Vladimir Putin is facing deepening strategic isolation as Israel’s military offensive against Iran threatens to unravel a key alliance underpinning Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, writes Con Coughlin, Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor at The Telegraph.

In a sharply worded column, Coughlin argues that “Putin’s primary concern… will be the impact that Israel’s continuing assault on Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure will have on Tehran’s ability to continue its support for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.”

Since last week, Israeli forces have launched targeted strikes against Iranian missile and drone production sites — the same systems that have been regularly supplied to Russia since the summer of 2022. According to Coughlin, the Israeli campaign “appears to have paid dividends,” with a notable drop in attacks originating from Iran.

A strategic blow to Moscow

The deepening Russia-Iran relationship, sealed in January with a 20-year strategic pact, has been critical to sustaining Russia’s campaign in Ukraine. In exchange for military hardware from Tehran, Moscow had promised to boost Iran’s air defenses and air force capabilities. But Coughlin notes that this “has clearly failed to deter Israel from launching its military offensive.”

As Iranian military capacity is degraded, Putin risks losing a crucial source of support. “If the Iranians are unable to provide sufficient weaponry for their own military campaign against Israel,” Coughlin writes, “they will be in no position to support Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.”

Regional influence under threat

The ramifications extend beyond Ukraine. With Syria’s Assad regime reportedly collapsed and now “languishing in exile in Moscow,” Russia’s Middle East strategy appears to be unraveling. Coughlin suggests Putin’s broader effort to project power in the region is now in jeopardy.

The article also highlights the precariousness of Russia’s position within the informal alliance of authoritarian states — Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia — warning that Israel’s attacks could weaken their interconnected military and economic interests.

Coughlin concludes: “Putin’s standing in the region is in danger of precipitous collapse.”

Today there are a lot of interesting updates from the Russian Federation.

Here, Ukraine has officially unleashed its newly developed bomber drones, marking a major escalation in its ability to strike deep into Russian territory. With advanced precision, extended range, and overwhelming cost-efficiency, these drones are already devastating Russian military infrastructure—setting the stage for a transformative shift in the battlefield dynamic.

Over the weeks, the Ukrainians conducted a series of successful strikes against military and economic targets in Russia, which resulted in damage to over half a hundred military industrial factories, strategic airbases, microelectronics producers, chemical plants, fiber optic facilities, and key logistical routes, including the Kerch bridge. 

Recently, Ukrainians presented the new Batyar-S strike drone, which resembles the Russian Shahed and Geranium strike drones, but only on the outside. Designed from scratch, the new Ukrainian drone has an effective flight range of over 800 kilometers (497 miles) while carrying an 18-kilogram explosive warhead. 

Additionally, the drone is lighter than Shahed, weighing only 60 kilograms, which allows the Ukrainians to deploy it using trucks as launch platforms, making it easy to quickly and efficiently deploy it for any strikes. On top of that, it features superior optical systems that analyze landscapes and terrain in real-time, combining them with satellite footage to adjust its flight trajectory towards the target, and stay as low as possible to evade radar detection and air defenses.

However, one of its biggest advantages is that the Batyar-S drone costs approximately 4 times less than the Ukrainian strike drones currently in use, meaning that Ukrainians will be able to produce four times as many drones and strike 4 times the targets.

As the Ukrainians focus their development on drone technology for various purposes, they have also developed a new bomber drone, the B-1.  B-1 drones are ultralight bomber drones designed to destroy concentrations of manpower, trucks, armored vehicles, and military strongholds on the frontline and in the rear. 

Bomber drones are designed to carry repurposed drone-droppable hand grenades, artillery shells, or other explosives on Russian positions as they fly over their target. The light weight of the drone and its low-noise engine allow it to fly towards Russian lines almost unnoticed, while the drone itself can stay in the air for several hours.

Early frontline reports suggest the drone is extremely resilient against Russian electronic warfare, making it a deadly precision weapon that can hit targets far beyond the range of pre-existing Ukrainian bomber drones like the Vampire hexacopter, already nicknamed the Baba Yaga by both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers for its deadliness. 

The newly developed drone technologies will massively enhance Ukrainian strike capabilities against Russian targets on the frontline and in the deep rear. Ukrainian strikes have already damaged and destroyed production facilities, essential for rebuilding Russia’s strategic bomber fleet after they lost a third of them during Operation Spiderweb.

Ukrainians have also crippled direct Russian production of weapons and ammunition manufacturing, with strikes on long range drone and fiber optic facilities, ammunition factories, and chemical and technical facilities producing rockets and missiles. Now, with the new drones, Ukrainians will be able to strike four times more targets, and much more effectively, promising death and destruction for the Russian frontline and the rear. 

Overall, the Ukrainians effectively maximized the results of their precision strikes against targets in Russia, while developing new drones based on the experience gained from these strikes. These new variants will be able to hit Russia like never before and seriously undermine the Russian summer offensive; as the Russians go all-in for this summer, so are the Ukrainians, promising a decisive military campaign over the next few months, which might well decide the outcome of the war in Ukraine. 

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

On 18 June, Russia again attacked Ukraine overnight, launching a widespread drone assault that targeted civilian and infrastructure facilities, resulting in deaths, dozens of wounded, and extensive property destruction.

According to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian forces deployed 58 drones in their overnight assault. 

Ukrainian air defense systems successfully intercepted 30 of the incoming drones by 08:30 local time. The Air Force reports that defenders used multiple methods to neutralize the threats: 12 drones were destroyed by conventional fire weapons, while 18 were either locationally lost or suppressed through electronic warfare systems.

The remaining 28 drones reached their targets, with Russian weapons striking nine separate locations across the country’s east, south, and north. The primary targets of the assault were Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, areas that have experienced sustained attacks throughout the war.

Zaporizhzhia postal facility destroyed as 13 Russian drones target civilian infrastructure

Regional military administration head Ivan Fedorov reported that 13 drones specifically targeted Zaporizhzhia during the night assault. The attacks caused widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, with apartment building windows shattered and multiple vehicles destroyed by fire. No one was reported killed or injured.

City council secretary Rehina Kharchenko confirmed that a Nova Poshta postal service branch was completely destroyed in the bombardment.

“Instead of the building – burned structures, broken glass, melted plastic,” Kharchenko described the scene.

The regional emergency services department documented additional damage, reporting that 47 vehicles burned in an open parking area while fires erupted in three industrial buildings spanning a total of 800 square meters. The assessment revealed damage to nine apartment buildings and six non-residential structures from the drone strikes.

Medical personnel wounded in targeted drone strike on Kherson ambulance

Russian forces conducted extensive shelling operations in southern Kherson Oblast throughout 17 June , resulting in two civilian deaths and 34 wounded across the region, according to Kherson Regional Military Administration head Oleksandr Prokudin.

The attacks affected 36 settlements throughout Kherson Oblast, including the regional capital. Russian forces targeted both social infrastructure and residential neighborhoods, damaging 12 private homes along with outbuildings, garages, and private vehicles.

The attacks extended to medical personnel, with Russian forces using a drone to target an ambulance in Kherson’s Korabelny district around midnight. The regional military administration confirmed that both a paramedic and emergency medical technician sustained injuries in the attack, suffering concussions, blast injuries, and closed traumatic brain injuries.

A Russian terror attack on 17 June was the largest of the full-scale war, says military expert Ivan Kyrychevskyi. Russia deliberately targeted residential buildings with missiles with cluster munitions to kill as many civilians as possible, Espreso reports. 

“Before 17 June, the maximum was 200–300 aerial weapons launched at once. This time, the Russians used nearly 500, most of them kamikaze drones,” Kyrychevskyi explains.

The UN has also noted that this attack on Kyiv may be the deadliest in nearly a year. The main impact hit densely populated neighborhoods, not military targets.

“X-101 missiles with cluster warheads can’t break through fortifications, but they kill people. That’s why they were used deliberately against civilians,” Kyrychevskyi says.

No one believes anymore that the strikes on Ukrainian hospitals and children’s centers are a “mistake.” After the attack on Kyiv’s Ohmatdyt children’s hospital in 2024, Western governments have stopped buying into the narrative of “accidental strikes,” adds the expert. 

Russia began its full-scale terror campaign against the Ukrainian civilian population in 2022, burning 90% of Mariupol and Bakhmut and committing atrocities during the attacks on Bucha in Kyiv Oblast.

Ukraine’s Armed Forces are now operating the MV-25 Oskar, a new fixed-wing loitering munition developed in France, according to KNDS France. The drone with the range of 25 km is part of the Mataris drone family.

Ukrainian military deploys MV-25 Oskar

Ukraine has officially received and deployed the MV-25 Oskar loitering munition, part of the French Mataris drone series. KNDS France, the primary developer, stated the drone is already in operational use and has garnered “excellent feedback” from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Development and international collaboration

KNDS France developed the Mataris line in cooperation with DELAIR and EOS TECHNOLOGIE. The MV-25 Oskar was selected under the French Defense Innovation Agency’s COLIBRI program in 2022 and reached operational deployment in Ukraine within two years. It successfully underwent a test flight with a live warhead in June 2024.

KNDS emphasized that the Mataris systems were created to urgently address a capability gap in the French arsenal.

Renault tapped for Ukrainian drone production near frontline

Features of the Mataris drone range

The Mataris range includes four models with varied capabilities:

• MT-10: dual-rotor drone with a 10 km range
• MX-10 Damocles: quadcopter-wing drone with 10 km range
• MV-25 Oskar: fixed-wing drone with 25 km range
• MV-100 Veloce 330: turbine-powered fixed-wing drone with 100 km range and speeds over 400 km/h

Each system features warheads specifically developed by KNDS Ammo France. The MV-25 Oskar’s deployment marks the first operational use of this mid-range fixed-wing drone in Ukraine.

French military prepares to field parallel drone

Meanwhile, the short-range MX-10 Damocles will enter service with the French Army in July 2025. DELAIR manufactures the quadcopter wing, and KNDS Ammo France produces the fragmentation-incendiary warhead. The drone is designed to neutralize infantry and light armored vehicles.

Next steps for longer-range drones

KNDS has also partnered with EOS TECHNOLOGIE to develop the MV-100 Veloce 330, capable of engaging medium and long-range targets. It features a 2.5 kg anti-armor warhead based on BONUS shell technology. An operational detonation test is scheduled before the end of 2025.

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

Russian drone strikes on Odesa early June 17 killed 2 people and injured 17 others, including a pregnant woman and a child, regional authorities said.

The body of a 60-year-old woman was recovered from the rubble of a collapsed building, along with the remains of another woman born in 1947,  Odesa Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported.

"My sincere condolences to her family and loved ones," Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper wrote.

One person remains hospitalized as of 9 a.m., while the rest of the injured are receiving outpatient treatment.

The strike damaged multiple residential buildings in Odesa’s historic city center, as well as a kindergarten and an inclusive support center. Emergency services and volunteers continue clearing debris and responding to the aftermath.

The attack also damaged civilian infrastructure across the city, including residential buildings.

Emergency services and volunteers are working at the scene to clear debris.

Overnight, Russia also launched a mass attack on Kyiv, injuring at least 18 people.

Odesa, a port city on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast with a population of around 1 million, has been a frequent target of Russian attacks throughout the full-scale war.

Russian military-industrial chemical plant halts operations after Ukrainian drone strike

The Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant — a key supplier to the Kremlin’s military-industrial complex — has suspended production following Ukrainian drone strikes, Russian independent media reported on June 16.

The Kyiv IndependentLucy Pakhnyuk

The battle for air superiority is no longer just about seeing — it’s also about hearing. In 2025, Germany plans to launch combat drones equipped with acoustic sensors that can detect the origin of enemy artillery fire, Army Inform reports. 

According to Hartpunkt, German company Quantum-Systems, in collaboration with Polish firm Weles Acoustics, is integrating advanced acoustic detectors into reconnaissance UAVs. These sensors capture sound waves from artillery and mortar fire, allowing for rapid identification of enemy firing positions.

Weighing under 50 grams, the sensors operate in the 20 Hz to 10 kHz range and can detect shots from up to 15 km away. Directional accuracy reaches 5° at a 5 km distance. Integration with neural networks enables the system to automatically identify weapon types, distinguishing, for example, a howitzer from a mortar.

In the initial phase, the operator receives a signal and visually confirms the target. In the future, machine vision algorithms will handle targeting automatically.

