Russia plans to produce 2 million first-person-view (FPV) drones and 30,000 long-range and decoy drones in 2025 for its war against Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) spokesperson Oleh Aleksandrov told Politico on June 5.

The ramp-up marks a critical expansion of Moscow’s drone warfare program, as both Ukraine and Russia increasingly rely on unmanned systems for reconnaissance and front-line attacks.

According to Aleksandrov, Russia’s drone production is heavily dependent on Chinese components. Despite Beijing’s public denials, Chinese manufacturers continue to supply Russia with key electronics and technologies.

“They use so-called shell companies, change names, do everything to avoid being subject to export control and avoid sanctions for their activities,” Aleksandrov said.

The intelligence official warned that this industrial support allows Moscow to narrow Ukraine’s early advantage in drone innovation.

“They aim to produce about 30,000 long-range drones of those types plus 30,000 false target drones they use to exhaust Ukrainian air defenses in 2025,” he added. “As for the FPV drones, Russians are aiming to produce a whopping 2 million of them in 2025."

FPV drones, small and agile devices often equipped with explosive payloads, have proven highly effective in damaging tanks, artillery, and other high-value targets at low cost.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this year that Moscow is working to manufacture up to 500 long-range drones per day, Suspilne reported.

The Kremlin’s nightly drone attacks — frequently involving Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones — have strained Ukraine’s air defenses and inflicted heavy damage on cities and infrastructure.

Ukraine, for its part, has dramatically scaled up domestic drone production in response.

The Strategic Industries Ministry reported that Ukraine more than doubled its long-range drone output in 2024 compared to 2023 — a 22-fold increase over 2022.

Putin rejects Zelensky’s call for peace talks, accuses Ukraine of deadly bridge attack in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4 accused Ukraine of being governed by a terrorist regime that deliberately targets civilians and claimed it is continuing to lose the war. He rejected the possibility of holding talks.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

U.S. President Donald Trump privately described Ukraine’s drone strike on Russian strategic bombers as “strong” and “badass,” Axios reported June 5, citing sources familiar with his reaction.

The operation, carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) on June 1, targeted four Russian air bases deep inside the country. According to Kyiv, 41 aircraft were struck in the raid, causing an estimated $7 billion in damage.

The targeted bases reportedly housed Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers — long-range platforms frequently used to launch cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities amid Russia’s full-scale war. While Trump has remained silent in public about the attack, he reportedly expressed enthusiasm behind closed doors.

“He thought it was badass,” one source told Axios.

A second said Trump told a confidant the strike was “pretty strong."

One of Trump’s advisers reportedly likened the situation to a small but aggressive force managing to hurt a more powerful opponent, using a metaphor about a “chihuahua” attacking “a much bigger dog."

On a TruthSocial post on June 4, Trump confirmed he had discussed the drone attack directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call lasting over an hour.

“We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides,” Trump wrote.

Join our community

Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.

Support Us

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov later confirmed that Putin had informed Trump of Russia's intent to respond to Ukraine's attack, according to state-run media outlet TASS.

U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg earlier warned that the operation could lead to escalation.

"When you attack an opponent's national survival system — their nuclear triad — the risk level goes way up," Kellogg told Fox News on June 3.

Ukrainian officials say the drone assault — codenamed Operation Spiderweb — took 18 months to plan. SBU sources claim the attack was carried out using 117 drones launched from trucks inside Russian territory.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the scale of the damage.

While Russian propagandists have attempted to downplay the strike, Putin himself has yet to make a public statement.

Operation Spiderweb marks one of the most far-reaching Ukrainian operations of the war and underscores Kyiv's expanding capacity to strike targets far beyond the front lines.

Putin rejects Zelensky’s call for peace talks, accuses Ukraine of deadly bridge attack in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4 accused Ukraine of being governed by a terrorist regime that deliberately targets civilians and claimed it is continuing to lose the war. He rejected the possibility of holding talks.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

The United Kingdom has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine. The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, described the package as unprecedented in size. This aid will be crucial in saving lives and bolstering the Ukrainian military, according to a post by the Ministry of Defense on Telegram.

As part of this aid package, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will receive 100,000 drones by the end of 2025. This number is ten times greater than last year’s support. Investment in drone production will reach a record £350 million.

