Daily review

From the Baltic to Crimea, Ukraine's drone campaign tightens the noose.

Ukraine's "Logistics Lockdown" pushed further into Russia's transport network in May, while a fresh US aid package hands Kyiv a win.

Zelenskyy issued an open letter telling Putin the war is his personal choice, as Germany, France, and the UK sketched a plan to bring Moscow to the negotiating table — with Kyiv holding the final say. On the battlefield, Ukraine claimed "fire control" over occupied Donetsk Airport, closing out its heaviest deep-strike month of the year. Sweden and France seized Russian shadow-fleet assets, while the IAEA reported fresh attacks on power infrastructure tied to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Separately, a crowdfunded Ukrainian satellite has now delivered 5,900 radar images to military intelligence since its launch.

A 24-country summit in Kyiv on 26 May produced the first in-person handshake between Belarus's exiled leader Sviatlana Tsikhanoŭskaya and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine's drone forces commander said the first 500 targets are already marked should Belarus enter the war. The diplomats Russia told to evacuate stayed.

The same day, Russia warned diplomats to leave Kyiv and threatened a new wave of systemic missile strikes, a day after launching an Oreshnik on Bila Tserkva.

50 strike sites across Kyiv. Two dead. Residential areas, schools, markets, and cultural sites damaged. Russia's overnight attack came with a reported Oreshnik ICBM strike on Kyiv Oblast — and Ukraine answered by hitting a Transneft pipeline node in Vladimir Oblast that feeds central Russia and the Moscow region.

Ukraine struck Russia's Sheskharis oil terminal and brought a key unit of the country's fourth-largest refinery to a halt.

Contents Exclusives Military Intelligence and technology International Humanitarian and social impact Political and legal developments Exclusives Ukraine's attack…

At the UN, Kyiv's envoy laid out the case to remove Russia from the Security Council. Civilian casualties are up 93% in 2026 — the first four months of this year are already the deadliest for Ukrainian civilians since the full-scale invasion began.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced it is cutting US combat brigades in Europe from four to three, with a Poland deployment temporarily delayed.

A joint human rights report reveals that Russia funnels foreign fighters into combat through a global recruitment system built on deception.

Ukraine's intelligence agency says it possesses Russia's secret internal war-damage assessment, hidden from Russia's own population.

Thirty-seven countries have agreed to move forward with a special tribunal to prosecute the leadership decision behind Russia's war against Ukraine — a step officials called a "point of no return."

205 Ukrainian defenders walked free after four years in Russian captivity, mostly taken at Mariupol in 2022; the oldest is 62, the youngest 21. Ukrainian drones struck the Caspian Fleet base at Kaspiysk and Rosneft's Ryazan refinery. The 129th Brigade raised the Ukrainian flag again over Odradne, six months after Russia overran the village. Kyiv held a Day of Mourning for the 24 killed in Russia's 14 May missile strike.

A US House discharge petition bypassed Speaker Johnson to force a vote on nearly $10 billion in new Ukraine assistance, a rare procedural manoeuvre reflecting bipartisan frustration with stalled aid.

Meanwhile, Russia abandons Stepnohirsk assault.

Ukrainian drone forces destroyed two long-range Russian radars in Donetsk Oblast, one rated to detect targets at 250 km and another to measure altitude at 300 km. UK, EU, and Canadian sanctions targeted the Russian networks linked to the deportation of more than 20,000 Ukrainian children, of whom about 2,000 have returned. ISW reported Moscow's Victory Day truce reduced combat but mainly served as a Russian stockpile window, with Molniya drones held back during the pause and released after.

No tanks, no navy: Russia's 9 May parade exposes the toll Ukraine has taken on its military.