Photos

June 25, 2025 9:07pm

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Ben Borges

Key developments on June 25:

• Zelensky, Trump hold talks on NATO summit sidelines
• ‘Something unknown’ hits key Russian drone facility in Taganrog, Ukrainian official says
• Russia has launched over 28,000 Shahed drones at Ukraine since 2022, with nearly 10% fired in June alone, Zelensky says
• Donetsk Oblast city “on brink of humanitarian catastrophe,” governor says as drones cripple infrastructure

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in The Hague on June 25.

The meeting lasted approximately 50 minutes, according to Suspilne. In a post on X, Zelensky described the conversation as “long and substantive."

“We covered all the truly important issues,” he wrote. “We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people. We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer."

Zelensky said that he briefed Trump about the situation on the battlefield.

“Putin is definitely not winning,” Ukraine’s president said.

The two leaders also discussed the purchase of American air defense systems as well as the potential for co-production of drones.

“Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers,” Zelensky added.

Speaking at a press conference following the meeting, Trump said that it “couldn’t have been nicer."

“I think it’s a great time to end it (war). I’m going to speak to Vladimir Putin, see if we can get it ended,” Trump said. “He (Zelensky) is fighting a brave battle, it’s a tough battle."

He also signaled support for sending to Kyiv additional missiles for its Patriot air defense systems.

“They (Ukraine) do want to have the anti missiles, as they call them, the Patriots, and we’re going to see if we can make some available,” Trump said.

“They are very hard to get. We need them too. We are supplying them for Israel, and they are very effective."

NATO member states have agreed to a new defense spending benchmark, committing to allocate 5% of their gross domestic product annually to defense and security-related expenditures by 2035.

Unlike in previous years, this year’s NATO statement does not include a direct condemnation of Russia’s actions, unlike the communique issued during the 2024 NATO summit in Washington, which explicitly condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

But the leaders reaffirmed support for Ukraine, stating that direct contributions to Ukraine’s defense and industrial capacity will be counted toward the 5% total.

With Trump disengaged and EU complacent, Ukrainian reforms lose momentum

Russia’s all-out war has accelerated Ukraine’s push to join the European Union and NATO, as well as its dependency on Western loans and aid. Before, these things would have been heavily preconditioned on Ukraine implementing crucial reforms. However, the war has also eased the pressure on Kyiv to carry out

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

‘Something unknown’ hits key Russian drone facility in Taganrog, Ukrainian official says

A key military-industrial site in the Russian city of Taganrog linked to Moscow’s production of combat drones and electronic warfare systems was damaged overnight, a Ukrainian official said on June 25, amid Russian reports of Ukrainian drones targeting the area.

“Something unknown flew into the Atlant-Aero plant in Taganrog,” Andrii Kovalenko, head of the counter-disinformation center at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council said.

“This is an important node in the Russian military-industrial complex, specializing in components for combat drones and control systems."

Kovalenko said the plant is involved in the production of “Orion” drones, electronic warfare complexes, and digital integration systems for strike FPV (first-person-view) drones and loitering munitions.

Russian authorities reported a wave of overnight Ukrainian drone attacks across multiple regions, including Rostov, which borders eastern Ukraine. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 40 Ukrainian drones over several areas, including the Crimean Peninsula and seven over the Rostov region.

Rostov Governor Yuri Slyusar said on Telegram that while there were no casualties, the strikes allegedly caused a fire at a sports complex and damaged a high school and two residential buildings in Taganrog. In nearby Azov, a grain warehouse and industrial facility were hit, he added, without providing further detail.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.

Why Russian economy warnings might be the only thing out of Moscow you can actually believe

In a rare public sign that all is not well in Russia, two high-ranking Moscow officials last week issued separate warnings about the state of the country’s economy. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov both highlighted that amid the Kremlin’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the tools Moscow once relied on to maintain wartime growth are nearly exhausted. Almost immediately, Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 20 dismissed the concerns, clai

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

Russia has launched over 28,000 Shahed drones at Ukraine since 2022, with nearly 10% fired in June alone, Zelensky says

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Moscow has launched 28,743 Shahed-type drones at Ukraine — with 2,736, or roughly 9.5%, fired in June 2025 alone, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a speech to the Dutch Parliament in The Hague.

Speaking on June 24, he stressed that Russia would never have been able to carry out such  drone attacks without support from Iran, and Ukraine, in turn, could not have intercepted most of the drones without the help of its international partners.

Zelensky called for accountability and emphasized that rules must apply to all — including the Kremlin: “Putin pretends not to understand the rules that shape the modern world. And here, in The Hague, I want to say this very clearly to him: There is a rule — do not kill. There is a rule — do not treat people like beasts. There is a rule — do not destroy cities and villages. There is a rule — do not sponsor terror. There is a rule — do not steal children. And if you break these rules, you will be held accountable."

Investigation: How Russia prepares its strategic missile plant for ‘eternal war’

Key findings: * Despite international sanctions, Russia’s strategic missile plant was able to import complex machinery to dramatically increase missile production. * The Kyiv Independent has identified the equipment supplied to the plant, as well as the supply chains, mostly from China. * We located the plant’s new premises, built to house the

The Kyiv IndependentAlisa Yurchenko

Donetsk Oblast city ‘on brink of humanitarian catastrophe,’ governor says as drones cripple infrastructure

The front-line city of Kostiantynivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast is facing a looming “humanitarian catastrophe” as ongoing Russian strikes destroy critical infrastructure and leave thousands without basic services, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on June 25.

Kostiantynivka, in eastern Donetsk Oblast, lies just 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 miles) from several areas currently occupied by Russian forces, according to battlefield mapping site DeepState. The city has come under intensified attacks in recent months as Moscow pushes westward beyond its gains around other nearby towns.

According to Filashkin, nearly half the city is without electricity due to shelling, and 1,900 households in the Santurynivka district have no access to gas, with restoration currently impossible. Water is supplied just once a day from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., meeting only 20–25% of the city’s needs.

Drone strikes have halted all city bus operations, while the suburban route to Druzhkivka, a nearby town, is operating on a limited basis, Filashkin said.

Yevhen Alkhimov, press officer of Ukraine’s 28th Mechanized Brigade, which is fighting near Kostiantynivka, told the Kyiv Independent that “the greatest danger at the moment comes from first person view (FPV) drones, including fiber optic models."

“The enemy is trying to control all logistics and communication routes,” he said, adding: “The Russians’ goal right now is not so much to destroy the city as it is to make it unsuitable for defense by controlling all the roads."

Alkhimov said Russian forces were deliberately targeting vehicles including civilian buses.

“They are trying to fully control all movement in the city using their drones,” he said.

Authorities have installed seven large water tanks and 11 smaller containers throughout the city, in addition to 12 wells, six of which are equipped with filtration systems. Five “Points of Invincibility,” Ukraine’s emergency support hubs, are operational, with two more on standby.

Despite the risks, emergency crews, doctors, utility workers, and local officials continue to work in the city.

“Civilians still remain in the city, and life is becoming more and more difficult for them,” Alkhimov said.

“There are fewer people left, the curfew is now longer, but nonetheless, people are still there, and it is truly very dangerous for them to stay in the city."

Filashkin urged those still in the city to evacuate.

Note from the author:

Ukraine War Latest is put together by the Kyiv Independent news desk team, who keep you informed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you value our work and want to ensure we have the resources to continue, join the Kyiv Independent community.

June 25, 2025 8:53pm

Russia Photos

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Ben Borges

Is a child who was slammed onto the floor at the Sheremetyevo airport an Iranian citizen? No, that's not true: According to the Iranian ambassador to Russia, the child seen in the viral video is Afghan. Earlier, a Russian regional commissioner for children's rights said that the critcally injured toddler comes from an Afghan family with Russian citizenship that resides in Moscow.

The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on June 25, 2025. It opened:

BREAKING:

🇮🇱🇮🇷 A Jewish Belarusian man, Vladimir Vitkov,was the man who violently assaulted an 18-month-old Iranian toddler at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, slamming him headfirst onto the floor.

This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:

(Source: X screenshot by Lead Stories)

On June 25, 2025, Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali denied that the critically injured toddler was an Iranian citizen, according to posts by that country's embassy here (archived here) and here (archived here). According to the posts, Jalali said, as translated from Russian, the original language of the entries on Telegram, to English:

We immediately contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry to find out which country the innocent child was a citizen of, as there were speculations that he was a citizen of Iran.