Additionally, Britain is supplying 140,000 artillery shells, which have already been delivered to Ukraine. A further £247 million has been allocated for training the Ukrainian military. The total military support from the UK in 2025 is projected to be £4.5 billion.

Umerov expressed gratitude to the UK and Defense Secretary John Healey for their unwavering solidarity with Ukraine.

The UK plans to invest at least £3 billion (almost $3.7 billion) in advancing its defense industry, enhancing air defense systems, and constructing new munitions production facilities.

Does a viral image show three actual Russian TU-95 bombers and an unknown fourth plane damaged in a Ukrainian drone strike? No, that's not true: Some detection tools say the image shows strong evidence of being forged or synthesized using artificial intelligence. The image also contains tell-tale details that do not match with other photographs of such planes, including elements on the wing that have the wrong shape and propellers sitting at unnatural angles.

An example of the viral image appeared in a post on X (archived here) published on June 5, 2025 with a comment that read:

that will not buff out...

This is what the image looked like

(Image source: screenshot of @secretsqrl123 on X)

AI detection tool Hive said it was only 13% likely the image was generated using AI.

However Lead Stories also ran the image through AI detection tools at the University at Buffalo's Media Forensic Lab, which focuses on "the forensic analysis of digital media." Together, these tools are called the DeepFake-O-Meter. At least two of the tools (GLLF and HIFI) concluded it was '0.9999904632568359' probable out of 1 (archived here) and 99.99 probable out of 100 (archived here) that the image was fake.

Several clues in the image also revealed it was probably generated using AI or other digital tools, for example a weirdly sideways tilted plane in the top right corner with too many wings and tailfins sticking out at odd angles, deformed red stars with too many points on the wings of the bombers and propellers looking like they are tilted upwards (when viewed top-down the blades should not be visible as a cross or star-like shape; a TU-95 has dual propellers that should look like roughly parallel lines from the top). But the most telling detail are the "anti-shock bodies" that normally sit behind the two inner engines on the rear side of the wings: in the image they appear to end in some kind of shiny, round element instead of the pointy shape they have on actual TU-95 bombers.

For reference, compare to this top-down image of an actual TU-95, rotated 90 degrees from the original by Lead Stories for easier comparison:

(Image source: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Ukrainian forces launched a missile strike on June 5 targeting a concentration of Russian missile troops near the city of Klintsy in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported.

The strike reportedly destroyed one Iskander missile launcher and seriously damaged two others. The targeted unit, part of Russia’s 26th Missile Brigade, had attempted to fire on Ukrainian territory — likely aiming at Kyiv — before it was hit, according to the military.

“Thanks to effective reconnaissance and the coordinated efforts of the Armed Forces and the Security Service of Ukraine, the targets were successfully hit,” the General Staff said.

The agency added that there were no civilian casualties, and assessments of Russian losses are ongoing.

The Iskander is a short-range ballistic missile system used by Russia for precision strikes against military and infrastructure targets.

With a range of up to 500 kilometers (some 311 miles) and the ability to carry conventional or nuclear warheads, the system remains a key component of Russia’s tactical missile forces.

Bryansk Oblast lies just northeast of Ukraine’s Chernihiv and Sumy Oblasts, making it one of the key Russian regions bordering northern Ukraine.

The strike came as part of Ukraine’s broader effort to degrade Russia’s offensive capabilities.

On the same night, Russia launched 103 drones — including Iranian-designed Shahed suicide drones — and one Iskander-M ballistic missile against Ukrainian territory.

Targeting missile assets there may disrupt Russia’s ability to launch precision strikes, particularly in advance of an anticipated new summer offensive.

Putin rejects Zelensky’s call for peace talks, accuses Ukraine of deadly bridge attack in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4 accused Ukraine of being governed by a terrorist regime that deliberately targets civilians and claimed it is continuing to lose the war. He rejected the possibility of holding talks.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

Russian intelligence operatives are impersonating Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in an expanded effort to recruit Ukrainian civilians for sabotage operations, the SBU said June 5.

The new tactic, described by the agency as a “false flag” operation, involves contacting Ukrainian citizens while posing as SBU officials conducting official inquiries. The SBU said this marks a notable escalation and shift in Russia’s recruitment strategy.

