Ukraine signed new defense cooperation agreements with Latvia and Estonia on June 9, deepening security and defense ties with the Baltic nations.

Damir Davydov, a Russian military official responsible for missile and artillery ammunition supplies, was killed in a car bombing outside Moscow on June 9.

"No country in Europe is off Russia's target list since its invasion of Ukraine," Kallas said.

Key developments on June 9: * Ukraine targets key Crimea crossing in broader day of strikes on Russian military logistics; * Russia's Starlink rival loses one of its first operational satellites, Russian media reports; * Ukraine strikes ammo depot in Russia's Belgorod Oblast, confirms fuel tank destruction near Mariupol; * Syrskyi approves Rocket Forces and Artillery development plan through 2030; * No visas for Russian soldiers, no crypto, no fish — EU announces new Russia sanctions packa

The Verkhovna Rada failed to gather enough votes for some bills demanded by the EU and the IMF, and one bill necessary for European integration was passed but was lambasted by experts as "imitation" rather than genuine progress.

In its latest update, the General Staff said Ukrainian forces struck targets across several regions in Russia and occupied Ukraine, including an ammunition depot, command posts, drone control centers, logistics hubs, supply warehouses, and concentrations of Russian troops.

Since the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian athletes and national teams have been widely excluded from international sport. Yet the pressure to reintegrate them never really disappeared, and Russian athletes are increasingly allowed back into international competition. First, under neutral status in selected disciplines, following a gradual easing of restrictions, to a point of growing calls for the return of Russian representation on the world stage. Thawing the ice

Russia's answer to Starlink has lost one of the first satellites launched for its planned internet network, according to Russian state-controlled newspaper Kommersant.

This is the second time in the past three days that the bridge has been closed, following an overnight strike on June 7 involving Ukrainian FP-2 and Behemot drones.

The newly approved strategy calls for gradually replacing aging Soviet-caliber artillery systems with domestically produced weapons while retaining some of the most advanced foreign-made systems currently in service, Oleksandr Syrskyi said.

The shift comes after Rumen Radev — a Russia-friendly former president and a longtime critic of military aid to Kyiv — won the Bulgarian parliamentary elections in April.

The package will also include a freeze on the current pricing mechanism for Russia energy imports until the end of 2026, meaning Moscow won't be able to profit from rising prices resulting from the U.S. war on Iran.

"June and July this year may determine a lot," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

An investigation by the Irish Times, which revealed that the Aughinish Alumina plant is supporting the Russian war effort against Ukraine, has brought turmoil to domestic politics in Ireland.

Russian forces launched two Kh-59/69 cruise missiles and 168 drones, 146 of which were intercepted, overnight on June 9, according to Ukraine's Air Force.

The number includes 1,370 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

"As of now, 11 drone strikes on (Kharkiv) have been confirmed, with two drones crashing without detonating," Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

The United Nations Security Council convened on June 8 to discuss Russia's recent large-scale attacks on Ukraine, as U.N. officials warned that civilian casualties and destruction have reached some of the highest levels seen in the war in recent months.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a "very positive" phone call with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on June 8.

France and Germany have decided to abandon the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) fighter jet program, according to multiple media reports citing French and German government sources.

The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), a state-controlled pollster, has reportedly stopped publishing President Vladimir Putin's "open" trust rating after it fell to its lowest level since the start of the full-scale war, the Moscow Times reported on June 8.

Candace Owens billed her trip to Russia last week as a family vacation. It turned into something far more useful for the Kremlin. The U.S. far-right conspiracy theorist — boasting 35 million followers across all social media platforms — ended up appearing at Russia's flagship economic forum, talking to Russian propaganda outlets, and praising the country's "traditional values" while dismissing Western coverage of it as lies. Her visit also exposed a fresh fault line within the MAGA movement, d

YEREVAN, Armenia — The best of a bad lot was how many Armenians described victorious Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ahead of Sunday's pivotal election — the first since the bitter defeat in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan. While the election has frequently been framed outside Armenia as a choice between pro-Russian or pro-Western forces, few locals on the streets of Yerevan saw it in such stark terms. With a population of just over 3 million, Armenia is heavily econom

Key developments on June 8: * Russia rejects Ukrainian, European peace initiatives, says battlefield will decide war * NATO jets shoot down drone over Latvia in 1st such interception, military says * Ukraine strikes Russian oil depot, radar station, other military targets, General Staff confirms * Ukraine foils Russian plot to assassinate senior military intelligence official, police say * At least 8 killed, 52 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over past day Ukrainian forces recap

"I thank His Majesty, the people, and the entire United Kingdom for their ironclad support for our people," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"For the time being, I think this issue has been solved at the working level," the EU's Enlargement Chief Marta Kos said in a meeting with journalists in Kyiv on June 8, referring to Poland's objection.

This weekly update from the Kyiv Independent aims to shed light on the situation facing Ukrainians living under Russian occupation and the ever-tightening control of information imposed by the Kremlin. Key news as of June 8: * Crimea faces food shortages amid Ukraine's intensified drone attacks * Bridge linking Crimea to southern Ukraine damaged in drone strike, Ukrainian military confirms * Ukraine's drones take aerial control over part of land route to Russian-occupied Crimea, military sa

Some names have been changed to protect the identities of those featured in the story As a war crimes researcher at the Reckoning Project, my job was to listen to Ukrainians who had fled the occupation. What they had to say reshaped how I understand life in Russian-occupied territories. Simplistic outside judgments about people living under occupation often feel deeply unfair to Ukrainians who escaped it. From a safe distance, it is easy to say, "Why didn't they stay and resist?" or "Why didn'

The decision represents the most high-profile conviction in a corruption case in Ukraine's independent history.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed the vote had taken place "amidst severe repression" and that democratic procedures were "grossly violated."

The heaviest fighting is taking place in the Pokrovsk sector in Donetsk Oblast, the Oleksandrivka sector, which lies at the junction of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and the Huliaipole sector in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the commander-in-chief said.

The target was Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for Ukrainian military intelligence and deputy head of Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, he confirmed later in the day.