Vira Kravchuk

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained a 55-year-old Kharkiv resident who allegedly provided intelligence to Russian forces and waited for “Russian liberation of Ukraine by 2025,” echoing Russian propaganda narratives.

Anonymous EU diplomats revealed to Radio Liberty that 15 countries withdrew their attendance from the Peace Summit in Switzerland, scheduled for 15-16 June, while on 10 June, the Swiss President announced that 90 countries had confirmed their participation. 

During the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 in Berlin, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of Ukraine’s energy company Ukrenergo, and Christian Laibach, a member of the Executive Board of German KfW development bank, signed a $16 million grant agreement to purchase critical equipment and restore high-voltage substations damaged by Russian attacks.

These Mistral-type short-range anti-aircraft missile systems can help Ukraine defend against Russian low-flying aircraft and helicopters, while Estonia does not compromise its own defense readiness, as stated by the Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur.

The $1.6 billion in revenue from immobilized Russian assets will be allocated with 90% directed towards defense and 10% towards reconstruction efforts, as announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024.

The newly-established Ukraine Communications Group, which began its operations in Warsaw on 10 June , comprises a robust partnership of 12 countries, including the United States, Canada, and several European nations, all committed to countering Russian propaganda.

Ukrainian forces successfully targeted three batteries of Russian S-400 and S-300 air defense systems in northern and western Crimea, however the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Ukraine's ability to hit Russian military targets with US-supplied weapons remains heavily restricted.

The center-right European People's Party (EPP), which largely backs Ukraine in its war with Russia, secured 186 out of 720 seats in the European Parliament, while far-right parties, especially in Germany and France, which have been found to have connections to Russia, received more seats in the parliament than before.

When Russia’s full-scale invasion started in 2022, the majority of Ukrainians believed that it was not necessary to critisize the government to avoid destabilizing the situation, however a survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in May 2024 reveals that 31% of Ukrainians think criticism should be harsh and uncompromising, while 63% believe it should be constructive.

Group of Seven nations (G7) and the European Union (EU) are considering using profits from almost $300 billion frozen Russian assets to provide Ukraine with a substantial up-front loan, estimated at $2.6-$3.7 billion annually, and secure its financing through 2025.

Mustafa Nayyem, head of Ukraine's Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, claims he hasn’t received an invitation from the Ukrainian government to the annual Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, while the government justifies this decision by a scheduled meeting for the Agency on the same date.

Osokins Festival of Freedom for Ukraine is a musical festival dedicated to Ukraine for the last three years and raises funds to purchase essential supplies for Ukrainian defenders, collecting more than $171,000 over the past 18 months and sending over 25,000 self-heating lunches to Ukrainian frontlines, as per the event's organizer Andrejs Osokins.

Aleksey Makarov, a member of the Ukrainian armed forces in a unit for foreign volunteers, believes that a Ukrainian victory will ignite a revolution in Russia, ultimately leading to the overthrow of Putin's regime.

In a powerful lecture at the Foreign Policy Association's annual event, esteemed historian Timothy Snyder argues that American slowness and indecisiveness threaten Ukraine losing the war against Russia, which would lead to the genocide of Ukrainians, a blow to international legal order, nuclear proliferation, and heightened risk of war in East Asia.