Exclusives
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Europe can legally quit Russian LNG today. It keeps choosing not to.. Since October, every long-term buyer has had legal cover to walk away from Russian LNG. Only Germany has even asked. |
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Ukraine's drone commander says his branch killed or wounded 102,000 Russians in 12 months. It started with a grenade taped to drone that filmed weddings. Robert "Madiar" Brovdi, the art-collecting ex-grain trader who runs Ukraine's drone branch, said his units account for every third Russian falling on the battlefield. |
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ISW: Russia gains ground in Kostiantynivka but Fortress Belt stays out of reach. Russia's strategy of stacking armies on one Donetsk Oblast city is producing slow infiltration, not the operational breakthrough Moscow needs to crack the fortified chain, ISW says. |
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Ukraine's drones now have Russian convoys riding out with four gun trucks and a prayer. Until last month the trucks rolled out unarmed—now 71% of them have vanished from the M-14 entirely. |
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As UGV adoption soars, Ukraine must write the playbook for saving soldiers' lives. Number of units using UGVs doubled from 117 to 230 in six months |
Military
Ukrainian drones knocking out the northwestern entrance to Crimea: four bridges targeted in one night. The occupation authorities reported the attacks on four bridges in the area of Armiansk.
Afipsky oil refinery burns again as Ukrainian drones return to Krasnodar Krai. Ukrainian drones hit the Afipsky refinery for the third time in 2026, with the facility producing fuel supplied to the Russian armed forces.
All three Rosneft Samara refineries now offline or reduced as drones halt Kuibyshevsky operations yesterday. All three plants in Rosneft's Samara refining hub are now affected by Ukrainian strikes, with Kuibyshev's two primary units damaged on 10 June.
Russia is building up forces in Belarus right next to Ukraine's NATO supply corridor. Ukraine just started covering roads. Volyn Oblast will install anti-drone nets on sections of roads near the border with Belarus, acting head of the Volyn Oblast, Military Administration Roman Romaniuk announced.
Intelligence and technology
Ukraine's drone output grew 12.7% month-on-month, but chief commander says don't relax. Ukraine maintains a 1.5-to-1 FPV drone advantage over Russia, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi confirmed at the monthly meeting.
German company that already supplies Ukraine with drones has unveiled Shahed-hunter aircraft with four weapons categories on single airframe. The renders presented in Germany suggest the Pulse P19 has obvious application as Ukrainian air defense against Russian Shahed strikes.
Strip out this one component and Russia's drones fly blind. Ukraine found factory where it is made. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the strike.
Russia's fuel crisis jumps from 15 to 25 regions in five days—plus six occupied Ukrainian areas. The Russian Energy Ministry created a task force on 8 June to handle the gasoline shortage amid "growing enemy air attacks," but the crisis continued spreading anyway.
"Fourth house. Blue doors": Four years ago three Ukrainians changed global warfare forever (VIDEO). Four years later, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) has struck nearly $40 billion worth of Russian targets.
International
US sanctions 13 Iran-Belarus-China entities supplying Iran's IRGC. That's three of four "Axis of Upheaval" states. The same Iran-Belarus-China network is the operational ecosystem supplying Russia's drone war on Ukraine.
"Heroes of UPA" unit will keep its name, Budanov's office says despite Polish pressure. Polish media reported Kyiv was weighing a compromise to narrow the honor to UPA fighters who battled only the Soviet Union.
Humanitarian and social impact
Political and legal developments
Kremlin enacts law to grab homes and bank accounts of its exiled critics. A formal charge alone can now trigger seizure of property worth many times the underlying fine, with no judge required to approve it.
15 tons of diesel, $22,500 in damages: Ukraine charges eight in Poltava military fuel-theft scheme. The defendants face up to 15 years imprisonment.
Read our earlier daily review here.
