Last news • War in Ukraine
Occupiers within the briefly occupied territories of Ukraine need to kind a military of kid drone operators – CNS
Putin has determined to carry a fight drone management championship for youngsters aged 7 and over in 2026, permitting them to obtain "sports activities titles." Kids from the briefly occupied territories of Ukraine will even take part, which represents a brand new stage of militarization by the Kremlin.
Serhii Dobrovolskyi, a Ukrainian soldier who had been in Russian captivity since 2023, has died only a month after his launch on the finish of Could as a part of a 1000-for-1000 prisoner swap, an official from the soldier's residence area introduced on June 21.
The case is the newest in a series of Ukrainian troopers' surprising deaths after their return from Russian captivity, highlighting the results of "widespread and systematic" torture of prisoners of warfare (POWs) in Russian prisons, reported by the U.N.
"Serhii Dobrovolskyi was launched from captivity on the finish of Could this 12 months. A couple of days in the past, he was met by his fellow townspeople in his hometown," wrote the top of the soldier's native Zdolbuniv district in Rivne Oblast, Vladyslav Sukhliak, on Fb. The precise reason for dying was not instantly introduced.
A video posted by the Zdolbuniv metropolis council on June 17 exhibits Dobrovolskyi being greeted in Zdolbuniv by a crowd chanting the Ukrainian anthem because the soldier is hugging his mom. He was additionally introduced with a korovai, a spherical bread loaf, as a part of the symbolic Ukrainian custom of welcome with bread and salt.
"Lastly, after nearly two years, the mom hugged her son," the Zdolbuniv metropolis council commented on the video.
Sukhliak added that Dobrovolskyi was 43 years outdated on the time of dying. "The warfare with the damned (Russian) occupiers takes lives and well being of the defenders," he wrote.
Earlier in June, one other Ukrainian soldier returned from Russian captivity had died unexpectedly.
Dmytro Shapovalov, a 32-year-old defender of Ukraine who was exchanged in 2023 after over a 12 months in Russian prisons, had died on June 9, in response to the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne.
His sister Anastasiia stated that Shapovalov endured torture, starvation, and psychological strain in captivity. After his launch, Shapovalov returned to army service. He died in his sleep, presumably from coronary heart failure, Suspilne experiences.
After his dying, a consultant of the Coordination Headquarters managing the prisoner swaps, Yuliia Pavliuk, printed a video exhibiting Shapovalov consuming an apple on the day of his launch.
"I had simply been dreaming about an apple for a 12 months," Shapovalov says within the video.
In 2023, a high-ranking officer from the "Azov" brigade, Oleh Mudrak, died at 35 years outdated, months after his launch from Russian captivity. As a POW, he survived the Olenivka camp explosion and endured a dramatic weight reduction in simply 100 days, as seen within the pictures printed by Stanislav Aseyev, a Ukrainian author and activist.
Remedy of "Azov" fighters in Russian prisons is notoriously brutal because of their nationalistic values and Russian propaganda that labored for years to smear the unit's status each in Russia and internationally.
Some Azov fighters died from torture in Russian captivity or had been sentenced to a long time in jail for alleged warfare crimes. A lot of them had been among the many 54 Ukrainian prisoners killed in an explosion in Olenivka penal colony within the Russian-occupied a part of Donetsk Oblast on July 28, 2022.
Ukraine accused Russia of orchestrating the explosion, whereas Russia has been systematically stopping worldwide organizations from conducting an impartial investigation on the location of the assault.
The U.N. reported widespread torture of Ukrainian POWs in Russia and brutal circumstances of their detention over the previous years.
The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy
Russians destroyed an ambulance station in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi with drones
On the evening of June 22, russian troops attacked Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi with assault drones, destroying an emergency medical station. One ambulance was utterly burned, six extra had been broken, however no folks had been injured.
Russia has misplaced 1,011,490 troops in Ukraine for the reason that starting of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the Normal Workers of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on June 22.
The quantity contains 1,100 casualties that Russian forces suffered simply over the previous day.
In response to the report, Russia has additionally misplaced 10,964 tanks, 22,867 armored combating autos, 52,734 autos and gasoline tanks, 29,432 artillery techniques, 1,421 a number of launch rocket techniques, 1,188 air protection techniques, 416 airplanes, 337 helicopters, 41,579 drones, 3,376 cruise missiles, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.