The technology is designed to:

• Reduce the time needed to locate enemy batteries
• Improve counter-battery effectiveness
• Minimize losses among Ukraine’s defense forces

Defense Express notes that a major challenge is filtering out noise from drone rotors and wind. Still, field test results have been convincing, and serial production is planned for late 2025.

Earlier, experts reported that Russia likely used a new jet-powered attack drone, the Geran-3, in a recent missile and drone strike on Kyiv. This model marks a significant upgrade over the slower Shahed-136 (Geran-2), boasting reported speeds of 550–600 km/h and a range of up to 2,500 km, compared to the Shahed-136’s 185 km/h.

Residents of Kyiv reported hearing a distinct whistling sound during the strike, consistent with a jet-powered drone and unlike the quieter propeller-driven models previously used. 

Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated as new details emerge.

Russia launched a series of drone attacks on Kyiv Oblast overnight on June 15-16, targeting both the capital city and regional settlements, according to government officials.

In the Obukhiv district of Kyiv Oblast, a 60-year-old man was injured as a result of Russia's drone strike, reported regional governer Mykola Kalashnyk at 1:37 a.m. local time.

The injured man received medical assistance, Kalashnyk confirmed.

Civilian targets, including a private home, were also damaged in the attack. Emergency services are currently working at the scene.

Earlier in the night, explosions were also heard in Kyiv.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that the city's air defenses were operating and that drones were entering the city late on Sunday night, at about 11:29 p.m. local time.

Russia reports Ukrainian drone attack on drone factory in Tatarstan

The drones were shot down, but the debris fell on a plant in the town of Yelabuga, where Shahed-type attack drones are manufactured, causing a fire.

The Kyiv IndependentDominic Culverwell

On Sunday, Ukrainian drones targeted the city of Yelabuga in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, according to reports from Russian Telegram channels. The outlet Baza stated that one person was killed and 13 others were injured.

Tatarstan’s regional head, Rustam Minnikhanov, confirmed the attack. He said the deceased was a factory worker, and one of the injured remains in critical condition. Debris from the downed drones reportedly struck a checkpoint building at a local car factory.

Fires and flight disruptions follow impact

Following the impact, a fire broke out near the Aurus and Sollers automotive plant buildings, Mediazona reported. In response, Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, temporarily restricted flights at airports in Kazan, Nizhnekamsk, and Izhevsk.

Repeated targeting of drone production zone

Yelabuga has been hit by drone attacks multiple times in recent months. In April 2024, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate claimed responsibility for a strike on the city. In 2025 alone, attacks have occurred in April, May, and June.

The nearby Alabuga Special Economic Zone hosts drone production facilities reportedly involved in strikes against Ukraine. Ukrainian drones have previously targeted the site.

So far, Ukrainian military officials have not commented on the latest strike. Yelabuga is located more than 1,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

The sky turned red from the explosions. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated US President Donald Trump on his birthday on 14 June, and almost immediately launched a strike on the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. 

Russia was likely to target critical infrastructure, particularly the Kremenchuk Thermal Power Plant and oil refinery, which are both essential to Ukraine’s energy system and defense. The city lies on the Dnipro River and has important railway connections and major logistics hubs.

It is reported that energy and agricultural infrastructure facilities in six locations in Kremenchuk in Poltava Oblast were hit. Fires broke out due to direct strikes and falling debris, Liga.net reports. 

The attack rocked the Ukrainian city hours after Putin called Trump on his birthday to offer congratulations and discuss the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine. Their conversation lasted approximately one hour, according to Ukrainska Pravda. 

Destruction of Iran’s nuclear program means Trump has no reason to offer Putin concessions on Ukraine in exchange for Tehran’s pressure, says expert

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched 194 aerial weapons — 167 were neutralized: 119 were shot down, and 48 are considered lost over Ukrainian territory.

Among the downed targets were:

• 111 drones,
• Two Kinzhal hypersonic missiles,
• Three Iskander-K cruise missiles
• Three Kalibr cruise missiles.

The Ukrainian air defense regularly intercepts Russian aerial targets, but debris still scatters over the homes and apartments of civilians. No casualties have been reported after the aerial assault. 

That’s about four times more drones than Iran launched at Israel in attacks beginning on 13 June, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty writes. At the same time, US troops assisted Jerusalem in repelling Tehran’s assault.

Ukraine’s recent assault on airbases across Russia has already ushered in a new conventional wisdom: the expensive, human-crewed weapons (tanks, planes, ships) that have long defined the world’s “advanced” militaries have been rendered obsolete by inexpensive drones.

However, this view is incomplete, and perhaps dangerously misleading. Today’s drone warfare offers sobering lessons that go far beyond the vulnerability of expensive legacy weapons; and the looming integration of AI into drone warfare will make the current situation look positively quaint.

Consider the lessons of the Ukraine war so far. First, the impact of drones goes far beyond legacy weapons. Drones have indeed rendered tanks and armored personnel carriers extremely vulnerable, so Russian ground assaults now frequently use troops on foot, motorcycles, or all-terrain vehicles.

Drones are also effective against almost everything else. Ukraine has used drones to destroy Russian targets as varied as weapons factories, moving trains, ammunition stores, oil refineries, ships, and ports. It could be worse; in fact, Ukraine has shown great restraint, considering Russia’s barbaric conduct. Airport terminals, train stations at rush hour, athletic and concert stadiums, pharmaceutical factories, hospitals, schools, nursing homes — all are equally vulnerable.

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Ukraine’s own drones crash Putin’s $7-billion “red lines” aircraft — while Russia fights them back with sticks

Two additional sobering lessons from Ukraine concern how drone warfare depends on its industrial base. First, speed and responsiveness are critical. Drone technology, weapons, and tactics now evolve at a blinding pace. A new drone will be useful for only 2-6 months. The other side develops countermeasures, requiring the development of new products, against which new countermeasures are developed, and so on.

At first, the drones used in Ukraine were crude weapons, radio-controlled by a pilot who needed to be nearby. As drones became more sophisticated and lethal, jamming was used to block their radio signals, which led to frequency changes and then frequency hopping, which was then countered by multi-frequency jammers, which then engendered drones that attack jamming equipment.

Then Russia developed drones controlled via fiber-optic cable — impervious to jamming. Ukraine tries to track the cable to its source and kill the pilots (with drones). Now Ukraine has fiber-optic drones, too.

Guidance is ever more sophisticated, so that drones can evade radar by flying very low or using stealth technology. But drone detection and tracking systems have also advanced, employing networks of cellphones and microphones connected to audio analysis software, as well as using Lidar, radar, and cameras.

In response, however, Ukraine’s drone industry and military developed a revolutionary model of weapons research and development, production, and deployment, based on direct, continuous communication between frontline units and drone producers.

Here, Ukraine benefited from having a strong startup ecosystem, which supports a weapons industry (with hundreds of companies) capable of designing, producing, and fielding a new weapon in a matter of weeks. This year, Ukraine will produce more than four million drones, most of them models that did not exist even a year ago. Unfortunately, Russia has adapted as well, also relying heavily on private startups.

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No aid? No problem. Ukraine’s engineers hit Russia 7,000 times with homegrown tech

Some 80% of the electronics used in Russian drones are sourced from China. While Ukraine was initially highly dependent on China, it has reduced its reliance to perhaps 20%, most of that obtained covertly.

Yet US and European defense R&D and procurement remain slow and uncompetitive, which cripples their ability to defend against drones, as well as their ability to use them. Although few people realize it, the US and NATO now desperately need Ukraine for its drone expertise.

Moreover, AI will change everything. Ukraine’s 1 June operation used 117 drones, each controlled by a skilled operator, and reports suggest that something like half were defeated by Russian defenses — jamming, mainly — because the drones needed to be in radio communication with their controllers. Had they been autonomous, there could have been a thousand of them.

And with AI, there is no need for pilot communication, and thus no effective jamming, greatly increasing drone range and lethality. Five years from now, it will be terrifyingly easy to launch preemptive strikes on conventional targets.

True, the required AI functionality still demands far more computing power and memory than can be put into a small drone. Nor is it cheap. Nvidia chips, for example, cost up to $50,000 each, so even one powerful AI processor would make most drones prohibitively expensive.

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“Kill a navy for the price of a car”: Ukraine’s drones drove out Putin’s fleet from the Black Sea — then turned on his fighter jets

However, that’s changing fast, driven by the goal of putting serious AI capability into every phone. When that happens, those same capabilities will be available to every drone weapon. And with the sole, vital exception of AI processors, the entire supply chain for both phones and drone weapons is dominated by China.

Stuart Russell, an AI specialist at the University of California, Berkeley, has long argued for an arms-control treaty to prevent the spread of small, mass produced, AI-controlled drone weapons. He even underwrote the production of a short film, Slaughterbots, which dramatizes the risks these drones could pose in the wrong hands.

At a dinner years ago, he told me that it would soon be easy to target individuals using facial recognition or, say, everyone wearing a cross, a yarmulke, or any other religious or political symbol.

Since any meaningful treaty is unlikely in the current geopolitical environment, we must prepare for a world that probably will contain such weapons. But the Western defense establishment increasingly looks like the typical “legacy” company that has been caught off guard by technological disruption. In markets, legacy resistance can be costly, but the costs are purely monetary. In warfare, they can and will be deadly.

Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) destroyed three Russian air defense systems using drones in the occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast on June 14, HUR says.

"Strike drone masters of the Department of Active Operations of the HUR of the Ukrainian defense ministry discovered and destroyed expensive air defense systems of the Russian invaders in the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region," HUR reported in a post to Telegram.

Ukraine's military regularly strikes military targets in Russian-occupied territories and deep within Russia in an attempt to diminish Moscow's fighting power as it continues its war against Ukraine.

A Russian Buk-M3, a Pantsyr S1, and a 9S19 Imbir radar from the S-300V air defense system were destroyed in the Ukrainian drone attack.

"The video shows a stunning maneuver of a Ukrainian drone dodging a Muscovite anti-aircraft missile, as well as episodes of successful fire strikes," HUR's statement said.

On June 1, Ukraine launched a game-changing drone attack on four key Russian military airfields, damaging 41 planes, including heavy bombers and rare A-50 spy planes.

Kyiv claimed it disabled 34% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet in what is seen as one of the most daring operations during Russia's full-scale war.

Ukraine's military intelligence agency was behind explosions near Desantnaya Bay in Russia's far eastern Vladivostok on May 30, which reportedly damaged military personnel and equipment, a source in HUR told the Kyiv Independent.

From buffer zone to new front: Russia pushes deeper into Sumy Oblast

In March 2025, as Ukrainian forces made their final retreat from Sudzha in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, new grey spots began to appear on open-source maps on the other side of the state border, in Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast. For the first time since 2022, when Moscow’s forces retreated

The Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell

Ukraine has received 108 Krab self-propelled howitzers from Poland. In three years of hard fighting since the first of the 53-ton, five-person guns arrived in Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have lost no fewer than 35 of the howitzers, which fire Ukraine’s best 155-millimeter shells as far as 31 km.

On or just before 7 June, a Russian drone crew showed what happens when artillery gunners don’t take every precaution. The Russian crew flew two fiber-optic first-person-view drones through gaps in the front and back of one Krab’s covered, concealed dugout in a tree line somewhere along the 1,100-km front line—and lit the gun on fire, destroying it.

It’s probably the 36th Krab loss. And it was totally preventable. 

Tiny FPV drones weighing a few pounds and clutching small warheads have, for two years now, hounded troops and vehicles on both sides of Russia’s 40-month wider war on Ukraine. For most of those two years, however, the drones’ prey were fairly safe inside or under loose concealment. 

After all, almost all FPVs were, until recently, controlled via wireless radio—and radio signals can’t always penetrate wood, brick and metal. At the very least, structures limit how far a drone can fly. “Obstacles between your transmitter and receiver can significantly reduce range,” FPV expert Oscar Liang explained.

The proliferation of fiber-optic drones has changed everything. Controlled via signals that travel up and down miles-long, millimeters-thick optical fiber, these FPVs are largely unbothered by buildings and dugouts—as long as their operators can avoid snagging the fibers and find some way into the covered position: an open door or window, a gap between layers of camouflage netting.

Which explains the new genre of drone video from the front line of the wider war: indoor drone strikes. FPVs are slipping through open doors and past dangling tarps and nets to strike soldiers and vehicles hiding inside what were once safe havens from FPV raids.