He continued:

Friends from the Russian Foreign Ministry said that we [the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs] have conducted an investigation and the case files are being reviewed by the department in charge of Afghan affairs [in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs], and this innocent child who was slammed to the ground in this manner and is now in a coma in all likelihood comes from an Afghan family.

Jalali added that he couldn't confirm that the suspected attacker identified in news reports as Vladimir Vitkov was Jewish.

This rebuttal also appeared (archived here) in the Russian Parliamentary Newspaper, which is the official publication of the Russian parliament.

Earlier, on June 24, 2025, Ksenia Mishonova (archived here), who is the commissioner for children's rights in the Moscow region, wrote on Telegram (archived here), as translated from Russian to English:

[I] talked to the dad. They live in Moscow. They are Afghans. But they have Russian citizenship.

According to the Russian Investigative Committee (archived here), the incident took place at the Sheremetyevo airport near Moscow on June 23, 2025, local time. A man violently threw an 18-month-old child against the floor. According to Mishonova, the toddler was taken to a hospital in Moscow with multiple skull fractures and then put into a medically induced coma.

Neither the main apparatus of the Russian Investigative Committee in its initial statement nor its local branch disclosed the nationalities of the involved persons in its June 24, 2025, press release. The suspected attacker was described as a "31-year-old foreign citizen" who said he was transferring to a flight bound for "a neighboring country".

Irina Volk, a representative of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, wrote about the incident on Telegram here (archived here) and here (archived here and here), but she said nothing about nationalities, ancestry or identities of those involved, either.

Searches across Russian-language news websites on Google (archived here) and the Russian news aggregator Dzen (archived here) did not show any credible reports referring to Vitkov as Jewish or as an Israeli citizen.

An independent Belarusian outlet, "Nasha Niva", reported (archived here) that Vitkov is a citizen of Belarus who arrived at the Sheremetyevo airport from Cairo, Egypt. The same online newspaper wrote, citing the 112 Telegram channel (archived here), that the injured toddler and his family were Afghan.

Read more

Other Lead Stories fact checks mentioning Iran are here.

Articles concerning Israel are here.

June 25, 2025 8:41pm

Ukraine Russia Protests Photos

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Ben Borges

More than three years into Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, many Western cultural institutions that had distanced themselves from Russian artists as a gesture of solidarity with Ukraine are now reversing course.

The U.K.’s Royal Ballet and Opera House announced on June 23 that its 2025-2026 cinema season, which is screened across 1,500 cinemas around the world, will kick off in early October with a performance of “Tosca” starring Russian soprano opera singer Anna Netrebko.

Once a leading figure in the opera world, Netrebko saw her performances canceled after 2022, following a history of remarks where she praised  Russian President Vladimir Putin and defended Russian imperialism.

Though she issued a statement condemning the full-scale invasion that year, Netrebko has stopped short of ever directly criticizing Putin, who granted her Russia’s highest artistic honor — the title of People’s Artist — in 2008.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, many Ukrainians have argued that Russian culture can’t be separated from the country’s history of imperialism — a worldview they say is deeply embedded in its literature, music and art, and continues to fuel its aggression toward Ukraine and beyond.

What’s wrong with Netrebko

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Metropolitan Opera in New York canceled a series of scheduled performances by Netrebko, reportedly expecting her to publicly denounce Putin.

In response, Netrebko filed a lawsuit in 2023 seeking at least $360,000 in damages and accusing the Met of defamation and breach of contract.


While she spoke out against the full-scale war in a statement from May 2022, Netrebko also declared “I love my homeland of Russia and only seek peace and unity through my art.”

Netrebko has repeatedly expressed views and took actions prior to 2022 that signaled admiration — even support — for the Russian authoritarian regime.

“I think she is always doing what benefits her career. Until 2022, being Putin’s ‘court soprano’ and a protege of conductor Valery Gergiev — another pillar of the Kremlin’s influence in the world, who was sanctioned by the government of Canada just few days ago — was very good for her,” Ukrainian classical pianist Pavlo Gintov, who lives and performs in the West, told the Kyiv Independent.

“Since 2022, Netrebko has been trying to balance two worlds: continuing her performances in the West while avoiding an open break with Putin’s regime. And, as you can see, so far she has been quite successful.”

After Russia’s invasion of Georgia, Netrebko told Russian state media in 2009, “I am always unambiguously for Russia,” dismissing international coverage of the war as “extremely negative” attacks on her country.

In a Newsweek profile from 2011, Netrebko laughed off rumors from the Russian tabloids claiming she had been Putin’s lover, adding “I’d love to have been” and that “he’s a very attractive man” with “strong, male energy.”

In 2014, Netrebko made a donation of one million rubles to an opera house in Russian-occupied Donetsk, claiming it was an act of solidarity for her fellow artists suffering from the war and that there was nothing political about it.

However, she was photographed alongside Oleg Tsaryov, a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician, at the event in St. Petersburg where she made the donation. Both were seen holding the flag of the Russian occupation forces in Donetsk.

Putin praised Netrebko's "life-affirming spirit" and "clear civic stance" in a public tribute marking her 50th birthday in 2021 that was published on the Kremlin's website.

“Only a photo with the bandits and their Moscow handlers could be a better illustration of the global disgrace of the Royal Opera House,” wrote Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya on June 24 on X, formerly known as Twitter, referencing the notorious photo in response to the Royal Opera House’s lineup announcement.

Larger trend

Netrebko’s return to Western opera marks a tentative shift in the West’s cultural landscape, as institutions begin to welcome Russian artists back more than three years after their country’s full-scale war against Ukraine cast a long shadow over their global standing.

Among these cultural figures are those who support Putin outright, those who oppose the war, or those who are deliberately trying to blur the line between the two.

As Western institutions move toward reintegrating Russian cultural figures into their cultural programs, Moscow has intensified its military campaign against Ukraine, launching record numbers of drones and missiles with increasing frequency, causing greater casualties.

This thaw raises ethical questions about complicity and accountability, such as when Russian actor Yura Borisov’s 2024 Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in the film “Anora.”

Previously, Borisov starred in a Russian propaganda biopic about Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK-47, which was filmed in Russian-occupied Crimea and released in 2020.

Though Borisov’s name appeared on a 2022 statement by a Russian film actors’ union opposing the full-scale war, he didn’t mention it once during his major press tour for “Anora.”

Russian journalist Anastasia Trofimova also stirred outrage for her documentary “Russians at War,” which she claimed was meant to “humanize” Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine “beyond the fog of war.”

Ukrainians and their supporters sought to have the film removed from several international film festivals due to Trofimova’s previous involvement with Russian state media and the documentary’s attempt to dissociate Russian soldiers from war crimes committed in Ukraine. Despite these efforts, a number of screenings have taken place.

The film was screened at three festivals in Canada, and although it was pulled from a number of other international festivals over protests, it remained in competition at the Athens International Film Festival in 2024.

At the 2025 Photo London Festival, Russian fashion designer and photographer Gosha Rubchinsky presented his new photo book, “Victory Day,” which romanticizes Soviet army imagery that has been used to rally support amid Russians for the war against Ukraine.

While Western cultural institutions rekindle ties with Russian artists, Ukrainian artists continue to be killed — whether in Russia’s daily strikes on cities or while serving on the front line — underscoring the war’s unrelenting toll on Ukraine’s cultural life.

For many Ukrainians, the inclusion of Russian cultural figures in the West is extremely painful, Gintov said — an oversight that ignores the painful reality of a nation still fighting for its survival.

“All this is happening while Russian artists like Netrebko — who openly and vocally supported Putin’s policies for many years, including his invasion of Ukraine in 2014 — are gaining applause in Berlin and in London. Something is fundamentally wrong about it.”

Note from the author:

Hi there, it's Kate Tsurkan, thanks for reading my latest article. On the same day I wrote this article, I also wrote another about my friend Victoria Amelina, a Ukrainian author who was killed by Russia, posthumously winning a prestigious literary award. It's bitter and surreal to see the world begin to move on from caring about the ways Russian culture and Russian aggression are connected. Of course, this is not to say that every Russian artist is supportive of the war — but in Netrebko's case, there's a lot of past statements that raise troubling questions. If you like reading this sort of thing, please consider supporting us and becoming a member of the Kyiv Independent today.

