Russian Strikes Kill Twelve in Ukraine
- Russian missiles and drones killed at least twelve civilians and injured forty others in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as “horrific attacks” (AP)
Published by CFR's Wachenheim Center for Peace and Security
Latest News
War in Ukraine
Ukraine Strikes Russian Oil Refinery
- Ukraine set fire to a major oil refinery in the south of Russia as part of its campaign to choke Russian fuel supplies; President Vladimir Putin acknowledged for the first time that the country was facing a “certain deficit” of fuel and vowed to strengthen protection of oil facilities (AP)
Ukraine Launches Major Drone Attack
- Ukraine launched 660 drones on a dozen Russian regions, Moscow’s Defense Ministry said, in one of its largest drone assaults since the start of the war (AP)
EU Releases Three Billion-Euro Loan Package for Ukraine’s Recovery
- The European Union has disbursed the first $3.4 billion of a $101 billion loan to Ukraine, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced at the opening of a conference on Ukraine’s post-war recovery, which serves as both a fundraising forum and a message to Russia that Western leaders remain committed to supporting Ukraine (AP)
Ukrainian Strikes Knock Out Power in Sevastopol
Russia and Ukraine Trade Strikes
- Russian drone strikes across Ukraine killed 6, including a thirteen-year-old boy and 3 members of the same family, following a larger trend of increased civilian casualties in Russian attacks; a UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said that at least 274 civilians were killed and 1,763 injured in Ukraine in May, the highest monthly total of civilian casualties since April 2022 (AP)
- Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military said it hit a plant producing electronics for missiles in Russia’s Voronezh region, which the Ukrainian General Staff called a “critical component” of Russia’s defense production (Reuters)
- The attack killed five people and injured several dozen, regional governor Alexander Gusev said (Reuters)
Ukrainian Attacks Kill Five
- A Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea killed four and injured twenty-eight; a separate attack on an oil transport facility killed one and set an oil terminal ablaze (Reuters)
Zelenskyy Warns of Impending Russian Attack
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian forces were preparing a “massive attack” on Ukraine and warned residents to take care as Russian strikes in different regions killed at least six (Reuters)
- Zelenskyy also confirmed that Ukrainian drones had struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Tyumen Region in western Siberia (Reuters)
Ukraine Launches Largest Attack on Moscow Since Start of War
- Ukraine launched the largest drone offensive on Moscow of the full-scale war, injuring seventeen and further damaging the oil refinery it struck two days prior (CNN)
- The attacks are part of Ukraine’s increasing efforts to cripple Russia’s oil industry, which largely finances Russia’s war effort (Reuters)
- Hundreds of flights at all Moscow airports were suspended, transport and aviation authorities said, following the attack (AP)
G7 Leaders Discuss Russia-Ukraine War at Summit
- The Group of 7 leaders gathered for a summit focusing in part on the Russia-Ukraine war; however, President Donald Trump signaled that the war was not a priority for his administration, telling reporters that the United States had “nothing to do” with the war (NYT)
- European leaders expressed optimism about Ukraine’s position; following talks, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on social media that the “tide is turning for Ukraine” (Reuters)
- Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian drones had targeted an oil refinery in Moscow, about ten miles from the Kremlin, calling it a “just response” to Russian strikes the day prior (NYT)
Russian Attacks in Ukraine Kill Eleven, Set Historic Monastery Ablaze
- Overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine killed at least eleven people and badly damaged the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery—a UNESCO World Heritage site founded in 1051—which President Zelenskyy called “an attack on our history” and “one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date” (Reuters)
Trump-Putin Call
- During a phone call, President Donald Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin that resolving the conflict in Ukraine was crucial and that he was willing to assist, according to Kremlin advisor Yuri Ushakov (Reuters)
Two Ukrainian Strikes Cause Fires in Russia
- Ukrainian strikes hit an oil processing and pumping facility in Russia’s Volgograd region, causing a fire, the Ukrainian General Staff said (Reuters)
- A separate Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and sparked a fire at a sea terminal in the southern Russian port of Temryuk, Governor Veniamin Kondratiev wrote on Telegram (Reuters)
