Editor’s note: This is issue 30 of Ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s weekly "Ukraine Reforms Tracker" covering events from June 9–June 15, 2025. The digest highlights steps taken in the Ukrainian parliament related to business, economics, and international financial programs. The Kyiv Independent is republishing with permission. Benchmarks
U.S. President Donald Trump addressed a wide range of subjects during his inauguration speech. When speaking about international relations, he was adamant — "Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity," he said, talking about Russia's war against Ukraine and the fighting in the Middle
"Until the necessary 'homework' is done to remove the irritants in our relations with the United States, it makes no sense to organize a meeting," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
"These are warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the State Border Guard Service. Most of them had been held captive since 2022," President Volodymyr Zelensky said, without revealing their numbers.
According to Politico, the proposed plan would redirect the frozen Russian assets into a special investment fund under EU control, allowing for higher returns without confiscating the principal.
A senior Russian official on June 19 inadvertently confirmed the staggering troop losses incurred by Moscow's forces during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with CNN, Russian Ambassador to the U.K. Andrey Kelin was asked about Moscow's maximalist intentions in Ukraine and its ability to recruit enough
KANANASKIS, Canada — The Group of Seven (G7) Leaders' Summit ended on June 17 with no joint statement in support of Ukraine, no commitments to provide desperately needed U.S. weapons, and no meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump. The Ukrainian delegation headed into the summit,
Russia's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Andrei Kelin, said Russia is continuing its offensive and sees no need to stop hostilities, publicly acknowledging Moscow's disregard for U.S.-backed ceasefire efforts.
A hundred days since the U.S. and Ukraine agreed on a ceasefire, "Russia continues to choose war," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on June 19, urging international pressure to push Moscow toward peace.
Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas cited a sharp increase in Russia's military spending, noting that Moscow is now allocating more money to defense than the EU combined, and more than its own health care, education, and social policies put together.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 40 drones, while 48 disappeared from radars or were intercepted by electronic warfare.
The number includes 1,080 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
Russian attacks on Kherson Oblast injured nine people and damaged residential infrastructure on June 18-19, according to local authorities. The strikes targeted 34 settlements with artillery and drones.
Russia wants to end the war in Ukraine "as soon as possible," preferably through peaceful means, and is ready to continue negotiations — provided that Kyiv and its Western allies are willing to engage, Vladimir Putin said.
When I was at school and learned about World War II, my grandmother told me what she remembered of her wartime childhood on the English coast. Growing up near a Royal Navy base, she survived countless nighttime air raids. Most of all, she remembered exactly how the Blitz sounded — the
Russia’s hardline nationalist elite reportedly argues that only a formal war declaration would permit true escalation—full-scale mobilisation, regular missile strikes, and potentially the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
Key developments on June 18: * 'Do me a favor Vladimir, mediate Russia first' — Trump roasts Putin over Israel, Iran offer * Ukraine kills collaborator tied to POW torture in occupied Berdiansk, intelligence source claims * Zelensky may reportedly skip NATO summit over uncertainty about Trump's attendance * Ukraine dismisses Russia's 'absurd' ceasefire condition
"My next mission: fighting for what's right here at home," Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink wrote.
Mykhailo Hrytsai, a senior collaborator with the Russian occupation authorities, was shot dead in the city with a silenced PM pistol, according to a source.
As of the morning of June 18, 293 Ukrainians in Israel and 85 in Iran have requested evacuation, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said.
Russia on June 18 warned the world is "millimetres away from catastrophe" due to Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, just four months after one of its own drones struck the Chornobyl nuclear site in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Israel of escalating the risk of a
The Slovak police reportedly also seek to detain a former Defense Ministry official and have detained an ex-head of the Konstrukta Defense state company in a move denounced by Nad's opposition Democrats party as politically motivated.
"Russia uses these vessels to circumvent international sanctions and sustain its illegal and immoral war against Ukraine," Australia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"This issue is certainly not on the NATO agenda and nobody has formulated an expectation that there will be an invitation in The Hague, nor have we heard that from the Ukrainians themselves," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said in comments quoted by the LRT broadcaster.
According to the Guardian, some in Kyiv are unsure if President Volodymyr Zelensky's presence at the summit would be worthwhile without a confirmed meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry on June 18 brushed off Moscow's demands for Kyiv to destroy or dismantle Western-supplied weapons as a condition for a ceasefire, saying it shows disregard for U.S. peace efforts.
The legislation passed with the support of 253 lawmakers "after months of obstructions... unblocking 600 million euros ($690 million) in EU funds," lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said.
Kravchenko, a former military prosecutor and most recently head of Ukraine's tax service, replaces Andrii Kostin, who stepped down in October 2024 following a scandal involving fraudulent disability claims by dozens of prosecutors in Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
According to public broadcaster Suspilne, a crowd gathered to assert control over the church, which had recently voted to switch allegiance from the UOC-MP to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) — an autocephalous (autonomous) Ukrainian church not affiliated with Moscow.
Ukraine's parliament on June 18 supported a bill allowing Ukrainian citizens to hold passports of foreign countries, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said.
"We extend deepest condolences to the victims' families. This senseless attack runs counter to President Trump's call to stop the killing and end the war," the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine said in a statement.
Russian forces launched 58 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys against Ukraine overnight, targeting mainly the Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, the Air Force said. Ukrainian defenses shot down 12 drones, while 18 disappeared from radars or were intercepted by electronic warfare systems, according to the statement.
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