‘Everyone says culture has nothing to do with it. It does’ — Ukrainian writer Volodymyr Rafeyenko on Russia’s war

Ukrainian author Volodymyr Rafeyenko never thought he would write a novel in Ukrainian. He was a native of Donetsk, an eastern Ukrainian city where he grew up speaking Russian and completed a degree in Russian philology. Early on in his career, he was the winner of some of Russia’s

The Kyiv IndependentLiliane Bivings

June 25, 2025 7:40pm

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided not to attend the upcoming BRICS summit in Brazil due to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Russian president’s foreign policy aide Yuriy Ushakov said on June 25.

“This is related to certain difficulties in the context of the ICC’s demands, as you know, and precisely in this context, the Brazilian government was unable to take a clear position that would allow our president to participate in this meeting,” Ushakov said.

Brazil is a member of the ICC and a signatory to the Rome Statute, meaning it is obliged to arrest Putin if he enters the country.

The BRICS summit, which is scheduled to take place on July 6–7, will be attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to Ushakov. Putin is expected to participate remotely via video.

BRICS, composed of Russia, China, India, Brazil, and other nations, is a group of emerging economies often portrayed as a counterweight to the Western-led world.

The ICC issued a warrant for the Russian leader’s arrest in March 2023 over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In November 2024, Putin skipped the G20 summit in Brazil and sent Lavrov instead.

Earlier in June, Moscow said that Putin had received an official invitation to attend the G20 summit in South Africa, another ICC member state. The event is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg from Nov. 22 to 23.

In September 2024, Putin made a rare visit to Mongolia, which is also a signatory of the ICC, prompting criticism over the non-enforcement of the warrant.

‘It’s possible’ — Trump on Putin’s territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine

“I consider him (Russian President Vladimir Putin) a person I think is misguided,” U.S. President Donald Trump said speaking at a NATO press conference in The Hague on June 25.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova

June 25, 2025 6:42pm

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Washington will “see” whether it can supply Kyiv with additional missiles for its Patriot air defense systems, U.S. President Donald Trump said during the NATO summit in The Hague on June 25 as Russia escalates its air strikes against Ukraine.

“They (Ukraine) do want to have the anti missiles, as they call them, the Patriots, and we’re going to see if we can make some available,” Trump said.

“They are very hard to get. We need them too. We are supplying them for Israel, and they are very effective."

After the meeting with Trump earlier in the day, Zelensky said that the two discussed the purchase of American air defense systems to shield Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.

In recent weeks, Moscow has intensified its drones and missiles strikes. As NATO leaders gathered for the summit, Russia launched an attack on the city of Dnipro, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 300 others.

“Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers. Europe can help. We also discussed the potential for co-production of drones. We can strengthen each other,” Zelensky added.

Previously, despite Kyiv’s appeals, Trump has dismissed the request, accusing Ukraine’s president of “always looking to purchase missiles” and falsely blaming Ukraine for provoking the war.

The Patriot is a high-precision, U.S.-made surface-to-air missile platform capable of intercepting aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic threats. Zelensky has repeatedly said Ukraine needs at least seven more systems to defend its most at-risk regions.

In early June, he confirmed that Trump’s administration diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles originally intended for Ukraine to American forces in the Middle East.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Moscow has launched 28,743 Shahed-type drones at Ukraine — with 2,736, or roughly 9.5%, fired in June 2025 alone, Zelensky said.

‘It’s possible’ — Trump on Putin’s territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine

“I consider him (Russian President Vladimir Putin) a person I think is misguided,” U.S. President Donald Trump said speaking at a NATO press conference in The Hague on June 25.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova

June 25, 2025 5:29pm

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Speaking at a NATO press conference in The Hague on June 25, U.S. President Donald Trump said it was possible Russia could target other countries beside Ukraine.

When asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin has territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine, Trump replied, “it’s possible."

“I know one thing: He (Putin) would like to settle (the war). He’d like to get out of this thing. It’s a mess for him,” he added.

Foreign officials and EU diplomats have increasingly called for the preparation for a potential full-scale conflict between NATO and Russia.

Trump’s remarks came days after President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine’s intelligence has proof that Russia is preparing new military operations in Europe and just a week after Putin declared “all of Ukraine is ours."

During The Hague summit, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on alliance members to be realistic about the threats posed by Russia and China.

While Trump appeared to downplay concerns about Putin’s threat, he later said that the Russian leader “really has to end that war” against Ukraine. During his speech, he also referred to Russia’s all-out war as a “crisis,” a term used by some Russian allies but criticized by Kyiv.

“I consider him (Putin) a person I think is misguided,” Trump said.

The U.S. leader said his June 25 meeting with Zelensky, which preceded the briefing, “couldn’t have been nicer."

“I think it’s a great time to end it (war). I’m going to speak to Vladimir Putin, see if we can get it ended,” Trump said. “He (Zelensky) is fighting a brave battle, it’s a tough battle."

Separately, Trump acknowledged that Ukraine wants to receive Patriot missiles, saying that the U.S. is going to see “if we can make some available."

In recent weeks, Russia has intensified drone and missile attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, killing and injuring hundreds of civilians.

Despite Kyiv’s appeals, Trump has dismissed the request, accusing Zelensky of “always looking to purchase missiles” and falsely blaming Ukraine for provoking the war.

NATO allies set new 5% defense spending target, reaffirm support for Ukraine, but fail to condemn Russia

The leaders also reaffirmed support for Ukraine, stating that direct contributions to Ukraine’s defense and industrial capacity will be counted toward the 5% total.

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir

June 25, 2025 5:17pm

Ukraine Russia Photos

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Ben Borges

In a rare public sign that all is not well in Russia, two high-ranking Moscow officials last week issued separate warnings about the state of the country’s economy.

Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov both highlighted that amid the Kremlin’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the tools Moscow once relied on to maintain wartime growth are nearly exhausted.

Almost immediately, Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 20 dismissed the concerns, claiming that Russia’s economy remained strong despite sanctions and war.

But experts say the Kremlin’s internal messaging diverges sharply from the emerging reality. And in a country known for official lines that diverge wildy from truth and reality, Nabiullina and Reshetnikov’s warnings are likely accurate.

“These Russian officials  realize their responsibility for the failure of this entire policy,” Vladimir Milov, a Russian opposition politician who was an economic advisor for the Russian government in the early 2000s, told the Kyiv Independent.

“They understand that they will have to face the consequences and cannot ignore reality — the moment had to come when they would openly talk about it. So they did."

The Russian economic warnings

Nabiullina said on June 20 that the momentum behind Russia’s wartime economic expansion is rapidly fading.

She pointed to the depletion of key internal resources that had underpinned growth since 2022 — including labor, industrial capacity, bank capital reserves, and liquid assets from the National Wealth Fund (NWF).

Reshetnikov a day earlier echoed the warning, saying the Russian economy is “on the verge of a transition to recession,” and that the next phase would be decisive.

Despite Putin’s insistence that all is well, the dual warnings come as cracks in Russia’s so-called economic resilience are becoming more visible, and years of high military spending, sanctions, and trade isolation take their toll.

Speaking out — but only when the Kremlin allows it

An authoritarian system like Russia’s allows a certain degree of rhetorical leeway for senior technocrats, but it’s strictly limited to the economic sphere, exiled Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann told the Kyiv Independent.

“Our autocracy relies on the expertise of capable managers, particularly those concentrated in the financial and economic bloc of the government,” Schulmann said.

“In order for them to function, they are given a certain degree of autonomy… and this package of what they are allowed to do includes a certain degree of rhetorical freedom when speaking on their allotted subjects."

National Wealth Fund depleted as economic illusion fades

One of the clearest signs of economic stress is the sharp depletion of Russia’s National Wealth Fund.

Once a vital cushion for government spending, the NWF’s liquid assets have plummeted from 8.43 trillion rubles ($107 billion) in January 2022 to just 2.8 trillion rubles ($35.5 billion) in May, according to the Russian Finance Ministry.

Milov said the illusion of post-2022 economic stability was built on a single factor — massive state spending fueled by reserves accumulated prior to the invasion.

“All of Russia’s so-called economic miracle after the full-scale invasion and sanctions came down to a single factor — the government burned through its accumulated financial reserves to prop up the economy,” Milov told the Kyiv Independent.

Those resources are running out. Russia is depleting its financial reserves to offset a growing budget deficit driven by soaring government expenditures and falling revenues.

Since the war began, the structure of the NWF has also shifted.

