like Putin,” Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said Thursday in his address to the Senate floor, urging Trump to refrain from “making the same mistake” as his predecessor, Joe Biden.

“We know how the enemy operates, Putin said, after he was roundly embarrassed by Operation Spiderweb, in which Ukrainian drones knocked out $2 billion to $7 billion in Russian military aircraft.

Responding to the devastation to Russian aviation caused by Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, in which a massive percentage of his entire fleet of bombers were destroyed by Ukrainian drones earlier this month, Kremlin strongman Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that a special branch of his armed forces will be dedicated to unmanned aerial systems.

“It is necessary to ensure their deployment as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Putin said at a meeting on the new state armaments program, according to state media TASS.