The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post
Sumy area is deploying a protection system in opposition to enemy drones – RMA
In Sumy area, a multi-level protection system in opposition to Russian drones is being deployed. Cell teams are already working, detecting and capturing down enemy drones, and nets are additionally being put in alongside roads.
Russia is systematically recruiting migrant staff from Central Asia to combat in its struggle in opposition to Ukraine as "cannon fodder," Ukraine's army intelligence (HUR) reported on June 21.
Residents of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and different nations within the area are more and more being drawn into Russia's struggle effort beneath duress or with deceptive guarantees, HUR mentioned.
A lot of these recruited are reportedly killed on the entrance traces.
In accordance with HUR, Russia's safety companies goal migrant staff who arrive within the nation searching for employment, providing short-term army contracts with guarantees of quick money. These people typically lack authorized protections and face coercion, with few reasonable options.
Among the many recognized victims are Uzbek nationals Umarov Syroziddin Sabirjanovich and Kholbuvozoda Muhammad Faizullo, who served in motorized rifle items and died throughout fight operations in Ukraine.
"Mobilized migrants are shaped into separate items, that are primarily utilized in essentially the most harmful areas of the entrance line," HUR mentioned. Survivors could face felony prices of their residence nations for serving in a international army, carrying the chance of lengthy jail sentences.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty beforehand reported that migrant staff are funneled into fight roles for monetary causes, with recruitment networks providing salaries unattainable in civilian life.
Russia has additionally intensified strain on its naturalized migrant inhabitants.
On Might 20, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin mentioned that 20,000 naturalized migrants had been dispatched to Ukraine for failing to register for army service.
With public reminiscence uncooked from the unpopular 2022 partial mobilization that prompted over 261,000 Russians to flee, the Kremlin has avoided one other mass draft.
As an alternative, it’s counting on a mixture of pressured recruitment, enlistment bonuses, and focused campaigns amongst weak communities.
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova
Night time airstrike on Donetsk area: a home destroyed in Kramatorsk, folks could also be trapped underneath the rubble
On account of an airstrike on Kramatorsk, a 4-story constructing was partially destroyed, folks might stay underneath the rubble, rescue operations are underway. In Sloviansk, a personal home was destroyed, a 17-year-old boy died.
Russia is utilizing the return of warfare useless as a device for manipulation to obscure the dimensions of its navy losses from the general public, President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned throughout a briefing on June 20 attended by the Kyiv Unbiased.
In response to Zelensky, Ukrainian authorities have confirmed that not less than 20 of the our bodies Russia returned as Ukrainian have been truly Russian troopers.
"Typically these our bodies even have Russian passports," Zelensky mentioned. He additionally cited the case of a deceased Israeli citizen combating on Russia's facet, whom Moscow had handed off as a Ukrainian soldier.
"Putin is afraid to confess how many individuals have died. As a result of if the second comes when he must mobilize, his society can be afraid," he mentioned.
Zelensky's remarks comply with the June 2 prisoner and physique alternate settlement in Istanbul, essentially the most intensive of the full-scale warfare. Beneath that deal, Ukraine recovered 6,057 our bodies of its fallen troopers. Russia, in response to Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, took again solely 78.
Explaining the distinction between the 2 numbers, Zelensky mentioned that the our bodies of the overwhelming majority of Russian troopers presently killed on the battlefield stay in Russian palms.
"They have been advancing, and their useless remained within the territory the place they have been," he mentioned.
In response to the president, exchanges of our bodies and even severely wounded troopers have taken place on the battlefield, however such exchanges are sometimes not publicized.
Inside Minister Ihor Klymenko earlier confirmed a case during which the stays of Alexander Viktorovich Bugaev, a Russian soldier from the thirty ninth Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade, have been returned to Ukraine disguised as a Ukrainian casualty.
"This exhibits how little human life means to Russia. Or perhaps it's only a technique to keep away from paying compensation to the households. However they should pay anyway: we’re returning these our bodies," Klymenko mentioned on June 19.
Ukraine's Normal Workers mentioned on June 21 that Russian forces have sustained over 1,010,000 casualties — killed and wounded — since launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Unbiased Russian outlet Mediazona, together with the BBC Russian Service, has verified the identities of 111,387 Russian troopers killed, emphasizing that the precise quantity is probably going a lot larger.