Once held largely in freely convertible currencies, the fund now consists mostly of less liquid assets such as Chinese yuan and gold, further limiting Moscow's flexibility.

Milov also said that Russian leaders' earlier promises to develop domestic industry and reduce dependency on imports have failed to materialize.

According to Milov, only sectors receiving direct government support are showing growth, and that support is increasingly under strain.

"There had to come a moment when these resources would become so scarce that everyone would start talking about it very seriously," Milov said.

"Investments are not coming to Russia; everything is developing only at the expense of budget funds, and budget funds are being reduced."

Militarization risks stagnation

Another issue with Russia's economy is its militarization.

Russian military spending has increased to 6% of GDP in 2025, its highest level since the Cold War, while the federal budget deficit continues to grow.

Economist Andrei Movchan, founder of Movchan's Group, says it is undermining overall performance by diverting labor and capital away from the civilian sector.

"At first, such a shift leads to a sharp increase in military production, which boosts overall economic indicators despite the downturn in the civilian sector," Movchan said.

"But once the military-industrial complex hits a plateau, and it's impossible to expand it endlessly, even for military needs, the economy is left without a main growth engine."

"Costs remain high across the board, civilian sector investment is constrained, and the country inevitably drifts toward stagnation or even recession."

Still, Movchan warned that the civilian downturn alone will not necessarily trigger a full-blown collapse, as long as global energy prices remain elevated.

Russia continues to depend heavily on hydrocarbon exports to finance its war.

"Yes, the two-to-threefold increase in military spending — or even fourfold, according to some estimates — will have to be paid for with a recession in the civilian sector and overall stagnation. But that's not a disaster," he said.

Rising oil prices may not save Russia's war economy

Oil revenues remain a vital part of Russia's economy.

On June 13, prices surged after Israeli air strikes targeted Iranian nuclear sites, sparking fears of a wider regional conflict and disruptions to shipping routes.

President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that high oil prices could embolden the Kremlin, which has long relied on oil windfalls to fund its military campaign.

But Milov said even rising oil prices may no longer be enough to shield Russia's finances.

"The initial version of this year's federal budget, which has already been amended, assumed that it would still be heavily in deficit even at a price of $70 per barrel," he said.

"It depends greatly on how the situation develops further... But we see that the global oil market is digesting this war paradigm. There is no sharp increase to $100 per barrel or anything like that."

"Based on the current scenario, at this moment, we can say that this does not represent any kind of salvation for Putin."

Unpaid wages, empty shelves may shake Putin's image of control

As economic difficulties deepen, the crucial issue becomes how much they will erode the regime's hold on power.

Schulmann said in autocratic systems, both citizens and elites tend to judge power not by its legitimacy, effectiveness, or even benefits to themselves, but by one key question — whether it is strong or weak.

"A sharp economic downturn, a sudden deterioration in living standards, seen in things like unpaid wages and pensions, shortages of essential goods… will be interpreted as a sign of weakness from those in power," she said.

"On the other hand, a gradual deterioration rather engages the people in an ongoing individualistic survival game, leaving them no time to even ask themselves whose fault it is."

Schulmann noted that rising prices alone do not typically trigger mass discontent. But if dysfunction becomes visible, when shelves are empty, utilities fail, or salaries go unpaid, that sends a clear signal to citizens and elites alike — the system is no longer coping.

"If things deteriorate so quickly that signs of dysfunction become visible — signs that the system is no longer coping — that becomes a dangerous signal for the regime's stability," she said.

Note from the author:

Hi, this is Tim. Thank you for reading this article. The Kyiv Independent doesn't have a wealthy owner or a paywall. Instead, we rely on readers like you to keep our journalism funded.  If you liked this article, consider joining our community today.

Investigation: How Russia prepares its strategic missile plant for ‘eternal war’

Key findings: * Despite international sanctions, Russia’s strategic missile plant was able to import complex machinery to dramatically increase missile production. * The Kyiv Independent has identified the equipment supplied to the plant, as well as the supply chains, mostly from China. * We located the plant’s new premises, built to house the

The Kyiv IndependentAlisa Yurchenko

June 25, 2025 4:44pm

Ukraine Russia Photos

Ben Borges

The Kyiv Independent’s Martin Fornusek sits down with Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna on the sidelines of the NATO summit, held in The Hague on June 24-25, to discuss the changes in the U.S. rhetoric about Ukraine’s membership in NATO. They also speak about U.S. President Donald Trump’s commitment to the Alliance, how the Israel-Iran escalation affects NATO’s focus on Ukraine, and why Europe must take more responsibility for its own defense.

June 25, 2025 4:33pm

Photos

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Did Ali Khameini, Supreme Leader of Iran, post a congratulatory message on X.com, telling New York mayoral primary election winner Zohran Mamdani "Our work has only just begun"? No, that's not true: The owner of the account where the post first appeared followed it up with a comment that reads: "In case it wasn't obvious, I made it up." Khameini's X account carries the grey checkmark of government X accounts, while the bogus post carried a white checkmark. There were zero posts on Khameini's genuine X account on June 24, the date showing on the counterfeit.

The counterfeit tweet appeared in a June 24, 2025 X post (archived here) on the Strxwmxn account under the title "Whoa"

This is what the post looked like at the time this fact check was written:

(Source: X.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)

The original poster of the screenshot of a purported X post, the Strxwmxn account, followed up with this meme in the comments on the post, "In case it wasn't obvious...I made it up." In the comments, numerous X users were asking if it were true and posted screenshots of reposts by people who believed it:

(Source: X.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)

Other evidence that it's fake includes the appearance of a white checkmark logo on the post. The official Khameini account's posts carry the grey checkmark that X places on official government accounts.

There were no posts on Khameini's account on June 25, 2025 at the time this fact check was written. The most recent was a June 23 post (archived here), carrying the grey checkmark badge in the upper left quadrant:

(Source: X.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)

Readers can find more Lead Stories fact checks about Khameini here.

June 25, 2025 4:00pm

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Ben Borges

Zelenskyy arrives at the NATO summit, wearing a suit. Source: Reuters.

In a rare change since the full-scale invasion began, Zelenskyy wore a classic suit.

The three-button, head-turning jacket is a leading topic of conversation today in Ukraine, with the public marveling as Zelenskyy arrived at the NATO summit in The Hague.

He is meeting today with Trump to discuss the possible purchase of American weapons.

It may seem trivial, but fashion has a critical role to play in wartime diplomatic relations. This marks an uncommon time – we can count on one hand the number – when the Ukrainian president has broken his principle of wearing military-style clothing during the full-scale invasion.

By wearing his traditional green, khaki or black shirts, he has sought to display solidarity with the troops on the ground. Until now, he had upheld this principle even during meetings with Monarchs, European leaders and the most critical negotiations held at the White House.

The Ukrainian president had a fashion capsule collection designed for him by noted Ukrainian designer Viktor Anisimov, said the Ukrainian outlet New Voice:

“It includes classic shirts, turtlenecks, T-shirts, jackets and suits. The designer's goal was to retain the military uniform, but make the outfit more formal, restrained and functional. All items are made in black.”

This signals a certain shift in attitude: Zelenskyy is ready to make this symbolic concession amid the heavy attacks that Russia is launching daily – all in the hopes that it will steer Trump back towards Ukraine.

The suit – or lack thereof – was a central point in a blowup between the two leaders back in February.

“You’re all dressed up,” Trump sarcastically remarked when he saw Zelenskyy on that remarkable day, which marked a break in U.S.-Ukraine relations and raised questions about American reliability in the Transatlantic alliance.

The Oval Office spat – delaying a critical minerals deal that was set for their signatures – took place in no small part because of the Ukrainian leader’s choice of wear.

"Why don't you wear a suit? Do you own a suit?" one journalist asked. "A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the dress code of the Oval Office.” Vice President JD Vance was seen smirking as the question was posed.

Trump advisors asked Zelenskyy's team multiple times that he should ditch his traditional military attire when visiting the Oval Office, and the U.S. president was irked that he didn’t wear a suit, Axios reported.

His attire was made the subject of national debate. In fact, the event even inspired a viral song: 'If Only Zelenskyy Had A Nice Suit’:

If only Zelenskyy had a nice suit / Maybe there'd be something we could do.

If only Zelensky had a nice suit/ A 10K Brioni in navy blue,

White shirt and red tie / No one else would have to die.

rongallo

A post shared by @rongallo

Ukrainians have already created numerous memes today in response to Zelenskyy breaking with his previous fashion precedent.

The last time Zelenskyy wore a suit under normal conditions? For an address on the day of the full-scale invasion.

Zelenskyy address on the day of the invasion. Source: https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official/725

For critics of Zelenskyy, they’ll likely move on and criticize something else. It was never about the suit. The goal posts will soon move.

Why didn’t you wear a top hat? Do you even own a monocle?

NEWS OF THE DAY:

By: Veronika Romanova

UK BANKROLLS WEAPONRY TO KYIV WITH RUSSIAN FROZEN ASSETS: The UK will send 350 air defense missiles to Ukraine, paid for with £70 million ($88 million) from profits on frozen Russian assets. “Russia, not Ukraine, should pay the price for Putin’s barbaric and illegal war,” said PM Keir Starmer.

Originally designed as air-to-air missiles, the short-range ASRAAMs were adapted to launch from the back of British-made trucks. The development spanned more than 25 years before being adopted by the Royal Air Force in 2002.

While this marks the UK’s first direct use of Russia-linked funds to supply weapons to Ukraine, Belgium pioneered the practice in 2023, allocating profits from the frozen assets for both military and reconstruction aid.

UKRAINE, EUROPE TO OPEN TRIBUNAL FOR RUSSIAN CRIMES: After years of discussion, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy and the Council of Europe – the continent’s leading human right institution – will sign an agreement on Wednesday to establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders for war crimes since 2022. The details, including the tribunal’s exact structure and location, remain under discussion.

The special tribunal would open cases against acting presidents, prime ministers, and foreign ministers, said the Council of Europe. But it will issue warrants only when they are out of office.

The effort was backed by Japan and Canada, and was supported by the US under former President Joe Biden. In contrast, Donald Trump did not approve the move.

LEARNING FROM UKRAINE AND ISRAEL, TAIWAN PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE CHINESE ATTACK: Learning lessons from Ukraine and Israel, Taiwan will issue air-raid guidance next week in case of Chinese military strike, Reuters reported. The instructions will tell citizens what to do when air raid sirens sound – including advice for those unable to reach shelters in time or caught driving during an alert.

"Our people must know how to protect themselves, either at home or in office," an official said.

China has been claiming Taiwan as a part of its territory for a long time now, circling around and trying to isolate the island. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 after similar territorial claims, fears of a Chinese assault have grown. Taiwan has since been preparing air-raid shelters in subway stations and shopping malls across the island.

THE DOG OF WAR:

Today’s Dog of War is a puppy Veronika spotted in the park – full of excitement for summer, playing on the lawn beside a passenger plane on display.

Stay safe out there.

Best,
Veronika

June 25, 2025 3:49pm

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Editor’s note: This story is being updated.

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with his U.S. President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in The Hague on June 25.

The meeting lasted approximately 50 minutes, according to Suspilne. In a post on X, Zelensky described the conversation as “long and substantive."

“We covered all the truly important issues,” he wrote. “We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people. We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer."

No further details have been announced.

The two leaders were expected to discuss Ukraine’s planned purchase of a new defense package, including air defense systems, as well as additional sanctions on Russia and an international price cap on Russian oil.

Speaking at a briefing earlier in the day, Trump was asked what he would be discussing during the meeting with Zelensky.

“Obviously we’ll be discussing his difficulties, he’s got a little difficulty,” the U.S. president replied without elaborating on what he meant.

The NATO summit convenes at a time when U.S. support for Kyiv is waning, and just a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared “all of Ukraine is ours."

This is the first meeting between the two leaders since April, when they spoke briefly on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral in Rome.

A planned discussion at the G7 summit earlier this month fell through after both leaders left the event early, Trump due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, and Zelensky in response to drone and missile attack on Kyiv.

Upon arriving in The Hague, Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said on June 24 that he had held “substantive” talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prepare for the Zelensky-Trump meeting, including its structure and key topics.

Zelensky is also scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the summit.

In a recent interview with Sky News, Zelensky expressed uncertainty about Trump’s ties to Putin but said he believes Trump understands that Ukraine is a U.S. ally and that “the real existential enemy of America is Russia."

NATO allies set new 5% defense spending target, reaffirm support for Ukraine, but fail to condemn Russia

The leaders also reaffirmed support for Ukraine, stating that direct contributions to Ukraine’s defense and industrial capacity will be counted toward the 5% total.

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir

June 25, 2025 3:08pm

Ukraine Russia Photos

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Ben Borges

The front-line city of Kostiantynivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast is facing a looming “humanitarian catastrophe” as ongoing Russian strikes destroy critical infrastructure and leave thousands without basic services, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on June 25.

Kostiantynivka, in eastern Donetsk Oblast, lies just 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 miles) from several areas currently occupied by Russian forces, according to battlefield mapping site DeepState. The city has come under intensified attack in recent months as Moscow pushes westward beyond its gains around other nearby towns.

According to Filashkin, nearly half the city is without electricity due to shelling, and 1,900 households in the Santurynivka district have no access to gas, with restoration currently impossible. Water is supplied just once a day from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., meeting only 20–25% of the city’s needs.

Drone strikes have halted all city bus operations, while the suburban route to Druzhkivka, a nearby town, is operating on a limited basis, Filashkin said.

Yevhen Alkhimov, press officer of Ukraine’s 28th Mechanized Brigade, which is fighting near Kostiantynivka, told the Kyiv Independent that “the greatest danger at the moment comes from first person view (FPV) drones, including fiber optic models."

“The enemy is trying to control all logistics and communication routes,” he said, adding: “The Russians’ goal right now is not so much to destroy the city as it is to make it unsuitable for defense by controlling all the roads."

Alkhimov said Russian forces were deliberately targeting vehicles including civilian buses.

“They are trying to fully control all movement in the city using their drones,” he said.

Authorities have installed seven large water tanks and 11 smaller containers throughout the city, in addition to 12 wells, six of which are equipped with filtration systems. Five “Points of Invincibility," Ukraine’s emergency support hubs, are operational, with two more on standby.

Despite the risks, emergency crews, doctors, utility workers, and local officials continue to work in the city.

“Civilians still remain in the city, and life is becoming more and more difficult for them,” Alkhimov said.

“There are fewer people left, the curfew is now longer, but nonetheless, people are still there, and it is truly very dangerous for them to stay in the city."

Filashkin urged those still in the city to evacuate.

Russia has intensified its offensive in eastern Ukraine while insisting that any peace negotiations must recognize its claimed annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts and Crimea. Russian forces do not fully control any of the four regions it seeks to claim.

Ukraine has ruled out ceding its territory as part of any peace agreement.

Investigation: How Russia prepares its strategic missile plant for ‘eternal war’

Key findings: * Despite international sanctions, Russia’s strategic missile plant was able to import complex machinery to dramatically increase missile production. * The Kyiv Independent has identified the equipment supplied to the plant, as well as the supply chains, mostly from China. * We located the plant’s new premises, built to house the

The Kyiv IndependentAlisa Yurchenko

June 25, 2025 2:33pm

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

NATO member states have agreed to a new defense spending benchmark, committing to allocate 5% of their gross domestic product annually to defense and security-related expenditures by 2035, according to a joint statement released on June 25 by alliance leaders meeting in the Netherlands.

The decision marks a significant increase from the current 2% guideline and reflects the alliance’s response to the push from the U.S. and growing security threats, particularly the long-term challenge posed by Russia.

“We remain united and steadfast in our resolve to protect our one billion citizens,” the statement reads. “Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defense requirements as well as defense and security related spending."

The leaders also reaffirmed support for Ukraine, stating that direct contributions to Ukraine’s defense and industrial capacity will be counted toward the 5% total.

Under the new framework, at least 3.5% of GDP will be directed toward core defense needs, including NATO capability targets, with the remaining 1.5% covering civil preparedness, infrastructure protection, innovation, and the defense industrial base.

Allies will submit annual plans outlining a credible path to reach the targets, with a mid-term review scheduled for 2029.

With Trump disengaged and EU complacent, Ukrainian reforms lose momentum

Russia’s all-out war has accelerated Ukraine’s push to join the European Union and NATO, as well as its dependency on Western loans and aid. Before, these things would have been heavily preconditioned on Ukraine implementing crucial reforms. However, the war has also eased the pressure on Kyiv to carry out

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

June 25, 2025 2:03pm

Ukraine Russia Photos

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Ukraine’s security service (SBU) has charged in absentia a former defense engineer with treason, accusing him of helping Russia target Ukrainian cities by developing navigation systems for cruise and ballistic missiles, the SBU said on June 25.