“This is a so-called special operations technique known as ‘false flag,’ which has not been used by Russian invaders until now, but which they are actively trying to apply now,” the agency said in a statement.

According to the SBU, targeted individuals typically receive messages via instant messaging apps, instructing them to report to an “SBU investigator” regarding fabricated criminal charges.

That “assistance,” however, comes with strings attached. Victims are pressured into carrying out tasks ranging from surveillance and courier duties to transferring funds. In more serious cases, they are asked to purchase chemicals for explosive devices, set fire to Ukrainian military vehicles or conduct sabotage against government buildings.

“In some cases, Russian curators also demand that malicious software be installed on the victim’s phone, allowing them to monitor activity and location in real time,” the SBU statement said.

While earlier recruitment efforts focused largely on teenagers, the SBU warned that elderly Ukrainians are now increasingly being targeted. The agency said it has disrupted several of these operations in recent weeks but did not provide specific examples.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian officials say the Kremlin has stepped up intelligence-gathering and subversive activity inside Ukraine, with particular focus on coercing civilians into supporting reconnaissance and sabotage efforts.

Putin rejects Zelensky’s call for peace talks, accuses Ukraine of deadly bridge attack in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4 accused Ukraine of being governed by a terrorist regime that deliberately targets civilians and claimed it is continuing to lose the war. He rejected the possibility of holding talks.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

At least eight civilians were killed and 46 others wounded in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, regional authorities reported on June 5.

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia launched 103 drones overnight, including Iranian-designed Shahed-type suicide drones and one Iskander-M ballistic missile.

Air defenses intercepted 74 drones, while another 46 dropped off radars — likely used as decoys to overwhelm Ukrainian systems. The attack was repelled using aviation, electronic warfare units, mobile fire groups, and anti-aircraft missile systems.

Chernihiv Oblast suffered the deadliest strike of the day, where five people were killed and six others wounded after Russian drones struck residential areas in the city of Pryluky, Governor Viacheslav Chaus reported.

In Donetsk Oblast, one person was killed in Rodynske and five more injured across the region, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. The region remains a primary target of Russian artillery and air strikes amid ongoing ground assaults.

Kharkiv Oblast recorded 20 injuries from Russian attacks, including four children in the city of Kharkiv — a 7-year-old boy, a 9-year-old girl, and two 13-year-old girls — Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. In Izium, a 38-year-old man was injured by the explosion of an unidentified object.

In Kherson Oblast, two people were killed and 10 others wounded, with Russia targeting residential neighborhoods and social infrastructure, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.

In Sumy Oblast, two civilians were wounded after Russian forces used drones and KAB guided bombs to strike civilian areas, the regional Military Administration said.

In Mykolaiv Oblast, Russia hit a civilian minibus with a first-person-view (FPV) drone, injuring a 70-year-old man, Governor Vitalii Kim said.

In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, two people were wounded as Russian troops carried out 428 strikes on 14 settlements over the past 24 hours, Governor Ivan Fedorov reported.

Kyiv has consistently urged Moscow to accept a Western-backed 30-day ceasefire proposal, which Ukrainian officials see as a prerequisite for broader peace talks. The Kremlin has rejected the proposal thus far.

Putin rejects Zelensky’s call for peace talks, accuses Ukraine of deadly bridge attack in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4 accused Ukraine of being governed by a terrorist regime that deliberately targets civilians and claimed it is continuing to lose the war. He rejected the possibility of holding talks.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his country’s full support for Russia’s war against Ukraine during a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu in Pyongyang, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported on June 5.

Kim reportedly told Shoigu that North Korea “unconditionally supports the stand of Russia and its foreign policies.” He also emphasized Pyongyang’s continued commitment to the 2024 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement signed with Moscow.

That treaty, signed by Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 19, 2024, commits both countries to provide assistance if either is attacked. Kim previously described the pact as having a “peaceful and defensive nature,” framing it as a formal security guarantee between the longtime partners.

Shoigu, on his second visit to Pyongyang since being appointed secretary of the Russian Security Council, reportedly discussed battlefield developments in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, including the role of North Korean soldiers deployed in the region.

According to the Russian Security Council’s official readout, the two sides discussed “perpetuating the memory of the feat of Korean soldiers."