Knock knock

A dramatic video of one indoor strike, carried out by the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces’ Birds of Magyar unit in April, is typical of the new genre. Easing inside a warehouse, maneuvering past one parked Russian vehicle to take aim at a BMP fighting vehicle with its back hatch ajar, the drone struck inside the BMP.

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The explosion ignited a blaze that may have spread throughout the warehouse, if footage from an overhead surveillance drone is any indication. It’s possible one drone costing less than $1,000 destroyed several vehicles.

“Magyar birds are looking for worm equipment in the corners where the enemy definitely doesn’t expect the FPV drone,” someone—presumably Robert Brovdi, then Magyar’s leader and now the head of the USF—narrated over footage of the strike.

The Ukrainian Krab crew clearly also didn’t expect Russian FPVs to come snooping, which may explain why they accidentally left entrances for the maneuverable drones.

The Krab’s bulk—typical of all self-propelled guns, or SPGs—makes it hard to cover and conceal with 100% certainty. According to analyst Andrew Perpetua, it may actually be easier to dig an effective hideout for a towed gun. 

And it’s not like SPGs are actually rolling around the battlefield the way they may have done in previous wars. Tiny drones have made it virtual suicide for an artillery crews to “shoot and scoot.” So they don’t need tracks. They don’t need to be self-propelled.

“Instead of investing gajillions of dollars developing crappy SPGs that barely carry any ammo and often weigh obscene amounts of tons but can ‘shoot and scoot,’ countries should be investing in ultra lightweight, long-range towed guns that specialize in push and bush,” Perpetua wrote.

That is, push into position, hide in the bushes—and stay there. The gunners just need to work much harder to completely cover their guns when they’re not actually shooting at the enemy.

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Surprisingly, Russian soldiers used scissors to down a Ukrainian fiber-optic drone — but Kyiv also knows a trick or two

Today, there are interesting updates from the Kupiansk direction. Here, as Russian losses have officially hit an unprecedented 1 million count, the breaking point finally came, and the soldiers began turning their rifles on their own commanders rather than face certain death in futile assaults.

Three bullets on road to Nyzhnia Duvanka

In one of the most brutal recent examples of growing disorder within Russian ranks, several Russian soldiers near the settlement of Nyzhnia Duvanka in the Luhansk region turned on their own.

By shooting and killing the military police platoon commander and two of his barrier troop subordinates and running away, they sparked a frantic search operation by Russian authorities.

The deserters left their comrades to lie dead on the road while fleeing to save their lives from both Ukrainian and Russian fire.

Pischane funnel: Where men disappear

This violent mutiny did not emerge in a vacuum; it is directly tied to the hopeless bloodbath unfolding near the Kupiansk front, specifically at the Pischane funnel. For months, Russian forces have tried and failed to break through Ukrainian defenses here.

The Ukrainians have created a deadly trap by controlling the flanks, exposing any Russian assault to relentless drone and artillery fire from both sides. Yet commanders continue to send wave after wave of infantry into the funnel, hoping to drive a wedge through Ukrainian lines.

Every new wave knows exactly how it will end, as almost no one from previous groups returns alive. The systematic nature of these assaults has been likened to mass execution, with soldiers pushed forward not for tactical gain but to serve as human battering rams.

Mad Max cars and vanishing men

To make matters worse, Russian troops are being sent into combat in improvised Mad Max-style vehicles, like the Gaz-69, which entered production in 1952, the year of Stalin’s death, and regular cars fitted with rudimentary armor or even none.

Such improvised motorcycle squads and barely armored vehicles now lead the charge, only to be annihilated by Ukrainian FPV drones well before reaching the contact line. These desperate measures highlight not only material shortages but a total disregard for the lives of Russian troops.

Ukrainian surveillance drones ensure that almost no movement goes undetected, meaning most assaults are decimated long before they engage the defenders.

When running is not option

Despite the carnage, desertions in the Russian army remain surprisingly rare. The reason lies in the sheer brutality of the punishments for refusing to fight.

Soldiers who resist are subjected to medieval-style torture. Some are thrown into pits without food before being forced to fight each other to the death to earn the right to live another day.

In one documented case, soldiers were tied behind vehicles and dragged through the dirt, while other deserters were forced to bury each other alive as punishment and to serve as an example. In the Lyman area, a surrendering Russian soldier was spotted by Russian drone operators and targeted by his own artillery.

This highlights the impossible choice facing many: surrender and be killed or desert and be hunted. For some, turning against their officers seems to be the only escape.

This toxic atmosphere has bred a surge in violent retaliation. Russian soldiers, driven to the brink by the realization that dying in a pointless assault is their fate if they continue, are increasingly likely to choose to kill their commanders instead, as it is safer than being spotted attempting to surrender to the Ukrainians.

Meanwhile, commanders themselves contribute to the decay by labeling active soldiers as deserters to avoid paying their wages, denying them medical care, and forcing under-equipped men into combat.

A recent appeal by the families of men from the Russian 54th Motorized Rifle Regiment revealed horrifying conditions: soldiers were beaten and handcuffed, robbed of personal belongings, and left to die without evacuation.

Wounded men are forced to crawl back to safety, and the dead are simply abandoned, confirmed by footage showing bodies of dead Russian soldiers that haven’t been moved for months since the snow covered the fields.

Million-man grave and rot within

The downward spiral is accelerating. Russian military losses have just surpassed one million casualties, including killed, wounded, and captured.

Equipment losses are equally staggering, with 10,000 destroyed and damaged tanks and over 20,000 armored vehicles of various types.

Lacking armor, modern vehicles, or meaningful support, commanders now rely on sheer manpower and suicidal frontal attacks to advance the line ever so slowly. But the more men are lost, the worse morale gets, and the more inclined troops are coming to view their superiors as the enemy instead of the Ukrainians they are forced to fight.

Overall, such events create a vicious cycle.

The collapse of discipline and the dehumanizing tactics employed by Russian commanders will inevitably lead to more incidents where soldiers turn their weapons on their leaders.

To prevent this, the officers are only doubling down on cruelty, inventing new, more barbaric punishments. This internal rot may not only undermine Russia’s ability to continue the war, but it could also ultimately sabotage its war effort from within.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Efforts are underway to rapidly expand Ukraine's ability to counter Russian drone attacks, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on June 14.

In a statement shared on Telegram, Syrskyi said he held a meeting focused on strengthening defenses against Russian strike drones, particularly Iranian-designed Shahed drones used by Russian forces to target Ukrainian cities.

"Task number one is scaling up the systems that already work effectively," Syrskyi said. "First and foremost, that means increasing the number of drone interceptors."

Russia has been escalating drone attacks against Ukraine over the past weeks, launching record 400-500 UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) per night.

Syrskyi emphasized the need for a comprehensive approach that incorporates all available capabilities. "(Russia) is constantly modifying the characteristics of its Shaheds and changing their tactics," he said.

Ukrainian officials discussed ways to improve early detection of incoming drones and ensure their timely destruction. Syrskyi said he had set clear priorities and tasked military leaders accordingly.

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian cities with waves of attack drones, often striking energy infrastructure and residential buildings overnight. Ukraine's defense forces use a mix of electronic warfare, air defense systems, and drone-on-drone interception to repel the assaults.

Drones have become one of the defining tools of the full-scale war, used extensively by both Ukraine and Russia for surveillance, long-range strikes, and tactical battlefield advantage. In recent weeks, Russia has intensified its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

Earlier on June 9, Ukraine's Air Force said it intercepted 479 drones and missiles during one of the largest attacks since the start of the war. Russia launched 499 weapons overnight, including 479 Shahed-type drones and multiple ballistic and cruise missiles.

Ukrainian drones struck two Russian plants overnight on 14 June, damaging facilities connected to explosive production and petrochemical refining in southern Russia’s Stavropol Krai and the Volga region’s Samara Oblast. Videos from the scene, shared by several Telegram channels, show drone flyovers, interceptions, fires at the facilities, and the aftermath of the strikes.

Strikes on Nevinnomysk Azot in Stavropol

According to Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation (UCCD), the Nevinnomysk Azot plant in Stavropol Krai was one of the main targets. The factory produces over a million tons of ammonia and ammonium nitrate annually—essential components in explosive manufacturing.

Footage shared by Telegram channels suggests the control room of Nevinnomysk Azot may have been destroyed.

Regional governor Vladimir Vladimirov claimed “debris” from a drone fell in the city’s industrial zone.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that the strike aimed to degrade Russia’s capacity to produce explosives and munitions. The General Staff described the Nevinnomysk facility as a key supplier for Russia’s war against Ukraine, reporting multiple explosions and fires at the site.

Drone attack on Samara Oblast industrial site

In a parallel operation, drones struck another major industrial site in Novokuybyshevsk, Samara Oblast. The Ukrainian military identified the target as the Novokuybyshevsk Petrochemical Company (NNK), a top-tier supplier of components used in artillery explosives.

Local residents reported the attack and resulting fire, and some Ukrainian sources suggested that the Novokuybyshevsk Catalyst Plant might have been the target. The facility focuses on regenerating catalysts for the oil processing and chemical industries and developing new types of catalysts and adsorbents through experimental production.

Samara Oblast governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev confirmed a UAV attack attempt on one of Novokuybyshevsk’s industrial facilities, stating there were no casualties or major damage.

According to the Militarnyi outlet, NNK supplies ingredients to the Kazan Powder Plant and the Sverdlov Plant, both engaged in manufacturing explosive materials including octogen and hexogen. Public contracts show transactions worth hundreds of millions of rubles for explosive production materials, highlighting the plant’s direct ties to Russia’s defense sector.

The Ukrainian General Staff described the Novokuybyshevsk plant as directly involved in supplying components for Russia’s artillery shell production.

Ukrainian military confirms targeting of military-linked facilities

The military stressed that its drone strikes were conducted in coordination with other Ukrainian Defense Forces units and reiterated its commitment to undermining Russia’s war capacity.

Damage assessment is ongoing, according to the report.

Russian claims

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that its air defense downed 66 Ukrainian drones during the night, failing even to mention Samara Oblast. The MoD claimed the interceptions included 30 in Voronezh Oblast, 10 in Belgorod Oblast, eight in Stavropol Krai, and six in occupied Crimea. 

Editor's Note: This story was updated to include confirmation from Ukraine's General Staff.

Ukraine's General Staff confirmed on June 14 that overnight drone strikes targeted two major military-industrial facilities in Russia, according to a statement of the military.

"As part of efforts to reduce (Russia's) ability to produce explosives and ammunition, the Ukrainian Armed Forces' drone systems, in coordination with other Defense Forces units, struck critical facilities of Russia's military-industrial complex overnight," Ukraine's General Staff said in a statement.

The strikes reportedly hit the Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant in Stavropol Krai and the Novokuybyshevsk Catalyst Plant in Samara Oblast. Both sites are described by Ukrainian officials as key suppliers of raw materials and components for Russia's weapons and fuel production.

Stavropol Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said drone debris fell in the city's industrial zone, confirming the strike was aimed at the Nevinnomyssk Azot plant. He initially reported one person injured, but later clarified there were no casualties. Footage circulating online showed explosions and drones flying over the city.

Nevinnomyssk Azot is among Russia's top producers of ammonia and nitrogen fertilizers, and hosts the country's only production lines for methyl acetate and high-purity acetic acid. It also operates Russia’s first melamine production facility, according to open-source data.

The plant, which produces up to one million tons of ammonia and over one million tons of ammonium nitrate annually, is "a critical element of Russia's military-industrial complex," Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, said.

Kovalenko noted that ammonium nitrate is a key component for explosives and artillery shells. He added that the plant also synthesizes dual-use chemicals such as melamine, acetic acid, methanol, and potassium nitrate, frequently used in the production of grenade launchers, mines, and rocket charges.

Since 2024, the plant has been producing water-soluble fertilizers, which he said have been adapted to serve military chemical needs.

Ukraine's General Staff said the strike caused explosions and a fire at the site.

In Russia's Samara Oblast, a separate drone strike reportedly damaged the Novokuybyshevsk Catalyst Plant, the country's largest specialized facility for producing catalysts used in petroleum refining and petrochemicals. The region's governor, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, confirmed an attempted drone attack overnight on an industrial site in Novokuybyshevsk.