According to the agency, Oleg Borsuk, a 61-year-old Ukrainian national, fled to Russia in 2009 after resigning from a defense plant in Cherkasy Oblast. He later became deputy general director of Moscow-based design bureau “Navis,” a major player in Russia’s military-industrial complex.

Borsuk allegedly oversaw the development and modernization of satellite guidance systems (GPS/GLONASS) used in Russian missiles. In 2023 alone, under his leadership, nearly 3,200 satellite navigation units were produced, including those for Iskander tactical missile systems, the SBU said.

These systems are also used in missiles like the Kh-101, Kh-59, and Kalibr — weapons frequently deployed in Russian airstrikes against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

The deadliest attacks include the July 8, 2024, strike on the Okhmatdyt children hospital in Kyiv, which killed two adults, including a doctor, and injured more than 50 people, including children. The hospital was hit by a Kh-101 cruise missile in accordance with a programmed route.

Another devastating strike occurred on June 17, when a massive missile and drone assault on Kyiv killed 30 people and injured 172 others. One of the deadliest impacts was a direct hit on a residential building by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, which caused the complete collapse of an entire section of the nine-story residential building.

According to a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force Yurii Ihnat, the building was struck by a Kh-101 missile.

The SBU has charged Borsuk in absentia under Ukraine’s Criminal Code for treason committed under martial law.

“Since the perpetrator is hiding in the territory of the Russian Federation, comprehensive measures are underway to bring him to justice for crimes against our state,” the SBU said.

Investigation: How Russia prepares its strategic missile plant for ‘eternal war’

Key findings: * Despite international sanctions, Russia’s strategic missile plant was able to import complex machinery to dramatically increase missile production. * The Kyiv Independent has identified the equipment supplied to the plant, as well as the supply chains, mostly from China. * We located the plant’s new premises, built to house the

The Kyiv IndependentAlisa Yurchenko

June 25, 2025 1:03pm

Ukraine Russia Photos

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

The U.K. has used interest generated from frozen Russian assets to purchase weapons for Ukraine, buying 350 air defense missiles worth £70 million ($87 million), The Guardian reported on June 25.

The move represents the U.K.’s first direct use of Russia-linked funds to buy weaponry for Kyiv.

The weapons purchase was funded through Britain’s Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) scheme, which captures interest from frozen Russian central bank assets.

According to The Guardian, the missiles, originally designed as air-to-air weapons, were converted by RAF engineers and MBDA UK in just three months to fire from ground-based systems.

Five additional Raven launcher systems will accompany the missiles to Ukraine, bringing the total to 13.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the package ahead of NATO’s annual summit.

"Russia, not Ukraine, should pay the price for Putin’s barbaric and illegal war," he said.

The package is part of Britain’s largest-ever annual military commitment to Ukraine of £4.5 billion ($5.6 billion), the Guardian reports.

It follows a £1.6 billion ($2.0 billion) deal in March for over 5,000 air defense missiles and a separate £350 million ($436 million) investment to increase drone deliveries tenfold.

The announcement comes as Starmer and President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to work closely on military production between the UK and Ukraine. On June 24, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that Britain will finance Ukrainian-designed drones manufactured in the UK.

European countries cannot fully confiscate the frozen Russian assets due to concerns about international law and financial stability. The European Central Bank warned that such a move could undermine confidence in the euro as a reserve currency, since most of the assets are euro-denominated.

Instead, only the interest generated from these funds is currently being used to back a $50 billion loan package for Ukraine, while the principal amount of 300 billion euros ($348 billion) remains frozen but not seized.

In June, Ukraine received another 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) from the EU as part of the G7 loan program backed by frozen Russian assets, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced.

June 25, 2025 12:52pm

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Ben Borges

U.S. President Donald Trump has said President Volodymyr Zelensky is a “nice guy” ahead of a meeting at NATO summit in The Hague on June 25, saying they will be “discussing his difficulties."

The White House confirmed the meeting on June 24 but did not release further details. According to a diplomatic source cited by AFP, the talks between Zelensky and Trump were scheduled for early afternoon, with both sides finalizing the agenda.

The two leaders are expected to discuss Ukraine’s planned purchase of a new defense package, including air defense systems, as well as additional sanctions on Russia and an international price cap on Russian oil.

Speaking at a press briefing at The Hague on June 25, Trump was asked by a reporter what he would be discussing during the meeting with Zelensky.

“Obviously we’ll be discussing his difficulties, he’s got a little difficulty,” Trump replied.

“Zelensky is a nice guy, I’m going to meet him today. I don’t know, I assume we’re going to be discussing Ukraine. It seems the most likely,” he added.

Trump did not elaborate on what he meant by “difficulties” but the NATO summit comes at a time when U.S. support for Kyiv is waning, and just a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared “all of Ukraine is ours."

This will be the first meeting between Zelensky and Trump since April, when they spoke briefly on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral in Rome.

A planned discussion at the G7 summit earlier this month fell through after both leaders left the event early, Trump due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, and Zelensky in response to drone and missile attack on Kyiv.

Upon arriving in The Hague on Monday, Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said he held “substantive” talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prepare for the Zelensky-Trump meeting, including its structure and key topics.

Zelensky is also scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the summit.

In a recent interview with Sky News, Zelensky expressed uncertainty about Trump’s ties to Putin but said he believes Trump understands that Ukraine is a U.S. ally and that “the real existential enemy of America is Russia."

Investigation: How Russia prepares its strategic missile plant for ‘eternal war’

Key findings: * Despite international sanctions, Russia’s strategic missile plant was able to import complex machinery to dramatically increase missile production. * The Kyiv Independent has identified the equipment supplied to the plant, as well as the supply chains, mostly from China. * We located the plant’s new premises, built to house the

The Kyiv IndependentAlisa Yurchenko

June 25, 2025 11:27am

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 14 minutes

Ben Borges

Russia’s all-out war has accelerated Ukraine’s push to join the European Union and NATO, as well as its dependency on Western loans and aid.

Before, these things would have been heavily preconditioned on Ukraine implementing crucial reforms.

However, the war has also eased the pressure on Kyiv to carry out reforms — stalling the country’s progress in advancing anti-corruption programs and reforming law enforcement.

The key reason is that Ukraine’s formerly demanding Western backers have preferred not to set strict conditions for a country at war.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has shown little interest in Ukraine, and even less interest in the country’s domestic reforms.

The European Union has also been lenient on law enforcement and anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine, several members of Ukraine’s parliament and civil society told the Kyiv Independent.

The sources said that this soft-touch approach has backfired, leaving Ukrainians with either half-baked or failed reforms in crucial sectors.

Some sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue: they were raising concerns about the lack of pressure on their country to implement reforms during war.

Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau makes progress yet doesn’t take on top presidential allies

As Ukraine’s civil society and the country’s Western partners call on the authorities to fight corruption amid Russia’s full-scale invasion, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) is showing mixed results. A year has passed since Semen Kryvonos became the head of the NABU in March 2023, replacing the bureau’

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

All eyes on accession

The West’s leverage over reforms in Ukraine traditionally stems from financial assistance given to Kyiv by the U.S., the EU, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as from Ukraine’s aspirations to join the EU and the conditions it must meet to do so.

The European Union granted Ukraine candidate status in 2022 and approved launching accession talks with Kyiv in 2024 despite several botched reforms. The decision was mainly seen as a political move in support of the country as it struggles to withstand Russia’s ongoing onslaught.

Still, anti-corruption activists and experts hope that Ukraine’s European integration will be a push for a number of critical reforms.

A European official leading the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity, admitted to the Kyiv Independent that the EU had been soft on Ukraine before the EU accession negotiations had been approved.

The source argued, though, that the strategy would change radically due to the European Union’s stronger leverage that comes with accession talks. The EU will closely track Ukraine’s progress on reforms and will agree to Kyiv’s accession to the bloc only if there is meaningful and fundamental change, according to the source.

The accession talks formally began in June 2024. However, they have proceeded slowly and have been derailed by political obstruction from within the Union.

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European integration, denied the accusations that the country’s authorities are sabotaging reforms needed for EU accession.

