Ukrainian businessman Vadym Iermolaiev, who faced an assassination attempt in Monaco on June 29, is little-known nationwide but wielded immense influence in the city of Dnipro. Iermolaiev is controversial. He has renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and has been sanctioned by Ukraine due to alleged collaboration with Russia. He denies the accusations. Meanwhile, Iermolaiev’s son is being investigated in connection with illegal call centers in Ukraine. The Kyiv Independent explains who Iermola

The Russian government is set to suspend traffic through several railway checkpoints on its borders with Finland, Estonia, and Latvia starting July 1, according to a government order.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on June 30 that Ukraine and Sweden had signed an agreement for the purchase of 16 Swedish Gripen E fighter jets.

"Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes" is an idiom often attributed to American statesman Benjamin Franklin. In Ukraine, another certainty has emerged over the years: society's persistent demand for judicial reform — and the judiciary's equally persistent resistance to it. Following the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, Ukraine's highest court was expected to become a flagship of the country's Western-backed reform agenda. Instead, the Supreme Court has become mired in controve

When a russian strike hit the building in Sumy where our teenagers met each week, I was sure we had lost them. They were frightened; some could not stop shaking. They had felt the blast. We brought in psychologists without asking for anything in return. Less than two weeks later, the same teenagers found a new venue and finished the program. I have returned to that moment many times since. The courage of those youngsters astonished me. They had found a place where their voice counted, and they

About 1.3 billion Danish kroner ($200 million) have been allocated to the so-called "Danish model," a mechanism under which a partner country provides direct funding to Ukrainian arms manufacturers.

Geolocated footage analyzed by OSINT analysts from the independent Russian outlet Astra showed the house had been partially destroyed. Local residents also reported hearing explosions and air defense activity over Yegoryevsk.

In 2022, American commentator Tucker Carlson condemned the U.S. giving up Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in a prisoner swap, calling him "an indisputably serious criminal" who "sold weapons to terror groups that killed Americans." Just four years later, Carlson welcomed Bout on his podcast to promote Russian talking points to his millions of viewers. "I can understand why (former U.S. President) Barack Obama wanted to put you in prison," Carlson laughingly told Bout, praising the arms dealer

The EU's new steel allocation, set to enter into force on July 1, was introduced in response to global steel overcapacity, which has been hurting EU producers. The measure aims to restrict tariff-free steel imports to 18.3 million metric tons per year, a 47% reduction.

Nilsson also said Sweden saw no signs that Russia's political system or Vladimir Putin's grip on power were under immediate threat, despite economic strains caused by the war and Western sanctions.

Even if the decision is adopted at the EU level, it will not prevent Budapest from accepting ethnic Hungarians fleeing Ukraine because of the war or mobilization, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said.

The plan, backed by 300 billion pounds ($400 billion) in funding over four years, is part of a drive toward a more "European NATO" and will help the British forces deter the Russian threat, outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.

The suspect helped Russia take control of Crimea's energy infrastructure in 2014, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.

Ukraine's Air Force shot down 138 targets, while drone strikes were recorded at 10 locations and falling debris at two others.

According to the French news outlet BFM TV, the blast injured Ukrainian businessman Vadym Yermolaiev, his partner, and 13-year-old daughter. Authorities are investigating the incident as a possible terrorist attack.

The Norwegian defense company Kongsberg and Ukraine's DevDroid announced on June 30 a collaboration to produce ground drones equipped with state-of-the-art weapons systems, aiming to supply Ukraine and other European countries.

The payment is part of the initial 6-billion-euro ($7-billion) tranche dedicated to drone procurement under the 90-billion-euro ($103 billion) Ukraine Support Loan.

The relay equipment that helps guide Russian drones over Belarus went dark on June 22, days after President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a public ultimatum, threatening to disable the equipment with Ukraine's own forces if the demand is not met. Zelensky's ultimatum to Alexander Lukashenko left the Belarusian dictator between a rock and a hard place: refuse, and Belarus risks joining Ukraine's list of drone targets. Comply, and he risks publicly defying Russian President Vladimir Putin — his count

The child was killed after a private house caught fire following what local authorities said was a drone crash in Yegoryevsk.

"I proposed what I believe was a very fair, partnership-based approach: MiGs in exchange for drones," Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said. "The Ukrainians initially accepted it but did not follow through, so there are no MiGs for Ukraine because there are no drones, or drone capabilities, for Poland."

The number includes 1,350 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Ukraine has made "progress" in negotiations, but there are still bureaucratic hurdles to clear, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on June 29.

Swedish defense company Saab announced on June 29 that it had signed a $4.83 billion contract with Poland to supply three A26 submarines, as Poland and Sweden deepen defense cooperation under the Baltic Sea Pact.

President Volodymyr Zelensky and Danish Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus discussed a potential drone cooperation agreement and expanded efforts to strengthen anti-ballistic capabilities during a June 29 meeting.

A negotiated ceasefire that produces a de facto freeze of the war would be the worst outcome for Ukraine and the best outcome for Russia. To understand why, one needs only to look at what the war itself is revealing. Moscow is on a losing trajectory, and a freeze would lock in conditions that let Russia avoid the political and economic costs of defeat, while denying Kyiv the space it needs to prevail and rebuild. The human impulse to stop the fighting is understandable, but ending active comba

"See you at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC)" was the departing note after many meetings in Kyiv during the weeks leading up to Ukraine’s largest annual business and economics event. From June 25–26, it felt like half of Ukraine had descended upon Gdansk on Poland’s Baltic coast as a record 7,500 officials, business leaders, entrepreneurs, economists, activists, and journalists envisioned the war-torn country’s economic revival. Last year's conference attracted between 5,000–6,000 people.

Key developments on June 29: * Ukraine reveals new figures for North Korean troop losses in Russia's Kursk Oblast * Ukraine claims strikes on bridges, Russian command posts and logistics * 154th Mechanized Brigade's commander found dead, military say Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured at least 118 others over the past day, regional authorities reported on June 29, as the death toll rose from a Russian morning attack on Dnipro. The Air Force said Russia lau

WARSAW, Poland — Walk into Milk Bar in central Warsaw, and you'll find the new face of the city's café scene. The lines are clean, the lighting deliberate, and the cakes arranged with gallery-like precision. Without an ear for accents, you might never guess that for its owners and staff, it is a second home, rebuilt after war in Ukraine and political repression in Belarus that forced many of them to start over in Poland. Anna Kozachenko launched the original Milk Bar in Kyiv twelve years ago.

The strikes were carried out "to reduce the military and economic potential of the Russian aggressor," Ukraine's General Staff said.

Lawmaker Mykola Tyshchenko was also charged with money laundering and lying in his asset declaration.

Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland's minister overseeing intelligence agencies, said that since autumn 2025, the group paid Ukrainian refugees in Poland to take part in pro-Russian demonstrations to influence Ukrainian migrants, with funding allegedly coming from Russia.

The Air Force said Russia launched 108 drones against Ukraine overnight, of which it reported downing 82.