All 32 NATO member states are on track to meet the alliance's 2% GDP defense spending benchmark in 2025, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on June 17 at the G7 summit in Canada.

The announcement marks a major shift for the alliance, which has faced repeated criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump for failing to meet spending commitments.

The U.S. president has long pushed NATO members to spend more on defense, at one point suggesting the threshold be raised to 5% of GDP.

"This is really great news," Rutte said, praising announcements from Canada and Portugal, the last two holdouts. "The fact that you decided to bring Canada to the 2% spending when it comes to NATO this year is really fantastic," he told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

In 2024, only 23 alliance members met the 2% target, according to NATO estimates. Poland led all members with 4.12% of GDP allocated to defense, followed by Estonia (3.43%) and the U.S. (3.38%).

Rutte's comments come ahead of the June 24–25 NATO summit in The Hague, which has been reportedly scaled back to a single working session on defense spending and alliance capabilities.

The move, according to Italian outlet ANSA, is designed to avoid friction with Trump, whose presence at the summit remains unconfirmed.

Ukraine has been invited to the summit, but President Volodymyr Zelensky may reconsider his attendance amid uncertainty over the U.S. delegation, the Guardian reported on June 17.

According to the outlet, some in Kyiv are questioning whether Zelensky's presence at the summit would be worthwhile without a confirmed meeting with Trump.

Many NATO members have cited Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine and Trump's isolationist rhetoric as reasons to accelerate defense spending and prepare for potential future threats.

Ukraine won’t receive NATO invitation at The Hague summit, Lithuanian FM says

“This issue is certainly not on the NATO agenda and nobody has formulated an expectation that there will be an invitation in The Hague, nor have we heard that from the Ukrainians themselves,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said in comments quoted by the LRT broadcaster.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has quietly disbanded a working group formed to develop strategies for pressuring Russia into peace talks with Ukraine, three US officials told Reuters. The move follows a suspension of a separate initiative countering Russian disinformation. Trump’s broader peacemaking efforts, including in the Middle East, have also struggled in recent months.

Group lost momentum amid Trump’s waning interest

Set up earlier this spring, the inter-agency group included officials from the National Security Council (NSC), State Department, Treasury, Pentagon, and intelligence community. It lost relevance by May as Trump appeared increasingly uninterested in tougher action against Moscow.

“The effort […] lost steam toward the end because the president wasn’t there. Instead of doing more, maybe he wanted to do less,” one official said.

Officials said the group explored ways to pressure post-Soviet states to restrict trade with Russia, including incentives for Kazakhstan to curb sanctions evasion. However, no policies were enacted before the group’s shutdown.

Trump delays backing new Russia sanctions over claimed US economic burden and peace deal hopes as Moscow continues to bomb Ukraine

NSC purges sealed the group’s fate

Roughly three weeks ago, most members of the NSC’s Ukraine team were dismissed, including top Europe-Russia adviser Andrew Peek. The purge made it nearly impossible to continue the effort.

The existence of the group had not been publicly known. Its end raises concerns among European allies, especially ahead of an upcoming NATO summit, over Trump’s mixed signals on supporting Ukraine.

Shift in tone despite earlier frustration with Russia

The group was formed as Trump publicly expressed anger at Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying in March he was “pissed off” over attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s legitimacy. Still, Trump has since suggested the US might abandon peace efforts altogether.

Ukraine has launched its first concrete action under a high-profile minerals agreement with the United States, moving to open a major lithium deposit to private investment — a step aimed at proving to the Trump administration that the deal can yield results, NYT says.

Ukraine begins process to open Dobra lithium field

On 16 June 2025, Ukrainian authorities approved initial measures to allow companies to bid for mining rights at the Dobra lithium field in central Ukraine. According to two government officials who spoke to The New York Times on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, the government has agreed to begin drafting recommendations to open bidding.

The Dobra site is one of Ukraine’s largest lithium deposits — a key mineral in electric battery production. The move marks the first practical step under the broader minerals deal signed in April 2025 between Kyiv and Washington.

Trump delays backing new Russia sanctions over claimed US economic burden and peace deal hopes as Moscow continues to bomb Ukraine

Joint fund and US investor interest

The agreement stipulates that 50% of revenues generated from mineral extraction would go into a joint US-Ukraine investment fund, with the remainder also benefiting the US through shared returns. Former President Donald Trump has publicly framed this arrangement as partial repayment for previous American aid to Ukraine.

One of the leading investor groups expected to bid is a consortium that includes TechMet — an energy firm partially owned by the US government — and Ronald S. Lauder, a billionaire and close associate of Trump. According to The New York Times, this group has long expressed interest in the Dobra site and had urged President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in late 2023 to open it for development.

Putin calls to congratulate Trump on his birthday — then launches hypersonic missiles on small Ukrainian city in one of largest attacks of war

US Treasury and Ukrainian economy ministers engaged in deal talks

Earlier this month, a Ukrainian delegation led by Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko traveled to Washington to present mineral exploitation projects involving lithium, titanium, and graphite. After meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Svyrydenko said, “These are exactly the kinds of strategic initiatives where US-Ukraine cooperation can deliver mutual benefit.”

The meeting followed the April 2025 signing of the minerals agreement, which was attended by Svyrydenko and Bessent. The Ukrainian government distributed a photo of the event via Agence France-Presse showing both officials signing documents in Washington.

Despite this progress, industry analysts warn that any significant output or revenue from the minerals pact could take a decade or more.

FT: Trump’s Ukraine minerals deal expected to yield no output before 2035

Expanding the scope: Ukraine’s defense industry as an investment option

In addition to minerals, Ukraine’s government is seeking to direct part of the joint investment fund toward its defense sector. Economy Minister Svyrydenko has proposed using future revenues to support domestic arms manufacturing, citing the country’s ability to produce drones, artillery, and shells at far lower costs than the US or EU.

US President Donald Trump has delayed support for a new round of sanctions against Russia, saying they are too costly for the United States and that he wants to see if a peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv can be reached first. His position has caused a rift with other G7 leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, who are pushing ahead with new punitive measures.

Trump says sanctions are expensive and not one-sided

According to BBC and Suspilne, Trump told journalists during the G7 summit in Canada that he was not ready to support additional sanctions. When asked why the US was not taking unilateral action, Trump said it is because he was “waiting to see whether or not a deal” could be agreed between Ukraine and Russia.

He also mentioned the financial burden of sanctions on the US economy as another excuse. Trump said that “sanctions cost [the US] a lot of money” for the US. “You’re talking about billions and billions of dollars. Sanctions are not that easy. It’s not just a one-way street,” he claimed.

Russia kills 14, injures 114 with missiles and drones in Kyiv as G7 leaders meet in Canada and Trump rejects sanctions (updated)

Politico also reported Trump’s earlier remarks at the summit, where he said Europeans should “do it first” and repeated concerns over the economic cost.

The US President left the summit early on 16 June, ahead of a joint G7 session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy scheduled for 17 June.

Starmer and Macron back tougher measures despite US hesitation

In contrast to Trump’s position, other G7 leaders continued to coordinate new sanctions. BBC reported that the UK would announce a new sanctions package targeting Russia’s military-industrial complex. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the measures were being finalized alongside other G7 partners and would “squeeze Russia’s energy revenues and reduce the funds they are able to pour into their illegal war.”

“The fact is, Russia doesn’t hold all the cards,” Starmer said.

Trump again blames both Ukraine and Russia for failing to reach a peace deal

Politico reported that French President Emmanuel Macron remained hopeful about potential US involvement. Macron said he had discussed the matter privately with Trump, who, according to Macron, responded “quite positively.” Macron said Trump indicated he would not currently block new US sanctions proposed by Republican lawmakers.

“This is very good news for me,” Macron said.

Sanctions talks focus on oil revenue and financial pressure

The discussions among G7 leaders also included a reassessment of the price cap on Russian crude oil, which had been set at $60 per barrel in December 2022. 

The European Commission is proposing to cut the cap to $45 per barrel, while Ukraine wants a more drastic cut to $30. The UK’s new sanctions are expected to align with the goal of weakening Russia’s energy revenue, which continues to finance its invasion of Ukraine.

Putin counting on US fatigue to win what his army cannot, WP op-ed argues

The BBC also reported that Ukraine’s Western partners are seeking a stronger package of economic penalties, with the European Commission’s 18th sanctions package proposing restrictions on Russia’s energy sector, banking system, and transactions related to the Nord Stream project.

On 17 June, Ukraine’s Air Force reported that its defense forces neutralized 428 out of 472 Russian airborne threats launched during a large-scale night assault that began at 20:00 on 16 June. The full breakdown of the attack was published by the Air Force and included drones, cruise missiles, aeroballistic missiles, and guided aerial weapons.

Earlier, local authorities reported that the attack killed 14 people and injured 104 in Kyiv, while one civilian was reported dead and 17 injured in Odesa.

Kyiv identified as the main target

According to the Air Force, the primary direction of the strike was Kyiv. Defense efforts were carried out by aviation units, anti-aircraft missile forces, mobile fire groups, electronic warfare (EW) units, and unmanned systems belonging to Ukraine’s defense forces.

Russia kills 14, injures 100+ with missiles and drones in Kyiv as G7 leaders meet in Canada and Trump rejects sanctions

Weapons used in the attack

The Air Force detailed that Russia launched 472 air attack assets during the night:

• 440 drones, including Shahed one-way attack drones and decoy UAVs, launched from Kursk, Shatalovo, Oryol, Bryansk, Millerovo, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia. Approximately 280 of these were Shahed drones.
• 2 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles launched from the airspace over Tambov Oblast.
• 16 Kh-101 cruise missiles launched from strategic aviation aircraft over Saratov Oblast.
• 4 Kalibr cruise missiles launched from the Black Sea.
• 9 Kh-59/69 guided missiles launched from tactical aircraft over Belgorod and Bryansk oblasts.
• 1 Kh-31P anti-radar missile.

Interception results and methods

Of the 472 airborne threats:

• 262 were destroyed using firepower.
• 166 were either jammed or lost radar contact (“disappeared from radars”).

Intercepted weapons reportedly included:

• 239 Shahed and similar drones shot down by fire, and 163 “locationally lost” or jammed.
• 2 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missiles (1 “locationally lost”).
• 15 Kh-101 cruise missiles.
• 8 Kh-59/69 guided missiles (1 “locationally lost”).
• 1 Kh-31P anti-radar missile (“locationally lost”).

The Air Force’s term “locationally lost” refers to aerial targets that disappeared from radar tracking, likely having crashed before reaching their intended targets.

The data suggests that at least 38 drones and six missiles may have reached their intended targets.

Damage and impact on the ground

The Air Force recorded impacts in 10 locations where enemy air weapons struck. In addition, debris from intercepted threats fell in 34 other locations.

[L'article Donald Trump a déjà quitté le sommet du G7 a d'abord été publié dans InfoBref.]

[L'article Mark Carney rencontre Donald Trump avant le sommet du G7  a d'abord été publié dans InfoBref.]

[L'article Le Britannique George Russell a remporté le Grand Prix du Canada a d'abord été publié dans InfoBref.]

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.

Countries are losing trust in Washington. Retired US Army General Ben Hodges told Ukrinform that recent military operations by Ukraine and Israel against enemy targets reflect a growing distrust in the US by both countries.

Hodges says he believes the Israelis also do not trust the Trump administration because they did not ask permission or inform the Trump administration directly before the operation. Similarly, Ukrainian forces did not do this immediately before Operation Spiderweb. 

He emphasizes that this is a negative result for the US, but he does not blame Israel for its decision.

At the same time, the general hopes that Washington will support Jerusalem and help “finish the job,” which could lead to the elimination of the nuclear threat from Iran.

Another important lesson from Israel’s strikes is that Russia “did nothing” to assist Iran, once again proving its unreliability. He added that although Iran provided military assistance to Russia, it is currently unknown whether this continues and to what extent.

When asked about the possibility of US troop withdrawal from Europe, the general didn’t rule it out, but believes it is unlikely to happen in the near term.

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.

Ukraine has received another 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in macro-financial assistance from the European Union as part of a G7 loan, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced on June 13.

"This is the fifth tranche of macro-financial assistance from the EU under the ERA Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration) initiative," Shmyhal wrote on social media. "The funds will be directed toward key expenditures of the state budget."

Shmyhal thanked Ukraine's partners for their "consistent and reliable support," adding, "Together, we will make (Russia) pay for all the damage caused to Ukraine."

According to Shmyhal, Ukraine has received a total of 7 billion euros ($8 billion) from the European Union under the ERA initiative, which is funded by the windfall profits generated from immobilized Russian sovereign assets.

The ERA mechanism, launched by the G7 and backed by the EU and the United States, is a $50 billion program designed to support Ukraine through loans repaid using future income from frozen Russian assets. Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, G7 countries have frozen around $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets.

Ukraine received the previous 1-billion-euro tranche on May 8 as part of the fourth installment of EU aid under ERA.

EU provides Ukraine with $1 billion tranche under G7 loan covered by Russian assets

This is the fourth such tranche from the bloc, which is secured by proceeds from frozen Russian assets.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Hodunova

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth officially confirmed that anti-drone weapons intended for Ukraine were redirected to American forces stationed in the Middle East. The APKWS II anti-drone rocket systems “are at least part, if not the main focus of this diversion in matériel,” TWZ reported. Meanwhile, Senator McConnell says Washington’s reputation is “on the line.”

Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee on 11 June, Hegseth admitted for the first time that counter-UAS capabilities originally purchased for Ukraine under the Biden administration were instead prioritized for deployment in the CENTCOM area (North Africa – Middle East). 

“Senator, as you know, the Middle East is and remains a very dynamic theater,” Hegseth claimed. “We’re going to surge counter UAS systems to our troops and our bases and our places first […] that has been and will continue to be a priority for us.”

Zelenskyy previously warned of looming weapon loss

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told ABC News last week that the US had agreed to send “20,000 missiles – anti-Shahed missiles,” which are now being diverted. “Without the help of the United States, we will have more losses.”

TWZ noted that “there are no traditional missiles available anywhere near that number,” meanwhile, the APKWS system is produced in large volumes and is specifically effective against Shahed-136 suicide drones. 

“APKWS gives Ukraine another proven way to defend key target areas… without blowing through prized SAMs,” TWZ wrote,

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the Pentagon “quietly notified Congress” that APKWS-specific proximity fuzes were reassigned to US Air Force units. These fuzes are essential to converting APKWS rockets into counter-drone weapons.

Russia simply lying to Trump, Zelenskyy says

Senate tensions rise over confirmation

The public admission sparked renewed criticism from lawmakers. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell asked Hegseth which side he wanted to win the war, but Hegseth said the Trump administration sought an end to the killing without taking sides.

McConnell, a vocal Ukraine supporter, noted:

“It seems to me pretty obvious that America’s reputation is on the line,” McConnell said. “Will we defend Democratic allies against authoritarian aggressors?”

Later in the hearing, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would stop at Ukraine.

“I don’t believe he is,” Gen. Caine responded, with Hegseth adding it “remains to be seen.”

Trump diplomacy’s new low: Rubio congratulates Russians on Russia Day

Graham, referencing his earlier comparison between Western inaction toward Putin and the appeasement of Adolf Hitler in the lead-up to World War II, quickly retorted:

“Well, he says he’s not. This is the ’30s all over. It doesn’t remain to be seen.”

APKWS 

The APKWS II are laser-guided 70mm rockets previously used by Ukraine to intercept Russia’s Iranian-designed Shahed drones and low-flying missiles. pods with such missiles have been forward-deployed with US’ F-15Es in Jordan and have been used in past months by US jets to down Houthi drones in the Red Sea. The same guidance kits are also used in the VAMPIRE counter-drone system previously supplied to Ukraine.

According to TWZ, videos from Ukraine in 2023 showed APKWS being used on Humvees, but the VAMPIRE system with counter-drone fuzes became more widespread by December 2023. These systems helped Ukraine defend key targets from Iranian-made kamikaze drones without depleting expensive SAM inventories.

Unclear future for US aid for Ukraine

Hegseth declined to specify how many APKWS rockets remain in stock or were sent to Ukraine. 

“We would have to review the capacity,” he said, adding that US support to Ukraine had allegedly created “some challenges in other places.”

Earlier on 10 June, Hegseth said a cut in US military aid to Ukraine is almost certain, citing the Trump administration’s “very different view” of Russia’s war compared to former President Joe Biden’s and calling an unrealistic “negotiated peaceful settlement” the best outcome for both sides and US interests.

[L'article Mark Carney espère finaliser une entente commerciale avec les États-Unis au sommet du G7 a d'abord été publié dans InfoBref.]

Ukraine is expected to get nearly 1.7 billion pounds ($2.26 billion) from the U.K. to buy air defense systems and missiles, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on June 11, citng a decision by Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers.

The new funding will be used to buy Rapid Ranger air defense systems and Martlet lightweight multirole missiles, Shmyhal said, describing the deal as a "significant strengthening" of Ukraine's air defense capacity amid intensifying Russian air assaults.

Rapid Ranger is a mobile, laser-guided air defense system built for rapid deployment and effective against low-flying threats, including drones and helicopters. It is typically paired with the Martlet missile, which is designed for use against drones and light aircraft.

"This month, the U.K. also announced record aid for the supply of drones. We are talking about 350 million pounds ($473 million), which will allow 100,000 drones to be transferred to Ukraine this year," Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.  

The announcement follows Russia's June 10 aerial attack on Kyiv, one of the largest during the full-scale war. The night before, Ukrainian air defense shot down 479 Russian drones and missiles in a record air assault, according to the country's Air Force.

This year, the U.K. has allocated 4.5 billion pounds ($5.8 billion) for military assistance to Ukraine, marking its largest annual commitment so far.

London remains one of Kyiv's most steadfast military partners, providing long-range missiles, armored vehicles, training, and political support against Russian aggression.

Russia’s nuclear deterrent against US not ‘significantly’ affected by Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, official claims

“Our nuclear deterrence potential against the U.S. and any other potential adversary has not suffered significant damage,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the US is diverting 20,000 missiles previously promised to Ukraine toward the Middle East, a move he warns will increase casualties as Russia intensifies its aerial attacks.

Speaking to ABC News, Zelenskyy stated that his defense minister informed him on 6 June that the US was reassigning anti-drone weapons meant for Ukraine. According to him, these assets—originally part of an agreement with the Biden administration—would now support US force protection efforts in the Middle East.

“We counted on [them] to defend against Russian attacks,” Zelenskyy told ABC. “Without the help of the United States, we will have more losses.”

The Ukrainian president said the diverted items were “not expensive, but [a] special technology” designed specifically to combat Shahed drones, which Russia now produces domestically in thousands after importing them from Iran.

Russia just gave North Korea the blueprint for Iran’s long-range killer drones, Ukraine’s spy chief says

This development comes amid a significant escalation in Russian air attacks. Overnight on 9 June, Russia launched a record number of aerial weapons – a total of 479 drones and 20 missiles across Ukraine. The next day, Russia launched 315 more drones and seven missiles, targeting Kyiv and Odesa. 

Pentagon avoids confirming missile redirection

ABC News says the Pentagon declined to confirm whether the anti-drone systems intended for Ukraine were now being sent to the Middle East. However, a report by the Wall Street Journal last week revealed that the Pentagon had authorized the transfer of such technology. 

“The Pentagon quietly notified Congress last week that special fuzes for rockets that Ukraine uses to shoot down Russian drones are now being allocated to US Air Force units in the Middle East,” WSJ wrote on 4 June.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has officially denied claims that the country transferred Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, contradicting statements made by Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhael Brodsky.

The denial came after Brodsky told a blogger in an interview that Israel had ostensibly transferred weapons to Ukraine, specifically mentioning Patriot air defense systems that were previously in Israeli service. The ambassador did not specify when Ukraine allegedly received these systems.

“These are Israeli systems that were in IDF service in the early 1990s. We agreed to transfer them to Ukraine,” Brodsky stated. “Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much talk about it. But when people say Israel didn’t provide military aid — that’s simply not true.”

Official rebuttal from Israel’s Foreign Ministry

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a clarification following an inquiry from Ynet, stating that Ambassador Brodsky’s claims about Jerusalem transferring Patriot systems to Ukraine were incorrect.

“This is not true. Israel did not transfer Patriot systems to Ukraine,” the Ministry said, according to Ynet’s report on 10 June.

According to Ynet, Russia reportedly contacted Israel requesting clarification on Brodsky’s statement.

Reports in January suggested that Israel planned to transfer Patriot missiles to Ukraine, not the Patriot systems.

Axios: Israel sends 90 Patriot missiles to Ukraine, possibly through pilgrimage deal

Not the first denial of weapon transfer

This is not the first time Israel has been linked to alleged weapons transfers to Ukraine, which were later officially denied.

Previously, Israel was allegedly contemplating sending large quantities of Russian-made weapons seized from Hezbollah and Syria to Ukraine in 2024. The reported cargo allegedly included anti-tank guided missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, surface-to-air missiles, and ammunition that would be shipped via US C-17 aircraft to Rzeszów, Poland.

However, in February 2025, Israel’s Foreign Ministry called these earlier reports as “baseless” and confirmed no transfer of such arms occurred. Ambassador Brodsky himself stated at that time that “no such decision has been made by the Ministry of Defense,” calling the earlier reports a result of miscommunication.

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

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

A woman was killed and four other people were injured in Kyiv, according to local authorities. Meanwhile, in the southern city of Odesa, two men were killed and at least eight civilians were wounded in the attack. One more person suffered shock during the attack on Odesa, authorities reported.

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the attack was one of the largest on Kyiv during the full-scale war.

"Russian missile and Shahed strikes drown out the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace," he wrote on X.

"For yet another night, instead of a ceasefire, there were massive strikes with Shahed drones, cruise and ballistic missiles."

Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground reported the sounds of drones and multiple explosions throughout the capital.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that cars were on fire in the Shevchenkivskyi district, while drone debris fell on the grounds of a school in the Obolonskyi district. Emergency services were dispatched to the sites of attack, and medics were also called to the Podilskyi and Darnytskyi districts.

Later in the day, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said that a woman was killed in the Obolonskyi district.

In the Dniprovskyi district, smoke was seen coming from non-residential buildings, and a fire broke out at a non-residential site in the Obolonskyi district.

"A residential building is on fire in the Shevchenkivskyi district. A woman is injured and is being treated," Tkachenko said at 3:10 a.m. local time.

Klitschko added that another injured person in the Darnytskyi district was treated on the spot by medics, while the third victim was hospitalized in the Obolonskyi district of the city. Kyiv's mayor reported at 5:58 a.m. that a fourth person was hospitalized as a result of the Russian attack on the capital.

Speaking to the Kyiv Independent, Kyiv resident Elvira Nechyporenko said she was in her apartment when she heard the explosions.

"I (was) away from the window. I moved to another wall. And it was clear that the building was hit," she said.

"There are no such words, no emotions. I just want to forget about their (Russia's) existence. I want them to simply not exist. Neither as a nation nor as a state. And not to remember that we have such neighbors."

The Russian attack smashed the windows in Viktoriia Nykyshyna's apartment while she was sheltering with her cat in the stairwell.

"We heard everything, how (the fire) was put out. We lived it all here," she said. "We are still holding on. We haven't fully realized what happened."

According to Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi, the strike also damaged St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. The UNESCO World Heritage site, dating back to the 11th century, is one of Ukraine's most significant religious and cultural landmarks.

"Tonight, (Russia) struck again at the very heart of our identity," Tochytskyi wrote on Facebook. "St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, a centuries-old shrine symbolizing the birth of our statehood, has been damaged."

The management of St. Sophia Cathedral has informed UNESCO about the damage caused to the historic site by a recent Russian airstrike, according to the reserve's general director, Nelia Kukovalska. Speaking to Suspilne, she said that the blast wave damaged the cornice of the cathedral's central apse. 

Russia launched 315 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys against Ukraine overnight, as well as two North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles and five Iskander-K cruise missiles, primarily targeting Kyiv, the Air Force reported.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down all seven missiles and 213 attack drones. According to the statement, 64 drones disappeared from radars or were intercepted by electronic warfare systems.

In Odesa, a film studio and medical facilities, including a maternity hospital, were damaged.

"The administrative building of an emergency medical station was also completely destroyed. There is a fire at the scene. Ambulances are damaged. There are no injuries among the personnel," Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said at 3:40 a.m. local time.

A Russian attack caused damage to a maternity hospital in Odesa. At the time of the attack, 85 adults and 22 children were inside, but no staff or patients were injured as everyone was in the shelter, facility director Iryna Golovatyuk-Yuzefpolskaya told Suspilne.

Odesa is located approximately 442 kilometers (274 miles) from the capital.

The renewed assault comes just a day after Russia launched a record 499 aerial weapons against Ukraine, including 479 Shahed-type attack drones, decoy drones, four Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ballistic missiles, 10 Kh-101 cruise missiles, three Kh-22 cruise missiles over the Black Sea, two Kh-31P anti-radar missiles, and one Kh-35 cruise missile from occupied Crimea.

Ukraine reported it had neutralized 479 of those targets — 292 were shot down and 187 were disrupted through electronic warfare on June 9.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged the immediate implementation of new, strong sanctions against Moscow after the large-scale air strikes.

"Russia rejects any meaningful peace efforts and must face new, devastating sanctions. Already now. There is no more time to wait," the minister wrote on X on June 10.

Sybiha pointed out that the priority areas for the sanctions include Russian banks, a reduction in the gas price cap established by the G7, and secondary sanctions against those who assist Russia in evading restrictions.

"These sanctions are not just intended to support Ukraine. They are essential to our partners. Such economic restrictions defund Russia's war machine, which is directed not only at us, but also at them," he added.

Kyiv has repeatedly urged Russia to accept a Western-backed 30-day ceasefire as the first step toward a broader peace deal — a move that Moscow again rejected during a recent round of negotiations in Istanbul on June 2.

Exclusive: Russia’s ballistic missile production up at least 66% over past year, according to Ukrainian intel figures

Russia’s production of ballistic missiles has increased by at least 66% over the past year, according to data from Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) shared with the Kyiv Independent. According to data obtained by HUR, Moscow is now producing 60 to 70 Iskander-M — the ballistic version of the missile — and 10

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post

“We fucked up.” It’s not often you hear a democracy activist open with those words, but Nino Robakidze, a veteran democracy activist with over 15 years fighting for Georgian freedom, isn’t interested in pretty narratives.

Speaking at the “FuckUp Night” panel at the Lviv Media Forum 2025, Robakidze laid bare how Georgian civil society enabled the fastest documented democratic collapse in modern European history.

The timeline is breathtaking: December 2023, Georgia receives EU candidate status. Eighteen months later, dozens of political prisoners, including four high-profile politicians, fill Georgian jails, independent media faces criminal prosecution, and the government has abandoned European integration entirely. Over 200 public servants were fired simply for posting pro-European statements on Facebook.

“Georgian civil society is in a perfect storm,” she says. “We saw the red flags. We really saw the red flags. But it was so uncomfortable to really talk about that.”

From EU dreams to Russian nightmare in record time

Twenty-one years after the Rose Revolution promised Georgia a European future, the country has achieved something unprecedented: the fastest documented slide from EU candidate to authoritarian crackdown in European history.

The timeline is breathtaking.

• December 2023: EU grants Georgia candidate status.
• May 2024: Government passes Russian-style “foreign agent” law.
• October 2024: Elections marked by widespread fraud.
• November 2024: Government suspends EU talks.
• January 2025: First female journalist political prisoner.

The halt to EU accession talks were the straw that broke the camel’s back. Polls show 80% of Georgians want EU membership—one of the highest rates in any candidate country.

What followed was six months of non-stop protests across Georgia—unprecedented in the country’s history. Police have violently dispersed demonstrators using water cannons and tear gas against crowds singing the EU anthem.

Hundreds have been arrested, including Mzia Amaglobeli, co-founder of independent outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti, who faces up to seven years in prison for symbolically slapping a police chief after he allegedly spat in her face and verbally abused her. She became Georgia’s first female journalist to be designated a political prisoner.

But Robakidze, former Country Director for IREX Georgia, isn’t just analyzing the crisis—she’s dissecting how democracy defenders like herself enabled it through a fatal dependency that made Georgian freedom hostage to foreign funding.

For two decades, the US government poured millions into Georgian civil society—building the independent media, NGOs, and democracy programs that became the envy of the former Soviet space. That investment created something genuinely remarkable: a vibrant civil society that helped Georgia become a beacon of democratic progress in the region.

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The fatal dependency: how Western money created the weapon to destroy democracy

For two decades, Georgian civil society lived on life support: US government funding. Independent media, NGOs, democracy programs—all relied heavily on American largesse because local businesses feared government retaliation for supporting critical outlets.

“This was mainly the US government funding because there was not enough advertising money in independent media,” Robakidze explains. Vulnerable to state pressure, “big business did not want to work with media outlets like this because they were investigating government corruption.”

But the irony runs deeper—and darker. Western funding didn’t just create the vulnerability; it actively trained the oppressors.

Georgian Dream created Western-funded strategic communication units across government ministries. “And then this communication in the crisis, when the crisis was approaching, was used against those who were actually protecting Western values—civil society, media, free media, etc.”

The absurdity was complete: civil society trained its own oppressors. “We were inviting representatives of this group to different trainings, on strategic communication, on public opinion research, and they learned the lesson really well. Maybe they were the best in their class, actually.”

The students became the masters, using Western-funded skills to dismantle Western values.

Playing fair while opponents cheated

Civil society’s commitment to democratic norms became another vulnerability. While democracy defenders insisted on fact-checking, verification, and due process, their opponents weaponized speed and fabrication.

During Georgia’s October 2024 elections, civil society deployed 3,000 trained observers who knew by 11 AM they were witnessing “the worst election in Georgian democratic history.” But while they spent the day meticulously fact-checking evidence of fraud, Georgian Dream simply declared victory at 8 PM.

“We struggled to communicate this on time because we were checking each and every case, double-checking it,” Robakidze recalls. “But we lost the battle of the very important, crucial minute.”

Civil society eventually proved the elections were fraudulent—no international observer recognized the results as legitimate. But Georgian Dream had already won by ignoring the verification process that constrained their opponents.

“We collected all this evidence… But we lost the battle of the very important, crucial minute,” Robakidze reflects. It revealed a global pattern: authoritarian forces exploit democracy’s commitment to due process, turning democratic values into democratic vulnerabilities.

The statistical proof

Stolen election: how the Georgian Dream helped itself to 15% of all votes cast

Media massacre: systematic destruction of independent voices

The government’s media strategy went beyond funding manipulation—it became systematic annihilation. In April 2025, the Georgian Public Broadcaster fired two prominent journalists—Nino Zautashvili and Vasil Ivanov-Chikovani—after they openly criticized the channel’s editorial policy. Ivanov-Chikovani had stated live on air that the broadcaster’s editorial policy “fails to meet the public’s demands.”

The broadcaster’s supervisory board, headed by Vasil Maghlaperidze—a former deputy chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party—called for prosecutors to investigate journalists who criticized the channel’s coverage. The message was clear: dissent will be criminalized.

Since May 2024, more than 30 journalists covering the “foreign agent” bill have been targeted with anonymous threatening phone calls. Unknown individuals plastered posters on journalists’ homes and offices, denouncing them as “foreign agents” with messages like “There is no place in Georgia for agents.”

The new Foreign Agents Registration Act grants the state authority to criminally prosecute media outlets, NGOs, and individuals for failing to register as a “foreign agent,” with penalties of up to five years in prison. As one media executive warned: “We will work as volunteers as long as we can… But I cannot take any money from any donor past May 30, because I don’t want to go to jail.”

More than 70 journalists have been injured while covering protests, with some hospitalized. The systematic nature is unmistakable: this isn’t random violence but coordinated destruction of independent media.

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The confession: “I was not fierce enough”

For Robakidze, the crisis forced brutal self-examination. Could civil society have prevented this catastrophe?

“I always ask myself: did I do everything I could to convince my colleagues and those with whom I worked closely that what is happening is dangerous, and this might lead in a very wrong direction?”

Her answer haunts her: “I think that no, I did not.”

She was part of the problem—attending conferences, sitting at tables with government representatives, participating in dialogues even as the warning signs mounted. “Maybe I was not fierce enough, and maybe the urgent situation that we have now would not have been needed if we started being really fierce and dramatic on the very first cases.”

The first red flag came just months after the peaceful 2012 transition, when Georgian Dream defeated Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement in parliamentary elections. The victory was celebrated as a triumph of Georgian democracy—the first peaceful transfer of power in the post-Soviet space.

But the honeymoon was brief. On 17 May 2013—International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia—a small solidarity gathering of maybe 50 people, mostly journalists and human rights defenders, planned to remember LGBTQI+ victims in Tbilisi’s city center.

Instead, they were attacked by a massive, organized mob, with things getting so out of hand that the 50 protesters needed to be bussed out.

For Robakidze, this wasn’t random violence—it was a test. “At that moment Georgia government had a really brilliant police structure. There was no way, no chance, if the state wanted to protect these people, that things could get so ugly and so violent.”

The attack was “visible that it was organized… And those people were having the blessing or green light from the government and Ministry of Interior.”

The red flag was a warning of things to come: 12 years later, the Georgian police disperses hundred-thousand-strong protests; the state’s repressive apparatus has been fully unleashed on the people.

More red flags followed. In 2016, Azerbaijani investigative journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was kidnapped from Tbilisi’s Freedom Square and appeared in an Azerbaijani prison. No footage existed. “We knew that there was no possibility without state interference for such things to happen.”

But civil society and international partners found it easier to focus on Georgia’s successes than confront uncomfortable realities—so they were ignored.

The lesson crystallized too late: “There is no small compromise with non-freedom. If you compromise that small thing, you definitely need to compromise the bigger thing tomorrow.”

Why Georgia will still win: the freedom advantage

Despite the catastrophic failures, Robakidze remains optimistic about Georgia’s ultimate victory. Her reasoning cuts to the heart of what separates Georgia from Russia and Belarus—and why this matters for democracies worldwide.

“Georgia was a democracy for 30 years. And we enjoyed the freedom of speech, freedom of arts, freedom of movement, everything,” she says. “We tasted freedom.”

Even under Soviet rule, Georgia maintained psychological independence. “Even during the Soviet Union, Georgia was still having that sense of freedom alive because of the language we were using, which was never Russian.”

This creates a fundamental difference from Georgia’s neighbors: “We are genuinely not part of the Russian thinking world.” The government’s target audience—those susceptible to pro-Russian messaging—consists mainly of “mostly older men in regions who had only good things happening in their early years” and “have the sentiments of the Soviet Union.”

But the crucial difference is ideological. Georgian Dream lacks what Putin possesses: an ideology, which makes long-term authoritarian consolidation questionable.

The government is “on their lowest level. Lowest approval ratings in their 12-year history.”

From dependency to independence: The silver lining

The loss of US funding, while painful, may have been necessary medicine. For the first time, Georgian civil society is learning to survive independently.

“Now, first time I see that really viable… society will support independent media and society will support civil society actions,” Robakidze observes. “Whatever happens right now is completely 100% financed by ordinary citizens who are just crowdfunding.”

This grassroots renaissance extends beyond civil society. “We also see for the first time big business also understanding the responsibility that if things go wrong in this part, we can die with them as well.”

The protests themselves represent this new independence. You cannot find “the industry or the sphere where the most prominent people are not part of the protest in Georgia.” All major theaters, singers, and composers have joined the streets. “These are theaters that young people are going to, and you cannot find a ticket for months if you want to attend a theater.”

Even government employees are risking everything. More than 200 public servants were fired simply for posting pro-European statements on Facebook—a purge that backfired by revealing the government’s desperation and creating martyrs.

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Global warning: your democracy is next

Georgia’s crisis reflects a global phenomenon that Robakidze calls the “spirit of non-freedom spreading.” The mechanics are eerily familiar across continents.

“A lot of people in the world were living many years thinking that freedom is granted and guaranteed, taking freedom for granted,” she explains. “In Europe, in the US, in the West in general, they had this problem maybe even deeper than the Georgian society has.”

Western societies “allowed in their societies this darkness to spread without reacting to it when it’s needed.”

The warning signs are identical:

• Small compromises that seem manageable
• External funding creating dependency vulnerabilities
• Strategic communication training weaponized against democracy
• Media capture through economic pressure
• Civil society taking freedom for granted.

“Right now weather is the worst for beginner democracies,” she warns. But the crisis is a “wake-up call for not just for us, for societies who want to be democratic and consolidated democracies one day, but for everyone.”

The clock is ticking

As Georgia’s protests continue into their seventh month, the timeline offers a stark warning: democratic collapse can happen faster than anyone imagines. Eighteen months from EU candidate to authoritarian crackdown.

“There is never a bad time to think about your mistakes, and we can never be uncomfortable discussing the elephant in the room, because this elephant will never go anywhere,” Robakidze reflects. “And the only problem that this discussion creates is this uncomfortable feeling, which I think is very important—better experienced earlier than later.”

The uncomfortable truth: external funding made Georgian democracy vulnerable by creating dependency rather than genuine grassroots strength. But losing that crutch may have forced the authentic resistance needed to survive.

Georgia faces its ultimate test—not just of its democratic institutions, but of whether a society that truly tasted freedom can recognize and defeat authoritarianism when it matters most. The answer will determine not just Georgia’s fate, but offer crucial lessons for every democracy grappling with its own “spirit of non-freedom.”

For Robakidze, the fight continues: “We will not let Georgia slide back under Russia’s influence.” The question is whether the world’s other democracies will learn from Georgia’s mistakes before their own 18-month countdown begins.

Ukrainian analyst Dmytro Zolotukhin recently posed a haunting question: Ukraine has been striving to be a democracy ever since it regained independence, but aren’t Ukrainians, by chance, playing in the team of losers now?

“Absolutely not,” rebutted Timothy Garton Ash at the 2025 Lviv Media Forum, the British historian and Professor of European Studies at Oxford University, whose latest book, “Homelands: A Personal History of Europe,” chronicles the continent’s transformation over half a century and won the 2024 Lionel Gelber Prize.

“You’re on the winning team. It just may take a bit of time for the victory to come.”

Ash, Europe’s self-described “historian of the present” who has spent decades “breathing Europe,” believes democracy is experiencing growing pains, not death throes.

In fact, he argues that Putin’s war against Ukraine proves democracy’s enduring power.

Ash believes that one of the reasons for Russia’s ongoing invasion was the 2004 Orange Revolution, in which Ukrainians rebelled against the electoral fraud that gave a pro-Russian president victory instead of a Western-leaning candidate: “Putin thought that democracy was coming towards him, in addition to his motives of restoring the Russian Empire.”

The strength of democracy, Ash contends, is evidenced by its unprecedented expansion: “According to Freedom House, in early 1974, there were only 35 free countries in the world. By early 2004, 89.”

What we’re witnessing now, he suggests, is not democracy’s failure but a natural “anti-liberal, anti-democratic counter-revolution” in response to this historic spread, despite all of liberal democracy’s faults. The autocracies and hybrid regimes are simply not delivering—hundreds of thousands of people protesting in Hungary, Serbia, and Hungary are proof of that, Ash believes.

But the data tells a different story

Reality, however, presents a more sobering picture: democracy is hemorrhaging support worldwide at an unprecedented pace.

Only 6.6% of the world’s population live in states defined as full democracies, while 72% live in autocracies—a historic reversal that has seen the global Democracy Index score fall from 5.52 in 2006 to an unprecedented low of 5.17 in 2024.

Even the Western democracies Ukraine aspires to join are backsliding. France’s score fell below the threshold to qualify as a “full democracy” and was downgraded to a “flawed democracy” in 2024.

The United States continues to be classified as a “flawed democracy,” ranked 28th globally. Hungary has recorded the biggest decline ever measured, plummeting to become a “transitional” or “hybrid regime.” When weighted by population, the level of democracy in Europe has fallen back forty years, to where it was in 1978.

Between 2020 and 2024, in one in five elections worldwide, losing candidates publicly rejected the outcome.

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Democracy’s three critical ailments

Despite this grim landscape, Timothy Garton Ash maintains his diagnosis offers hope. The historian identifies three fundamental weaknesses that have made democracies vulnerable to authoritarian assault:

1. Democracy degrading into oligarchy

“The great achievement of modern liberal democracy was to separate wealth and power,” Ash explained. “Most of human history, wealth and power have gone together. In oligarchy, they come back together.”

Ukraine knows this threat intimately from its own struggle with oligarchs. But even in established democracies, the lines are blurring dangerously. “Now, even in the United States, we see, with Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and all the tech bros, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos and others, lining up to support him, democracy degrading into oligarchy.”

2. Liberalism creating its own resistance

The second ailment emerges from democracy’s own successes. “What was associated with liberalism over the last 40 years, in particular neoliberalism, globalized, financialized capitalism, but to some extent also identity politics, left a huge part of our societies, in countries like Britain or America, feeling both economically and culturally neglected.”

Into this vacuum step the populists, who revolt against the “liberal cosmopolitan elites” and the big cities.

“They say, we hear you. We’re on your side. And they counterpose democracy to liberalism.” They claim to speak for “the people”—but as Ash notes, “it’s not the whole people. It’s only one part of the people.”

Trump himself once distinguished between “the people, and then there are the other people. And the other people are the bloody foreigners, quote, unquote. The immigrants, the outsiders, the others.”

3. Fragmentation of the public sphere

Democracy depends on shared reality, Ash argues, invoking ancient Athens: “All the citizens meet on the Pnyx. They hear all the facts. They can debate freely all the different policy options. And then together they decide to fight the invading Persians on sea rather than on land, which is how they win the Battle of Salamis.”

Today’s digital revolution has shattered this foundation.

“What’s happened over the years over the last 40 years is because of the digital revolution in media, we have the phenomenon of both monopoly, Facebook, Google, and fragmentation, so that we are losing the kind of public sphere, the kind of information environment you need for democracy to flourish.”

Ash’s seven-point prescription to save democracy

Ash’s remedy is both pragmatic and urgent:

1. “Tough on populism, tough on the causes of populism.” Address the genuine economic and cultural neglect that feeds populist resentment rather than dismissing it.

2. Strengthen all pluralist, anti-majoritarian institutions.”The independence of the courts, the civil service, auditors, obviously the different houses of parliament, and so on and so forth. These are the things that are coming under attack now, for example, in Trump’s America, and have been eroded in countries like Hungary.”

3. Learn from success. “Poland, two years ago, was very close to going down the Hungarian path, to state capture, to the demolition step-by-step of liberal democracy, and they came back. How? By winning an election that was not wholly free and fair. More people turned out to vote than ever before. More young people than old. More women than men voted in that election.”

4. Rebuild the media environment. “If you have public service media worthy of the name, hang on to them for dear life, strengthen their editorial independence, and quadruple the budget.” Ash credits the BBC with helping Britain avoid America’s fate: “You in Ukraine have Suspilne. Hang on to it for dear life. Strengthen its editorial independence. Quadruple the budget.”

5. Keep looking for what people have in common. “You’re going to have this problem in Ukraine in the next few years when the hot phase of the war is over… there’s a big danger of all the tensions and divisions in Ukrainian society coming to the surface. So keep looking for the things that keep people together.”

6. Don’t try to out-populist the populists. “It never works. We know that. If you adopt the rhetoric of the populists, if you do the dog whistle to the populists, voters will say, why should I vote for the dog whistle when I can have the real dog? It only strengthens the Marine Le Pens and the AFDs and the Nigel Farages.”

7. Don’t collaborate, even in very small ways. Drawing on Václav Havel’s wisdom: “Every dictatorship, every authoritarian regime isn’t just built on force. It’s built on these thousands and millions of tiny individual acts of collaboration. So don’t collaborate, even in the smallest way.”

The Ukrainian test case: when optimism meets reality

Ash’s confidence in democracy’s resilience faces its ultimate test in Ukraine. While he speaks of democracy’s long-term victory, Ukrainian survival depends on short-term Western commitment—commitment that’s eroding as anti-democratic populists gain power across the democratic world.

The very democratic backsliding Ash diagnoses is producing leaders hostile to Ukrainian aid. In Poland, despite historical solidarity, anti-Ukrainian sentiment is rising among voters frustrated with economic pressures, culminating in the victory of Karol Nawrocki, who has questioned Ukraine’s EU and NATO aspirations.

Slovakia’s Robert Fico has explicitly cut aid and adopted a Russia-friendly stance.

Romania’s Călin Georgescu, a pro-Putin candidate who praised Russian values and opposed NATO support for Ukraine, won the first round of presidential elections before the vote was annulled due to Russian interference. His political ally George Simion then ran in the 2025 rerun and lost by just 7% in May 2025—meaning pro-Putin forces came within single digits of controlling a NATO country bordering Ukraine.

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In the United States, Donald Trump promises “peace deals” that would reward Russian aggression by forcing Ukraine to cede territory.

Ukrainian soldiers die defending democratic ideals while voters in those same democracies choose leaders who would abandon Ukraine to Putin’s sphere of influence—exactly what happened to Georgia after its 2008 war with Russia.

The brutal mathematics are stark. Ukraine’s European integration depends on sustained Western support, but the rise of anti-democratic populists—fueled by the very ailments Ash identifies—is putting that support in jeopardy. Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has already blocked EU aid packages. The Trump administration is raising suspicions of directly serving Putin’s interests. The recent Polish election of Nawrocki is sure to send shockwaves regarding supporting Ukraine through Europe.

If Ash is wrong about democracy’s resilience, if the current crisis represents not growing pains but terminal decline, Ukraine faces a choice starker than any since independence: submit to Russian domination or stand alone against an empire. No less than centuries of Ukraine’s national liberation struggle hang in the balance.

The historian’s gamble

Ash’s seven-point plan may be academically sound, and his historical perspective offers valuable long-term hope. But for Ukraine, the timeline of democratic recovery matters as much as its ultimate success. His prescription assumes democracies have the luxury of time to heal themselves—time Ukraine may not have as Western support wavers and Russian pressure intensifies.

The historian’s optimism about democracy’s eventual triumph rings hollow when Ukraine’s immediate survival depends on democracies that are currently failing his own diagnostic tests. While Ash speaks confidently about democracy being “on the winning team,” Ukrainian leaders must plan for the possibility that the team might forfeit the game before victory arrives.

For Ukraine, Timothy Garton Ash’s confidence isn’t just an academic question—it’s an existential gamble. If he’s right, Ukraine’s democratic aspirations will eventually be vindicated. If he’s wrong, they may not survive to see it.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly disputed Donald Trump’s recent characterization of the war between Russia and Ukraine as “two kids fighting in a park.”

Zelenskyy emphasized that Putin is “a murderer who came to this park to kill the kids.” According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Russia killed 631 Ukrainian children since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

“We are not kids with Putin at the playground in the park. He [Putin] is a murderer who came to this park to kill the kids,” Zelenskyy said in an exclusive interview with ABC News.

The Ukrainian president argued that Trump cannot fully comprehend the suffering experienced by Ukrainians.

Zelenskyy illustrated this point by describing a conversation with a Ukrainian father who lost his wife and three children in a missile strike. The man told Zelenskyy that every morning upon waking, he searches for his family throughout his apartment, still believing their deaths were a nightmare.

“He wasn’t mentioning any statistics or figures and numbers of strikes,” Zelenskyy said, describing how the father’s words differed from official discussions of casualties.

“He just said, ‘Every morning when I wake up, I’m just looking for my family — I’m looking everywhere in the flat … I still feel that it was a nightmare … a bad dream,'” Zelenskyy shared.

While the president did not specify the family name or what city they were from, he might be referring to the Bazylevych family tragedy which occurred on 4 September 2024, when a Russian hypersonic missile struck their home in Lviv.

Yevheniia Bazylevych and her three daughters—Yaryna (21), a program manager for Lviv’s European Youth Capital 2025 office; Daryna (18), a university student active in cultural studies and volunteering; and Emilia (7), the youngest—were killed in the attack. Their father, Yaroslav Bazylevych, was injured but survived the strike.

Trump “could not feel fully and understand this pain,” Zelenskyy stated, while clarifying that this limitation applies to anyone located thousands of miles away from the conflict.

A policy document presented in Brussels on 26 May calls for the European Union to assume leadership of the international sanctions coalition and strengthen economic pressure on Russia.

Western countries imposed extensive sanctions on Russia in response to its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, aiming to cripple Russia’s economy, restrict access to finance and technology, and pressure Moscow to change its political behavior.

The “White Paper: The Future of European Leadership in the Economic Deterrence of Aggression” analyzes the achievements and vulnerabilities of EU sanctions policy while proposing practical tools to enhance the bloc’s economic security.

The document, prepared by the National Sanctions Coalition, outlines specific instruments for both responding to Russian aggression and countering future threats. Key recommendations include creating a unified EU sanctions body, implementing an analogue to the US entity list, strengthening control over high-risk goods exports, introducing extraterritorial (secondary) sanctions for circumvention assistance, and maintaining sanctions against Russia’s defense sector and critical infrastructure even after hostilities end.

“The sanctions instruments proposed in the White Paper are aimed at ending the Russian war in Ukraine as quickly as possible — by reducing Russia’s income and limiting its military-industrial potential,” said Denis Gutyk, executive director of the Council of Economic Security of Ukraine and co-author of the document.

According to the white paper, Russia has earned approximately €887 billion ($1,014.4 bn) from energy exports since February 2022, significantly exceeding the €211 billion ($241.4 bn) spent on its war effort during the same period. The document notes that from February 2022 to early 2025, the European Union spent more than €207 billion ($236.8 bn) on imports of Russian fossil fuels despite existing sanctions.

Tomáš Šindelář, Deputy Head of the Sanctions Unit at the European External Action Service (EEAS), supported the nitiative outlined in the White Paper. Using the example of countering Russia’s shadow fleet, he explained how EU sanctions instruments have already evolved.

“Initially, we focused exclusively on ships, but recent analysis showed that there is an entire ecosystem of operators around the shadow fleet — insurance companies, fleet managers, service providers,” Šindelář said. “And if these entities are also seriously affected by sanctions, this allows disrupting the operation of the entire mechanism while maintaining pressure on the fleet itself.”

The 17th sanctions package became the first where Europe applied such an approach, according to Šindelář. Europe more than doubled the number of vessels under sanctions and for the first time included in the restrictions not only the vessels themselves, but also related operators — not only in Russia, but also in third countries.

The white paper identifies several challenges facing EU sanctions policy, including limited extraterritorial application of restrictive measures, consensus requirements that slow decision-making, and heterogeneous enforcement approaches across member states. The document said that while the US has imposed 494 secondary sanctions targeting entities across 57 countries since the invasion began, the EU’s sanctions regime cannot yet be regarded as fully extraterritorial.

According to the document, approximately 70% of Russia’s oil exports are now transported via a “shadow fleet” of over 1,000 vessels, of which only 153 are currently subject to EU sanctions. The paper warns that more than 72% of these vessels are over 15 years old, increasing risks of mechanical failures, collisions, and oil spills that could cost coastal states up to €1.6 billion ($1.8 bn) in damages and cleanup efforts.

Russia uses a “shadow fleet” of vessels to evade sanctions by frequently changing ship names and flags, turning off AIS tracking, using complex ownership structures, and conducting ship-to-ship oil transfers at sea to obscure the origin of cargo.

The white paper also addresses the issue of frozen Russian assets. Approximately €210 billion ($239 bn) in Russian Central Bank assets have been frozen within the EU, with more than half held at Euroclear Bank. Despite substantial volumes of frozen assets, the document identifies legal challenges to confiscation, including the principle of sovereign immunity under international law.

Among specific recommendations, the document calls for adopting EU Council decisions to confiscate Russian sovereign assets and transfer them to support Ukraine.

Earlier, the Baltic states, Northern European countries, and Finland have openly called for the immediate confiscation of frozen Russian assets, with Finland’s finance minister Riikka Purra urging the EU to proceed with seizure.

France has also proposed seizing assets if Russia breaches a future ceasefire in Ukraine, while key EU officials like Valdis Dombrovskis and Maria Luís Albuquerque support the idea, though major states like Germany and France remain cautious about full confiscation.

Ukrainian drones not only destroyed dozens of Russian aircraft—they also shattered the Pentagon’s perception of security for the US itself.

US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll warns that Ukraine’s recent deep strikes inside Russia reveal the US’s own vulnerabilities to similar attacks, The Hill reports. 

Driscoll says the operation, reportedly involving over 100 low-cost drones smuggled into Russia by truck, illustrates how cheap, easily available weapons can inflict massive damage in capable hands. He expresses concern that the US Army is lagging behind in countering such threats.

“At a cost of mere tens of thousands of dollars, Ukraine inflicted billions in damage, potentially setting back Russia’s bomber capabilities for years,” Driscoll explains. 

He adds that drones are just one example of a broader shift, and frankly, the US Army is not keeping up.

Driscoll’s concerns are echoed by a senior member of the committee, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who says Ukraine’s operation has “gotten our attention of the vulnerabilities of existing systems and the capabilities of drones” and other new systems.

“There is no question that the nature of warfare is changing dramatically. How do we adjust our force to meet those challenges?” he continues.

Ukraine’s successful strike has raised new questions about how well US territory is truly protected, a concern that hasn’t faded since mysterious drone sightings over New Jersey and other northeastern states late last year.

Last month, US President Donald Trump announced plans to create his own missile defense system called the Golden Dome, as one way to address new threats.

But this system, designed as a network of space-based radars and interceptors, is meant to defend against ballistic and intercontinental missiles, not low-flying drones or missiles launched from ships.

To respond quickly to emerging threats, Driscoll calls for more agile forces capable of rapid innovation and closer cooperation with the private sector, stating that the Army is currently frozen in bureaucracy.

As the US Senators are pushing for a sweeping bipartisan sanctions package targeting Russia’s energy exports, “the only thing standing in the way is President Donald Trump,” according to Fox News.

According to Fox News, nearly the entire US Senate has united behind a sanctions bill authored by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal that proposes imposing up to 500% tariffs on oil, gas, uranium, and other Russian energy exports. These measures are intended to put a financial chokehold on Russia’s war economy, particularly targeting its trade with China and India, which together account for about 75% of Moscow’s energy business.

Despite bipartisan backing from 82 senators, the legislation is stalled due to the White House’s reluctance to move forward. Republican John Kennedy, one of the co-sponsors, told Fox News Digital that “if President Trump asked me my opinion, I would tell them, ‘let’s go now.’”

Putin “gives the finger” to the entire world, Zelenskyy says after Trump’s call with Russian president

Trump’s peace talks falter while sanctions hang in the balance as Putin “not interested in peace”

The latest round of Kyiv-Moscow low-level talks in Istanbul on 2 June ended without a ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Putin’s demands, including ceding large swaths of Ukrainian territory.

Graham and Blumenthal, who traveled to Ukraine during the Senate’s Memorial Day recess and met with Zelenskyy, have both expressed skepticism over Putin’s intentions. After a separate meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, Graham stated, according to Fox News,

“It is our view Putin is not responding in kind, he is not interested in peace and that he plans to continue to dismember Ukraine.”

Blumenthal added that Trump “has been played” by Putin and described the Russian president as “totally unserious” about ending the conflict.

Sanctions seen as tool to support diplomacy

Despite Trump’s continued diplomatic efforts, other lawmakers told Fox News Digital they believe the sanctions would actually strengthen the administration’s hand in negotiations. Republican Senator Thom Tillis said the bill is a “real enabler” for the Trump administration, while Democrat Senator Tim Kaine said the legislation gives Trump leverage.

Fox News reports that Senate Republican leadership is waiting on direct White House approval before bringing the bill to a vote.

Graham has expressed hope that the sanctions will be enacted before next week’s G7 Summit in Italy, sending “an unequivocal message to China.”

US Senator Richard Blumenthal compared Ukraine’s recent long-range drone attacks against Russian air bases to the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Politico reports.

The Democratic senator from Connecticut Richard Blumenthal called the Spiderweb operation one of the great military achievements in recent years, according to Politico.

Blumenthal believes it refutes the “false narrative that Ukraine is losing the war.” He suggested the recent battlefield developments could influence Washington’s approach to Ukraine aid and potentially sway President Donald Trump, who the senator noted remains skeptical of increased support.

“They can strike air bases 4,000 miles from Ukraine; They can hit anywhere,” Blumenthal said. “Just in the skill and audacity of these attacks, it will rank with the United States raid on Osama bin Laden and the Israeli pager operation as one of the great military achievements in recent years.”

The White House has not commented on the Ukrainian strikes, though spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt previously emphasized that Trump was not informed about the operation in advance.

On 4 June, Blumenthal organized a closed-door briefing for senators alongside Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to discuss their sweeping sanctions bill targeting Russia and major energy customers including China and India. The Ukrainian delegation included Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Deputy Defense Minister Serhii Boyev.

The bipartisan legislation, which now has 82 co-sponsors evenly divided between parties, proposes 500% tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil and other products. Blumenthal described the sanctions package as potentially a “game changer” designed to increase pressure on Russia’s wartime economy.

The senator indicated Congress could move forward with the sanctions bill regardless of White House support, stating that events on the battlefield might shift momentum among lawmakers previously hesitant to increase aid to Ukraine.

Ukrainian media professionals and civil society organizations have issued a joint statement, calling for the inclusion of Ukrainian journalists and the removal of some Russian speakers from the True Story Festival programme, which is scheduled to take place in Bern on 20-22 June 2025.

The True Story Festival in Bern is an international journalism event held annually that brings together reporters from around the world to present and discuss their investigative and feature stories.

The signatories, including the Institute of Mass Information, expressed concern about the festival’s programme structure, particularly in sections related to the Russian-Ukrainian war.

According to the statement, at least five representatives from the Russian Federation – the aggressor country that has been waging war against Ukraine since 2014 – are listed as speakers. Meanwhile, Ukrainian journalists representing the victim nation are entirely absent from the programme.

“This is not only deeply unfair. This is ethically unacceptable,” the statement reads. “We value the contribution of independent Russian journalists to exposing the crimes of the regime. But to speak only about Russia, or about Ukraine without the participation of Ukrainian journalists – this is a distortion of reality. This is the risk of losing the truth in reporting – the very truth that the True Story festival is called to seek.”

The authors criticized specific aspects of the planned programme. They highlighted plans to once again tell the story of “Putin’s children’s lives” (Ilya Rozhdestvensky’s story from September 2024) instead of investigations into the kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children and cultural genocide in occupied territories.

Russia deported at least 19,000 to 20,000 children since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The statement also questioned giving a platform to Dmitry Muratov to voice “challenges of the independent Russian press” while Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchina was killed in Russian captivity and thousands of Ukrainian colleagues and hundreds of media outlets have suffered from Russian aggression.

“Tell about ‘Wagner fighters’ and ‘prisoners who returned from the Russian-Ukrainian war’, that is, about war criminals – instead of telling about the fate of tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians who are illegally held in Russian prisons. Unfortunately, such plans look inadequate and secondary,” said in the statement.

The signatories presented three specific demands to the festival organizers:

• They called for the immediate inclusion of Ukrainian journalists who cover the consequences of war, crimes against civilians, genocidal practices, child deportations and the disappearance of reporters.
• They demanded a review of session focus to avoid replacing the context of war with stories about the “internal pain” of the aggressor state, and to remove at least some Russian speakers from the festival programme.
• They requested ensuring balance and representation of victims, as required by basic standards of ethical journalism.

“True Story Festival should be a place for truth. We are convinced that only polyphony, honesty and sensitivity to context can preserve trust in journalism as a profession,” they said.

The statement was signed by writer Oles Ilchenko, Doctor of Philological Sciences and journalist Alla Boyko, member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine Iryna Mykhalkiv-Vinnyk, the Pylyp Orlyk Institute for Democracy, Mediarukh, Detector Media, and the Institute of Mass Information.

[L'article À Montréal, les déplacements en métro et en bus seront fortement perturbés la semaine prochaine a d'abord été publié dans InfoBref.]