Officials estimate that up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk Oblast since last fall to counter Ukraine’s cross-border incursion launched in August 2024.

President Volodymyr Zelensky previously reported that North Korean forces fighting for Russia had suffered 4,000 casualties, with two-thirds of the losses being soldiers killed.

Shoigu, who served as Russia’s defense minister until his dismissal in May 2024, now oversees national security matters as secretary of the Russian Security Council.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Shoigu on June 25, 2024, for his role in leading Russia’s war effort.

Putin rejects Zelensky’s call for peace talks, accuses Ukraine of deadly bridge attack in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4 accused Ukraine of being governed by a terrorist regime that deliberately targets civilians and claimed it is continuing to lose the war. He rejected the possibility of holding talks.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

A joint Ukrainian-American investment fund tied to the countries' minerals agreement could begin operations by the end of 2025, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said June 4, according to Reuters.

The fund is a central component of the bilateral mineral resources agreement signed April 30, which grants the U.S. special access to projects developing Ukraine’s vast reserves of strategic minerals, including lithium, titanium and rare earth elements.

On June 4, Svyrydenko met in Washington with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and officials from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which will serve as the American partner in the fund’s management.

“We discussed very concrete steps how to make this fund operational during this year,” Svyrydenko said in Washington. We plan to have the first board meeting of this fund in July, and we will discuss what will be the seed capital to start operating this fund."

The Reconstruction Investment Fund will be jointly managed by the DFC and Ukraine’s Public-Private Partnerships Agency. While both governments have withheld operational specifics, the fund is expected to serve as a long-term vehicle for Ukraine’s postwar recovery.

Kyiv launched the fund on May 23, after months of negotiations that strained ties with Washington. Negotiations led to the removal of controversial provisions Ukrainian officials feared could allow for exploitation of Ukraine’s resources.

The Ukrainian parliament approved the necessary amendments to the Budget Code on June 4 to allow for national revenue streams — including rent payments, subsoil permit proceeds, and production-sharing revenues — to be redirected to the fund.

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the ratified minerals agreement on May 12. Two additional operational agreements were signed on May 13 to facilitate the fund’s launch.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal previously said that future U.S. military assistance could count as contributions to the fund, but clarified that past aid would not be included.

Despite lacking explicit security guarantees from the U.S. — a key priority for Kyiv — the agreement signals a new phase in U.S.-Ukraine economic cooperation.

Putin rejects Zelensky’s call for peace talks, accuses Ukraine of deadly bridge attack in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4 accused Ukraine of being governed by a terrorist regime that deliberately targets civilians and claimed it is continuing to lose the war. He rejected the possibility of holding talks.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

Russia has lost around 992,750 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on June 5.

The number includes 930 casualties that Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

According to the report, Russia has also lost 10,887 tanks, 22,680 armored fighting vehicles, 50,812 vehicles and fuel tanks, 28,750 artillery systems, 1,406 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,177 air defense systems, 413 airplanes, 336 helicopters, 39,019 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.

Putin’s ‘disregard’ for troops highlighted as Russian losses approach 1 million, CSIS report shows

The total number of military casualties on both sides is nearing 1.4 million, including approximately 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed or injured.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

A Russian drone strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Pryluky overnight on June 5 killed at least five civilians, including a one-year-old child, and injured six others, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported.

The attack, which hit residential neighborhoods, sparked large fires and left multiple homes in ruins. Chernihiv Oblast Governor Viacheslav Chaus said at least six Iranian-designed Shahed-136 drones were used in the assault.

“Five deaths have been confirmed so far, including two women and a one-year-old child who were found under the rubble,” Chaus said. “Police, rescuers, and other emergency services are working at the sites of enemy strikes."

Emergency crews worked through the night to extinguish the fires. The State Emergency Service said the strike completely destroyed two residential buildings, two garages, a farm building, and a car.

Chaus added that six people were hospitalized and are receiving urgent care.

Pryluky, located in Chernihiv Oblast, lies in northern Ukraine near the border with Russia and Belarus. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, it had a population of roughly 51,500.

The deadly attack is part of a broader campaign of drone and missile strikes by Russia targeting civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.

Ukraine’s northern regions, including Chernihiv, have been targeted in recent weeks as Russian forces escalate their air campaign despite mounting international calls for a ceasefire.

Russian missile, drone attack on Kharkiv injures 17, including 4 children

Russian missile and drone attacks on the city of Kharkiv overnight on June 5 injured 17 people, including four children, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.

The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat

Two U.S. officials told Reuters on June 4 that Ukraine struck as many as 20 Russian military aircraft during Operation Spiderweb, destroying around 10 of them.

The claims stands in contrast with estimates made by Ukraine’s security service (SBU) which claimed more than 40 aircraft were hit in the June 1 attack.

A source in the SBU told the Kyiv Independent on June 1 that Ukrainian first-person-view (FPV) drones smuggled deep inside Russian and hidden inside trucks has hit 41 Russian heavy bombers at four airfields across the country.

The attacks rendered a significant number of aircraft irreparable, with others expected to take years to restore. The strikes targeted four key airfields—Olenya, Ivanovo, Dyagilevo, and Belaya—used by Russian strategic aviation involved in bombing Ukrainian cities.

The SBU claimed the operation caused approximately $7 billion in damage and disabled one third of Russia’s cruise missile bombers.

The Kyiv Independent cannot independently verify the claims made by Ukrainian or U.S. officials.

The SBU on June 4 released new footage from its Operation Spiderweb, showing targeted strikes on Russian strategic aircraft across multiple airfields. From the footage, it is not immediately clear as to how many aircraft were destroyed.

Kyiv did not inform U.S. President Donald Trump about the operation ahead of its execution, and President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 4 that Ukraine would not have carried out its drone strikes on Russian strategic bombers if Russia had agreed to a ceasefire.

Trump held an hour and 15 minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4, which Trump described as a “good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace."

“President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” Trump added, without making further comments regarding the “response” and did not say whether the U.S. had urged restraint.

Trump’s Special Envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, warned that the attack could lead to escalations in the full-scale war.

“I’m telling you the risk levels are going way up,” Kellogg told Fox News on June 3. “When you attack an opponent’s part of their national survival system, which is their nuclear triad, that means your risk level goes up because you don’t know what the other side’s going to do."

Ukraine’s drone strike followed several days of Russian escalation as Moscow launched some of the heaviest aerial attacks in the full-scale war over a span of three nights. Operation Spiderweb targeted some of the very bombers that rained destruction on Ukrainian cities and civilian targets.

Putin ‘will have to respond’ to Ukraine’s attack on Russian bombers, Trump says after call with Kremlin chief

Trump said he spoke to Putin over the phone for an hour and 15 minutes on June 4 and that it was “a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace.”

The Kyiv IndependentAbbey Fenbert

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is redirecting anti-drone technology earmarked for Ukraine to its own troops based in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on June 4.

According to the WSJ, special fuzes used in ground-to-air rocket systems that protect against drone attacks will be redirected towards units in the Middle East, as the U.S. braces for conflict with Iran as well as Houthi militants in Yemen.

The Pentagon notified Congress last week in a previously undisclosed message that the redirection of the fuzes, used in Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, was identified by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as an “urgent issue.”

The fuzes were initially bought for Ukraine by the Biden administration.

The decision comes as Russia has intensified its drone attacks in recent months, targeting cities across Ukraine. On the night of June 1, Russia launched its largest swarm of attack drones since the start of the full-scale invasion, topping out at 472 total units at once.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 4 that Russia has launched over 20,000 drones towards Ukraine since the start of 2025.

A source in Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent on June 4 that Russia will soon be able to deploy more than 500 long-range drones a night to attack Ukraine as it ramps up production and builds new launch sites for them.

Since the start of his presidency, Trump has been critical of providing Ukraine with additional military aid. The U.S. temporarily halted military supplies for Ukraine in March before restarting them after Kyiv agreed to the truce plan during talks in Jeddah on March 11.

Hegseth, who reportedly ordered a temporary halt of military aid flights to Ukraine, has also been critical of providing additional aid to Kyiv. Earlier in the day on June 4, Hegseth did not attend a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, marking the first instance since the start of the full-scale war that the U.S. Defense Secretary was not in attendance.

Since Trump’s second term began in January, no new aid packages have been approved.

Following a call on June 4 with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said that Putin “will have to respond” to Ukraine’s recent drone attack on military airfields.