EU Agrees to Launch Ukraine Membership Talks
- At a meeting in Brussels, ambassadors from the twenty-seven European Union states agreed to officially open membership talks with Ukraine next week (AP)
- Ukraine and Russia exchanged overnight drone strikes, with Ukraine hitting oil refineries and a petrochemicals plant while Russia attacked railway stations and electrical substations (Reuters)
- Ukrainian attacks have also targeted supplies to Crimea, triggering the worst fuel crisis on the Black Sea Peninsula since its annexation in 2014 (AP)
Russian Forces Capture Two More Ukrainian Settlements
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its forces had captured two new settlements: Rozkishne village, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, and Okhrimivka, in the neighboring Kharkiv region (Reuters)
- Additionally, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said it voted to extend U.S. security assistance to Ukraine and to increase authorized funding to $750 million (Reuters)
Ukrainian Strikes Target Russian Oil Supplies
Russian Attacks Kill Three
- Russian attacks on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region killed a pregnant woman and two other people, Ukrainian officials said (Reuters)
- The European Union has proposed its twenty-first package of sanctions against Russia, heavily targeting the country’s banks and crypto networks as well as drone production, and oil traders and refiners, EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said (Reuters)
EU Releases $3.2 Billion to Ukraine
- The European Union released nearly $3.2 billion as part of ongoing efforts to finance Ukraine in its war against Russia, the European Commission said (Reuters)
European Leaders Issue Joint Statement Supporting Ceasefire Talks
- Following a meeting with President Zelenskyy in London, the leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement in support of Zelenskyy’s proposal for direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia to secure a ceasefire (Reuters)
- Additionally, Russian forces deliberately struck a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel near Ukraine’s Chornobyl power plant; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media that the attack was “extremely vile” (Reuters)
- A Ukrainian drone struck a train in Crimea, killing one (Reuters)
Russia Intercepts Hundreds of Ukrainian Drones
- According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, its anti-aircraft units intercepted and destroyed 339 Ukrainian drones over a 13-hour period in various Russian regions, including Moscow (Reuters)
Russian Strikes Across Ukraine Kill Nine
- Russian strikes killed five people in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region in three separate incidents on Friday, the regional governor said (Reuters)
- A separate Russian drone attack on a dairy factory near Kyiv killed four people and injured seven more, Ukrainian officials said (Reuters)
- Ukraine and Russia each exchanged 185 service personnel in the latest prisoner of war swap, officials in both countries said; the swap was the second under an agreement between the countries to swap 1,000 prisoners of war each, as part of a three-day ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States in early May (Reuters)
- Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s open letter, saying he saw no reason to meet at this time (Reuters)
U.S. House Passes Russia Sanctions and Ukraine Aid Package
- The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation imposing new sanctions on Russia and providing aid to Ukraine, in a bipartisan rebuke of President Trump’s approach to the conflict; however, the Senate is unlikely to vote on the bill (Reuters)
- Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, proposing that the two leaders meet to agree on an end to the war and warning that Kyiv would fight on if the proposal is rejected (Reuters)
Ukrainian Drones Strike St. Peterburg Oil Terminal
- The long-range drones struck and set fire to an oil terminal outside of St. Petersburg as the city hosted an international economic forum; President Putin will speak at the forum on Friday (AP)
Russia Launches Massive Drone and Missile Attack Against Ukraine
- Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults of the war overnight, firing 656 drones and 73 missiles at Kyiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 18 civilians and wounding more than 100 others (AP)
Russia Hits Kyiv With Oreshnik Missile in Mass Attack
- Russia struck Kyiv and surrounding areas with roughly six hundred drones and ninety missiles—including a nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the city of Bila Tserkva—killing at least four people and wounding more than sixty (NPR)