Exclusives
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1.7 million tons in reserve, queues at the pump—Russia's fuel math doesn't close. Russia says it still holds 1.7 million tons of gasoline. Queues, rationing, and import deals show why that number does not put fuel in the tank. |
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Ireland shipped $308 million in alumina to Russian smelters—EU ban still absent. Coalition presses Ireland to back restrictions on material linked to Russian missile supply chains. |
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Rebuilding Ukraine while it burns — calling it progress: what Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 actually delivered. The Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) in Gdańsk closed with 160 agreements worth more than €10 billion, a $3.4 billion package with the World Bank, the launch of the European Flagship Fund for Ukraine's Reconstruction, and a new Ukraine Transport Support Fund. |
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Russia thought occupied Crimea was its fortress. Ukrainian forces say they've been pulling the walls down for years now. The latest piece: a rail bridge near İçki that fed troops across occupied Crimea. |
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Zelenskyy: In Kyiv, where Lenin fell, Mazepa will stand—a Cossack hetman Russia still curses. A bust of Ivan Mazepa went up at Kyiv's main monastery, and the president wants a full monument on the boulevard where a Soviet statue came down in 2013. |
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Russians keep raising "Potemkin flags" in Lyman. They're no closer to capturing it.. Scattered reports of Russian flags flying over Lyman don't indicate new Russian positions in the front-line city. Lyman holds. |
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NATO's former second-in-command says what the alliance won't: only Russia's defeat ends the war. He warned about Russia a decade ago. Now he's inside Ukraine's command—still pushing for the strategy NATO won't write. |
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This Ukrainian UGV, beloved by Ukrainian intel, is now winning over NATO countries and global defense giants. Heavy warhorse of Ukrainian battlefields |
Military
One small Ukrainian peninsula still gives Russia strategic edge in Black Sea. Here's why. Russia is using the Kinburn Spit as a strategic position to obstruct maritime access from Mykolaiv ports.
Ukraine's underground war reached one of Russia's most important chemical plants. ATESH agents destroyed power and railway relay equipment near the Novomoskovsk Azot plant.
Russia grinds into Ukraine's "fortress belt" even as its advance stalls everywhere else. Small Russian assault groups are slipping into Kostiantynivka street by street, while Ukrainian commanders, Western analysts, and Kremlin-installed officials openly clash over whether the eastern city is about to fall.
Ukraine drones hit Crimea's S-300/S-400 near Kerch—and knocked out power across four occupied territories overnight. A 220/35 kV substation in the village of Mariianivka, part of a key energy corridor running through northern and central Crimea, caught fire after the strike.
Intelligence and technology
Latvia to build joint drone plant with Ukraine near Russian border. The facility, planned for the Latgale region, is also expected to serve as a rapid-deployment base for interceptor drones protecting Latvia's eastern flank.
International
Ukraine's National Pantheon plan to honor its independence heroes raises eyebrows in Poland amid EU accession perspective. Polish government figures say Ukraine's push for a National Pantheon and related historical decisions are deepening political tensions with Warsaw.
Erdoğan tells Merz Türkiye is working to restart Russia-Ukraine peace talks ahead of Ankara NATO summit. Türkiye is pushing to revive diplomacy ahead of the NATO summit it will host in Ankara next month.
UNESCO, backed by EU, launches €2 million initiative to preserve Ukraine's documentary heritage. Ukraine's archives, libraries, and memory institutions — including those in frontline regions — are the focus of a new UNESCO program announced at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk on 29 June.
Humanitarian and social impact
Russia strikes Dnipro, killing 5 and injuring 21. Five of the injured are in serious condition — men aged 22, 33, 54, 58, and 59, the regional administration head said.
Russian airstrike kills police officer during civilian evacuation in Kharkiv Oblast. A 25-year-old Ukrainian police officer was killed and his colleague injured when Russian forces struck their vehicle with guided aerial bombs during a civilian evacuation operation in Kharkiv Oblast on 28 June.
Political and legal developments
Crimean zoo owner looted Ukraine's crown jewel of conservation. Now he's charged. Ukrainian authorities say a Crimean suspect coordinated with occupation-installed officials to illegally transfer rare animals from the Askania-Nova biosphere reserve to occupied Crimea, resulting in losses of about $1.5 million.
Ukrainian brigade commander found dead in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, murder investigation opened. Colonel Volodymyr Kononnikov, commander of Ukraine's 154th Separate Mechanized Brigade, was found dead on 28 June in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Police have opened a murder investigation.
Poland arrests 11 over Russia-funded paid protests among Ukrainian refugees. Polish internal security services identified Russia as the funding source behind a scheme in which recruiters paid Ukrainian refugees to attend political demonstrations since autumn 2025.
New developments
Superyacht linked to Putin sails through Danish waters under Russian naval escort for first time since 2022. The convoy—comprising Graceful, a destroyer, and a patrol vessel—had its movements tracked since Sunday morning by both the German coast guard and the Danish Navy's patrol vessel P521 Freja.
Hermitage cancels Crimea dig. Ukraine's strikes made the peninsula too dangerous to excavate. The Myrmeky expedition — led by archaeologist Alexander Butyagin, who was arrested in Warsaw last December on Ukrainian prosecutors' request — has been redirected to Russia's Prikubanye region.
Read our earlier daily review here.