Ukraine has called upon its partners to invest more in its arms production and to provide additional air defenses, namely Patriot systems, to help fend off intensifying Russian aerial attacks.

Trump urges Senate to postpone vote on Russia sanctions bill, Senator says

U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the Senate to delay voting on a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, Republican Senator Roger Wicker said on June 4.

The Kyiv IndependentSonya Bandouil

Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Russian missile and drone attacks on the city of Kharkiv overnight on June 5 injured 17 people, including two children, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.

At least two high-rise buildings in the Slobodsky district of the city were struck by attack drones, Syniehubov said.

Two 13-year-old girls were injured in the attack, as well as a pregnant woman. A 93-year-old woman also sustained injuries. No information was provided on the extent of the injuries sustained by victims.

The full extent of the damage was not immediately clear as rescue workers continue to work on-scene.

Several vehicles were also damaged in the attack, according to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

Russia has launched repeated large-scale aerial assaults against Ukraine in recent days. On the night of June 1, Russia launched its largest swarm of attack drones since the start of the full-scale invasion, topping out at 472 total units at once.

On June 2, Russian drone and missile attacks on Kharkiv injured six people, including a child.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 4 that Russia launched approximately 48,600 aerial attacks since the start of 2025.

Kharkiv Oblast in northeastern Ukraine is a regular target of Russian missile, drone, and glide bomb attacks. Russia has frequently attacked densely populated neighborhoods in the city of Kharkiv, hitting residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.

Russia launches over 48,000 aerial attacks on Ukraine in 6 months, Zelensky says

Zelensky said on social media that Russia launched nearly 27,700 aerial bombs, 11,200 Shahed drones, approximately 9,000 other types of attack drones, and over 700 missiles at Ukraine in 2025.

The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat

Russia launched approximately 48,600 aerial attacks since the start of 2025, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 4.

Zelensky said on social media that Russia has launched nearly 27,700 aerial bombs, 11,200 Shahed drones, approximately 9,000 other types of attack drones, and over 700 missiles at Ukraine in 2025.

Russia has intensified its aerial attacks in recent months, targeting Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones. On the night of June 1, Russia launched its largest swarm of attack drones since the start of the full-scale invasion, topping out at 472 total units at once.

For three consecutive days over May 24-26, Russia launched one of the heaviest attacks of the war to date with a series of mass drone and missile attacks at Ukrainian cities, during which more than 600 drones and dozens of missiles were launched.

The significant uptick in attacks comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to mediate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Despite two rounds of negotiations, Russia has continued to reject a ceasefire.

“Russia has restructured its entire state, society, and economy to be able to kill people in other countries on a massive scale and with impunity,” Zelensky added. “It means, that with every new strike, with every delay of diplomacy, Russia is giving the finger to the entire world — to all those who still hesitate to increase pressure on it."

A source in Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent on June 4 that Russia will soon be able to deploy more than 500 long-range drones a night to attack Ukraine as it ramps up production and builds new launch sites for them.

According to the source, Russia’s production rate for one type of drone — Shahed-type Gerans — is up to 70 units per day, from a reported 21 a day last year, and Moscow will soon have 12-15 new launch sites in operation.

Putin rejects Zelensky’s call for peace talks, accuses Ukraine of deadly bridge attack in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 4 accused Ukraine of being governed by a terrorist regime that deliberately targets civilians and claimed it is continuing to lose the war. He rejected the possibility of holding talks.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the Senate to delay voting on a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, Senator Roger Wicker said on June 4.

“I know that he (Trump) asked the leader (Senate Majority Leader John Thune) not to bring the bill to a vote this week,” Wicker told reporters.

The bill, introduced on April 1 by Senators Lindsey Graham (R) and Richard Blumenthal (D), seeks to impose a 500% tariff on imports from countries that continue purchasing Russian oil and raw materials.

Its aim is to tighten economic pressure on Russia and discourage third-party nations from enabling the Kremlin’s energy exports.

The legislation currently has broad bipartisan support, with 82 out of 100 U.S. senators backing it. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson also voiced his support for the bill.

Previously, Trump said he had not yet imposed new sanctions on Russia because he believed a peace deal might be within reach.

