Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4 accused Ukraine of being governed by a terrorist regime that deliberately targets civilians and claimed it is continuing to lose the war. He rejected the possibility of holding talks.
On June 1, the SBU conducted an operation using first-person-view (FPV) drones that were smuggled deep inside Russia and concealed in trucks, successfully striking 41 Russian heavy bombers and causing an estimated $7 billion in damage.
Russia will soon be able to deploy more than 500 long-range drones a night to attack Ukraine as it ramps up production and builds new launch sites for them, a source in Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) has told the Kyiv Independent. According to the source, Russia's production rate for one
The total number of military casualties on both sides is nearing 1.4 million, including approximately 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed or injured.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that roughly half of the 41 Russian planes targeted in the attack on June 1 will be impossible to repair.
Ukraine will bring home a total of 500 prisoners of war (POW) from Russian captivity in a prisoner exchange with Russia on June 7 and 8, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a meeting with journalists on June 4 attended by the Kyiv Independent.
HUR's cyber corps accessed over 4.4 gigabytes (GB) of internal data, including official correspondence, personnel files, home addresses, resumes, purchase records, and closed meeting minutes, a source claimed.
"Just in the skill and audacity of these attacks, it will rank with the United States raid on Osama bin Laden and the Israeli pager operation as one of the great military achievements in recent years," U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal told Politico.
"There indeed was an explosion. There was no damage, the bridge continues to function," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed.
Russia's energy exports remain a major source of revenue for the Kremlin's military campaign against Ukraine.
Located roughly 280 kilometers (174 miles) northeast of Moscow, the Yaroslavl Motor Plant has been under U.S. sanctions since May 2024.
"I'm telling you the risk levels are going way up," U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 36 out of the 95 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force said.
"The president received information about the incident online," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
The number includes 1,020 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.
A Trump State Department official who shut down a U.S. counter-disinformation office has Kremlin ties, the Telegraph reported on June 3. The official, Darren Beattie, is married to the niece of a former Russian official linked to Putin and has echoed pro-Kremlin narratives.
Latvia was elected on June 3 to the UN Security Council for the first time in its history. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže called it a “historic day" for the Baltic nation, pledging the country’s commitment to upholding the rules-based international order.
NATO defense ministers will discuss the air defense boost at a gathering in Brussels on June 5, sources told Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity.
Footage reportedly shows Ukrainian drones hitting two A-50s, rare Russian spy planes that Moscow relies on to detect air defense systems and coordinate targets for fighter jets. Russia has less than 10 A-50s in its arsenal.
During a White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked whether Trump was informed by Ukraine about Operation Spiderweb in advance of the attack. "He was not," she said.
Following the second round of direct peace talks with Ukraine, the Russian side leaked its proposal on how to end its war — effectively a demand for Ukraine's surrender. Yet, if the intentions of the Kremlin are no secret — continue the war until a political or military victory — getting information on
Editor's note: Cukr journalists contributed to the reporting of this article. The Ukrainian city of Sumy was once again the target of a devastating Russian missile strike on June 3, with four people killed and 28 others, including three children, injured. "The body of a man, killed in the attack,
Key developments on June 3: * Russia's Crimean Bridge rocked by explosions, Ukraine's SBU claims responsibility * Russian strike on downtown Sumy kills at least 4, injures 28, authorities say * Ukraine to deploy new units to counter Russian drone attacks, Air Force says * Ukrainian strike on Russian bombers alarmed Kremlin over nuclear
The Kremlin's statement comes a day after the White House said that Trump would not rule out participating in this format of talks.
Some 64% of the respondents favored peace talks, representing a 6% increase since March.
Kyiv earlier claimed it disabled 34% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet in what is seen as one of the most daring operations during the full-scale war.
Russia's production of ballistic missiles has increased by at least 66% over the past year, according to data from Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) shared with the Kyiv Independent. According to data obtained by HUR, Moscow is now producing 60 to 70 Iskander-M — the ballistic version of the missile — and 10
Ukrainian citizen Roman Lavrynovych, suspected of setting fire to property linked to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, may have been recruited by Russia via the Telegram messaging app, RFE/RL's Schemes Investigative project reported on June 3.
Russian ex-President Dmitry Medvedev's statement that Russia seeks only a "swift victory" and the "complete destruction" of the Ukrainian government at the Istanbul peace talks is a "rare moment of honesty," U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on June 3.
According to Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihant, Russia employed tactics involving the launch of a large number of weapons at a single target from high altitude.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) struck the Crimean Bridge for the third time during the full-scale war, mining and damaging its underwater supports, the SBU announced on June 3.
A recent Ukrainian drone strike deep inside Russian territory has sparked anger and concern among Kremlin officials over the exposed vulnerability of a nuclear-capable air force far from the front lines, Bloomberg reported on June 2, citing undisclosed sources close to senior Moscow officials.
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