Ukrainian intelligence operatives destroyed an electrical substation in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on 14 June, cutting power to military and industrial facilities in the surrounding area.

The HUR carried out the operation at approximately 4 a.m. local time. Agents drained cooling fluid from a power transformer at the industrial substation before igniting it, sources told the Ukrainian news outlets Hromadske and Ukrainska Pravda.

The resulting fire damaged the transformer and disrupted electricity supply to nearby Russian enterprises, including facilities belonging to the country’s military-industrial complex and armed forces. A HUR source estimated the financial damage from the sabotage at nearly $5 million.

“Russia no longer has a rear, neither in the east, nor in the west, nor at any point on the planet. Russian assets involved in the war against Ukraine will burn, sink and be destroyed regardless of protection level or location,” the HUR source said, according to Hromadske.

Neither Russian authorities nor local officials have publicly confirmed the power outage or provided details about the incident’s impact on regional infrastructure.

On 1 June, Ukraine also conducted a surprise drone operation, called Spiderweb, destroying or damaging  41 Russian military planes on four key airfields, with damage estimated at over $7 billion. It involved launching 117 first-person view (FPV) drones that were smuggled into Russia and hidden in trucks. The operation took 18 months to plan and execute.

Ukrainian officials report that Russia is expanding its presence and influence across Africa through educational programs and youth initiatives designed to cultivate political leaders and “cultural elite” favorable to Moscow.

According to Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Russia maintains government-funded university quotas specifically for African students. The programs focus on agriculture, engineering, education, and medicine, with students receiving state-sponsored education in Russian institutions.

“African education and sports are increasingly being used by the aggressor state as instruments of hybrid influence aimed at forming a new generation of political and managerial elites loyal to the Kremlin,” Yusov stated.

The intelligence assessment indicates that Russia plans to establish Russian language courses at major African universities alongside professional development programs for local educators. The long-term objective involves synchronizing African educational curricula with Russian Federation standards.

This educational strategy represents part of what Ukrainian officials describe as an effort to embed Russian perspectives within African education systems permanently. 

Pushkin’s days in Africa

Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation also reported that Russia utilized celebrations of poet Alexander Pushkin’s birthday to advance its influence campaign. Events marking the occasion occurred in several African capitals on 11 June, organized by Rossotrudnichestvo, Russia’s state agency for international cooperation.

According to the Center, these cultural events served dual purposes. While featuring poetry recitations and Russian language instruction, the gatherings also included anti-Western messaging and justifications for Russian foreign policy decisions.

“‘Pushkin days’ are just a façade that Russia uses to cover its true intentions of increasing its influence in Africa. By holding such events, Russia presents itself as a supposedly powerful country with a great culture, while simultaneously fostering a negative perception of the ‘collective West,'” the Center writes.

Russia is providing North Korea with technology to produce Shahed kamikaze drones and has dramatically improved the accuracy of Pyongyang’s ballistic missiles, potentially shifting the military balance on the Korean peninsula, Ukraine’s spymaster reported.

Technology transfer reshapes regional security

Lt-Gen Kyrylo Budanov, commander of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR), revealed in an interview with The War Zone that Russia and North Korea have reached agreements to establish drone production capabilities on North Korean territory.

“[There are] agreements on the beginning of the creation of capabilities to produce UAVs of the Garpiya and Geran (the Russian designation for Iranian Shahed 131 and Shahed 136 drones, – Ed.) types on the territory of North Korea,” Budanov stated. “It will for sure bring changes in the military balance in the region between North Korea and South Korea.”

The Shahed family of drones has been the most prolific long-range aerial threat to Ukraine throughout the war. Russia currently produces approximately 2,000 units monthly with plans to increase production to 5,000 per month, according to The War Zone.

Dramatic missile improvements through Russian assistance

The technology transfer extends beyond drone production. Budanov revealed that North Korean KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, also known as Hwasong-11, have been transformed from unreliable weapons into precision strike systems through Russian assistance.

“Initially, with the beginning of the transfer to Russia, they were flying with a deviation of a few kilometers, but now they are exactly hitting the target,” Budanov explained. “This is the result of the common work of Russian and North Korean specialists.”

Nuclear and submarine technology included

Russia is assisting North Korea’s nuclear weapons program by solving critical problems with missile carriers and submarine-based launch systems. According to Budanov, North Korea previously struggled with these delivery systems, but Russian specialists are now providing solutions.

The intelligence chief pointed to the dramatic transformation of KN-23 missiles as proof – weapons that initially arrived are now completely different in their technical characteristics, with accuracy improved multiple times. The cooperation extends to upgrading aviation systems, including long-range air-to-air missiles, and submarine technologies for nuclear-armed ballistic missiles.

North Korean military presence in Russia, and labor migrants as potential military recruits

Budanov confirmed that approximately 11,000 North Korean troops are currently deployed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. North Korea has supplied extensive armaments to support Russia’s war effort, including 122mm D-74 howitzers, 107mm infantry multiple launch rocket systems, 240mm MLRS, and 170mm M1989 Koksan self-propelled artillery guns.

Regarding the Koksan artillery, Budanov noted Russia received 120 units and expects more deliveries, describing them as unfortunately effective long-range weapons performing well in combat.

Following Shoigu’s visit, Russia will import North Korean workers to replace Central Asian migrants deemed security risks. These workers could potentially become “Russian warriors, but of North Korean nationality” through military contracts.

HUR is now determining the program’s scope.

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Russia’s production of Shahed drones and their imitators reached approximately 170 units per day as of May 2025, Ukrainska Pravda reported on 4 June, citing Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR).

The country plans to increase this output to 190 drones daily by the end of the year, according to the GUR.

The intelligence agency said that drone technology has evolved significantly since 2022. “The configurations of the Shahed in 2022 and 2025 differ substantially,” GUR reported, highlighting several key modifications introduced over the past year alone.

Russia has substantially modified the drones’ warheads beyond standard high-explosive and fragmentation variants. Shaheds now carry combined cumulative-fragmentation-high-explosive warheads, as well as cumulative-fragmentation-high-explosive-incendiary versions, according to GUR. The intelligence directorate explains that different warhead types are selected for specific targets to maximize damage.

The explosive payload has increased from 50 to 90 kilograms, according to GUR. Some drones now feature Starlink terminals, enabling real-time control of the aircraft.

Foreign journalists recently reported possible connections between Shaheds and Ukrainian mobile networks. The Economist claimed that Russian drones operate through Telegram bots using Ukrainian SIM cards. However, Ukrainian military radio technology specialist Serhiy Flash later refuted this information.

Russia has upgraded its electronic warfare resistance technology on Shaheds, according to GUR. The country began protecting signal receivers with specialized CRPA antennas capable of ignoring false satellite signals.

Russia received its first hundreds of Shaheds from Iran in 2022. By summer 2023, the country began independent production of these drones at a facility located 1,200 kilometers from the front line in the Alabuga special economic zone in Yelabuga city. The plant produces a localized version of the Iranian drone under the designation Geran-2.

Drones play a crucial role in the Russo-Ukraine war by providing real-time intelligence, conducting precision strikes, disrupting logistics, and supporting frontline troops, with Ukraine leveraging mass-produced, low-cost drones to inflict significant damage on Russian forces and infrastructure. Both sides employ a wide variety of drones for reconnaissance, attack, electronic warfare, and supply missions, fundamentally reshaping the battlefield and warfare tactics.

Ukraine’s foreign intelligence chief Oleh Ivashchenko says that Belarus has nuclear weapon carriers but no actual nuclear weapons on its territory. The same applies to Oreshnik missile systems.

Ivashchenko said this in his first interview since Russia’s full-scale invasion to Ukrinform news agency.

The Ukrainian intelligence chief confirmed that delivery systems exist in Belarus. “Carriers are there. This is true. There are aircraft, there are Iskander tactical missile systems. But there are no actual nuclear weapons in Belarus. This is a fact,” Ivashchenko said.

Belarus is preparing storage facilities for nuclear weapons, the intelligence chief reports. Construction work continues at these sites.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko claims his country will receive Oreshnik systems by the end of the year. Ivashchenko questions this timeline.

“This looks like wishful thinking. Today there is nothing like that, and it is unlikely to appear,” the intelligence service head said.

Russia and Belarus signed agreements on tactical nuclear weapons deployment in May 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the following month that some Russian nuclear weapons were already in Belarus.

Lukashenko ordered the development of nuclear weapons use algorithms in late June 2023. These procedures would govern weapons stationed by Russia.

In January 2025, Lukashenko said Belarus would receive Oreshnik missile systems “any day now.” He claimed Belarus would initially get ten Oreshnik complexes from Russia. The number could increase if Russia decides to provide more systems.