“If I think I’m close to getting a deal, I don’t want to screw it up by doing that,” he said on May 28, but added he is prepared to act if Moscow stalls further.

The Senate was expected to begin considering the bill this week, prior to the request made by Trump.

European leaders shift focus to defending Ukraine without US support, the Telegraph reports

According to the Telegraph, senior European diplomats meeting in The Hague agreed to shift their focus from deploying troops to enforce a ceasefire to preparing long-term strategies for supporting Ukraine without American backing.

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir

Russia aims to deploy 10,000 troops to Transnistria and install a pro-Kremlin government in Moldova to enable it, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean told the Financial Times in an interview published June 4.

“They want to consolidate their military presence in the Transnistrian region,” Recean said, adding that Russia’s goal is to increase leverage not only near Ukraine’s southwest but also close to NATO member Romania.

Although Russia has maintained a limited military presence in Transnistria since the 1990s, only 1,000-1,500 troops remain today.

“Currently, their forces there are almost meaningless,” Recean noted.

However, he warned that a Russia-leaning government in Chisinau could authorize a buildup, citing Moldovan intelligence estimates for the 10,000-troop target.

Recean accused Russia of meddling in Moldova’s upcoming parliamentary elections through propaganda, illegal financing, and “spending the equivalent of 1% of Moldova’s GDP” on influence operations in 2024.

He said Moldovan authorities had intercepted citizens carrying large sums of Russian cash and discovered that 130,000 voters in the previous election received money from Russian sources.

“This is a huge effort to undermine Moldovan democracy,” Recean said, affirming that Moldova remains committed to becoming an EU member.”

The Kremlin has not publicly responded to these allegations.

Transnistria is a Russia-controlled breakaway region of Moldova that Moscow occupied in the early 1990s under the pretext of protecting the Russian population.

The region borders Ukraine’s Odesa Oblast and is internationally recognized as part of Moldova.

Polish PM Tusk blames Russian hackers for cyberattacks ahead of presidential election

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the cyberattacks hit the website of his Civic Platform party, as well as those of its coalition partners, the Left and the Polish People’s Party (PSL).

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir

Russia wants the Vatican to “take a more active role” in advocating for what it described as freedom of religion in Ukraine, specifically for members of the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Kremlin said in a statement on June 4 following recent diplomatic contacts.

Russia’s war and occupation of large swaths of Ukraine have led to hundreds of churches being damaged or destroyed, dozens of priests killed or kidnapped, and entire religious groups that don’t conform to Moscow’s brand of Orthodoxy being banned - all while promoting the Kremlin-controlled Russian Orthodox Church.

Sixty-seven clergy members of various faiths have been killed between the start of Russia’s all-out war in 2022 and February 2025, the Foreign Ministry said in April, citing the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance.

Moscow has also been suppressing independent Ukrainian churches and other religions, including the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, Protestant and Muslim groups, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, according to Ukrainian officials.

Putin also noted that “that the Kyiv regime is banking on escalating the conflict and is carrying out sabotage against civilian infrastructure sites on Russian territory,” the statement read.

The Kremlin also expressed gratitude to the Pope for the Vatican’s readiness to assist in resolving what it called the “crisis” (referring to Russia’s war against Ukraine) particularly on humanitarian issues handled “on a depoliticised basis.” Putin also reportedly noted a progress in recent direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials regarding prisoner exchanges and the return of fallen soldiers' bodies.

The Kyiv Independent’s latest documentary “No God but Theirs” examines the systematic persecution of Ukrainian Christians in Melitopol — a city in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast, occupied by Russia since February 2022.

The film details how both Protestant and Catholic churches were banned and dispossessed of all property by occupying Russian forces. Clergy were either deported or compelled to flee under threat, while others were falsely accused by Russian propaganda of storing weapons and ammunition. As a result, many members of the religious community were forced to practice their faith in secrecy.

The Kyiv Independent spoke with four Christian leaders from Melitopol: Bishop Dmytro Bodyu of the Pentecostal Church “Word of Life,” Father Oleksandr Bohomaz of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and Pastors Mykhailo Brytsyn and Ihor Ivashchuk of the Baptist Church “Grace” whose testimonies provide new details of Russia’s targeted repression of Ukrainian Christians.

Watch more here: