U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on May 30 that the United States will "find a way" to help Ukraine defend itself, days after President Volodymyr Zelensky sent an urgent letter to the White House warning about Ukraine's worsening shortage of air defense systems.

Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast has established a new ministry to protect against Ukrainian drone strikes following a series of attacks against the region.

"The version promoted by Russia does not withstand any verification of the facts," the Ukrainian military said in response to allegations from Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev.

The attack struck a training ground used by Russia's 64th Separate Motorized Rifle brigade, one of the units responsible for the massacre of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha during the early days of the full-scale invasion.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin claimed on May 29 that including Aughinish Alumina in the EU's next round of sanctions would be "self-defeating," harming Europe's economy more than Russia's — despite evidence that the factory is supplying materials to produce weapons used in Ukraine.

The first anti-drone devices were deployed along three sections of the border in southeastern Estonia, between the Estonia-Latvia-Russia tripoint and Luhamaa, a border crossing point between Estonia and Russia, ERR said, citing a press release from the Estonian Ministry of the Interior.

According to the Presidential Office, the sanctions list includes executives of Russian defense enterprises, military personnel, and collaborators who have cooperated with Russian occupation authorities in Ukrainian territories seized by the Kremlin.

I spent 14 years in the U.S. military. My period of service, 2003-2017, covered its most active era in recent memory. Facing enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan, working with allies in the Pacific and in Europe. I commanded an infantry company, and I planned operations for a Regiment. I know the U.S. military well, and, years later, I fought in Ukraine. My Ukrainian chapter started in 2022, when I volunteered to fight in Ukraine. I used many of the same weapons in both places: Javelins, mortars, m

Top of the agenda was Ukraine's diplomatic efforts, particularly the urgent need to acquire more air defense interceptor missiles, and follow through with existing agreements on the joint production of drones. with the United States and European partners.

"The civilian train station, from which hundreds of Sumy Oblast residents set out daily to go about their peaceful business, has become yet another target of the terrorist state," Oleksii Kuleba, Ukraine's deputy prime minister for restoration and minister for communities and territories development, said.

The Iskander and two Tu-142 aircraft were targeted at a military airfield in Russia's Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert "Magyar" Brovdi reported.

The number includes 1,430 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Ukraine's military reportedly struck oil infrastructure in various Russian and Russian-held territories overnight on May 30, Russian Telegram media channels reported.

Japan's contribution to the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative is limited to non-lethal aid.

The decree entered into force on May 26 and was adopted "with the aim of reviving the historical traditions of the national army," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Key developments on May 29: * NATO condemns 'reckless' Russian drone strike on Romanian apartment building * Russia preparing new large-scale attack, Zelensky says * Oreshnik missile 'isn't cutting-edge' as Russia claims, Ukraine says after examining parts * Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 2, injure 27, hit Turkish ship over past day A Russian drone struck a residential building in the Romanian city of Galati overnight on May 29. The drone was redirected from its original course, Roma

According to the May 29 update of Deep State's map, the village of Novoselivka in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast has been liberated from Russian occupation.

At NATO's Aurora 2026 military exercises in Sweden, a group of Ukrainian drone pilots was tasked with playing the role of attackers. The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell spoke with drone pilots from Ukraine's 20th National Guard "Lubart" Brigade, part of the 1st Azov Corps, shortly after they returned from Sweden.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 29 that Ukrainian intelligence has information indicating Russia is preparing a new large-scale attack on Ukraine.

During a recent visit to a newly opened underground school in a front-line town, I spoke with the children once again. What is particularly striking is that they usually talk about how happy they are to finally return to classrooms. Some of them are experiencing in-person schooling for the very first time in sixth grade (first due to COVID-19, and then because of Russia's full-scale invasion). Yet online education or learning that is repeatedly interrupted by constant attacks, displacement, bl

The victims were prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian detainees, the vast majority of them men, the report said.

Editor's note: The following is the May 26, 2026 edition of our Ukraine Business Roundup weekly newsletter. To get the biggest news in business and tech from Ukraine directly in your inbox, subscribe here. The city is still reeling from what was one of the biggest attacks — if not the biggest — against Kyiv since the start of the full-scale invasion last Saturday. Russia launched 90 missiles and 600 drones targeting mainly Kyiv and the surrounding region, causing damage to what Mayor Vitali Kli

Ukraine's most popular ride-hailing service wants to conquer the global robotaxi race. Uklon, owned by Ukraine's telecoms giant Kyivstar, gathered journalists, executives, and policymakers at Kyiv's shuttered Boryspil airport on May 27 to showcase the remote-driving technology the company is testing — and one day hopes to bring to the streets of Kyiv. "We want Ukraine to be the best in Europe for self-driving cars," Uklon CEO, Serhiy Hryshkov, told the crowd in a sleek ceremony, during which h

An examination of the wreckage of a Russian Oreshnik missile shows it contains crucial components manufactured before 2016, rubbishing the Kremlin's 2024 claims that it was a completely new weapon, Ukrainian experts say.

"If I return every time with this amount of money, I might come back more often," Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar quipped during the press conference in Brussels.

A drone struck a residential building in Galati, Romania, overnight on May 29, Romania's Defense Ministry confirmed, after an air raid alert was declared in all of Ukraine.

New subscribers to Altinget.dk, one of Denmark's most highly regarded news publications, will receive a complimentary three-month Kyiv Independent membership as part of a joint campaign starting May 28. The first 100 new subscribers will also receive an exclusive Kyiv Independent tote bag.

"Russia continues to deliberately threaten international maritime transport by attacking civilian infrastructure and merchant ships," Ukraine's Navy said.

The number includes 960 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

The refinery halted production after the attack, Ukraine's General Staff said.

The plant lost both landline and internet connections for about 12 hours on May 27, marking the longest such outage since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal said he expected the United States to support Ukraine's request.