Russia has continued to disclaim the dimensions of its losses, usually inflating Ukrainian casualties and spreading false narratives. Zelensky warned that that is a part of a broader propaganda effort to "break the fact during which we dwell," during which Russian forces are struggling far better losses.
The June 2 negotiations in Istanbul led to essentially the most intensive prisoner and physique alternate settlement of the full-scale warfare, though no ceasefire was achieved.
On June 7, Russia accused Kyiv of rejecting a proposed physique return, releasing footage that allegedly confirmed Ukrainian corpses saved in refrigeration items. Ukraine dismissed these claims, saying that the footage was shot on Russian territory, not at a delegated handover website.
Kyiv has persistently known as for an "all-for-all" alternate of prisoners of warfare, however Moscow has thus far refused to conform to a complete swap.
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova
Kherson hit: water provide facility broken, water provide disruptions doable
Kherson got here below shelling, because of which town's water provide facility was broken. Potential water provide disruptions in some areas, utility staff are engaged on restoration.
Editor's notice: This merchandise has been expanded with extra particulars.
Belarusian opposition chief and political prisoner Siarhei Tsikhanouski was launched on June 21, shortly after dictator Alexander Lukashenko met in Minsk with U.S. President Donald Trump's particular envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.
Tsikhanouski , a well-liked blogger who deliberate to problem Lukashenko within the 2020 presidential election, was arrested shortly earlier than the vote and later sentenced to 18 years in jail on politically motivated fees. Amnesty Worldwide acknowledged Tsikhanouski as a prisoner of conscience.
His spouse, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, stepped in and have become the primary opposition candidate towards Lukashenko.
At the least 13 political detainees, together with outstanding blogger Ihar Losik, had been additionally launched on June 21, Belarusian impartial outlet Nasha Niva reported.
The opposite launched prisoners embody three Polish residents, two Latvian residents, one Estonian citizen, a Swedish citizen, a U.S. citizen, and two Japanese residents, in accordance with Lukashenko's press secretary.
In a put up on social media, Tsikhanouskaya welcomed the information however highlighted that "1,150 political prisoners stay behind bars."
My husband Siarhei is free! It’s onerous to explain the enjoyment in my coronary heart.
Thanks, 🇺🇸 @POTUS, @SPE_Kellogg, @JohnPCoale, DAS Christopher W. Smith, @StateDept & our 🇪🇺 allies, for all of your efforts.
We’re not performed. 1150 political prisoners stay behind bars. All have to be launched. pic.twitter.com/MhngqBHFq3— Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (@Tsihanouskaya) June 21, 2025
Kellogg's deputy, John Coale, stated the launched political prisoners had been transferred to Vilnius and expressed gratitude to the Lithuanian authorities for facilitating their relocation.
"President Trump's robust management led to the discharge of 14 prisoners from Belarus right now. Because of the Lithuanian authorities for its cooperation and help — they continue to be a real buddy and ally," Coale wrote on X.
Based on official outcomes of the 2020 election, Lukashenko received with 80% of the vote, whereas Tsikhanouskaya obtained simply 10%. Proof signifies that the election was closely rigged, and Tsikhanouskayacould have realistically received the vote.
In consequence, tons of of hundreds took to the streets in Belarus in 2020 to demand a good election. 1000’s had been arrested, and lots of had been crushed and tortured. At the least seven demonstrators had been killed throughout the protests.
Minsk has confronted repeated Western sanctions for the reason that brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
Lukashenko, in energy since 1994, is a detailed ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has allowed Russia to make use of Belarusian territory for navy operations towards Ukraine.
"You might have brought on fairly a stir on the planet along with your arrival," Lukashenko informed Kellogg throughout their assembly on the Palace of Independence, in accordance with state-run outlet Belta.
"However I’m wondering why. Can't we now have a standard dialogue and discuss our affairs – about relations between Belarus and the USA of America?"
Kellogg is the highest-ranking U.S. official to go to Belarus lately, following former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's 2020 journey beneath Trump's first time period.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Lukashenko's regime has performed a key logistical function in supporting Moscow's marketing campaign, providing its territory for troop deployments and weapons stockpiles.
The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy