Britain will deliver 100,000 drones to Ukraine this year in a tenfold increase from 2024 targets, the UK Ministry of Defence announced on 4 June.

The country delivered more than 10,000 drones to Ukraine last year.

The record £350 million ($474 mn) investment in drones forms part of Britain’s £4.5 billion ($6 bn) military support package for 2025, according to the ministry statement.

“The UK is stepping up its support for Ukraine by delivering hundreds of thousands more drones this year,” Defence Secretary John Healey said at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in Brussels.

Ukrainian forces have proven drone warfare’s effectiveness against Russian attacks, prompting Britain to double its investment in drone technology with British defence companies.

The announcement came as Healey joined German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius to host Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov at the 50-nation contact group meeting at NATO headquarters.

Britain completed delivery of 140,000 artillery munitions to Ukraine since January 2025, Healey confirmed. The country will spend an additional £247 million ($334 mn) this year training Ukrainian forces through Operation Interflex, which has trained more than 55,000 Ukrainian recruits since 2022.

Ukrainian units confirmed that UK-provided drones helped stabilize frontline positions by repelling Russian attacks. Defence Intelligence data showed drones currently kill more people than artillery on Ukraine’s frontlines.

British-made drones include first-person view models for precision strikes, interceptor drones for air defence, and fiber-optic drones resistant to Russian electronic jamming. Low-cost explosive-dropping drones and FPV systems account for 60-70% of damage to Russian equipment, according to the ministry.

Britain will invest £40 million ($54 mn) in NATO’s NSATU mission trust fund for Ukraine to provide vehicle spare parts, fuel, training and combat supplies.

Exclusive

North Korea’s troops, shells, missiles aided Russia in war against Ukraine, breaching UN sanctions, report confirms. Pyongyang’s shipment of arms and troops to Russia and Moscow’s return of fuel and weapons broke UN rules, according to the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team.

Military

Russian forces may launch its offensive on unexpected region bordering Ukraine’s Kyiv Oblast. The 2022 invasion route may reopen as Chernihiv could be the target of Russia in the war.

Ukraine’s terminal guidance FPV drone bypasses Russian jamming in new footage. The drone locks on target and continues mission after losing signal, video shows.

Frontline report: Putin’s helicopter dodges friendly fire as Ukrainian drone swarm engulfs Moscow. Russian air defenses fired wildly into Moscow’s skies, nearly downing their own president’s helicopter.

Grenade explosion kills Russian commander behind 2022 Mariupol deadly airstrikes. Russian media say former airstrike commander Zaur Gurtsiyev had been serving as Stavropol deputy mayor since September 2024.

Drones attack Moscow. Strategic defense plant burns in Saint Petersburg. Russia experienced drone strikes, airport delays, and a major fire at a strategic defense plant.

Frontline report: Poland orders 500 HIMARS and 1,000+ tanks as Russia’s shadow creeps through Belarus. Poland is tripling its army and investing over $50 billion in defense as Russia maneuvers behind Belarus.

ISW: Putin’s propaganda drills near NATO borders in Belarus shrink as real war consumes his army. Many Russian combat units from past Belarus-based Zapad drills are now on the frontlines in Ukraine.

Intelligence and technology

North Korea supplied Russia with 9 mn rounds of ammunition and 100 ballistic missiles since 2023. North Korea has shipped more than 20,000 containers of military supplies to Russia since September 2023, enough to equip three full brigades, according to a new international monitoring report.

Bloomberg: China cuts drone sales to Europe, but still supplies Russia. Beijing rejected allegations that it selectively restricts drone exports, calling the claims “baseless accusations.”

Forbes: Ukraine’s $10K drone motherships with laser vision replace $5M missiles. Technology developed by startup could reshape future wars.

Hackers linked to Russia target UK Ministry of Defence staff with fake news emails. Britain’s Ministry of Defence faced more than 90,000 cyber attacks from hostile states in two years, double the previous period.

Swiss clear Leopard 1 tank sale to Germany, unless reexported to Ukraine. It’s unclear if Berlin even needs them under this condition.

China dissects Russia’s mistakes in Ukraine while building world’s largest naval arsenal for potential Taiwan war. Beijing is regarding a drawn-out, grinding war, one it believes it can outlast.

Russia’s underground nuclear missile sites mapped in leak. Danwatch and Der Spiegel analyzed millions of files and hundreds of detailed blueprints, exposing the scope of Russia’s secretive nuclear weapons modernization.

German long-range Taurus missiles for Ukraine “within realm of possibility,” Chancellor says. But hesitation continues.. Friedrich Merz emphasized that the weapons system requires several months of soldier training that could make deliveries ineffective in the near term.

International

UK at OSCE: Russia chooses war over people as defense spending surpasses social programs. Russia burns $450 billion in energy revenue and empties wealth fund.

UK and Germany to lead next Ramstein meeting without US leadership. The Ukraine Defense Contact Group will convene at NATO headquarters on 4 June under continued British and German leadership

Türkiye and Belgium plan to join international drone coalition for Ukraine. Coalition member states have committed $3 bn to support Ukraine in 2025, up from $2 bn delivered last year.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russia kills six civilians in Ukraine as only half of drones are downed during nighttime attack. Russian drones and guided bombs struck homes and infrastructure in at least nine locations. Moscow’s attacks killed at least six and injured over 30 civilians across Ukraine.

Political and legal developments

Czech court convicts teacher for calling Ukrainian soldiers “Nazis” in classroom. She also told teenagers that the war in Ukraine was fake.

Trump still hopes to do business with Kremlin, even as number of Ukrainian civilians killed, including children, continues to grow each day. US officials have developed an economic weapon against Russia but the order has yet to come.

New developments

Mountaineer Samoilova becomes the first Ukrainian to conquer the world’s five main peaks. Antonina Samoilova carried a fallen Ukrainian soldier’s chevron to the summit of Kangchenjunga, completing her historic conquest of the world’s main peaks.

Victoria Roshchyna posthumously receives journalism award for courage under extreme conditions. The “Honor of the Profession 2025” competition recognized a journalist who disappeared while trying to report from Russian-occupied areas.

Book Arsenal festival opens in Kyiv with 100 publishers participating. The XIII International Book Arsenal Festival opens today in Kyiv with participation from 100 major and 12 small publishing houses.

Read our earlier daily review here

For Russia, a war is more important than the welfare of its people. At the Security Cooperation Forum in Vienna, Lieutenant Colonel Joby Rimmer, senior military advisor to the UK delegation at the OSCE, stressed that Russia’s aggression is having catastrophic effects on its economy, UkrInform reports. 

He highlighted that international sanctions have cost Russia approximately $450 billion in revenue from its energy sector. Additionally, two-thirds of the liquid assets in Russia’s National Wealth Fund have already been depleted.

The Central Bank of Russia’s key interest rate has surged to 21%, signaling a deep financial crisis.

Rimmer noted that 40% of Russia’s 2025 budget is allocated to defense spending, marking the first time since the Soviet era that defense expenditures have surpassed social spending.

He emphasized that the Kremlin is deliberately prioritizing war over the well-being of its own population, a decision driving the country toward impoverishment.

Despite official claims of seeking “peace,” Russia continues intense airstrikes against Ukrainian cities, clear evidence of its lack of genuine intent to negotiate, the British official said.

The UK’s position remains firm: Russia’s invasion is a blatant violation of international law, and support for Ukraine will continue until its sovereignty is fully restored, he added. 

Russia-linked hackers posed as journalists to target staff at Britain’s Ministry of Defence in a cyber spying operation that was spotted and thwarted, Sky News reported on 29 May, citing the British government.

The attack was part of more than 90,000 cyber attacks from hostile states directed against UK military and defence structures over the past two years. This represented a doubling from the previous two years, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Defence Secretary John Healey said that the foiled hack during a visit to a secure facility in Wiltshire. The location houses the defence team that defeated the Russian cyber attack.

“The nature of warfare is changing,” Healey told journalists. “The keyboard is now a weapon of war and we are responding to that.”

The National Cyber Security Centre alerted the Ministry of Defence to a suspected spear phishing campaign late last year. The Global Operations Security Control Centre at MoD Corsham in Wiltshire identified the threat.

“MoD detected a spear phishing campaign targeting staff with the aim of delivering malware,” the NCSC analysis said. “The initial campaign consisted of two emails with a journalistic theme attempting to represent a news organisation.”

The hackers followed up with a second wave of attacks, which followed a financial theme, directing targets to a commercial file share, according to the NCSC.

Officials said it took about an hour to spot the attack. When asked what it felt like to discover the intrusion, one individual said “cool.”

The malware was linked to a Russian hacking group called RomCom, a second official said. The particular code had not been seen before. The British side gave it the name “Damascened Peacock.”

The increase in attacks is partly because the military is getting better at spotting attempts against its networks. However, the attacks are becoming more sophisticated and harder to combat, according to the report.

Healey said the government plans to invest more than £1bn ($1,4 bn) on improving its ability to hunt, locate and strike targets on the battlefield using digital technology. The response includes creating a new cyber command to oversee offensive and defensive cyber operations.

The revelations emerged as part of a long-awaited Strategic Defence Review. The review was launched by Sir Keir Starmer last July ahead of a major NATO summit in June.