Ukraine has charged three Russian commanders suspected of ordering the rocket attack on a residential area of Chernihiv with Grad multiple launch rocket systems in 2022. The attack killed 20 people and wounded 28, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported.

The Prosecutor General’s Office, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, has identified Colonel Oleg Kurygin, a commander of the 35th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian 41st Army, as well as two subordinates, Major Ramis Zagretdinov and Captain Timur Suleymanov, who were responsible for battalion tactical groups.

On the morning of 16 March 2022, they ordered a massive strike on the residential area using unguided rockets, despite the absence of any nearby military targets. At that time, civilians were standing near a shop buying groceries.

“Russian military personnel were aware they were using weapons against civilians. This was a deliberate attack on the civilian population,” the Prosecutor General’s Office emphasizes.

Under international law, such actions constitute a war crime. The commanders are charged with violations of the laws of war, combined with the intentional murder of a group of persons by prior conspiracy.

The documentation of war crimes was conducted by the public organizations Truth Hounds and Global Rights Compliance.

According to the investigation, Kurygin personally gave the order to shell using high-explosive fragmentation ammunition, and his unit temporarily controlled the border areas of Chernihiv Oblast in 2022.

Several explosions shook a handful of Russian cities overnight on 26 June in what local sources describe as a wave of drone attacks. Air defense systems were reportedly activated in the Moscow area and Rostov Oblast, and emergency aviation protocols were enforced at major airports.

Explosions in Taganrog and nearby areas

Russian pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Shot reported that at least five explosions were heard over Taganrog in Rostov Oblast shortly after midnight. Citing a local resident, Shot stated they saw bright flashes and heard the sound of drones flying overhead.

Explosions were also reported in the nearby villages of Lakedemonivka and Sambek. According to eyewitnesses, drones appeared to be approaching from the direction of Matveev Kurgan. There was no official confirmation of casualties or damage.

Later, Shot updated that residents of Taganrog and surrounding areas had heard approximately 15 explosions within an hour. No injuries or structural damage were reported.

Drone activity and explosions near Moscow

Two Russian Telegram channels, Mash and Shot, reported multiple explosions in Moscow Oblast, including Zelenograd, Komunarka, Dedovsk, Prokshino, Krasnogorsk, Istra, and Nakhabino. 

Shot cited Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who claimed:

“A Ministry of Defense air defense unit destroyed a drone attacking Moscow. Emergency service teams are working at the site of the drone debris.”

He later stated that another drone was shot down in the region:

“Another UAV attacking the Moscow region was destroyed by the Ministry of Defense air defense system. Emergency specialists are working at the site of the wreckage,” Sobyanin added.

Airport shutdowns

Mash reported at 1:06 that the Kovyor plan had been implemented at Vnukovo airport in response to the drone threat. The Kovyor plan is the standard security protocol, grounding and diverting flights in case of emergency.

This led to delays in four outbound and seventeen inbound flights. The same protocol was enacted in five airports across the Volga Federal District: Kazan, Nizhnekamsk (Begishevo), Penza, Samara (Kurumoch), and Ulyanovsk (Baratayevka).

Later, Shot reported that at least 18 incoming flights and 11 departures were delayed due to the situation near the capital, with four aircraft circling while waiting for clearance. Restrictions on arrivals and departures at Vnukovo were eventually lifted.

Russia has significantly reduced its military forces in Kaliningrad Oblast, according to Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. The statement was made during the NATO summit in The Hague on 24 June 2025, as reported Belsat. Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave, geographically cut off from mainland Russia and its ally Belarus by Poland and Lithuania.

Polish FM: Most Russian troops withdrawn from Kaliningrad

Speaking to Belsat on the sidelines of the summit, Sikorski stated that “from what I know, a large part of the troops have been withdrawn from Kaliningrad Oblast.” 

The Polish minister suggested that the redeployment was part of a broader pattern reflecting Russia’s stretched military resources.

“Russia’s best military units are [tied up] in Ukraine,” he added.

Doubts over Russia’s Zapad-2025 drill claims

Sikorski also addressed Russia’s reported decision to move its upcoming Zapad-2025 military exercises in Belarus further inland from the Polish border. Citing Polish intelligence signals, he acknowledged that the drills may have been relocated deeper into Belarus, but expressed skepticism, saying he doesn’t know how true it is.

He noted that Russia organizes its military drills in a three-year cycle across its different military districts.

“This is nothing new,” he said, adding that the upcoming exercises would likely be on a smaller scale due to ongoing war in Ukraine.

Russia shifting focus to Finland border

According to Sikorski, Russia is also in the process of forming new military formations along the border with Finland. He emphasized that this dispersion of troops forces Moscow to stretch its capabilities thin.

“This is not a success,” Sikorski commented, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin turned out “a fairly skillful tactician who has used the West’s mistakes to his advantage, but a terrible strategist paying a huge price for a war he cannot win.”

Satellite images reveal that Russia has expanded and modernized at least five nuclear-related facilities near European borders in recent years, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported on June 16, citing new imagery obtained from Planet Labs.

One of the most notable developments is in Kaliningrad, where the suspected nuclear weapons storage site has undergone significant reconstruction.

Images taken in May 2025 show the addition of triple-layered fencing, new buildings, and advanced communications equipment. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski previously said that up to 100 tactical nuclear warheads might be stored at the site.

Kaliningrad, a militarized Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania, is a key concern for NATO because of its advanced missile systems and expanding nuclear infrastructure.

The Osipovichi base in Belarus, a former Soviet nuclear storage facility, is also being renovated. Satellite imagery shows new air defense installations and a modernized loading platform for rail-based logistics.

In Novaya Zemlya, a remote Arctic archipelago long linked to Soviet-era nuclear testing, several new buildings have appeared, reinforcing its role as a potential site for future test activities.

On the Kola Peninsula, near the borders with Finland and Norway, Russia has built about 50 storage bunkers for submarine-launched ballistic missiles and constructed a specialized pier for loading those missiles onto submarines, according to the imagery.

Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson responded to the findings, saying Stockholm is "closely monitoring" Russian nuclear capabilities. Sweden officially joined NATO in March 2024 after years of non-alignment, citing escalating Russian threats as a primary reason.

The Kremlin has repeatedly used nuclear threats to pressure Ukraine and Western countries since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

‘Russians lie about everything’ — Ukraine hits out at Kremlin claims after yet another drone strike on Kyiv

“This is a deliberate tactic of terror,” Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said.

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) ignited an electrical substation during a sabotage operation in the Russian city of Kaliningrad, causing $5 million in damage and cutting electricity to a military production site, a source in HUR told the Kyiv Independent.

In the early hours of June 14, Ukrainian agents drained the coolant from the substation’s power transformer before setting the facility on fire. The inferno inflicted major damage on the facility and caused a power cut, impacting nearby Russian military sites.

"We once again remind you that Russia no longer has a rear either in the east, in the west, or anywhere else on the planet. Everything Russian involved in the war against Ukraine will burn, sink, and be destroyed regardless of its level of protection or location," the source said.

Ukraine continues to carry out numerous secretive attacks within Russia and occupied Ukrainian territories, targeting military sites, like airfields, as well as key infrastructure like railways and oil refineries.

The attacks involve HUR, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) as well as partisan and sabotage groups.

HUR was behind explosions near Desantnaya Bay in Russia's far eastern Vladivostok on May 30, which reportedly damaged military personnel and equipment. The operations took place approximately 6,800 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, making it Ukraine's furthest incursion into Russian territory, if confirmed.

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

Ukrainian drones destroy Russian air defense systems in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, military intelligence says

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

The Kyiv IndependentVolodymyr Ivanyshyn