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Ukraine’s 60-year-old Leopard tank switched from sniper mode, and Russian troops never saw it coming. They’re old. But Ukraine’s Leopard 1A5 tanks are back in the fight—because when you’re defending a place like Kostyantynivka, you use whatever still shoots straight.

Russia legally steals 20,000 homes in razed Mariupol — then charges homeless victims for rent. Survivors of Putin’s most brutal siege now face a deadlier trap: a rigged paperwork leaving them “homeless bums” whose stolen homes are sold to Moscow buyers.

Ukraine says it’s fighting corruption. But Deputy PM Chernyshov left the country—and hasn’t come back. Last week, Oleksiy Chernyshov left Ukraine on “official business.” Since then, two of his former aides have been arrested. He hasn’t come back.

Military

As Kyiv buries dead after biggest Russian attack of war, Kremlin says: “We’re advancing and will keep going”. Putin demands Ukraine stop receiving weapons while importing drones and missiles from Tehran and Pyongyang.

Russian soldier ate his comrade — Moscow’s troops spiral into madness in Ukraine’s trenches. A soldier called “Brelok” killed and ate his fellow Russian, then died himself — just “something to think about,” his commander says.

ISW: Putin’s victory plan hinges on Western fatigue and Ukrainian collapse. The think tank outlines Moscow’s unchanged core goals: a pro-Kremlin Ukraine and weakened NATO.

Frontline report: Iran’s war machine smashed — generals dead, Shaheds burned, missile launchers reduced to rubble.

Russia reportedly hides its own war dead in Ukraine’s body swaps. Kyiv says Moscow is slipping its own soldiers into exchanges meant for fallen Ukrainians, complete with uniforms, dog tags, and ID papers, possibly to dodge compensation to Russian families.

Intelligence and technology

Raytheon’s production lines overheat as Europe lines up for 1,000 Patriot missiles and Ukraine pleads for speed. Joint production and faster transfer talks gain urgency as Russia refines its missile arsenal.

Ukrainian air-defense drones evolve rapidly to counter Russia’s growing Shahed swarm threat.

Three Ukrainian companies make top 100 list of unmanned systems innovators. Ukraine’s TAF Drones, Ukrspecsystems, and Airlogix secure prestigious spots on the world stage, showcasing rapid growth and cutting-edge technology.

International

Argentina uncovers suspected Russian spy network linked to disinformation efforts. The identified group allegedly developed content to sway political narratives favorable to Russia.

Le Monde: Obama held back on Ukraine, Biden hesitated, now Trump embraces Putin. As Trump aligns with Moscow, European capitals brace for a new era of geopolitical uncertainty and strategic detachment.

Russia shields Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Zelenskyy warns. Ukraine’s president calls Moscow’s alignment with Tehran and Pyongyang a dangerous signal of rising global threats.

Zelenskyy’s top man Yermak is “bipartisan irritator,” US insiders warn Politico. The Ukrainian President Office chief’s abrasive style and vague agendas are testing US support for Ukraine at a fragile moment, sources told Politico.

US strike on Iran could force Moscow to imagine what real strength feels like, says expert. The Kremlin respects only power — and it’s watching the Middle East war especially closely.

Humanitarian and social impact

Inside occupied Crimea: torture, disappearances, and total suppression of dissent. A Freedom House report sheds light on systematic abuses in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.

He endured what most wouldn’t survive: Ukraine returns its 60-year old warrior from Russian captivity. He spent years in a Russian cell and still made it back.

Iran’s missiles kill 7-year-old Ukrainian girl seeking leukemia treatment in Israel. Nastia Buryk from Odesa died alongside four family members as an Iranian missile struck their apartment.

Rescuers among the injured as Russia again targets civilians in Odesa and Kharkiv. A collapsing structure wounded three firefighters in Odesa during intense operations to save residents.

Russia kills Ukrainian civilians on unprecedented scale since Trump’s peace efforts, while West debates sanctions in slow motion. With no pressure, Russia turns every negotiation into a smokescreen.

Political and legal developments

Putin declares all of Ukraine Russian as Trump claims Kremlin wants peace. Russia shows its aim is subjugation, not negotiation.

Netherlands becomes seventh nation to recognize soviet-era Crimean Tatar deportation as genocide. The Dutch House of Representatives declared the Soviet Union’s 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars constituted genocide, joining six other nations in formally recognizing Stalin’s forced removal of over 190,000 people from the peninsula.

Latvia bans Russians from buying property, calling it hybrid warfare threat. Latvia banned property sales to Russian and Belarusian citizens after parliament declared such transactions constitute “hybrid warfare” instruments, passing the measure in its conclusive reading 19 June.

Ukraine’s anti-corruption star Denys Bihus confirms intelligence work after MP leak. Ukraine’s top investigative journalist says he helped intelligence services — but denies it compromised his reporting or gave him special treatment.

Read our earlier daily review here.

On 20 June, Freedom House called for democratic governments to prioritize the rights and dignity of civilians living under Russian occupation in Ukraine, particularly in Crimea, where repression, forced assimilation, and abuse continue to escalate.

Freedom House presented its first-ever Alfred Moses Liberty Award on 20 May to Crimean Tatar human rights defender Server Mustafayev. A cofounder of the Crimean Solidarity movement, Mustafayev supported victims of political persecution in Crimea after Russia’s 2014 occupation and annexation. Russian authorities imprisoned him in 2020 on terrorism charges widely considered fabricated. He is currently serving a 14-year sentence in Russia.

In a 2023 letter published by Freedom House, Mustafayev described the situation in occupied Crimea:

“The Russian Federation actively, without wasting time, destroyed all dissent, activism, journalism, and justice in Crimea. […] Dozens of people disappeared, hundreds were arrested, thousands were forcedly expelled from their native home (Crimea), homes they returned to after the genocide and deportation of 1944.”

Suppression of identity and indoctrination of children

The report highlights Russia’s ongoing campaign to forcibly Russify occupied territories. In Crimea, this includes cultural suppression and indoctrination of Ukrainian children through militarized camps. These practices, according to Freedom House, threaten to leave generational scars.

The 2025 Freedom in the World report gave Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories a score of −1 out of 100, indicating near-total denial of civil liberties and political rights.

Despite systemic persecution, many human rights defenders continue their work. Freedom House emphasized the importance of resistance efforts, even under extreme conditions where individuals risk arrest for small acts such as posting a Ukrainian song or wearing national colors.

People-centered diplomacy essential for peace

Freedom House argued that any peace deal must not merely focus on land but prioritize the people affected. It warned that recognizing Russian sovereignty over occupied Ukrainian territories would violate the core principle of international law that borders cannot be changed by force.

Freedom House noted that Moscow has consistently undermined peace negotiations with escalating attacks and a lack of genuine engagement. The organization believes only strong military and diplomatic pressure, including enhanced sanctions, might force Russia into serious negotiations.

Calls for global action and support

To support those under occupation, Freedom House proposed several measures:

• Nonrecognition of Russia’s claim to Ukrainian territories, akin to the West’s stance during the Soviet occupation of the Baltics.
• Support for activists, including sanctions on Russian officials and direct aid via Ukrainian partners.
• Aid for families of political prisoners, who face severe financial and legal burdens.
• Amplification of Ukrainian advocacy by international NGOs and governments.
• Documentation of abuses, including torture, disappearances, and destruction of cultural heritage.
• Cultural preservation, particularly of Crimean Tatar language and history, through education and partnerships.

“However the war or peace negotiations unfold,” Freedom House stressed the importance of upholding sovereignty, rule of law, and human rights. 

The lower house of the Dutch parliament on June 19 officially recognized the 1944 mass deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union as genocide, according to a statement from the parliamentary press service.

The motion cited precedent from other countries that have recognized the forced deportations as genocide, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine.

In the adopted text, Dutch lawmakers declared that the Soviet-led deportation of Crimean Tatars, which took place between May 18 and 21, 1944, constitutes genocide by contemporary legal and historical definitions.

The 1944 deportation was carried out under direct orders from Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, who labeled the entire Crimean Tatar population as traitors following the peninsula's liberation from Nazi occupation.

Over 190,000 Tatars were forcibly removed from Crimea in a matter of days, though some estimates place the number closer to 430,000, and sent to remote areas in Central Asia, mainly Uzbekistan, in brutal conditions that led to mass deaths.

The document pointed to the ongoing repression of Crimean Tatars under Russian occupation since 2014. It said that "many Crimean Tatars have been unjustly imprisoned, subjected to torture by the Russian Federation, or forcibly disappeared," and added that "Russia has likely continued a policy of genocide against Crimean Tatars."

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the decision, calling it "a powerful gesture of solidarity with the Crimean Tatar people, who are still facing persecution under Russia’s temporary occupation of the Ukrainian Crimea peninsula."

Sybiha noted that the Netherlands is now the seventh country to formally recognize the deportation as genocide and urged other nations to follow suit.

"Recognizing this historical injustice is critical not only for establishing truth and justice, but also for preventing future atrocities," the minister wrote.

Ukraine's parliament recognized the deportation as genocide in 2015 and established May 18 as the official Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People.

Who are the Crimean Tatars?

Crimean Tatars are one of Ukraine’s indigenous peoples who have been central to Crimea’s history for many centuries.

The Kyiv IndependentAnastasiia Lapatina