The EU and U.S. embassies, as well as the International Monetary Fund and Ukraine’s President’s Office, did not respond to requests for comment.

The West’s demands have played a key role in driving critical Ukrainian reforms that kicked off after the pro-Western 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, which ousted a pro-Russian president and his corrupt government.

Specifically, the U.S. and EU helped Ukraine to set up and develop anti-corruption institutions, including the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), the High Anti-Corruption Court, and the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP).

When the EU approved Ukraine’s candidate bid in 2022, its accession conditions also played a major role in reforms, Kateryna Butko, head of anti-corruption watchdog AutoMaidan, told the Kyiv Independent. Specifically, the EU urged Ukraine to speed up the selection of a new chief anti-corruption prosecutor and fill in Constitutional Court jobs with the participation of international experts, she said.

Ukraine’s judicial reform relaunch shows mixed results so far

In late 2023, Ukraine finally re-launched the process of vetting judges as part of a long anticipated judicial reform – a key condition for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. Four months later, the results are mixed. On the one hand, the High Qualification Commission, a top judicial body, has approved

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

Exploiting the West’s weakness

The all-out war forced the EU into a difficult dilemma.

“On the one hand, (the Europeans) want reforms,” Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, a lawmaker from the opposition Holos party, told the Kyiv Independent. “On the other hand, they understand that we are protecting them (by fighting Russia). Meanwhile, our authorities have a ready excuse for everything — ‘We’re at war, why are you bothering us?'"

He said that the Ukrainian authorities fulfilled some of the West’s requirements at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, but “as time went on, the authorities explained all reform failures by appealing to the war effort."

As a result, there is a major delay in reforms, Yurchyshyn said.

"Since late 2023, it's been mostly imitation," he said. "Now, it's almost total imitation."

He said that some technical changes demanded by the EU were being implemented, but there was no progress on fundamental and "politically sensitive" reforms.

Yaroslav Zheleznyak, another lawmaker from Holos, also said that the "EU's position is weak, and it allows our government to deceive it."

Larysa Golnyk, a whistleblower judge who has exposed corruption, and Vitaly Tytych, former head of the judicial watchdog Public Integrity Council, also share this opinion.

Political uncertainty in the U.S. following Trump's election is not helping Ukrainian reforms either.

After taking office on Jan. 20, Trump froze funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which had financed the implementation of rule of law reforms in Ukraine. The Trump administration has also announced plans to dismantle USAID completely.

"After Trump was elected, the U.S. pulled out of Ukrainian reform processes," Yurchyshyn said. "Now they're mostly observers."

Meanwhile, Zheleznyak said that "after Trump was elected, our (Western) partners have lost appetite for reforms."

"Our authorities interpreted this as carte blanche to do anything they want," he added.

How Ukrainian officials get away with having Russian citizenship – even amid war

As Russia is waging its war against Ukraine, some high-ranking Ukrainian officials with confirmed or suspected Russian citizenship are doing fine. Ukraine’s Constitution bans foreign citizenship for officials. However, in some cases, officials with Russian citizenship are not fired at all, and in other cases Ukraine’s judiciary stubbornly resists their

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

International experts' role

One example of stalled reforms is an ongoing effort by Ukrainian authorities to reduce the role of international experts on supervisory boards and selection panels in key law enforcement and procurement agencies, several sources in Ukraine's parliament and civil society told the Kyiv Independent.

Ukrainian officials on selection panels have often backed controversial candidates for top government jobs, and international experts have been invited to offset their role. Foreign experts' function is to check the integrity, independence and professionalism of candidates for key positions.

Deputy Prime Minister Stefanishyna said in parliament on Dec. 6 that Ukrainian authorities were planning to eventually stop using international experts in the process of selecting governing officials because Ukraine would allegedly be reformed enough to cope on its own.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky's Deputy Chief of Staff Iryna Mudra said at a meeting of parliament's legal policy and justice committee on Jan. 8 that international experts should play an advisory role rather than make decisions.

Ukraine's Western partners appear to have turned a blind eye.

A civil society source who has spent years pushing for judicial reforms said that the participation of international experts "is supposed to uphold the rule of law but the EU is backing down and making concessions."

The source spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject.

"If they continue doing this, then we can forget about any real rule of law," the source added.

Specifically, Katarína Mathernová, the EU ambassador to Ukraine, has herself stated that Ukraine may not need international experts with a casting vote, according to the source. Mathernová did not respond to a request for comment.

The authority of international experts on the selection panels for the High Qualification Commission, a judicial governing body, and the High Anti-Corruption Court is set to expire in June and November, respectively.

There is a risk that their powers will not be extended, one of the civil society sources said.

Stefanishyna told the Kyiv Independent that the Ukrainian authorities have "no intention whatsoever of shutting down the existing selection processes" with the participation of international experts.

She also argued that, eventually, Ukraine's institutions would have to function without foreign experts.

"EU member states and the U.S. should not have to think about how judges are being selected (in Ukraine)," she said. "A system must be in place that is trusted, with a clear process, and those institutions must function."

Watchdogs say Ukraine’s judicial reform on brink of catastrophe

Ukraine’s leading anti-corruption watchdogs issued a statement on June 24 saying that the Ethics Council, the judicial reform’s main body, has undermined trust in the process by approving tainted candidates for top jobs and vetoing an anti-corruption crusader. “Since the Ethics Council’s decisions are concealed and there is

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

Botched judicial reforms

One example of a recently botched reform is the creation of the High Administrative Court, which is expected to play a crucial role by considering appeals against decisions made by government bodies. The court is expected to replace the discredited Kyiv District Administrative Court, which was liquidated in 2022 amid corruption investigations against its controversial ex-chairman, Pavlo Vovk.

Initially, Ukraine's international partners suggested that a panel fully consisting of foreign experts vet candidates for the High Administrative Court.

However, the Ukrainian government prepared a bill with a weaker role for international experts. Under that bill, candidates can be vetoed by a joint meeting of the High Qualification Commission and a panel that includes three Ukrainian experts and three international experts.

"The role of international experts has been completely watered down," one of the civil society sources told the Kyiv Independent.

The source said that, under the bill, it would be much harder for international experts to "stand their ground," given their diluted role.

In January the parliament went further and approved the first reading of a different bill, not supported by the Cabinet, creating a High Administrative Court without the participation of international experts at all.

Following a public outcry, the parliament backed down and approved the previous version of the bill in February, envisaging a panel with three Ukrainian experts and three foreign ones.

Another failed reform involves the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court judges have been involved in numerous scandals and controversies and faced accusations of corruption and other violations.

In 2022, the court's deputy chairman, Bohdan Lvov, was fired after his concealed Russian citizenship surfaced.

Vsevolod Kniaziev, then the court's chairman, was charged with accepting a $2.7 million bribe in 2023.

As a result, the judicial watchdog Dejure and other activists have called for inviting a panel of international experts to conduct integrity checks of Supreme Court judges.

On June 3, parliament ignored these calls and passed the first reading of a judicial reform bill that does not envisage integrity checks for Supreme Court judges with the participation of international experts.

Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau under fire over its handling of leak scandal

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has come under fire as more details emerged over the past weeks about leaks from the bureau and its handling of the scandal. For nearly a month, the country’s key anti-corruption agency has been in turbulence. In late May, it was revealed

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

A backlog of stalled reforms

Ukraine's Western partners have also demanded a reform of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) for years. The reform envisages stripping the successor of the Soviet Union's KGB of investigative functions, including the ability to investigate economic crimes and corruption and refocus the security service exclusively on counter-intelligence and anti-terrorism.

Investigating economic crimes is seen as vulnerable to corruption, with international observers arguing that the highly militarized Security Service is the wrong body to hold a monopoly over such cases.

The Security Service was formally stripped of the power to investigate corruption in 2015 and economic crimes in 2021, with the functions passing to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Economic Security Bureau, respectively.

However, the SBU is managing to bypass this restriction. Prosecutors still routinely allow the SBU to investigate economic crimes and corruption jointly with other law enforcement agencies.

In 2021, the parliament passed in the first reading a bill stripping the SBU of all investigative functions but the bill has seen no progress since then.

One of the sources told the Kyiv Independent that "when the Russian invasion began, any moves toward reforming the SBU were essentially put on hold by parliament and all stakeholders."

Mariana Bezuhla, a controversial and outspoken lawmaker and formerly a member of Zelensky's Servant of the People party, said in January that the European Union and NATO "have become completely indifferent to the reform of Ukraine's security sector," including the SBU.

