Editor's note: This story was published in conjunction with Grist. Twenty-two-year-old software developer Artem Motorniuk has spent his entire life in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, living in the north and visiting his grandparents in the south. It’s been almost four years since he’s seen them in person.
Citizens of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and other countries in the region are increasingly being drawn into Russia's war effort, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) says.
Russia launched 272 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type suicide drones, along with two aeroballistic missiles and six cruise missiles, Ukraine's Air Force said.
The statement comes after warnings from his own officials about stagnation and looming recession.
The number includes 1,060 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his June 20 nightly address that Ukraine is developing interceptor drones to counter Russian drone strikes, adding that domestic production is "already delivering results."
President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to attend a NATO summit in The Hague next week, the European Council confirmed on June 20.
Russia's memorandum on a peace proposal is the "best offer Ukraine can get today," Russia's envoy to the United Nations (UN), Vasily Nebenzya, said at a UN Security Council meeting.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russia's attempts to advance in Sumy Oblast, as Moscow intensifies its maximalist rhetoric.
Key developments on June 20: * "All of Ukraine is ours" — Putin on Russia's territorial ambitions in Ukraine * Ukraine, Russia carry out 2nd prisoner swap this week under Istanbul deal * "Massive" Russian drone attacks on residential buildings in Odesa kill 1, injure 14 * Ukraine imposes new sanctions on Russian, Chinese, Belarusian
The grouping was created to "improve the efficiency of management, transform the Forces, and adapt to the requirements of modern warfare," according to the statement.
Editor's Note: This story was updated with comments from Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. Russian President Vladimir Putin said "all of Ukraine" belonged to Russia in a speech on June 20 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, amid increasingly aggressive official statements about Moscow's final territorial ambitions in Ukraine. Putin's
The new game is the first to focus on Russia’s war in Ukraine, featuring real battles and characters.
Ukraine introduced new restrictions as Russia has escalated drone attacks against Ukrainian cities over the past weeks, launching record 400-500 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) per night.
Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities have alarmed none more than Russia, the country that first brought nuclear power to Iran in defiance of Western objections. We’re “millimeters from catastrophe,” said Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on June 18 in response to a bombing campaign that Israel launched against
"Nobody ran away. 'Brelok' took him (comrade) out and then ate him for two f*cking weeks," a speaker identified by HUR as a commander of a reconnaissance unit from Russia's 68th Motorized Rifle Division can be heard saying in the intercept.
"While it can be assessed that Russia has been able to largely localize and transfer the production of Shaheed and Geran-type drones to Russia, it can be assumed that some critical nodes for drone production continue to come from Iran," Estonian military intelligence commander Ants Kiviselg said.
Ukraine has brought home another group of prisoners of war released from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 20, following another prisoner exchange a day earlier.
"We grew for two years at a fairly high pace because free resources were activated," Russia's Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said.
"There are hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens who have fought against Ukraine," Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro said. "We must take a clear stance, these individuals cannot freely travel across Schengen."
Russian forces launched 86 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys against Ukraine overnight, the Air Force said. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 34 drones, while 36 disappeared from radars or were intercepted by electronic warfare.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned that any attempt at regime change in Tehran or threats to its leadership would "open Pandora's box," deepening instability across the Middle East and beyond.
The number includes 1,090 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
Russian forces struck residential buildings in Odesa overnight on June 20, killing a civilian and injuring at least 14 others, including three emergency workers, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported.
Fred Grandy, a 62-year-old American artist and volunteer who was killed in Russia's mass missile attack against Kyiv on June 17, appears to be the first U.S. civilian killed by a Russian strike on Ukraine, the New York Times (NYT) reported on June 19.
Key developments on June 19: * Russia accidentally admits to its staggering troop losses in Ukraine * Ukraine, Russia carry out another POW exchange under Istanbul deal * North Korea considers sending 25,000 workers to Russia to help produce Shahed drones, media reports * Zelensky appoints Brigadier General Shapovalov as new Ground Forces
As Israel and Iran continue to trade salvos, dramatic footage of air defenses battling ballistic missiles have flooded the internet. Several prominent online commentators have compared the videos coming out of Israel with those from Ukraine, questioning why Russian attacks like those on Kyiv are portrayed in relatively sparse detail,
The victims include 231 women, 134 men, and 19 children, according to Ukraine's Foreign Ministry.
Brigadier General Hennadii Shapovalov, born in 1978 in Kirovohrad Oblast, is a career officer who graduated from the Military Institute of Tank Troops in Kharkiv and later studied at the National Defense University of Ukraine.
"This is yet another proof of how Russia treats its people with contempt," Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.
In the fourth year of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the decisive support Kyiv found among its neighbors to the west is beginning to show cracks. Once resolute Poland is seeing rising skepticism toward Ukraine, underscored by President-elect Karol Nawrocki's election victory. Slovakia's pro-Ukrainian government was ousted by Russian-friendly populists
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
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, eight years after it annexed the Crimean Peninsula and led an armed aggression in Ukraine’s east.
In February 2014, almost immediately following the end of the EuroMaidan Revolution in Ukraine, Russia swiftly moved to annex and occupy Crimea. Within months, Russian proxy forces took control of parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
By the start of 2022, Russia had amassed nearly 200,000 troops on Ukraine’s border. At 4:50 a.m. on Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in a speech that Russia was to carry out “a special military operation.” Within minutes, missile strikes were launched on Ukrainian cities and the full-scale invasion had begun.
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