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

As Russian forces near eastern Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, families like Natalia Golovanyk’s are forced to flee, leaving everything behind to protect their children.

Natalia Golovanyk would probably have stayed in her village in eastern Ukraine, even with Russian forces closing in, but authorities issued an order for children to be taken to safety.

That meant the 30-year-old had little choice but to urgently pack up her home and seven children -- all under the age of 13 -- and leave their lives behind.

“Russia is on the verge of recession, what’s next depends on the decisions we now make,” according to Russia’s Minister of Economic Development.

Russia is running out of the resources that have provided its economic growth for the past two years following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now, the country has to search for new, more diverse economic models, the head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, said during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 19.

“Over the past two years, we have shown relatively high growth rates, but this was achieved by mobilizing free internal reserves. Unemployment dropped significantly, we used the workforce in our reserves and many companies faced the labor deficit. Unused idle production capacity was utilized. Western companies exited – new market niches opened up, leading to import substitution. The resources accumulated for the Russian National Wealth Fund’s budget are spent on investments. The banking system’s reserves became a foundation for swift borrowing,” Nabiullina said.

The comments made by Dmitry Peskov come the day after the 100-day mark since Ukraine’s unilateral call for a ceasfire, backed by the United States, was made.

The Kremlin’s mouthpiece has said Russia will not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, claiming it now has the “strategic advantage” on the battlefield and intends to keep advancing.

His comments were made one day after Ukraine’s unilateral call for a ceasefire, backed by the United States, passed the 100-day mark.

Economists have warned for months of a slowdown in the Russian economy, with the country posting its slowest quarterly expansion in two years in the first quarter of 2025.

President Vladimir Putin on Friday urged officials not to let Russia fall into recession “under any circumstances”, as some in his own government warned of a hit to economic growth.

Economists have warned for months of a slowdown in the Russian economy, with the country posting its slowest quarterly expansion in two years in the first quarter of 2025.

Local officials said Russian attacks damaged 44 ambulances in the region since Moscow’s 2022 invasion started – including at least nine over the past six months.

Local officials in Ukraine’s Kherson region have called for the supply of armored vehicles to serve as ambulances amid constant Russian attacks.

The city of Kherson, located just kilometers from the front, is dubbed a “human safari” by some due to Russian troops’ indiscriminate use of first-person-view (FPV) drones against civilian objects as target practice.

Ukrainian forces reported eliminating Russian soldiers and multiple pieces of equipment, including a rare Solntsepyok heavy flamethrower system, in a precision drone strike captured on video.

Ukrainian forces have reported the elimination of Russian soldiers and several pieces of military equipment – including a tank and a rare Solntsepyok heavy flamethrower system - using drone strikes.

The unmanned aerial unit “Phoenix” posted a video of the operation on Telegram, captioned: “Burned the enemy Solntsepyok, dismantled the tank to the cog.”

Ukraine and Russia carried out a new prisoner exchange, bringing home wounded and seriously ill Ukrainian defenders, many of whom had been in captivity for more than two years.

Ukraine and Russia conducted a new prisoner exchange on Friday, June 20, bringing home wounded and seriously ill Ukrainian personnel, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.

“Most of the soldiers returning today from Russian captivity were held for more than two years. Now they are finally home,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

Ukrainian intelligence said Moscow recruited a former Ukrainian soldier to carry out a planned contract killing in Kyiv and supplied the suspect with a Makarov pistol and 50 rounds of ammunition.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed that Russian intelligence recruited a Ukrainian deserter for a failed contract killing in Kyiv.

The SBU said it stopped the attempt in its tracks before the 33-year-old conscript, who “voluntarily left the military unit,” received the information on his assassination target.

Armenia and Turkey set on historic path to patch up bilateral relations after over a century of broken relations.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Istanbul Friday for a rare visit to arch-foe Turkey, in what Yerevan has described as a “historic” step toward regional peace.

Armenia and Turkey have never established formal diplomatic ties, and their shared border has been closed since the 1990s.

Washington seeks mediators and locations – Russian babies leave paternity wards wearing camouflage.

When will Washington grasp the reality of Russia planning for and preparing for a long war in Ukraine and beyond?  When will Washington recognize that Russia has publicly declared itself our sworn enemy and act accordingly? 

Vladimir Putin is openly building for long-term war and, in addition to recruiting North Koreans and other mercenaries to supplement current forces, modernizing the methods used in Nazi Germany to create generations of committed Russian warfighters – starting immediately after Russian babies are being born. 

According to the call, intercepted by Ukraine’s HUR, a Russian serviceman using the call sign “Brelok” is said to have killed as fellow soldier and lived off his remains for two weeks.

An intercepted call released by Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (HUR) captured Russian soldiers discussing an alleged case of cannibalism within their own ranks.

According to the call, a serviceman with the call sign “Brelok” is said to have killed his fellow soldier “Foma” – and then lived off his former comrade’s remains for two weeks.

The Trump administration is not ruling out using tactical nuclear weapons on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, but officials say US Air Force B-2 bomber-only bunker buster bombs could do the job.

The White House is not ruling out the use of tactical nuclear weapons against Iran’s underground Fordow Fuel Enricment Plant (FFEP) nuclear facility, reports say, citing a White House official, also emphasized that US bunker-buster bombs remain a viable option for destroying the site.

Meanwhile, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned of possible severe consequences even if non-nuclear weapons are used.

After the body of Leningrad’s vice-governor was found shot in his country house, Russian law enforcement put it down to an accident while he was cleaning his weapon

The vice-governor of Russia’s Leningrad Region, Igor Petrov, was found dead in his dacha near the village of Yukki in the Vsevolozhsk district on Thursday. Russian mainstream media said law enforcement, having found no signs of a break-in or third-party involvement, said the 65-year-old had accidentally shot himself – while cleaning his weapon.

The regional authorities’ press service issued a “neutral” announcement of his death: “On June 19, at the age of 66, Igor Viktorovich Petrov, Vice-Governor of the Leningrad Region – Representative of the Governor in the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region, died suddenly.”

Moscow had shown unexpected economic resilience in 2023 and 2024, despite the West’s sweeping sanctions, with massive state spending on the military powering a robust expansion.

Russian officials sparred publicly on Friday over how to boost the economy, as growth slows more than three years into its Ukraine offensive.

Moscow had shown unexpected economic resilience in 2023 and 2024, despite the West’s sweeping sanctions, with massive state spending on the military powering a robust expansion.

A combined SBU and defense forces operation thwarted a Russian plan to locate and destroy the key weapon carried out by a turncoat member of Ukraine’s defense forces.

Ukraine’s Security Services (SBU) reported via its Telegram channel on Thursday that it had detained a traitor from within Ukraine’s Armed Forces (AFU) who was preparing to assist a Russian attack on a Neptune anti-ship system covering part of the Black Sea.

The operation to identify and capture the “mole” was carried out by the SBU’s military counterintelligence department, assisted by the AFU Commander-in-Chief and the commander of Ukraine’s naval forces.

The ECB blocked using $330B in frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, weakening Europe’s credibility, fueling Russian advances, and exposing the EU to grave security threats.

Literally, I read this piece from Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, in the Financial Times, and it was wtf?

Lagarde talks about the importance of Europe having “geopolitical credibility,” and yet one action (or inaction) that the ECB has undertaken has done more to undermine that very same geopolitical credibility than anything else.

State Department says yesterday’s meeting between Marco Rubio and David Lammy reviewed ‘efforts to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted his British counterpart David Lammy at the White House on Thursday where they discussed a wide range of topics including the Iran-Israel crisis, Russia’s war in Ukraine, next week’s NATO summit, and bilateral relations, the State Department said.

The high-stakes meeting was originally planned for last Friday, June 13, but got pushed back due to scheduling conflicts, Kyiv Post’s Washington correspondent reports.

Since coming back to office, US President Donald Trump has upended the West’s approach towards Russia’s war on Ukraine by undercutting Kyiv and opening the door to closer ties with Moscow.

When leaders from NATO’s 32 countries gather for a summit in The Hague next week, most want to send a clear message: Russia is the main threat to their alliance.

But the loudest voice in the room likely won’t be on the same page.

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• The current conflict between Israel and Iran presents Russia with challenges and opportunities.
• Russia is under no formal obligation to provide Iran with any military assistance in its conflict with Israel. The Russia-Iran Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement signed in January 2025 covers cooperation across a range of areas including, defence and security, but does not include a mutual-defence clause. This is in contrast with Russia’s agreements with both the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Belarus.
• Russia almost certainly perceives some benefit in the conflict as it distracts international focus from its war against Ukraine.
• However, the conflict will likely negatively impact the future provision of Iranian military equipment to Russia. Iran has supplied significant quantities of one-way attack uncrewed aerial systems (OWA UAS|, provided extensive support to Russian OWA UAS domestic production, and supplied ballistic missiles and artillery munitions in support of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Despite high key rate, banks continued to increase lending – but recovery is constrained by a labor shortage.

Key indicators of the banking system’s resilience were at historically high levels, but the ongoing war remains the main risk for the financial sector and continues to hold back economic recovery, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) wrote in its latest Financial Stability Report.

“Economic growth continues thanks to robust consumer demand, but is being held back by labor shortages. There is a growing sense of production capacity being limited by security risks. Investments are primarily being made to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities and energy efficiency,” First Deputy Governor of the NBU Kateryna Rozhkova said during the briefing presenting the report. 

One of the buildings hit – a four-story residential block – collapsed entirely after catching fire, with fears that people may still be trapped under the rubble. Rescue operations are ongoing.

A massive Russian drone attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight killed one person, injured at least 14 others, and destroyed homes and public buildings, Ukrainian authorities said Friday, June 20.

According to preliminary findings, at least 10 drones targeted the city, striking residential neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The West has failed to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to reevaluate his theory of victory in Ukraine in the past year. Putin’s public statements indicate that he continues to assess that Russian forces will be able to win a war of attrition by sustaining gradual advances along the frontline indefinitely.
• Putin’s theory of victory is predicated on critical assumptions about Ukraine’s capabilities and continued Western support for Ukraine – conditions that the West can still change.
• Putin continued Russia’s reflexive control campaign that aims to deter Western provisions of military aid to Ukraine and NATO rearmament but appears to be adapting this campaign for different audiences.
• Putin explicitly stated that he will not sign a peace agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
• Putin used his meeting with international journalists to reinject longstanding Kremlin rhetorical lines into the media space, as ISW previously forecasted.
• Russian officials appear to be struggling to posture Russia’s economic strength amid increasing signs of a slowing Russian economy.
• Ukraine and Russia conducted the fifth prisoner of war (POW) exchange in accordance the June 2 Istanbul agreements, amid reports that Russia artificially inflated the number of bodies released to Ukraine in previous killed in action (KIA) exchanges.
• Ukrainian forces advanced in northern Sumy Oblast. Russian forces advanced near Kupyansk, Toretsk, and Novopavlivka.

Observers reportedly say that Yermak, a former movie producer, “still struggles to navigate the corridors of power in Washington almost six years since he rose to become Zelensky’s closest aide.”

“Everyone has had it with Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The second most powerful man in Ukraine, Yermak has been a particularly frustrating interlocutor for the Trump administration, according to 10 people familiar with his interactions,” according to a US political news outlet.

On Thursday, a Trump-critical (and by all inferences, pro-Ukraine) political magazine published a consensus of the interviews contending that the general vibe between Zelensky’s right-hand man and US officials was souring, at best.

A “Trump Fortnight,” his ever-present “magic” period, sparks questions about his decision-making on global matters. One policy analyst sees these actions as a strategic move to confuse adversaries.

WASHINGTON DC – US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would decide on whether his country should get involved in Israel’s conflict with Iran “within the next two weeks.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read a message from Trump at a daily briefing, citing “a lot of speculations” about whether the US would be “directly involved.”

Henadii Shapovalov previously commanded Ukraine’s southern military district, which has seen combat almost continuously since the February 2022 start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

In his evening address on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a new Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Henadii Shapovalov, signaling the move to capitalize on the new leader’s “experience of coordination” and “real combat experience.”

“Today, I signed a decree appointing Brig. Gen. Hennadii Shapovalov, who served in Wiesbaden, Germany, as Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. His duties have involved coordination with our NATO partners,” Zelensky said. “All the positive experience of coordination and all the real combat experience of our soldiers must now be implemented in the Ground Forces of Ukraine. Changes are needed, and this is imperative,” he said in his address.