Another problem seen as a violation of Ukraine's obligations to its Western partners was the closure of the public register of officials' asset declarations following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The Ukrainian authorities passed a law to allow officials not to file electronic asset declarations and shut down public access to all previous declarations.

The West supported restoring the asset declaration system. However, Ukraine's Western partners did not insist on making government officials' asset declarations public again, according to Yurchyshyn, Butko and a source from Ukraine's civil society.

Under domestic pressure, Zelensky signed a law in 2023 to restore the asset declaration system and make declarations public again.

Officials accused of using war as pretext for hiding ill-gotten wealth

As Ukrainian soldiers are defending their homeland on the front line, officials in the rear are accused of using the war as a pretext for hiding their wealth. They are able to do so because one of Ukraine’s main anti-corruption tools, the asset declaration system, has been effectively eliminated.

The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov

Defense procurement scandal

Reforms in the defense sector have also begun to lose momentum.

One of the key reforms concerns the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA), which was created in 2022 to make defense procurement more transparent and to sideline middlemen making fortunes on supplies to the military.

In January, the DPA's supervisory board extended the contract of its head, Maryna Bezrukova, but Defense Minister Rustem Umerov fired her nonetheless.

Umerov has been lambasted by anti-corruption activists for what they see as his efforts to destroy the agency's independence. He denied the accusations of wrongdoing.

On Jan. 27, G7 ambassadors called for a swift resolution of the Defense Procurement Agency dispute and urged uninterrupted continuation of weapons procurement.

However, the West has issued no concrete calls for reinstating Bezrukova or restoring the DPA's independence.

The G7 statement is vague and can be interpreted in different ways, one of the civil society sources said.

It was an attempt to "stop this chaos and return to proper procedures," but Umerov may interpret it in the sense that he can appoint a new head of the agency and a new supervisory board, according to the source.

The source said that the West's soft approach allowed Umerov to turn his back on the agency's independence. Umerov appointed Arsen Zhumadilov as the new head of the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) on March 6, bypassing the supervisory board.

"When it comes to the defense sector, international partners are even weaker because it's very difficult for them to dictate how Ukraine should fight," the source said.

The Kyiv Independent

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The Kyiv Independent

Defense Minister Umerov dismisses top official who stood up to him

Ukraine’s lengthy efforts to clean up its weapons procurement are in danger of being unwound as the Defense Ministry strangleholds the Defense Procurement Agency, say anti-corruption activists and lawmakers. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced on Jan. 24 that he would not renew the contract of Maryna Bezrukova, the head

The Kyiv IndependentDominic Culverwell

June 25, 2025 11:17am

Ukraine Russia Photos USA

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Ben Borges

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Politico on June 25 that U.S. President Donald Trump will resist European pressure to escalate sanctions on Russia, arguing that doing so could close the door to potential peace negotiations with Moscow.

Speaking with Politico on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague, Rubio said Trump wants to keep open a diplomatic channel with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite growing frustration from European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelensky over Russia’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire.

“If we did what everybody here wants us to do, and that is come in and crush them with more sanctions, we probably lose our ability to talk to them about the ceasefire and then who’s talking to them?” Rubio said.

Rubio acknowledged that Russia appears committed to pursuing its objectives by force.

“Our sense of it is that the Russians are going to try to achieve on the battlefield what they’ve demanded at the negotiating table, which is certain territories, administrative lines, and the like,” he said. “We think it’s going to be a lot harder for them to achieve that than they think it’s going to be."

Rubio added that Trump “will know the right time and place” for additional sanctions, but emphasized that imposing them too soon could signal that the U.S. has given up on a negotiated resolution.

Previously, Trump said he had refrained from imposing new sanctions on Russia because he believed a peace deal with Moscow might be within reach, warning he did not want to jeopardize negotiations by acting prematurely.

Speaking after two rounds of peace talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv that led to no ceasefire, Trump on June 5 declined to say when additional sanctions on Russia might be imposed, only noting there is a deadline “in (his) brain."

“If he (Trump) does it, you’re almost admitting that this is not going to be negotiated anytime soon,” he said. “We’re going to continue to engage. In the sense that if there’s an opportunity for us to make a difference and get them to the table, we’re going to take it."

Zelensky and several European leaders are expected to ask Trump during meetings at the summit to increase economic pressure on Moscow.  

It has been more than 100 days, since Ukraine agreed to a U.S.-backed complete ceasefire, while Russia continues to reject it. Moscow continues pushing maximalist demands while intensifying attacks across Ukrainian cities.

Investigation: How Russia prepares its strategic missile plant for ‘eternal war’

Key findings: * Despite international sanctions, Russia’s strategic missile plant was able to import complex machinery to dramatically increase missile production. * The Kyiv Independent has identified the equipment supplied to the plant, as well as the supply chains, mostly from China. * We located the plant’s new premises, built to house the

The Kyiv IndependentAlisa Yurchenko

June 25, 2025 10:38am

Ukraine Russia Photos

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Ukrainian authorities have arrested a 66-year-old U.S. citizen who had been on the run for more than three decades, wanted for multiple child sex crimes committed in Arizona in the 1980s and early 1990s, Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General said on June 25.

The man — who has not been named — was detained in Kyiv Oblast in a joint operation coordinated by Ukrainian prosecutors in cooperation with Ukraine’s Cyber Police Department, the FBI, and Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice. He had been living in Ukraine under a false identity, using forged documents under the name of a Mexican citizen.

According to U.S. law enforcement, the suspect worked as the director of a preschool in Pima County, Arizona, and committed a series of sexual offenses against four children aged 4 to 9 between 1984 and 1991. Before sentencing by the Arizona Superior Court, he reportedly fled the U.S. and avoided prosecution for more than 30 years.

Ukrainian authorities located him using digital tools, including open-source intelligence analysis. He was found living in a house in Kyiv Oblast.

Following his identification, law enforcement carried out a search and arrested him at his residence. Prosecutors are currently preparing a request to a Ukrainian court for temporary arrest pending extradition.

According to U.S. officials, the man faces 15 counts under criminal law related to the sexual abuse of children.

Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General said it remains committed to international cooperation in criminal justice, particularly in extraditing individuals accused of grave crimes, including those involving the sexual exploitation of children.

‘Something unknown’ hits key Russian drone facility in Taganrog, Ukrainian official says

“Something unknown flew into the Atlant-Aero plant in Taganrog,” Andrii Kovalenko, head of the counter-disinformation center, said. “This is an important node in the Russian military-industrial complex, specializing in components for combat drones and control systems.”

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir

June 25, 2025 9:54am

Ukraine Russia Photos

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Ben Borges

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least 23 people and injured more than 300 others over the past 24 hours, local officials said on June 25.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian forces launched 71 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys from multiple directions, including Bryansk, Millerovo, Kursk, and occupied Crimea. Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed 52 of them.

In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a ballistic missile attack killed at least 20 people, 18 in Dnipro and two in the Samarskyi district, in one of the deadliest single attacks in recent weeks, governor Serhii Lysak said.

Nearly 300 people were injured, and extensive damage was reported to high-rise buildings, houses, dormitories, cars, schools, hospitals, administrative offices, and a passenger train. Drone strikes overnight also hit Nikopol and caused a fire in Synelnykove district.

In Kharkiv Oblast, nine people were injured in strikes on Kharkiv city, Kupiansk, and surrounding villages, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. Russian forces used a mix of weaponry, including air-launched rockets, glide bombs, and various drones. Civilian infrastructure was damaged, including residential buildings, houses, and an industrial hangar.

In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, five peope were injured in attacks across the Zaporizhzhia, Vasylivka, and Polohy districts, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported. Russian forces conducted four missile strikes on Zaporizhzhia and eight airstrikes on several towns. Around 300 drones, and over 150 artillery strikes were recorded across 13 settlements.

In Donetsk Oblast, three civilians were killed in Pokrovsk, Zoloti Prudy, and Novoiavlenka, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. 11 more were wounded in the region over the past day.

Russia has launched over 28,000 Shahed drones at Ukraine since 2022, with nearly 10% fired in June alone, Zelensky says

Speaking on June 24, Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that Russia would never have been able to carry out such drone attacks without support from Iran, and Ukraine, in turn, could not have intercepted most of the drones without the help of its international partners.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova