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

Russia has committed a large share of its state budget to the military, but Poland’s foreign minister warns that it won’t be able to keep up with new Western military spending goals.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters on Thursday that military spending could lead to the downfall of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

His comments were made following Wednesday’s historic NATO summit at the Hague, where  NATO’s 32 members committed to a new defense spending target of five percent of GDP.

The Polish Sejm voted to withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty that prohibits the manufacture, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel mines amid increasing concerns over Russian aggression.

The Polish Sejm (parliament) voted to exit the Ottawa Treaty banning the use of anti-personnel landmines. 

In Wednesday’s vote, 413 lawmakers voted for, 15 voted against, and three abstained. 

Mainstream and social media reported that another exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia, agreed on during the June 2 Istanbul negotiations, was Thursday afternoon.

An exchange of an unspecified number of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia happened Thursday afternoon, June 26, Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for Prisoner of War Affairs reported.

This was the seventh swap following an agreement made during negotiations held in Istanbul on June 2. The released Ukrainians included servicemen from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guard, and State Border Guard Service.

The Special Tribunal marks a monumental step for Kyiv in holding Russia responsible for the invasion – but what does it do, and what is its purpose?

Kyiv and the Council of Europe inked an agreement to establish a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine on Wednesday, June 25.

“Justice takes time, but it must happen,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the signing ceremony alongside Alain Berset, secretary-general of the Council of Europe.

As NATO leaders signed up to increase their defense spending as demanded by President Trump, his nominee for SACEUR said he would help ensure the alliance got maximum benefit from the extra funds.

On Tuesday, June 24 the leaders of NATO’s 32 national members met up for a two day summit in The Hague during which they all, except for Spain, committed to increasing future defense expenditure to 5% of GDP by 2035.

This would be made up of 3.5% directly on military equipment and personnel costs and a further 1.5% on infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, civil defense and increases to their defense industrial capacity.

A bus carrying 55 Ukrainians, including children, overturned in Romania with several passengers injured.

A bus carrying 55 Ukrainian citizens, including children, overturned on Wednesday, June 25, on Romania’s DN22 highway near the village of Tariverde.

According to the Ziua de Constanta news outlet, the accident occurred at approximately 6:45 p.m. Kyiv time. Preliminary investigations indicate the driver lost control of the vehicle, causing it to overturn.

The additional troop deployment could happen as early as July or August, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service. Pyongyang is already preparing soldiers for the mission.

North Korea could send more troops to Russia as early as July or August to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine, South Korean lawmakers said Thursday, citing the country’s intelligence agency.

According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), North Korea is also continuing to supply weapons to Russia, including artillery shells and missiles. In return, Pyongyang is believed to be receiving technical help for its satellite and missile programs.

The nationalist leader – Russia’s closest partner in the European Union – has raised a series of objections and obstacles to Kyiv’s integration into the 27-nation bloc.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Thursday that a state-organised consultation gave him a “strong mandate” to oppose neighbouring Ukraine’s EU accession at the European Union summit in Brussels.

The nationalist leader – Russia’s closest partner in the European Union – has raised a series of objections and obstacles to Kyiv’s integration into the 27-nation bloc.

‘With friends like Russia, who needs enemies?’ – asks Senator Kennedy, reminding that when Putin invaded Ukraine, one of the first allies he turned to was Iran, which sent him ammunition.

Key US Republican Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA) on Wednesday mocked the Kremlin and its top occupant, Vladimir Putin, for abandoning its major ally Iran amid the recent standoff with the West.

“Where is Russia? Where is President Putin? I ask that question in light of what’s been happening over the past week in Iran,” Kennedy said in remarks on the Senate floor highlighting last week’s US and Israeli operations targeting Iran’s nuclear sites.

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 26, Russia has lost 1,015,750 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 (AFU). 

Russian casualties in Ukraine surpassed one million on June 16.

Ukraine’s armed forces Chief says the Russian advance in the Sumy border area has been stopped, tying down 50,000 Kremlin troops, including several elite forces units.

The advance of Russian troops in the Sumy region’s border area has been stopped, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have managed to tie down around 50,000 Russian soldiers, according to the Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky.

“The defense of the Sumy region is one of today’s top priorities,” Syrsky wrote on Telegram on Thursday, June 26.

According to the SBU, the 19-year-old suspect, a resident of the Kyiv region, was recruited by Russian special services through Telegram channels offering a chance for “easy money.”

The Counterintelligence Service of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained a suspected Russian agent accused of planning a series of terrorist attacks in northern Ukraine, including a failed bomb attack targeting a National Guard soldier in Kyiv.

According to the SBU, the 19-year-old suspect, a resident of the Kyiv region, was recruited by Russian special services through Telegram channels offering “easy money.”

The SBU have charged the native of Ukraine’s Cherkasy region with treason “in absentia” for his role in developing Russian missile satellite navigation systems.

Oleh Borsuk, 61, previously worked in a laboratory in Ukraine’s defense sector, resigned in 2009, and fled to Russia where, according to a report by the Security Service (SBU), he became a lead developer of navigation for Russian cruise and ballistic missiles.

The SBU said that after moving to Moscow, Borsuk eventually became the Deputy General Director of the Navis design bureau, one of the leading companies in the Russian military-industrial complex.

With Russian air defenses engaged and Moscow’s Vnukovo airport restricted, at least 50 UAVs were reportedly downed across various locations in Russia.

Explosions were heard early Thursday morning, June 26, in Moscow and the surrounding region, as Russian authorities reported a large-scale drone attack.

According to the Russian Telegram channel Mash, blasts were heard in several areas, including Didovsk in the Istrinsky district, Zelenograd, and Moskovskiy in New Moscow.

Work is underway to increase that to 80 kilometers, and potentially to 100 kilometers if dropped from high altitude, though actual combat range will depend on tactics.

Ukraine has begun testing its version of glide bombs to boost long-range strike capabilities, but the project requires more funding to move into mass production. 

The new weapon, developed by the Ukrainian design bureau Medoid, is similar to Russia’s UMPK kits and the US JDAM, which convert regular aerial bombs into precision-guided glide bombs. Ukraine’s version has already demonstrated the ability to hit targets up to 60 kilometers away, the report said.

The Qingdao meeting of the organisation’s top defence officials comes as a fledgling ceasefire between Israel and Iran holds after 12 days of fighting between the arch-foes.

The Qingdao meeting of the organisation’s top defence officials comes as a fledgling ceasefire between Israel and Iran holds after 12 days of fighting between the arch-foes.

China hosted defence ministers from Iran and Russia for a meeting in its eastern seaside city of Qingdao on Thursday against the backdrop of war in the Middle East and a summit of NATO countries in Europe that agreed to boost military spending.

Russian Pantsir-S1 air defense systems in Iraq failed to stop a wave of kamikaze drones, exposing critical vulnerabilities amid post-ceasefire tensions in the region.

Russian-supplied Pantsir-S1 air defense systems in Iraq reportedly failed to intercept a recent wave of unidentified kamikaze drones, raising further doubts about the system’s effectiveness amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

According to the Defense Express media outlet, Iraq reportedly possesses 24 Pantsir-S1 systems, which currently form the backbone of its ground-based air defense.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• US President Donald Trump stated that Russia may have territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine – consistent with ISW’s long-held assessments that Russia is preparing for a future conflict with NATO and setting conditions to justify future aggression against non-NATO former Soviet Union states.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio correctly stated that Russia has not shown a willingness to move forward in peace negotiations.
• The Kremlin continues to leverage Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev’s aggressive rhetoric to undermine Western support for Ukraine.
• Russian officials are promoting purposefully vague rhetoric about the “root causes” of Russia’s war against Ukraine in order to allow the Kremlin the flexibility to adapt its demands as it sees fit.
• Russia is reportedly accelerating its missile production capacity with sanctions evasion support from Belarus and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
• NATO and Western officials reaffirmed their commitment to collective defense and security, to increasing defense spending in the face of increased Russian aggression, and to providing support to Ukraine.
• Ukraine’s European partners continue to allocate military aid to Ukraine and deepen cooperation with the Ukrainian defense industrial base (DIB).
• Ukrainian forces likely conducted a long-range strike against a Russian military industrial enterprise in Rostov Oblast on June 24.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Borova and Velyka Novosilka, and Russian forces recently advanced in Vovchansk and near Pokrovsk and Novopavlivka.

The Optron-Savropol microelectronics manufacturer, like many of its peers, claimed that the Ministry of Defense was not paying enough for parts. As a result, it has been inoperative since March.

A supplier of military microelectronic components in Stavropol, Russia, has not been providing Moscow with important parts for its aircraft as the Kremlin cannot pay enough, its leadership said.

The company, Optron-Stavropol, reportedly was being paid so little by the Ministry of Defense for its orders that it suffered losses and mounting debts so great as to suspend production earlier this year.

“Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero,” wrote the US president, adding that “it was the United States of America that saved Israel.”

US President Donald Trump weighed in on ally Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-running corruption trial Wednesday, urging for Israel’s “Great War Time Prime Minister” to be exonerated after the conflict with Iran.

“Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me,” Trump wrote in a long post on his Truth Social platform.

Putin’s spokesperson said the Russian leader will instead appear via video conference, after Brazil was unable to provide assurances regarding the ICC warrant for Putin’s arrest.

Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin will not appear at the upcoming BRICS summit in Brazil due to concerns around the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.

BRICS is an acronym for an intergovernmental organization and trade bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It has now expanded to 11 members, and its stated goal is to increase the influence of the Global South in global institutions.