Kovalenko said the plant has a strategic role, stating that without its output, Russia's oil refineries, and by extension, its supply of aviation fuel, diesel for armored vehicles, and rocket propellant, would be severely affected.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it intercepted a total of 66 drones overnight across several regions, including 30 over Voronezh Oblast, 10 over Belgorod Oblast, 8 over Stavropol Krai, 6 over occupied Crimea, 1 over Samara Oblast, and 11 over the Azov Sea.

Russian military equipment reportedly hit in Ukrainian drone attack against Crimea

The Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported a hit in Simferopol, Crimea’s capital, sharing a photo of a plume of smoke rising in the vicinity of a local power station and of the village of Perevalne.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include the latest injury figures confirmed by Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov.

At least three people were killed and 11 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, Ukrainian officials said on June 14.

According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia launched 58 attack drones, primarily Shahed-type UAVs, and decoys from multiple directions. Air defenses destroyed 43 of the drones.

In Donetsk Oblast, one civilian was killed and two others were injured in Russian shelling of Yablunivka, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. Russian forces attacked settlements in the region 27 times over the past day.

In Kherson Oblast, five people were injured as Russia struck 23 settlements with drones, artillery, and airstrikes, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. Residential buildings in Kherson city, Antonivka, and other towns were damaged, including a multi-story apartment block, six houses, a gas station, and some vehicles.

In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, at least one person was killed and four others injured in attacks targeting Zaporizhzhia and Polohy districts, Governor Ivan Fedorov said. Russian forces launched 438 strikes on 16 settlements, including 11 airstrikes and 266 drone attacks, mainly using FPV (first-person view) drones.

In a morning strike on Zaporizhzhia, more than 10 cars were burned at a parking lot, and at least 15 buildings were damaged. One person was injured.

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Russian attack also destroyed a humanitarian aid warehouse in Zaporizhzhia. Over 100 metric tons of humanitarian supplies reportedly burned in the fire. The aid had recently arrived in five trucks and was intended for displaced people and residents of front-line areas. The damage is estimated at around $3 million.

Putin announces creation of separate drone branch in Russian military

“We have accumulated a great deal of experience to create this branch of the armed forces,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

“We don’t know if an exchange of nuclear strikes will begin.” Nuclear conflict risk between Iran and Israel threatens not only the Middle East but also Ukraine, says former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko, Radio NV reports. 

The West might shift its focus to a new crisis, while Russia could financially benefit from rising oil prices.

“If, after all these events, Iran reduces its support to Russia, that would be in our interests,” the diplomat notes.

At the same time, he warned that Israel’s actions might have a dangerous effect: “Who has power is right, and Iran will certainly respond to that.”

Ohryzko emphasizes that Tehran has already declared a strong response, using not only drones but also cruise and ballistic missiles.

“We don’t know what else is stored in Iran’s other sites, whether there are already ready nuclear warheads,” he adds. 

According to the expert, Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons is almost an objective reality. Therefore, the risk of nuclear escalation becomes not hypothetical but an extremely realistic scenario.

“So, we don’t know if at some point an exchange of nuclear strikes will begin, and that would be not just dangerous, but horrific,” Ohryzko stresses.

Besides the military threat, there is another consequence — rising energy prices.

“There are reports that oil prices jumped by 12%. That means Russia will profit from this,” the former minister notes. 

In such a situation, Ukraine risks losing part of the West’s attention while simultaneously facing the economic strengthening of its main enemy.

Czechia plans to supply Ukraine with even more ammunition in 2025 and continue its support in 2026, UkrInform reports. 

Czechia intends to deliver more large-caliber ammunition to Ukraine this year than in 2024, said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha in Prague.

“We want to supply more large-caliber ammunition this year than in 2024, and continue this initiative in 2026,” Lipavský states.

According to him, Czechia’s participation in the Coalition of the Willing and the expansion of the Ammunition Initiative demonstrate long-term solidarity. He emphasized that the intensity of contacts between Kyiv and Prague shows that Czechia is a key partner of Ukraine.

Sybiha, in turn, thanked Czechia for its systematic support, especially in defense and weapons supplies. He also highlighted humanitarian efforts, assistance to internally displaced persons, hospital reconstruction, provision of 3D printers, and drones.

“I was impressed by the volume of help provided by Czech society, volunteer and non-governmental organizations that assist Ukraine every day,” said Sybiha.

Czechs raise € 8.15 mn for Ukraine military drones

Among the projects Czechia is implementing in Ukraine is the restoration of six hospitals. Both sides also see great prospects in developing defense-industrial cooperation.

“With Czechia, we have reached the highest level of bilateral dialogue. Czechia is one of the few countries with which Ukraine has established strategic relations during the war,” emphasized Sybiha.

Meanwhile, Russia continues to receive military support from Iran and North Korea, and other states that do not support Western sanctions. Thus, while Czechia and its allies actively assist Ukraine with ammunition and equipment, Russia receives support from countries, complicating the frontline situation and prolonging the war.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed on June 13 that its aerospace commander, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, was killed in an Israeli air strike on a command facility, according to the Times of Israel.

Hajizadeh was sanctioned by the European Union in 2022 for overseeing Tehran's supply of Shahed-type drones to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine, which have become a key component of Moscow's war against Ukraine.

He played a central role in advancing Iran's drone and missile capabilities, meeting with then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in 2023 to showcase Iranian weapons.

The Israeli operation, described as "preemptive," involved 200 aircraft and the dropping of 330 munitions, targeting the country's nuclear program and killing top military officials.

Hajizadeh is also known for his role in the January 2020 downing of a Ukrainian civilian aircraft, which Iran later admitted was mistakenly shot down amid tensions with the U.S. All 176 people on board were killed.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on June 13 expressing concern over the fallout from the Israeli operation but underscored that "the Iranian regime supports Russia in its illegal war of aggression" and supplies Moscow with "weapons to kill Ukrainians."

Along with North Korea, Iran has been a key ally to Russia during its full-scale war against Ukraine, providing thousands of Shahed strike drones and short-range ballistic missiles.

The drones, cheap and packed with explosives, have become a central weapon in Russia's aerial assaults on Ukraine since their introduction in late 2022.

Known for flying long distances before slamming into targets, they are now mass-produced by Russia and launched in near-nightly waves to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.

The Israeli strike took place amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, as well as U.S. negotiations with Tehran regarding its nuclear program. The Trump administration has acknowledged it knew about the operation in advance but denied any involvement.

Kyiv warned of the potential global repercussions of the strike, noting that regional instability could severely impact international security and financial markets, particularly oil.

Crude prices surged more than 10% following the attack, boosting revenues for Moscow, whose economy is heavily reliant on energy exports.

Russia has condemned Israel's attacks as "unprovoked aggression" and a violation of the U.N. Charter.

After Israel’s strikes, Ukraine says Iran ‘source of problems’ but warns against destabilization

Ukraine on June 13 expressed concern over the security situation in the Middle East after Israeli air strikes against Iran, but stressed that Tehran remains a “source of problems” in the region “and beyond.”

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

The Kremlin is losing one of its key bargaining chips in negotiations with Donald Trump. Political expert Abbas Galliamov says that for Ukraine, the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a promising prospect, as Tehran remains the closest ally of Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, Radio NV reports. 

“This is Putin’s closest ally. Ukrainians have seen enough of Iranian drones flying overhead. That alone is enough to wish those guys some serious trouble, which the Israel Defense Forces is currently delivering,” Galliamov explains.

According to him, Putin is losing a trump card in his dialogue with the US president.

“Up to now, there’s been a kind of trade-off: Ukraine in exchange for Iran. Trump would say to Putin, ‘Fine, I won’t put too much pressure on you over Ukraine for now, but in return, I need your support on Iran,’” Galliamov explains.

Once the Iranian nuclear issue is resolved, especially if the Iranian regime falls, Trump will have no need to seek Putin’s support in that arena.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the first wave of airstrikes on Iran “very successful,” UNIAN reports. 

Israeli military sources clarify that among those killed in the attack were former head of Iran’s nuclear agency Fereydoon Abbasi, nuclear scientist Mehdi Tehranchi, and physicist Abdolrahim Minuchehr.

During the first wave of Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, may have also been eliminated.

Russia emerges as potential mediator in Trump’s new Iran nuclear deal talks

An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson states that other Iranian commanders and leading scientists involved in nuclear development may also have been killed as a result of the Israeli strikes.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei later acknowledged the deaths of several high-ranking military officials and nuclear scientists in the Israeli attacks. Iran’s armed forces had earlier vowed a “firm response” to the Israeli assault. Khamenei declared he was giving full freedom of action to the military to answer the strike.

Days before Israel launched a sweeping air assault on Iran, dramatically escalating regional tensions, the US quietly diverted critical anti-drone munitions from Ukraine to its forces in the Middle East.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the US redirected proximity fuzes and other components of the APKWS II air defense system to CENTCOM, which oversees military operations across Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the Red Sea.

“We’re going to surge counter-UAS systems to our troops and bases first if we believe there’s a threat,” Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

What was diverted?

The system in question is the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) — a guidance kit that converts standard 70 mm unguided rockets into laser-guided munitions. Developed by BAE Systems and used by the US Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marines, it delivers precision at a relatively low cost — roughly $25,000 per round.

The War Zone reports that the diversion included not only APKWS rockets but also specialized proximity fuzes, enabling aerial detonations near small drones. According to TWZ, Defense Secretary Hegseth approved the transfer via a memo to the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell, labeling it an “urgent” requirement for CENTCOM.

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Where APKWS works

APKWS II is compatible with a wide range of US and allied platforms, including:

• F-16C/D Viper
• F-15E Strike Eagle
• A-10 Thunderbolt II
• AH-64 Apache
• AH-1Z Viper, UH-1Y Venom
• MH-60R/S Seahawks
• VAMPIRE launchers, as used in Ukraine

Originally designed for ground attack, APKWS has been adapted for counter-drone and even air-to-air roles. Its modularity allows rapid integration, and with proximity fuzes — like those just redirected — it’s proven effective against drones and low-flying cruise missiles.

Why it matters

• For Ukraine: APKWS, fielded via VAMPIRE systems since late 2023, has been crucial for defending against Shahed-136 drone swarms. But now, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told ABC News that 20,000 “anti-Shahed” rockets — understood to be APKWS-equipped rounds — are being withheld, creating a serious gap in Ukraine’s air defenses.
• For US Forces: F-15E and F-16 aircraft deployed in the CENTCOM region now carry APKWS pods alongside traditional missiles. Jets operating from Jordan have been outfitted with six seven-shot rocket pods, offering up to 50 drone engagements per sortie — a loadout first tested against Houthi drones over the Red Sea.

Stockpiles and uncertainty

The Pentagon has not disclosed how many APKWS kits or fuzes were diverted or remain in stock. Asked about the possibility of resupplying Ukraine, Hegseth said:

“We’d have to review the capacity… We’ve created some challenges in other places.”

There is also no confirmation whether additional systems — including VAMPIRE launchers or electronic warfare assets — were reallocated.

Regional flashpoint—Israel strikes Iran

Amid this arms shift, Israel today launched Operation Rising Lion, a massive air campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear sites, military infrastructure, and senior leadership.

• Over 200 Israeli aircraft struck dozens of high-value sites, including facilities in Natanz and Tehran.
• Major General Mohammad Bagheri and IRGC Commander Hossein Salami were reportedly killed.
• In retaliation, Iran launched more than 100 drones, triggering widespread airspace closures across Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Israel.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the drones included Shahed-129 and Shahed-136 models, both long-range loitering munitions designed for precision strikes.

Expert analysis: A strategic pivot

Ukrainian defense expert Kyrylo Danylchenko commented that the diversion of US anti-drone munitions was directly linked to preparations for an Iranian response.

“Over 300 strikes hit 100 targets overnight. Iran’s air defense was suppressed; bunker-busting bombs were used. Israel neutralized IRGC commanders responsible for Shahed operations against Ukraine,” Danylchenko wrote on Facebook.

He noted that Iran’s Shahed production lines were likely targeted, and that Israel may continue its strikes for up to two weeks if diplomatic efforts fail, exploiting what he called a rare “window of regional vulnerability.”

Bottom line

The diversion of APKWS to the Middle East — just before a major regional conflict erupted — highlights a sharp shift in US strategic priorities. A system once intended to protect Ukrainian cities is now deployed to defend against a rapidly expanding confrontation with Iran.

Whether Ukraine gets resupplied — or left exposed — is still an open question.

Israel has carried out a large-scale military operation targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, an action reportedly prepared over the years, which resembles tactics used in Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, according to UNIAN. 

According to Israeli media, the Israel Defense Forces established a covert base for strike drones within Iranian territory. From this hidden launch site, a wave of kamikaze drones attacked key components of Iran’s nuclear and missile infrastructure.

Al Jazeera reports that the drones struck earth-to-earth missile launchers at Iran’s Asfaghabad military base near Tehran.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has stated that the military “will continue its mission to disrupt Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”

Simultaneously, Israeli fighter jets reportedly bombed uranium enrichment facilities in Natanz and Fordow, as well as missile bases in Kermanshah and Khorramabad. Other major cities, Tehran, Isfahan, and Tabriz, were also hit, with precision strikes aimed at top military leadership and nuclear scientists, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports. 

The holy city of Qom, home to much of Iran’s clerical elite, also came under attack.

According to unconfirmed reports cited by Iranian state media, the strikes killed several high-ranking figures, including IRGC Commander Hossein Salami, Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, and nuclear physicist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.

Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Efi Defrin says the operation was a preemptive warning against Iran’s near-completion of a nuclear weapon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Iran had already stockpiled enough enriched uranium for nine nuclear bombs and planned to produce 10,000 ballistic missiles within three years.

A Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet carried out a precision strike on Russian positions in the Zaporizhzhia direction, targeting a command post for drone operators and a combined ammunition and fuel depot, Ukraine's Air Force reported on June 13.

The Air Force did not disclose the exact location of the strike but thanked international partners for providing the guided munitions used in the attack.

"We thank our partners for their highly accurate and effective 'arguments'," the service wrote.

The MiG-29, a Soviet-designed multirole fighter jet, remains a front-line platform in Ukraine's air force and has been adapted to carry Western-supplied precision-guided weapons.

Zaporizhzhia Oblast, located in southeastern Ukraine, remains one of the war's most contested areas. While the city of Zaporizhzhia is under Ukrainian control, southern parts of the region remain occupied by Russian forces.

Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on May 31 that Russia has intensified offensive operations across several key areas, including Zaporizhzhia, as part of a broader summer push.

Ukrainian forces have continued to conduct airstrikes and sabotage missions to degrade Russian supply lines and disrupt offensive preparations.

Russia preparing strategic reserves for conflicts beyond Ukraine, Ukraine warns

“According to our intelligence, Russia has started to prepare strategic reserves, which indicates plans for combat operations not only in Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir

Everything was burning, death was all around — but Kharkiv remains unbroken. After a nighttime kamikaze drone attack on Kharkiv, rescuers heard an injured man singing the Ukrainian national anthem beneath the rubble of a destroyed building, says Oleksii Biloshytskyi, First Deputy Head of the Patrol Police Department.

During the night of 11 June, Russian attack drones struck residential neighborhoods in Kharkiv. Direct hits were recorded on apartment buildings and a civilian enterprise. Three people were killed, and more than 60 were injured, including children.

A 65-year-old man, a 47-year-old woman, and another 65-year-old man who died in the hospital in the morning were among the victims of the strike. At least 60 people were wounded, among them nine children, UkrInform reports. 

Oleksii Biloshytskyi described an extraordinary moment during the rescue operation. 

“We pulled people from the rubble, extinguished fires burning right on people’s bodies. In that darkness, amid the dust, smoke, and pain, a man under the debris was singing the Ukrainian National Anthem. That’s something you don’t forget. That’s something you cannot forgive,” he said. 

Earlier, on 7 June, Russia launched a mix of drones, guided bombs, and at least one missile on Kharkiv, killing six civilians.

One of the Shahed drones struck civilian infrastructure, causing severe destruction. Among the damaged objects was an Audi A7 that ended up at the epicenter of the explosion, writes Blik. Yet, contrary to expectations, the car not only “survived” but also started and drove away, astonishing everyone who witnessed the moment. Footage of the car instantly went viral on social media.

Iran launched over 100 drones against Israel, all of which were intercepted outside of Israeli airspace, Ynet News reported on June 13, citing Israeli military spokesperson Effie Defrin.

The drone attack follows heavy air strikes launched by Israel against Iran, targeting the country's nuclear program and reportedly killing Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and other top officials.

Israel said it had deployed some 200 aircraft in its "preemptive" attack overnight on June 13, dropping 330 munitions over 100 sites.

The full extent of the consequences was not immediately clear. Multiple explosions were reported in Tehran as videos posted on social media purportedly show fire burning in multiple locations of the Iranian capital.

Open-source intelligence researchers have shared alleged footage of Shahed kamikaze drones flying in the direction of Israel. Tehran has provided thousands of these drones to Russia for use against Ukrainian cities.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed to enact "severe punishment" in response to the attack, accusing the United States for "also (being) responsible for the dangerous consequences of this reckless escalation."

In a statement released by the State Department, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States was not involved in the strikes on Iran, calling it a "unilateral action."

The U.S. Embassy in Israel instructed its employees and family members to take shelter until further notice.

Jordan has announced it had closed its airspace "as a precaution against any risks resulting from the regional escalation."

The attacks are taking place amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. In April 2024, Iran launched 170 drones and 150 missiles against Israel, with an overwhelming majority being shot down outside of Israel with the assistance of Western partners.

The attack was a response to Israel’s strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1 as part of the broader Israel-Hamas war.

Israel launches ‘preemptive’ air strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, IRGC chief killed in attack

Israeli forces launched “preemptive strikes” on Iran overnight on June 13, tarting Iran’s nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an overnight address.

The Kyiv IndependentLucy Pakhnyuk

Russia will establish a dedicated military branch for unmanned systems, President Vladimir Putin said on June 12 during a meeting on the state armament program.

"We have accumulated a great deal of experience to create this branch of the armed forces," Putin said, noting the move includes personnel training, manufacturing, and deployment of modern equipment.

The announcement comes as both Russia and Ukraine increasingly use drones for strike missions and surveillance. Unmanned systems have become central to battlefield operations and enabling deep strikes.

Ukraine established its own Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) in June 2024 to formalize and scale its drone-based operations on the battlefield. The USF has since launched hundreds of deep strikes into Russian territory and worked to integrate drone technology across combat units.

Russia, meanwhile, has ramped up drone production over the past year, launching waves of Iranian-designed Shahed-type suicide drones in near-daily attacks on Ukrainian cities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 27 that Moscow intends to produce up to 500 drones daily, with Russian manufacturers gearing up to manufacture 300-350 drones each day.

Russian drone production has been supported by a steady flow of components from China and a workforce that includes teenagers and foreign laborers from African countries.

The Kremlin's move mirrors Kyiv's earlier military reform and signals Russia's recognition of drones as a critical pillar of modern warfare.

As Russian losses in Ukraine hit 1 million, Putin’s war economy heads toward breaking point

Russian losses in Ukraine hit a massive, and grim milestone on June 12 — 1 million Russian soldiers killed or wounded during the 39-month-long full-scale war, according to figures from Kyiv. Although hugely symbolic, the number is unlikely to prompt a change in tactics from Moscow as it gears up for

The Kyiv IndependentChris York

The war in Ukraine is bringing revolutionary changes to modern military strategy. After Ukrainian soldiers destroyed Russia’s Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Moskva cruiser, it became clear: the era of large warships is over, UkrInform reports. 

The Moskva proved that a large warship in the Black Sea is an easy target, says Mykola Shcherbakov, commander of a State Border Guard Sea Guard vessel.

“That’s why we need to be small, fast, and maneuverable. I think swarm tactics are what the future holds for us,” he believes.

Shcherbakov is convinced that Ukraine’s navy’s future lies in high automation, mobility, and modular platforms that can be reconfigured for various missions.

“A fleet is always very expensive. But small platforms with modular weaponry, missiles, air defense — that’s the path to success. And support from drones is essential,” he emphasizes.

He adds that the Sea Guard can also assign some tasks to unmanned systems—for example, during reconnaissance missions or in high-risk zones.

“Not all of our tasks require people on board. When it’s about documenting violations or communicating with fishermen, drones can’t replace a human. But when it comes to scouting or assessing the situation, maritime drones would be very appropriate,” Shcherbakov explains.

He says Ukraine has already shown the world its capabilities in unmanned maritime technology.

“There are already sea-based FPV drone variants, vessels equipped with air defense systems — even something resembling mini aircraft carriers that can carry reconnaissance or strike systems,” Shcherbakov notes.

Ukraine is currently at the forefront of using unmanned systems at sea, the Ukrainian commander emphasizes.

Russia has likely used a new jet-powered attack drone, the Geran-3, in a recent missile and drone strike on Kyiv, according to Ukrainian defense outlet Defense Express.

The development comes amid a sharp escalation in Moscow’s drone warfare. Russia is now deploying high-altitude, dive-bombing Shahed drones at scale—reportedly producing thousands monthly using Iranian designs and domestic assembly lines. These drones increasingly strike civilian infrastructure, overwhelming Ukrainian defenses and causing mounting casualties and destruction.

Whistling sounds and jet engine wreckage

Photos of the downed UAV show several key components, including a compact jet engine, indicating that the drone was likely the Geran-3 — a Russian variant of the Iranian Shahed-238. This model marks a significant upgrade over the slower Shahed-136 (Geran-2), boasting reported speeds of 550–600 km/h and a range of up to 2,500 km, compared to the Shahed-136’s 185 km/h.

Residents of Kyiv reported hearing a distinct whistling sound during the strike, consistent with a jet-powered drone and unlike the quieter propeller-driven models previously used.

Among the wreckage, investigators found an avionics panel nearly identical to those used in the Shahed-136 — responsible for flight programming, engine control, and onboard systems — suggesting a shared design lineage.

Though the drone was heavily fragmented, Defense Express says the evidence points to either an imported Shahed-238 or a Russian-produced version built with Iranian-sourced components.

Russian production and intelligence warnings

This is not the first suspected use of a jet-powered Shahed-type drone in Ukraine. A similar incident occurred in January 2024, but confirmation was inconclusive at the time.

In February 2025, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (GUR) warned that Russia had begun domestic production of a jet-powered Shahed-style drone, designated Geran-3. It is believed to use a Tolou-10/13 jet engine, an Iranian-made, unlicensed copy of the Czech PBS TJ100.

Defense Express reports that analysis is still underway, but early findings strongly suggest that the drone used in the Kyiv attack was indeed the Geran-3.

Russia has shifted its drone strike tactics, making it increasingly difficult for Ukrainian air defenses to respond, Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

The change comes amid a sharp escalation in Moscow’s drone campaign. Russia is now deploying high-altitude, dive-bombing Shahed drones at scale—reportedly producing thousands each month using Iranian designs and domestic facilities. These drones are increasingly hitting civilian targets, overwhelming defenses, and causing growing casualties and destruction.

In a major overnight assault, 15 Shahed drones struck Kharkiv, with two more hitting nearby areas. Eleven sites were hit within minutes, including three residential buildings.

Drones now fly higher before diving at targets

Syniehubov noted that the drones now fly at significantly higher altitudes before striking.

“Russian forces have changed tactics—they’re now launching drones at 4,000 to 5,000 meters, then dropping them sharply just before impact,” he wrote on Telegram.

The latest strike killed four people and injured 64 others, including children. Among the victims was a woman who died in hospital hours after her husband, both wounded in the same attack.

The Osnovianskyi and Slobidskyi districts sustained direct hits on apartment blocks, private homes, playgrounds, public transport, and key infrastructure. Fires were reported at several locations.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes as “cowardly” and “deliberate,” warning that such Russian attacks have become a grim daily occurrence.

Ukraine’s General Staff has officially confirmed a series of drone strikes on key Russian military targets, putting to rest speculation stemming from local reports and social media activity.

In a statement, Ukrainian officials said that overnight on 11 June, drone units, in coordination with other defense elements, struck multiple facilities across Russia, including the Tambov Gunpowder Plant, an ammunition depot in Kursk Oblast, and the Buturlinovka airfield in Voronezh Oblast.

“A number of critical facilities belonging to Russia were struck,” the General Staff said, adding that the operations were part of an effort to “undermine the enemy’s capacity to produce explosives and use ammunition.”

Targets confirmed by Ukraine:

• Tambov Gunpowder Plant: The facility was hit and fires were recorded. It plays a central role in Russia’s military-industrial complex, producing gunpowder and pyroxylin, an ingredient used in explosives.
• Kursk Oblast: Ukrainian forces targeted an ammo depot linked to Russia’s 106th Airborne Division. Regional officials said one civilian was injured and two medical posts were damaged near Rylsk.
• Voronezh Oblast: The Buturlinovka airfield was also hit. Russian officials reported over 15 drones were intercepted overnight, with no damage on the ground.

The statement noted that damage assessments are ongoing: “The effects of the fire strike are being clarified.”

Ukrainian drones struck multiple military targets in Russia, including the Tambov Gunpowder Plant, overnight on June 11, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported.

The plant, one of Russia's main manufacturers of gunpowder and explosives for small arms, artillery, and rocket systems, caught fire following the drone strike, according to the General Staff.

Local residents reported hearing explosions and shared videos showing a large blaze near the facility, according to the Russian independent media outlet Astra.

The General Staff described the attack as part of a broader operation to degrade Russia's ability to produce explosive materials and ammunition used in the full-scale war against Ukraine.

The Tambov facility has been targeted several times since November 2023, and U.S. sanctions were imposed on it that same year. Tambov Oblast, located southeast of Moscow, lies hundreds of kilometers from Ukraine and shares no direct border with it.

Russian state news agency TASS confirmed a drone attack but did not mention the strike on the powder plant. Tambov Oblast Governor Maxim Egorov said that emergency services had extinguished the fire and that there were no casualties, though he did not specify the location of the fire.

In addition to the strike on Tambov, Ukrainian drones hit the ammunition depot of Russia's 106th Airborne Division in Kursk Oblast and the depot at Buturlinovka airfield in Voronezh Oblast, the General Staff said.

The extent of the damage is still being assessed, the General Staff said.

"The Defense Forces continue to take all measures to undermine the military and economic potential of the Russian occupiers and force Russia to stop its armed aggression against Ukraine," the statement reads.

Ukraine has ramped up long-range drone strikes in recent weeks, targeting Russian air bases and arms production facilities in an effort to disrupt Moscow's war machine ahead of an anticipated Russian summer offensive.

As Russia inches closer to Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, new Ukrainian region might soon be at war

Moscow said its troops had crossed into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and were conducting offensive operations in the region, a claim Kyiv quickly denied as “Russian disinformation.” Russian troops have been pushing toward Dnipropetrovsk Oblast for months, trying to solidify the southern flank to capture Pokrovsk and the remaining parts of the

The Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima

Russia’s new AI kamikaze drone can navigate and attack without any connection to a human operator. The V2U may be one of the most sophisticated small attack UAVs on either side of Russia’s 40-month wider war on Ukraine—and it risks tilting the life-or-death drone race in the Kremlin’s favor.

The electrically-powered, propeller-driven, explosives-laden V2U, roughly 1.2 meters from wingtip to wingtip, first appeared along the 1,100-km front line this spring. 

Recovering crashed examples, Ukrainian and allied analysts have been able to identify the components—many of them Chinese, Japanese or American in origin—that help the V2U fly for up to an hour at 60 km/hr and strike with a vehicle-wrecking 2.9-kg shaped-charge warhead, all without human intervention.

That autonomy makes the V2U essentially impossible to jam. Like smaller fiber-optic first-person-view attack drones, the V2U is impervious to electromagnetic attacks on its control link. The only way to defeat it is to shoot it down—or hide from it. 

“Autonomy is the inevitable pathway drone warfare will follow,” explained “Roy,” a Canadian drone expert. With the V2U, “Russia is pulling ahead of Ukraine in the crucial field of drone autonomy.” 

Total autonomy

Like many drones, the camera-equipped V2U boasts satellite positioning by way of the American GPS and Russian GLONASS constellations. It’s the “ubiquitous approach to navigation,” wrote Justin Bronk and Jack Watling, analysts for the Royal United Services Institute in London.

But satellite navigation is fragile. “The power of these navigational emissions is very low,” Bronk and Watling pointed out. “They are, therefore, easy to receive, but also easy to jam through saturation of the frequencies used. Alternatively, adversaries can deliver false signals such that the receiver is spoofed into locating itself in an erroneous position.”

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So the V2U’s designers added a backup navigation system. “A 100-GB solid state drive on a video support board, combined with a laser range finder, gives the UAV terrain-following capability in the presence of GPS/GLONASS jamming,” Roy noted. 

Terrain-following is entirely internal, and requires no connection to an outside operator or satellite. “If a platform has an electro-optical sensor and a pre-loaded map of the terrain over which it is flying, computer vision can be used to match the UAV’s camera view against identifiable terrain features and physical markers such as rivers, roads and forests,” Bronk and Watling wrote. 

Terrain-matching can be inaccurate at the lower altitudes where a smaller drone such as the V2U is most comfortable, so there’s a backup for its backup. “If a platform has a laser rangefinder and flies at a low and level altitude”—and yes, the V2U does fly like that—“it can compare changes in contour of the ground over time to track its progress over its pre-loaded map,” the RUSI analysts explained.

Probing as deeply as 60 km behind the front line, a V2U—or, more ominously, a swarm of several V2Us—will use its built-in AI to scan for targets matching pre-loaded images of the most valuable Ukrainian vehicles and systems. Tanks. Rocket launchers. Artillery. Air-defenses.

The V2U “would be effective against a range of valuable targets,” Roy warned.

The Ukrainian armed forces have highly autonomous, AI-assisted attack drones, too, of course—but the V2U may be the best of the bunch. The type’s proliferation is a waving red flag—a warning that the sanctions-squeezed Russian drone industry is still capable of adaptation and innovation. It’s capable of making technological leaps in arguably the critical capability of the wider war: autonomy. 

“Ukraine must not let the Russians lead this race,” Roy stated.

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Ukraine found a way to beat Russia’s unjammable drones. It doesn’t work anymore.

The cities of Donbas have turned into fortresses—battered, besieged, others reduced to ash and rubble under Russia’s grinding advance that devours territory inch by inch, house by house. Yet Ukraine’s Armed Forces fight and hold what remains. Among those on the line is Mykhailo “Malina” Malinovskyi, a 45-year-old combat medic from Zhytomyr who volunteered the moment Russia’s full-scale invasion began.

His reason was simple: stop the enemy before they reach home.

During brief pauses in the fighting, Malinovskyi records his thoughts in a war diary. What emerges is a raw account of survival at the zero line, where death hovers one drone strike away.

“I thought Bakhmut was the darkest. I was wrong.”

Here I am — 45 years old and working as a combat medic. Who’d have imagined it? But life keeps teaching, and I keep learning.

Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, Vovchansk. I thought those were the darkest days I’d face. I was wrong.

Now I’m back in the Donbas: Chasiv Yar again, Toretsk, Kostiantynivka. Each time I return, it feels like fate has raised the difficulty level. Only now, I’m not just responsible for myself. I’m responsible for every man next to me.

Not even in my worst nightmares did I expect to dig my comrades out of a collapsed dugout. To treat the wounded in the open while enemy drones carrying grenades swarm above. FPVs flying over us one by one, shredding the last of our cover. Flash. Explosion. Silence.

A fog invades the brain. Then nothing. For a second, everything vanishes. Voices sound distant, muffled, like they’re coming from deep underground. And then, realization — I’m still alive. I still have a little time to do something that matters.

I drag the wounded guy into the ruins of the burning blindage — a reinforced shelter where I can shield him, at least from sight. Survival instincts shut down. Emotions go dark. You work on autopilot. You do what you were taught.

One chance in a hundred

And when you survive ten attacks, a thought creeps in — you can’t die. Not yet. God has more plans for you. You grow more confident, and that confidence spreads to those around you. You grow hard, tough-skinned. But when the job’s done, that hardness starts to scare you.

After weeks underground, your legs stop working. They’re stiff, numb. Permanent soreness. But now, you have to move. Walk. Run. Drag. Hide. Then run again. You hesitate at the mouth of the shelter. The sky hums with drones. You wait for the next wave, but you don’t hear the FPVs yet. So, you venture out. First steps, heavy with doubt.

Out now. Emotions vanish again. All you see is the distant goal — you gotta get the group 250 meters to the next cover. You move carefully, watching every step for mines, live drones, and dropped explosives. Your head spins. Ears scan the air like radars. You calculate as your eyes scan the gray sky: the seconds before impact, drone trajectory, distance.

Vision blurs. But you keep your eyes fixed on that one patch of cover up ahead. Exhausted, you crawl into the hole. You can’t breathe properly. Each breath scrapes your throat raw, followed by desperate gasps for air. Shortness of breath keeps your lungs half-empty.

“Relief comes, but only briefly — evacuations are still ahead”

You lie there, body tensed, ears ringing, sky buzzing. Something tells you — now. “Move!” you scream.

Your body nearly empty, you force yourself across scorched ground to reach the last bit of cover before the evac point. Your body threatens to collapse. You drop, gasping. Then, a car horn. The vehicle’s here to take the wounded. You have one minute.

You push yourself once more. You’re on the edge of blacking out, watching from the sidelines through blurry eyes. You override the exhaustion. Just for a moment.

Everyone’s loaded in. You slump over, almost unconscious. But there’s one thought keeping you conscious — you made it. You breathe out, relief washing over the fear of what tomorrow might bring.

“What if you can’t handle it one more time?”

Because this isn’t a one-time test. Tomorrow, it starts again. And you’re afraid — what if you can’t handle it one more time?

You don’t really sleep. You drop off in short bursts. You live in a constant state of tension. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month.

Back on the zero line — the front-line combat position — you’re slowly rotting away. But you’re grateful for a 1.5-liter bottle of water dropped by drone — no vehicle can reach you here. You haven’t had more than a few sips in days. You save some water — for coffee. Just a mouthful. You can’t waste it. But you brew it anyway. Sip it slowly. You light a cigarette. Inhale. Exhale. Quiet.

Because maybe this-this tiny, bitter moment — is the most peace you’ll get in the next few months.

On or before Saturday, Russian troops somewhere along the 700-mile (about 1,100-km) front line of Russia’s 40-month wider war on Ukraine detected incoming Ukrainian drones. Specifically: fiber-optic first-person-view drones that send and receive signals via millimeters-thick, but miles-long, spools of optical fiber.

Fiber-optic FPVs are extremely difficult to defeat. The main defense against wireless FPVs, which send and receive signals by radio, is electronic jamming that can ground the drones before they strike. But fiber-optic FPVs can’t be jammed. That’s why both the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces are building more of the fiber-optic models—even though they’re several times more expensive than the $500 wireless models.

But sever a drone’s optical fiber, and it’ll fall from the air. Optical fiber is tough, but it can be broken by bending it 180 degrees. Surgical scissors can also cut right through it—as the Russians were well aware. “Got the scissors?” one hidden Russian asked after a Ukrainian FPV buzzed past, trailing its optical fiber, in a video from the Saturday incident. “Got ‘em,” another hidden Russian responded.

The soldiers hurried from their hiding spot, found the drone’s thin optical fiber—and cut it.

The drone lost its command signal. “It’s falling,” one Russian breathed right before the drone exploded a short distance away.

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The circumstances of the Saturday fiber-cutting will be difficult for the Russians—and Ukrainians, for that matter—to duplicate. The soldiers had to have ample warning of the incoming drone raid, opportunity to hide from the passing drone and plenty of luck. If a second drone had followed the first, it might’ve struck the Russians as they tried to scissor the first drone’s fiber.

Cut the cord

Yes, scissors are an effective defense against fiber-optic drones—but only in the most extraordinary circumstances. That’s why both sides are literally digging in, going underground to avoid the millions of FPVs swarming the front as the war grinds into its fourth year.

More and more, armored vehicles and infantry hide indoors or underground when they’re not actively attacking or defending. It’s a new “era of the cautious tank,” according to David Kirichenko, an analyst with the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C. 

The only scalable active defenses against fiber-optic drones are to shoot them down right before they strike, usually with shotguns. That’s risky, however. Miss with your first shot, and you might not get a second one before the drone strikes.

Acknowledging the difficulty of stopping fiber-optic FPVs right before they explode, the Russians and Ukrainians are trying to stop them “left of the boom,” to borrow a US Army term. That might mean detecting the optical fibers left over from earlier attacks, tracing the fibers back to the drone operators—and bombarding the operators with drones or artillery. 

That only works if the operators unwisely linger in the same location long enough for the enemy to hunt them down. 

Ukrainian forces are trying to get even farther left of the boom—attacking the factories that produce Russia’s FPVs. 

On 13 March, long-range drones belonging to the Ukrainian defense intelligence agency struck a hidden drone manufacturing facility in Obukhovo, just outside Moscow, 300 miles (about 480 km) from the border with Ukraine. A few weeks later, in April, Ukraine sortied one of its then-new Aeroprakt A-22 sport plane drones to strike a drone plant in Yelabuga, 550 miles (about 880 km) east of Moscow.

And on 4 April, a dozen Ukrainian attack drones motored 460 miles (about 740 km) into Russia and struck a factory in the city of Saransk. The target was the Optic Fiber Systems factory, which produces—you guessed it—fiber-optic cables. The critical component in Russia’s best unjammable FPVs.

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Ukraine found a way to beat Russia’s unjammable drones. It doesn’t work anymore.

A Russian Molniya-2 kamikaze drone was brought down by a Ukrainian FPV drone reportedly using electronic warfare capabilities, footage shared on 9 June showed, according to Militarnyi. 

The video shows the Russian Molniya-2 drone losing control as a Ukrainian interceptor approached. Militarnyi reports that this suggests the use of an onboard electronic warfare (EW) system, which jammed the UAV’s control signals and forced it to crash. The operators of Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces reportedly executed this interception using a non-contact approach.

Rising use of EW against cheap Russian drones

This is not the first known incident of a Ukrainian drone using EW methods to down a Russian UAV. Similar interceptions of Molniya drones were previously noted starting in mid-March, with a growing frequency through April and May. 

One likely vulnerability in the Molniya-2 drones is the use of ERLS control systems with active telemetry, allowing the detection of the UAV’s control frequencies. Ukrainian forces have reportedly exploited this flaw by emitting targeted jamming in narrow frequency bands. This method does not require high-power systems and can be deployed directly from the intercepting drone.

Cheap design and battlefield adaptability of Molniya-2

The Molniya-2 is a fixed-wing kamikaze drone developed as a low-cost, mass-produced weapon. Its construction involves foam, plastic, aluminum tubing, and wooden components. Electronics and engines are mostly standardized with FPV drones.

The Molniya-2 can fly up to 60 kilometers and reach speeds of 120 km/h. Its payload varies depending on the launch method. The drone can carry explosive charges or a TM-62 mine weighing up to 10 kilograms, according to Russian state media.

Militarnyi had earlier reported that Russian forces began adapting Molniya drones to serve as carriers for FPV drones.

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.

3. 15 WordPress-style tags: North Korea, Shahed drones, Russia-Ukraine war, Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine intelligence, KN-23 missiles, Military technology transfer, Kursk Oblast, Nuclear weapons technology, Submarine technology, Koksan artillery, North Korean troops, Geran drones, Defense Intelligence Directorate, Ballistic missiles

Ukrainian drones targeted Russia’s Tatarstan overnight on 10 June, with explosions heard and drones seen in the cities of Yelabuga and Nizhnekamsk — over 1,200 km from Ukraine’s border. Russian authorities responded by grounding flights at multiple airports and expanding penalties for publishing drone strike footage.

Drone strikes target Tatarstan and beyond

According to reports from Russian Telegram channels including Astra and Mash, explosions were heard in Nizhnekamsk, as the Ukrainian Liutyi drones were spotted there, and in Tatarstan’s Yelabuga. Eyewitnesses cited by Mash claimed the drones were flying north, toward areas with suspected drone factories.

Ukrainian Telegram channel Supernova+ also shared last night’s footage featuring the sound of a massive explosion, head in Russia’s Tver, and of a drone fly-by in Saratov.

Local residents captured the moment when air defense missiles failed to intercept a fixed-wing drone flying over Tatarstan’s Nizhnekamsk. 

The Shahed-manufacturing facility in Yelabuga was last targeted by Ukrainian drones in late May and, earlier, in April.

Drones hit Russia’s Shahed drone factory 1,200 km from Ukraine again

Russian MoD claims widespread drone interceptions

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that between 21:50 and 23:55 Moscow time on 9 June, Russian air defense destroyed 76 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones: 46 over Bryansk Oblast, 16 over Belgorod Oblast, 2 each over Oryol and Kaluga oblasts, and 1 over Voronezh Oblast, and 9 over occupied Crimea.

In the next morning update, the Russian MoD claimed a total of 102 UAVs were intercepted overnight, including drones over Moscow, Tatarstan, and other regions.

The Leningrad Oblast governor, Aleksandr Drozdenko, stated a drone was allegedly shot down over Tosnensky District. He also reported restrictions on mobile and internet access in several areas. He also said internet and mobile communication restrictions were imposed in places.

Flight disruptions across multiple Russian cities

The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsiya, temporarily restricted take-offs and landings at airports in Nizhnekamsk, Pulkovo in St. Petersburg, Izhevsk, Kirov, and all Moscow airports.

Artem Korenyako of Rosaviatsiya noted the suspensions were imposed at the height of the drone threat, and that safety protocols such as the standard plan Kovyor, grounding all civilian aviation, were enacted in multiple cities.

Russia enacts regional bans on sharing drone strike data

Russian officials have imposed fines and restrictions on publishing any materials about drone strikes. Kommersant reports that regional governments have introduced penalties ranging from administrative fines to criminal prosecution.

In some instances, the fines — ranging from 3,000 to 200,000 rubles ($40–$2,550) — were issued to residents who shared videos or comments on social media. Media outlets, Telegram channel admins, and social media users have also been targeted. Repeat violations can lead to up to three years in prison.

Russia has agreed to help North Korea begin domestic production of Shahed-type "kamikaze" drones, Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with the War Zone magazine published on June 9.

Shahed drones could enable North Korea to strike targets across South Korea, potentially overwhelming air defenses, and could also assist Russia in its war against Ukraine, the War Zone wrote.

Budanov said Moscow and Pyongyang reached an agreement to start organizing the manufacturing of Iranian-designed Garpiya and Geran drones — the latter being Russia's designation for the Shahed-136 loitering munition — on North Korean territory.

"It's more about technology transfer," Budanov told the outlet, warning that the development could upset the military balance on the Korean Peninsula. "They just agreed to start the organization of this production."

Shahed drones, cheap and packed with explosives, have become a central weapon in Russia's aerial assaults on Ukraine since their introduction in late 2022.

Known for flying long distances before slamming into targets, they are now mass-produced by Russia and launched in near-nightly waves to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.

The news comes amid deepening military ties between Russia and North Korea. According to a May 29 report by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), Pyongyang shipped to Russia up to 9 million artillery shells and at least 100 ballistic missiles in 2024 alone.

North Korea's involvement in the war expanded in fall 2024, when it deployed thousands of troops to Russia's western border to help fend off a large-scale Ukrainian incursion. The move followed the signing of a defense treaty between the two countries in June 2024, obligating both to provide military aid if either is attacked.

North Korea acknowledged its role in the war only in April 2025. A month later, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said the country's participation was part of a "sacred mission," aligning Pyongyang's narrative with Moscow's.

Kim remains a vocal ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, supplying not only soldiers but also artillery, drones, and ballistic missiles. During Russia's May 9 Victory Day Parade in Moscow, Putin personally greeted North Korean troops, though Kim did not attend.

In one of largest attacks on Ukraine’s capital, Russian barrage hits Kyiv, Odesa, kills 2, injures 12

In the early hours of June 10, Kyiv and Odesa came under another mass Russian attack, involving ballistic missiles and drones. Explosions were heard across the capital as air defense systems engaged the targets.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

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

Drone attacks targeted Russia's Tatarstan Republic and Leningrad Oblast in the morning of June 10, independent outlet Astra reported.

In Tatarstan, drones were reported flying over the town of Yelabuga and the city of Nizhnekamsk.

Nizhnekamsk is situated approximately 1,124 kilometers (about 700 miles) from Russia's border with Ukraine.

Footage shared by Astra appears to show air defenses attempting to shoot down a drone flying over a field in Russia's Tatarstan.

Meanwhile, in Leningrad Oblast, air defenses destroyed a drone flying over the Tosnensky district and another over the Lomonosov district, local governor Alexander Drozdenko claimed.

There were no casualties or damage to report, he added.

"In a number of areas, restrictions have been introduced on mobile communications and the internet," Drozdenko said.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims.

Restrictions were imposed at several Russian airports overnight on June 10 as a result of drone attacks, a spokesperson for Russia's state aviation agency Rosaviatsia said.

The airports include St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport and Nizhnekamsk airport in Tatarstan.

Ukraine regularly strikes military targets deep within Russian territory in an effort to diminish Moscow's fighting power in its ongoing war.

A chemical plant in Russia's Tula Oblast caught fire after it was reportedly targeted a second time in a drone attack overnight on June 8.

On June 1, Ukraine launched a game-changing drone attack on four key Russian military airfields, damaging 41 planes, including heavy bombers and rare A-50 spy planes.

Kyiv claims it has disabled 34% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet in what is seen as one of the most daring operations during Russia's full-scale war.

What UK’s Strategic Defense Review means for Ukraine

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on June 2 that the United Kingdom is moving to “warfighting readiness,” in large part in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the threat Russia poses to Europe. He made the comment as his government unveiled its latest Strategic Defense Review, which

The Kyiv IndependentAlex Nichol

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International

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Humanitarian and social impact

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Read our earlier daily review here.

Russia is creating a risk for its nuclear force with its own hands. By deploying elements of its nuclear triad in the war against Ukraine, it is turning its strategic delivery systems into legitimate military targets, says expert Oleksii Izhak from Ukraine’s National Institute for Strategic Studies, Espreso reports. 

This trend became especially evident after Ukraine’s large-scale Operation Spiderweb, a series of precision strikes on Russia’s strategic airbases. These attacks exposed the vulnerability of sites previously believed to be immune to any assault. It was only after this campaign that Moscow began warning of a “threat to Russia’s nuclear security.”

But the expert is convinced: if Russia itself involves potential nuclear delivery systems in a conventional war, it forfeits its so-called nuclear immunity.

Moscow employs nuclear force components in its war effort. Russian dual-use systems, Iskander-M, Iskander-K, Kinzhal missiles, Su-24M, Su-34, and Tu-22M3 bombers, are regularly used with conventional warheads to strike targets in Ukraine.

“Ukraine is systematically destroying and will continue to destroy these systems on the battlefield, and there is no argument the West can make that undermines the logic of Ukraine’s actions,” says Izhak.

In such circumstances, Russia cannot expect that the mere nuclear potential of its systems will grant them any immunity.

According to him, Moscow has chosen a dangerous path, invoking nuclear weapons in rhetoric while actively using their delivery systems in a conventional war. But the war against Ukraine has proven these platforms are far from invulnerable.

It’s not just the strategic bombers that have proven to be large, exposed targets. Even mobile launchers like the Topol-M and Yars are barely protected.

For decades, the Kremlin justified its opposition to NATO expansion by claiming that non-nuclear missile deployments near Russian borders would undermine its nuclear security. But now, as Ukrainian drones and missiles destroy nuclear-capable delivery systems deep inside Russia, that argument is losing all credibility.

“NATO may expand or not — the new vulnerability of Russia’s nuclear forces will remain,” says Izhak.

At the same time, he stresses that no one would target Russia’s nuclear triad if it posed no threat. If Russia were to cease its aggression against Ukraine, it would no longer need its strategic arsenals.

Ukraine has reinvented the Trojan Horse tactic during Operation Spiderweb inside Russia, NATO Admiral Pierre Vandier said in an interview with AFP on June 9.

Kyiv's operation, conducted overnight on June 1, involved hiding first-person view (FPV) drones in trucks deep inside Russia before the attack. The operation damaged 41 aircraft, including Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 bombers — two of Russia's primary platforms for missile attacks against Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian military. It caused approximately $7 billion in damage and disabled one-third of Russia's cruise missile bombers, according to a source in the Security Service of Ukraine.

"What the Ukrainians did in Russia was a Trojan Horse — and the Trojan Horse was thousands of years ago," Vandier, NATO's supreme allied commander transformation, said. "Today, we see this kind of tactic being reinvented by technical and industrial creativity."

Vandier said that NATO needs to act quickly to master new technologies in time, considering the looming Russian threat. But the admiral added that while drones are indispensable in modern warfare, they are not omnipotent.

"No one in the military sphere will tell you that we can do without what we'll call traditional equipment," Vandier said. "However, we are certain we need new equipment to complement it."

"Today, you won't cross the Atlantic with a 10-meter-long (33-foot-long) drone. You won't easily locate submarines with such tools," he added.

"If they accompany your large platforms, you'll be able to achieve much better results at much lower costs."

Ukraine has pioneered drone technology during Russia's full-scale war, introducing various ground-, air-, and sea-based models for combat and reconnaissance missions.

Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on May 30 that Ukrainian soldiers hit and destroyed in May more than 89,000 Russian targets using drones of various types.

Ukraine is working to scale up domestic production. Kyiv has also developed long-range missile-drone hybrids, including the Palianytsia and Peklo models, which use turbojet engines as cruise missile alternatives.

By the end of 2024, Ukraine had developed a total of 324 new types of weapons, according to the Ministry of Strategic Industries.

War intensifies amid Russia’s summer offensive. Ukraine has spotted a massive redeployment of Russian self-propelled artillery and air defense systems to Sumy Oblast. 

Ukrainian forces have recorded a large-scale transfer of Russian military equipment from Crimea and Kherson towards Sumy Oblast. According to Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Occupation Studies Center, this is the largest movement of weaponry in the past six months.

“More than 10 self-propelled artillery systems, air defense systems, and convoys of over 40 trucks carrying ammunition and personnel,” Andriushchenko says.

The equipment is being loaded onto trains and sent to Russia’s Kursk Oblast, effectively heading to Sumy. The Russians are now stationed approximately 25-30 km from it. If they reach the city’s border, they will use artillery to strike it. 

Special attention is drawn to the military equipment markings, which, with their dominant tactical symbol of a triangle within a triangle, indicate reinforcement of this specific direction.

Amid this buildup, Sumy faces heavy drone attacks. Konotop mayor Artem Semenikhin stated that on 8 June, the region endured the most powerful drone assault since the war began: “The entire sky over the region turned red with targets.”

Ukrainian drones strike a plant producing Shahed “brains” in Russia’s city of Cheboksary. Loud explosions and a fire erupted in the town, located approximately 940 kilometers from Ukraine’s Kharkiv, overnight on 9 June.

Ukrainian drones targeted the VNIIR-Progress plant, which produced components for Shahed drones, UMPK kits, and other details for Russian precision-guided weapons.

Ukraine’s General Staff has officially confirmed that the Russian defense industry enterprise, JSC VNIIR-Progress, was struck as part of an operation to degrade the enemy’s capacity to manufacture air-attack systems.

“The facility was confirmed hit by at least two unmanned aerial vehicles, followed by a large-scale fire,” the General Staff has reported.

After the strike, powerful explosions were heard in the city, and the plant halted production, UNIAN writes.

“Two unmanned aerial vehicles crashed on the premises of JSC VNIIR, prompting a decision to suspend operations,” says Oleg Nikolaev, head of Russia’s Chuvashia Republic.

Besides Cheboksary, drone strikes also targeted facilities in Nizhny Novgorod, Tambov, and Voronezh regions. Aviation restrictions were imposed in Kazan, Saratov, and other Russian cities.

Ukraine’s military intelligence has disclosed technical specifications of Russia’s V2U strike drone, which employs artificial intelligence for autonomous target selection and operates primarily in the Sumy Oblast, according to a report from the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.

The drone’s computational system runs on a Chinese Leetop A203 minicomputer powered by an NVIDIA Jetson Orin high-speed processor assembly, intelligence officials revealed. This configuration enables the aircraft to identify and engage targets without human intervention.

“V2U is equipped with only one GPS module, which likely indicates Russians’ abandonment of satellite navigation due to Ukrainian electronic warfare systems,” the intelligence reported. “Navigation is likely implemented through ‘computer vision’ — the drone compares camera images with pre-loaded terrain photos.”

The aircraft incorporates FPV control capabilities through LTE communication, utilizing a Microdrive Tandem-4GS-OEM-11 modem-router that operates with Ukrainian mobile carrier SIM cards, according to the intelligence assessment.

Ukrainian analysts determined that despite Russian markings, the modem’s components originate from China. The drone’s construction relies predominantly on Chinese-manufactured parts, including the engine, GPS module, servos, solid-state drive, rangefinder, speed controllers, and power elements.

“A Japanese light-sensitive Sony sensor, an electromagnetic relay from Irish company Te Connectivity, and the mentioned American Jetson Orin module are installed,” intelligence officials added.

The disclosure follows Russia’s 29 May deployment of another new weapon system — the Dan-M jet-powered strike drone capable of reaching altitudes up to 9 kilometers. Military communications expert Serhiy Beskrestnov said that Dan-M represents a converted aerial target originally designed for air defense training and testing.

Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

A Ukrainian drone attack struck the JSC VNIIR-Progress facility in the Russian city of Cheboksary in the Chuvashia Republic, causing explosions and massive fires, Russian Telegram news channels reported in the early hours of June 9.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces confirmed the strike, saying Ukrainian drone units, in coordination with other units, targeted VNIIR-Progress and ABS Electro in Cheboksary overnight as part of efforts to degrade Russia's capacity to produce air attack systems.

The targeted facilities are part of Russia's military-industrial complex and produce adaptive Kometa antennas, used in Shahed-type attack drones, planning and correction modules for guided aerial bombs (KAB), and other precision-guided weapons, the General Staff said.

The Ukrainian military confirmed that at least two drones struck the site, causing a large fire. The results of the strike are still being assessed.

VNIIR-Progress is a Russian state institute that specializes in developing electronic warfare (EW) systems, including the Kometa antenna, used to jam satellite, radio, and radar signals. The facility has been sanctioned by the U.S. and the EU.

Oleg Nikolayev, the head of the Chuvashia Republic, claimed that two drones "fell" on the premises of the VNIIR-Progress facility on June 9.

The "responsible decision was made to temporarily suspend production to ensure the safety of employees," he said.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.

In video footage from local residents purporting to show the attack on the facility, smoke and flames can be seen rising over the city of Cheboksary. One video, published by the Russian independent news outlet Astra, shows a drone approaching the target and making impact, causing another explosion.

VNIIR-Progress is a major research and development institute for Russian EW systems. It produces the Kometa antenna, which Russia uses to make its bombs more accurate and less vulnerable to Ukrainian interference.

The strike marks the second reported Ukrainian drone attack against Russia's Chuvashia Repbulic.

Ukraine reportedly attacked the Burevestnik oil refinery in Cheboksary on March 9, in its first reported drone strike in the region. The refinery lies over 900 kilometers (559 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

In recent days, Ukraine has launched a number of strikes against military facilities in Russia, including missile bases and airfields. The most audacious and high-profile attack came on June 1, when Ukraine carried out Operation Spiderweb — a mass drone strike that simultaneously targeted four major Russian air bases, reportedly damaging 41 planes.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on June 9 that air defense units had intercepted 49 Ukrainian drones throughout the country.

Overnight drone strikes reportedly triggered flight restrictions at airports in Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, and Tambov.

Ukraine war latest: US expects Russia’s retaliation for Operation Spiderweb to continue soon; Ukraine denies Russian troop presence in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, describes situation as ‘tense’

Key developments on June 7-8: * US expects Russia’s retaliation for Operation Spiderweb to continue soon * Ukraine denies Russian troop presence in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast amid offensive, describes situation as ‘tense’ * Trump administration redirects 20,000 anti-drone missiles meant for Ukraine, Zelensky confirms * Ukraine downs fighter jet in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Air

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk

Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Russia launched another large-scale attack against Ukraine overnight on June 9, assailing cities across the country with drones and missiles.

At least one person was reported injured in Rivne, a city far from the front lines in northwestern Ukraine.

The mass strike comes shortly after Russia on June 6 launched 452 drones and 45 missiles at Ukraine in a single night — one of the largest aerial attacks in the full-scale war. The Kremlin claimed the bombardment was retaliation for Kyiv's Operation Spiderweb drone strike on Russian strategic aircraft.

Ukraine's Air Force issued aerial alerts throughout the night on June 8-9, warning multiple regions of the threat of ballistic missiles and Shahed-type attack drones.

The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said it scrambled fighter jets in response to the Russian aerial attacks in western Ukraine.

Explosions were reported during the night in Kyiv and Rivne.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, reported that an office building in the capital's Darnytsia district had been damaged in the attack.

One civilian in Rivne was injured in the attack, regional Governor Oleksandr Koval said. Emergency responders are still at work on the scene and the consequences of the strike are still being determined.

"A very difficult night for Rivne Oblast. Our region suffered a powerful enemy air strike," Koval said.

Rivne is located in northwestern Ukraine and shares a border with Belarus. Like neighboring Volyn Oblast, which was hit in Russia's mass strike on June 6, the region is not a frequent target of Russian aerial attacks

Trump administration redirects 20,000 anti-drone missiles meant for Ukraine, Zelensky confirms

“We counted on this project — 20,000 missiles. Anti-Shahed missiles. It was not expensive, but it’s a special technology,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

Reuters reported on June 8 that the U.S. expects Russia to launch more large-scale, multi-pronged strikes at Ukraine in the coming days as part of Moscow's "asymmetrical" response to Operation Spiderweb.

The Kremlin's retaliation could target high-value government sites, such as administrative buildings or intelligence facilities, a Western diplomatic source said.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on June 1 carried out an audacious mass drone attack on four key Russian air bases, reportedly damaging 41 military planes, including the heavy bombers Moscow uses to carry out attacks on Ukrainian cities.

The operation took 18 months to plan and execute, and allegedly caused $7 billion of damage to Russia's aerial fleet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly warned U.S. President Donald Trump during a June 5 phone call that Moscow was preparing a response to the operation. That night, Russia's mass strikes injured 80 people and killed four civilians, including emergency workers.

Trump said the next day that Operation Spiderweb  "gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night."

Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb exclusively targeted military facilities — specifically, the aircraft used to bomb civilian targets in Ukraine. The strike followed three years of aerial attacks and three months of Russian refusal to accept a ceasefire.

In the days leading up to the June 1 operation, Russia launched three heavy aerial attacks against Ukraine over three consecutive nights.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the idea that Russia's attacks are a response to Operation Spiderweb. Following a night and day of relentless bombings in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Zelensky on June 7 said Russia's strikes were "not 'retaliation' but acts of destruction."

Ukraine war latest: US expects Russia’s retaliation for Operation Spiderweb to continue soon; Ukraine denies Russian troop presence in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, describes situation as ‘tense’

Key developments on June 7-8: * US expects Russia’s retaliation for Operation Spiderweb to continue soon * Ukraine denies Russian troop presence in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast amid offensive, describes situation as ‘tense’ * Trump administration redirects 20,000 anti-drone missiles meant for Ukraine, Zelensky confirms * Ukraine downs fighter jet in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Air

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk

French automaker Renault will begin manufacturing drones in Ukraine, France Info reported, marking a significant collaboration between the automotive and defense sectors. Renault will partner with a small French defense company to equip production lines on Ukrainian territory, with the drones expected to serve both Ukrainian and French military forces.

While the French Defense Ministry declined to comment on Renault specifically, Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu confirmed on June 6 that a major French car manufacturer would join forces with a defense SME to launch drone production in Ukraine. Speaking to Le Monde, Lecornu did not name the automaker, but praised the project as an "unprecedented partnership."

When contacted by France Info, Renault confirmed that it has been contacted by the government, but added that "no decision has been taken at this stage."

The production will take place away from front-line areas, although the exact locations were not disclosed. Lecornu emphasized that the assembly would be handled by Ukrainians, citing their strong expertise in drone development and combat deployment strategies.

Lecornu also said there is "no need" to send French citizens to work on the production line, since it will be set up in Ukraine, where Ukrainians "are better than us at designing drones and especially at developing the strategies that accompany them."

This move underscores France’s growing support for Ukraine’s defense industry and comes as Ukraine continues to expand its own drone manufacturing capabilities.

Presidential advisor Oleksandr Kamyshin said in March that Ukrainian producers have the capacity to make over 5 million FPV drones annually.

Drone warfare has become a central component of the ongoing war, with both Ukraine and Russia increasingly relying on unmanned systems for reconnaissance and strikes.