
Ukraine strikes Russian warship at Baltic Fleet base, releases drone footage
Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces released footage of drones striking a Russian warship armed with guided missiles at the Kronstadt naval base near St. Petersburg.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces released footage of drones striking a Russian warship armed with guided missiles at the Kronstadt naval base near St. Petersburg.
"We simply struck where it was convenient to observe the results," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

The Ukraine Support Act allocates $8 billion in military financing for Kyiv, extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative through 2027, and imposes additional sanctions on Russia.

Kyiv hopes U.S.-mediated peace talks with Moscow could yield results before winter as Ukrainian officials grow concerned about shortages of anti-missile systems and signs Russia may be preparing a new mobilization. President Volodymyr Zelensky told lawmakers from his Servant of the People party in late May that Kyiv sees what he described as a realistic opportunity to end the war, according to two people familiar with the matter. Head of Zelensky's office, Kyrylo Budanov, later publicly echoed

"A decision was made to carry out systematic preemptive strikes that will disrupt enemy launches and reduce the number of enemy drones that will once again fly to attack kindergartens, high-rise buildings, and hospitals."

"Almost half of your 26 years of power in Russia you have spent in the war against Ukraine," Zelensky wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Whatever you say about NATO, geopolitics and the Russian language, this war is your personal choice — a war without a real reason. This is how history will remember it."

The letter lays out Putin's increasingly apparent vulnerabilities, Ukraine's growing strength, and the case for an immediate reopening of peace negotiations.

The Kyiv Independent's coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, after eight years of aggression against Ukraine that began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and fighting in Donbas. The war has resulted in tens of thousands of military and civilian casualties and displaced millions of Ukrainians. NATO and Western allies have provided military aid to Ukraine while the conflict continues across fronts in Ukraine’s south and east.
The attack coincided with the beginning of the 2026 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual conference of business leaders and government officials hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.



