Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a Belarusian oppositionist recently released from prison, thanked the U.S. on June 22 for brokering his release and appealed to President Donald Trump to help free other political prisoners in Belarus.

"President Trump now has the power and opportunity to free all political prisoners in Belarus with a single word. And I ask him to do so, to say that word," Tsikhanouski said in Vilnius during his first press conference after the release.

Tsikhanouski, a popular blogger who planned to challenge Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, was arrested shortly before the vote and later sentenced to 18 years in prison on politically motivated charges.

The opposition leader and at least 13 other detainees were released from Belarusian prisons on June 21 after Lukashenko met U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, in Minsk.

Speaking at the press conference alongside his wife and opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Tsikhanouski affirmed that both of them "will continue to support Ukraine and call all of the perpetrators accountable."

Tsikhanouski confirmed that he used to do business both in Ukraine and in Russia but refuted allegations of pro-Russian sympathies, affirming his support for Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"I believe Crimea is Ukrainian. Zelensky has the hardest fate and a heavy load that no other president has. Zelensky is my hero," Tsikhanouski said.

He also said that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya remains the leader of the Belarusian opposition, and he will not challenge that.

Tsikhanouskaya stepped in as the opposition candidate in 2020 after her husband's arrest, but was forced into exile after Lukashenko declared victory in what was broadly seen as massive election fraud.

"Do you think that anybody who serves in prison automatically becomes a leader? We have 1,200 such leaders," Tsikhanouski added, referring to the number of political prisoners who remain in prison under Lukashenko's regime.

"Belarus can't be free until the Putin regime collapses. If it wasn't for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, we would not be sitting here; it would have been over (after the Belarus' popular protests against Lukashenko) in 2020-2021," Tsikhanouski said.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, is a close ally of Putin and has allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory for military operations against Ukraine.

The Belarusian dictator has maintained a tight grip over his country by electoral fraud, surveillance, and brutal crackdown on free press, civil society, and political opposition, prompting Western countries to impose sanctions on Belarus.

Russia ‘afraid to admit’ scale of losses, trying to hide by dumping soldiers’ bodies on Ukraine, Zelensky says

Ukrainian authorities have confirmed that at least 20 of the bodies Russia returned as Ukrainian were actually Russian soldiers, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

Ukraine's diplomatic corps and military intelligence (HUR) evacuated 176 Ukrainian and foreign citizens from Israel to Egypt ahead of U.S. attacks on Iran, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on June 22.

"Evacuation efforts are also ongoing from Iran to Azerbaijan," Zelensky said on X after the U.S. launched air strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities, joining Israel's campaign against Iran's nuclear program.

The foreign nationals evacuated by Ukraine included citizens of the U.S., Moldova, Latvia, Azerbaijan, and Estonia.

"We are responding to every request and will continue evacuation efforts," Zelensky added.

The latest chapter of hostilities between Iran and Israel began with Israeli air strikes against the Iranian nuclear program and military leaders on June 13. Israel has accused Iran of developing a nuclear weapon, a claim that Tehran denied.

U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly hopes that the U.S. attacks will push the Iranian leadership to the negotiating table, as the conflict was preceded by Trump's efforts to find a diplomatic solution to Tehran's nuclear aspirations.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry announced already on June 18 that evacuations of Ukrainian citizens from Iran and Israel are being prepared.

According to the Iranian Health Ministry, over 400 Iranians have been killed and over 3,000 wounded in Israeli attacks. In turn, at least 29 Israeli citizens have been killed and 900 injured in Iranian attacks.

Russia pulls its scientists out of Iranian nuclear plant, as Israeli strikes threaten decades of collaboration

Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities have alarmed none more than Russia, the country that first brought nuclear power to Iran in defiance of Western objections. We’re “millimeters from catastrophe,” said Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on June 18 in response to a bombing campaign that Israel launched against

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post

Moscow condemned on June 22 the recent U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, calling them a violation of international law and Iran's sovereignty, a statement in stark contrast to Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on June 21 that the U.S. air strikes targeted three nuclear sites in Iran, Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan, joining Israel's campaign against Iran's nuclear program amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

"The irresponsible decision to subject the territory of a sovereign state to missile and bomb strikes, no matter what arguments are used, is grossly violating international law, the U.N. Charter, and the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also warned of possible radiological consequences, despite Moscow's own record of repeatedly placing nuclear facilities at risk during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and threatening to use nuclear weapons.

Russia and Iran are close strategic partners, with Tehran providing Moscow with ballistic missiles and thousands of Shahed attack drones for its war against Ukraine.

Moscow has diplomatically backed Iran after Israel launched the initial air strikes against Iranian military and nuclear targets on June 13, an operation that sparked further waves of aerial attacks from both sides.

In its statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry urged a response from the U.N. Security Council, saying that "the confrontational actions of the U.S. and Israel must be collectively rejected."

"Of particular concern is the damage caused by the attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities to the global non-proliferation regime based on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)."

Israel has increasingly warned that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, an assertion backed by Trump despite U.S. intelligence previously disputing the claim. Tehran has rejected having a nuclear weapons program.

Though Trump announced a complete "obliteration" of Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities in the recent attacks, the scale of damage is not immediately clear. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had detected no increase in radiation at the targeted sites, while the Iranian state media and officials sought to downplay the damage.

Iran has called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council in the wake of the attacks. Both the U.S. and Russia hold a permanent seat and a veto power in the council.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump for the operation, saying, "First comes strength, then comes peace. And tonight, (President Donald) Trump and the United States acted with a lot of strength.

In turn, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the U.S. "has committed a grave violation of the U.N. Charter, international law and the NPT by attacking Iran's peaceful nuclear installations."

Washington's European partners have issued cautious responses to the U.S. attacks, calling for a diplomatic resolution while affirming that Iran's nuclear program is a danger to international security.

"Iran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, as it would be a threat to international security," top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas said on X.

"I urge all sides to step back, return to the negotiating table, and prevent further escalation."

Russia pulls its scientists out of Iranian nuclear plant, as Israeli strikes threaten decades of collaboration

Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities have alarmed none more than Russia, the country that first brought nuclear power to Iran in defiance of Western objections. We’re “millimeters from catastrophe,” said Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on June 18 in response to a bombing campaign that Israel launched against

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post

Russian forces are attempting to advance along almost the entire front in eastern Ukraine while trying to establish a buffer zone in northeastern Sumy Oblast, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told journalists on June 21.

The comments come as Moscow launched a new summer offensive against Ukraine, disregarding calls by Kyiv and its Western partners for an unconditional ceasefire.

The offensive's goal is to reach the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in the east, and create a buffer zone in the border areas of the Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts, Syrskyi said at a meeting attended by the Kyiv Independent.

As of mid-June, Ukrainian defenders are fighting close to 695,000 Russian troops in Ukraine across a 1,200-kilometer (750-mile) front, the commander said, adding that Moscow recruited about 440,000 contract soldiers this year.

According to the open-source intelligence group DeepState, Russian forces occupied approximately 449 square kilometers (173 square miles) in May, the highest monthly figure this year.

Ukraine has managed to stop the Russian advance in Sumy Oblast at the moment, Syrskyi noted. "The situation there has been stabilized... we have recaptured Andriivka, and advanced between 200 and 700 meters in Yunakivka in a week," he said.

Russian forces are also attempting to fully oust Ukrainian troops from Russia's home territory in the Kursk and Belgorod oblasts.

"We control about 90 square kilometers (35 square miles) in the Glushkovsky district of Russia's Kursk Oblast," Syrskyi said.

Ukraine launched the cross-border offensive into Kursk Oblast — bordering Ukraine's Sumy Oblast — last August, initially seizing 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) but losing the vast majority of this territory in a Russian counteroffensive earlier this year.

Moscow initially declared to have fully liberated the region on April 26, but this claim was rejected by Ukraine and later disputed by Russian officials themselves.

Kyiv has said the incursion was meant to preempt a Russian offensive into Sumy Oblast and force Russia to redirect troops fighting in Donetsk Oblast.

Syrskyi stressed that at one point, the Kursk operation drew in almost 63,000 Russian soldiers, which, in addition to North Korean soldiers, amounted to about 70,000 troops deployed in the region.

"In April 2025, Russian units – and this, I remind you once again, is about 60 thousand people... were tasked with moving to new sectors and reinforcing Russian assault groups in the Pokrovsk, Toretsk, Lyman, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson directions," Syrskyi said.

"But our actions in the Glushkovsky district of Russia's Kursk Oblast thwarted these plans." At the moment, about 10,000 Russian soldiers are fighting in the Glushkovsky district, the commander added.

Syrskyi also said Russian assault units approached the administrative border of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast but were thrown back.

"As for our plans and intentions. Of course, we will not simply remain in a blind defense... Therefore, we combine defensive actions with active defense and active offensive operations," Syrskyi said.

For this purpose, the Ukrainian military is scaling up its assault units, which were created at the beginning of the Kursk operation and are currently deployed in all areas of the front, he added.

Russia pulls its scientists out of Iranian nuclear plant, as Israeli strikes threaten decades of collaboration

Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities have alarmed none more than Russia, the country that first brought nuclear power to Iran in defiance of Western objections. We’re “millimeters from catastrophe,” said Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on June 18 in response to a bombing campaign that Israel launched against

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post

Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russian territory between January and May have cost Russia over $10 billion, including $1.3 billion in direct damage to industrial facilities and infrastructure, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told journalists on June 21.

The indirect damage caused by the disruption of Russian industrial activities is estimated at $9.5 billion, putting the cost-to-result ratio of Ukrainian deep strikes at 1:15, Syrskyi said at a briefing attended by the Kyiv Independent.

Kyiv has ramped up drone attacks against Russian military and industrial sites far behind the border as part of its DeepStrike strategy, seeking to undermine Moscow's ability to wage war.

The attacks targeted Russia's oil refining sector, the fuel and lubricants facilities, energy and transport support, and strategic lines of communication.

"Remember that during negotiations, the Russian side listed a halt to strikes against the oil refining industry as one of the conditions. This shows that our strikes are truly effective," Syrskyi said.

Oil and gas exports are among Russia's key revenue sources and play a crucial role in sustaining its war effort.

"Of course, we will continue (attacking deep inside Russian territory). We will increase the scale and the depth," the commander added, stressing that the attacks target solely military facilities.

Ukraine has increased the production of long-range drones with the support of Western partners and developed new tactics in striking Russia behind the lines.

In one of the most audacious attacks, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on June 1 struck dozens of Russian bombers and other aircraft across four different air bases in an operation dubbed Spiderweb. SBU drones were smuggled to Russia in trucks and then deployed to attack airfields thousands of kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border.

Russia ‘afraid to admit’ scale of losses, trying to hide by dumping soldiers’ bodies on Ukraine, Zelensky says

Ukrainian authorities have confirmed that at least 20 of the bodies Russia returned as Ukrainian were actually Russian soldiers, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

Editor's note: The article was updated after three bodies were found in Kramatorsk following a Russian attack.

Russian strikes across Ukrainian regions killed at least seven civilians and injured at least 23 over the past day, regional authorities reported on June 22.

Russia launched two Iskander-M or North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles, an S-300 anti-aircraft missile, and 47 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy drones against Ukraine overnight, primarily targeting Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine's Air Force said.

Ukrainian air defenses reportedly shot down 18 drones, while 10 disappeared from radars or were intercepted by electronic warfare. Seven hits by Russian aerial weapons were recorded overnight in Chernihiv, Sumy, and Odesa oblasts.

In Chernihiv Oblast, a civilian was killed in a Russian drone attack against the Nizhyn district, Governor Viacheslav Chaus reported.

In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Russian drone and artillery attacks against the Nikopol district injured seven people and damaged multiple houses and civilian infrastructure, Governor Serhii Lysak reported. A 63-year-old man has been hospitalized and is in moderate condition.

Russian attacks across Donetsk Oblast killed three people and injured 13, according to Governor Vadym Filashkin and the media. This included a civilian killed and three injured in Sloviansk, and another killed and two injured in Kostiantynivka.

Later on June 22, emergency workers found four bodies of people killed when a Russian missile hit a four-story residential building in Kramatorsk. Four people were injured, and one other resident may be trapped under the rubble, the State Emergency Service said.

In Kharkiv Oblast, a Russian attack killed a 77-year-old man in the village of Staryi Saltiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Russian attacks against Kherson Oblast wounded three civilians, said the regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin. Five multi-story apartment buildings and 11 houses were damaged.

Russia ‘afraid to admit’ scale of losses, trying to hide by dumping soldiers’ bodies on Ukraine, Zelensky says

Ukrainian authorities have confirmed that at least 20 of the bodies Russia returned as Ukrainian were actually Russian soldiers, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy