Ukraine announced the return of a group of children and teenagers from Russian-occupied territories through the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, according to Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak.
The returns underscore the ongoing challenge of recovering Ukrainian children from Russia's systematic deportation campaign. Since February 2022, Russia has deported 19,546 Ukrainian children according to the Children of War portal, with only 1,791 returned as of 12 November 20
Ukraine announced the return of a group of children and teenagers from Russian-occupied territories through the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, according to Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak.
The returns underscore the ongoing challenge of recovering Ukrainian children from Russia's systematic deportation campaign. Since February 2022, Russia has deported 19,546 Ukrainian children according to the Children of War portal, with only 1,791 returned as of 12 November 2025—a war crime for which the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in March 2023.
Children face harassment, forced assimilation under occupation
Among those returned was a 10-year-old girl whose classmates bullied her for her Ukrainian heritage, Yermak stated on Telegram. Her younger brothers at kindergarten were forced to sing Russian songs and collect money for the occupying army.
A 7-year-old girl and her 2-year-old brother lost their mother due to Russian doctors' inaction. Occupation authorities attempted to send the siblings to an orphanage despite having living relatives in Ukraine.
Another young person returned, now 19, had endured torture and execution threats from Russian military personnel because a relative served in Ukraine's Armed Forces. After reaching adulthood, occupation authorities placed him on the military registry.
Recent investigations reveal Russia systematically channels deported Ukrainian children through cadet schools and military training programs. The militarization campaign targets children as young as eight, subjecting them to years of pro-Russian indoctrination before conscripting them into occupation forces.
Russia weaponizes children as political leverage
The returns come as Russia uses deported Ukrainian children as bargaining chips with Washington, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Russian officials frame limited returns as goodwill gestures toward the United States while continuing mass deportations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently highlighted the Bring Kids Back UA initiative as the primary channel for facilitating children's returns. An international coalition of 41 countries now works to support these efforts.
"We are fulfilling the president's task—to return all Ukrainian children," Yermak said on his Telegram, thanking Save Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine's Joint Center, and international partners.
A leaked 12-point peace proposal circulating in European capitals aims to pause Russia’s war in Ukraine within just 24 hours. RFE/RL reports that the draft, initiated by Finland and developed by over 20 pro-Ukraine countries, envisions freezing the front line, barring Ukraine from taking back occupied territories by military means, and establishing long-term negotiations on the future of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
This comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine has las
A leaked 12-point peace proposal circulating in European capitals aims to pause Russia’s war in Ukraine within just 24 hours. RFE/RL reports that the draft, initiated by Finland and developed by over 20 pro-Ukraine countries, envisions freezing the front line, barring Ukraine from taking back occupied territories by military means, and establishing long-term negotiations on the future of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
This comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine has lasted 11 years, with its full-scale invasion ongoing for three and a half years. Russian forces continue large-scale offensive operations in eastern and southern Ukraine while targeting the country’s power grid with long-range strikes. Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has pushed for direct talks between Kyiv and Moscow, allegedly to end the war. Russia, however, has largely ignored his calls and instead escalated its attacks.
Ceasefire first: freezing the war overnight
The plan is structured in two phases — ceasefire and negotiations. The first phase outlines that hostilities would stop “24 hours after the parties have accepted this plan,” RFE/RL reports. At the start of the proposed ceasefire, the line of contact would then be frozen, with no further military movements allowed. Kyiv and Moscow would commit to a mutual nonaggression pact, meaning Russia must stop attacks while Ukraine agrees not to retake occupied areas such as the regions of Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia by military means.
Ceasefire monitoring would begin immediately under US leadership using satellites, drones, and other technologies. A Trump-chaired “Board of Peace” is proposed to oversee the process, a concept reportedly borrowed from a recent plan for Gaza.
To support trust between the parties, the plan also suggests the so-called “confidence-building measures” — an approach the OSCE pushed for seven years after the initial invasion, though Russia consistently ignored every ceasefire during that period, while denying its own actions. It remains unclear why the authors of the current proposal believe Russia would behave differently now.
According to RFE/RL, confidence-building measures include the lifting of selected symbolic sanctions after the ceasefire holds for an agreed period. Russia could be readmitted to international organizations such as the International Olympic Committee or the Council of Europe, which expelled Moscow in 2022. The plan also proposes transferring control of the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to an unnamed third party, with negotiations on returning it to Ukraine.
Negotiation phase: security zones, occupied land talks, and Russian narratives
Once the ceasefire is in place, the second phase would begin with an armistice and formal negotiations. These talks would determine a final line of contact, which would remain in effect until a long-term governance agreement for the occupied territories is reached. RFE/RL says that civilian multinational missions would monitor both sides of the security zone established along this line, where no military activity would be permitted.
Russia formally considers the occupied territories of Ukraine part of its own territory, and it is unclear why the proposal’s authors believe that Moscow — which consistently demands Ukraine’s de facto capitulation — would somehow accept external governance of the areas it controls.
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One of the points includes undisclosed security guarantees — an element the so-called Coalition of the Willing has been shaping since spring. Another proposed element calls for a high-level dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow “to increase mutual understanding and respect for diversity of language, culture, and religion.”
Eastern EU officials told RFE/RL this wording reflects Russian disinformation about alleged discrimination against Russian-speaking Ukrainians.
A particularly controversial point involves initiating talks on “permanent governance of the occupied territories.” Many EU capitals view this as incompatible with Ukraine’s territorial integrity and oppose the idea of legalizing Russian control over parts of Ukrainian land.
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Frozen Russian assets and the question of compensation
The penultimate point in the draft addresses reconstruction. A new fund for Ukraine would be created, and frozen Russian assets could be used to finance rebuilding. As RFE/RL notes, over €200 billion (around $233 billion) are currently held in the West. These could be returned to Russia only after an agreement on war damage compensation is reached between Kyiv and Moscow.
Sanctions would be gradually lifted as the deal progresses. However, a so-called snapback mechanism is proposed: if Russia resumes attacks, all sanctions, and isolation measures would be reinstated automatically.
EU official: “There won’t be peace — that’s Putin’s one-point-plan”
Despite the detailed proposal, RFE/RL quotes one European official admitting that the plan’s chances of success are “probably not much.” While some hope the United States might support elements of it, most diplomats doubt that the Kremlin will accept any of the core terms.
“We can have a 12-point-plan, but there won’t be peace — that is Putin’s one-point-plan,” a European diplomat said.
A Russian official charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with the unlawful deportation of children openly described taking a Ukrainian teenager from Mariupol and "re-educating" him until he abandoned his Ukrainian identity.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed that such actions may constitute genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Commissioner for Children's Righ
A Russian official charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with the unlawful deportation of children openly described taking a Ukrainian teenager from Mariupol and "re-educating" him until he abandoned his Ukrainian identity.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed that such actions may constitute genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, gave the account in 6 October interview. She said she met 15-year-old Pylyp while "traveling through basements and collecting children who were under fire" in occupied Mariupol after Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Pylyp had lost his mother at age 10 and was living with a foster family. According to Lvova-Belova, when fighting started, that family gave him his documents and left him alone. He found Russian soldiers and asked for safety.
Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova and her Ukrainian "adopted son" Pylyp from occupied Mariupol.
Lvova-Belova claims Pylyp agreed to live with her family. But she said he arrived traumatized from the shelling and began causing problems in her household. The issue, according to her account: Pylyp maintained what she called "a special attitude toward Russia"—negativity "which had long been cultivated in children in Mariupol schools."
In her telling, Pylyp told her he loved her but hated everything about Moscow and Russia. He didn't want to live in Russia. He loved Ukraine and read pro-Ukrainian websites. Lvova-Belova said she spent nights talking with him, telling him he needed to change his attitude now that he was in Russia.
Pylyp also sang Ukrainian songs, which Lvova-Belova claims he later admitted was an attempt to make her return him faster, to stop hoping his life could change.
Eventually, she claims, "changes in consciousness began" in the boy. Now he doesn't even want to return to Mariupol when he visits.
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This incident represents one example, that the ISW has documented, of how Russia works to eliminate Ukrainian identity and colonize both the land and minds of people in occupied territories.
Russia frames its relationship with Ukraine through claims of historic and cultural ties, with President Putin publicly denying Ukraine's status as a fully independent nation and describing Russians and Ukrainians as "one people."
Russia's goal extends beyond merely seizing land. The re-education of children like Pylyp, the militarization of Ukrainian youth on occupied territories, and the suppression of Ukrainian language and culture serve a long-term purpose: creating a population that identifies as Russian, accepts Russian narratives, and can be potentially mobilized as soldiers and supporters for further expansion.
The patterns reveal a coordinated approach spanning education and military indoctrination of children, population replacement, repression, and information control.
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Occupation authorities threaten families who refuse Russian education
Families living under occupation face a basic dilemma: children need to go to school. Many of these children studied their entire lives in Ukrainian, learned Ukrainian history and read Ukrainian literature. But Russian occupation authorities now demand they switch languages, abandon their curriculum, and attend Russian-controlled schools.
Those who refuse face escalating consequences. Pavel Filipchuk, occupation head of Kakhovka district in occupied Kherson Oblast, made this explicit in late September. His administration identified over 200 children not attending Russian-controlled schools. Some families were keeping their children enrolled in Ukrainian online schools instead.
Filipchuk dismissed Ukrainian education, calling it "a child with a poor education from unclear teachers—a tragedy."
He announced that authorities would start with fines and escalate to deprivation of parental rights and home raids for continued non-compliance.
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Ukrainian Commissioner for Children's Rights and Rehabilitation Daria Herasymchuk added that Russian occupation officials punish children and parents for studying Ukrainian language and literature in occupied areas, with methods including beatings, isolation of children, and forced administration of psychotropic drugs.
While Russian authorities claim students retain the "option" to study Ukrainian language, they have simultaneously taken steps to substantially limit access to Ukrainian language instruction and disincentivize participation in what limited courses remain available.
In June, the Russian Ministry of Education published a draft order detailing plans to effectively ban Ukrainian-language education in occupied Ukraine starting 1 September 2025. The escalating punitive measures against families who choose Ukrainian education reveal the false nature of any claimed "educational choice," ISW analysts conclude.
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Russia indoctrinates Ukrainian teenagers for war
Once children enter Russian-controlled schools, they face another form of control: militarization programs designed to train them as potential future soldiers and instill hatred of Ukraine and the West.
In October, Crimea occupation head Sergei Aksyonov announced the launch of the "Heroes of Russia-Pride of Crimea" project at a kindergarten and secondary school in occupied Simferopol.
The project installs permanent exhibitions in schools featuring photographs of Soviet World War II veterans and Russian soldiers from the current war in Ukraine. Each photo includes a QR code that students can scan to read extended biographies of what Aksyonov calls "heroes."
Aksyonov framed the project as teaching children "proper" role models, saying these are people "who left their bright mark in the struggle for our great Motherland, who proved not by word but by deed that they are true patriots of their country."
"I believe that such people should serve as an example for the younger generation. After all, there is nothing more honorable, nothing more valuable, than serving one's Motherland," Aksyonov wrote.
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The project will spread to all schools in occupied Crimea as an important step in the "patriotic development" of children and to instill "personal responsibility" for Russia's destiny, according to the official.
Accompanying images showed young children in cadet-style uniforms standing next to uniformed Russian servicemen and posing with donation boxes marked with Z symbols and the Russian military slogan "We don't abandon our own."
A young girl in military-style uniform poses with a donation box marked "We Don't Abandon Our Own" - a Russian military slogan - and "Let's Help Together" during the "Heroes of Russia-Pride of Crimea" project in occupied Simferopol, October 2025. Photo: Sergei Aksyonov/Telegram"Heroes of Russia-Pride of Crimea" project in occupied Crimea. Children pose alongside active Russian servicemembers in front of displays honoring soldiers who died fighting for Russia.Photos: Sergei Aksyonov/Telegram
Russian soldiers actively fighting in Donetsk Oblast are also training Ukrainian teenagers. During a three-day course in October, combat troops taught youth from occupied Donetsk how to handle military equipment, navigate battlefields, provide tactical medical care, operate in combat groups, and fly quadcopters.
These aren't retired veterans offering generic patriotic talks - they're active servicemembers passing combat experience directly to Ukrainian children.
"The purpose of such training activities is clearly to prepare Ukrainian youth for future service in the Russian military, including by disseminating to them critical lessons on the realities of contemporary warfighting," the ISW states.
Russian soldiers show Ukrainian children how to use weapons in Melekyne village, 23km from occupied Mariupol. Photo: Mariupol City Council
Russia funds study to make Ukrainian identity illegal
While children are indoctrinated through schools and military training camps, adults who resist Russian control are prosecuted as "terrorists" and "extremists."
Russian authorities use fabricated criminal charges to silence opposition and make any expression of Ukrainian identity dangerous.
Russia is working to expand those definitions even further. In October, Zaporizhzhia's occupation administration commissioned a $68,000 study on "Ukrainian nationalist ideology" to get Moscow to officially classify it as "extremism."
Residents already face charges of terrorism, extremism, and high treason for pro-Ukrainian sentiment, which carry lengthy prison sentences. The study, however, would grant law enforcement even broader authority to criminally prosecute people of occupied areas.
This legal framework targets not only ethnic Ukrainians but anyone who doesn't conform to Russian identity. Crimean Tatars, the peninsula's indigenous Muslim population, face particularly harsh persecution.
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Crimean Tatars largely opposed Russia's 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea and continue to advocate for the peninsula's return to Ukraine. Moscow views them as disloyal and uses their suppression to silence dissent and demonstrate control.
In October, the Russian Federal Security Service intensified this crackdown by targeting four Crimean Tatar women. The FSB conducted searches in four homes in occupied Crimea, detained Esma Nimetullayeva, Nasiba Saidova, Elviza Alieva, and Fevziye Osmanova, and transported them to Simferopol on charges of "organizing and participating in the activities of a terrorist organization."
Human rights activists maintained the women's innocence, stating the arrests are part of Russia's systematic campaign against the Crimean Tatar community. The FSB has historically used fabricated extremism charges to persecute the minority group and consolidate control.
In October 2025, the FSB detained four Crimean Tatar women from their homes in occupied Crimea on charges of "organizing and participating in the activities of a terrorist organization." Human rights groups say the arrests are part of Russia's campaign to suppress the indigenous Muslim population, who largely oppose the occupation. Photo: Crimean Solidarity public movement/Facebook
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Occupiers steal Ukrainian homes to make room for Russians from other regions
Suppressing existing Ukrainian identity on occupied territories is only half of Russia's demographic strategy. The other half involves replacing the population itself.
Russia's full-scale invasion displaced approximately 2.9 million people from areas now under occupation and killed tens of thousands more, according to ISW. To legitimize its occupation, Russian authorities are implementing policies designed to repopulate these territories.
Russia's migration policy concept for 2026-2030, signed by President Putin in October, includes provisions to "create conditions for the return" of residents who fled occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. While the concept doesn't specify implementation methods, it likely signals financial or legal incentives aimed at convincing Ukrainian refugees to return to occupied areas.
Russia is also repopulating occupied territories by stealing Ukrainian property and giving it to Russian settlers.
Mariupol residents address Vladimir Putin in a video appeal on 11 May 2025, holding a sign saying "RETURN OUR HOMES." Photo: Russian independent news channel Astra
The theft operates through a bureaucratic facade. In July 2022, Russian authorities invalidated all real estate documents issued by Ukrainian authorities between 2014 and 2022, stripping property rights from anyone who had purchased, inherited, or transferred property during eight years of Ukrainian control.
They compiled lists of apartments classified as "ownerless" - a category that includes property whose owners died, fled the war, or are Ukrainian citizens living abroad.
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Property owners have 30 days to appear in person and prove ownership. But returning requires traveling through Moscow, where Russian security services interrogate arrivals, examine social media for pro-Ukrainian content, and demand Russian passports. Any pro-Ukrainian activity risks jail, while the journey is also costly for people who have already lost their homes and jobs in the war.
Russian authorities stopped accepting Ukrainian passports in October 2022 and rejected power of attorney arrangements in April 2025, demanding only personal presence. The system is designed to prevent rightful owners from reclaiming their homes.
Russia then offers this seized property to Russians willing to relocate. A new draft law proposes allocating the "ownerless" apartments to government officials, military personnel, doctors, and teachers from other Russian regions as incentives.
Meanwhile, many Mariupol residents who survived a devastating three-month siege in the city are left homeless or moved to old dormitories. They protest to occupation officials demanding the return of their homes, but their appeals go nowhere.
Mariupol residents address Vladimir Putin in a video appeal in January 2025, lining up with "HOMELESS BUMS" signs, saying their apartments were seized and they have nowhere to live. Photo: Astra
Moscow forces Russian-only TV on occupied territories
Russia's control over minds extends beyond school curricula to what residents can watch and read at home. While children are taught Russian narratives in classrooms, adults—especially older people who rely on television for news—face similarly restricted information.
Russian occupation officials provided updates in October on the installation of Russkiy Mir [Russian World] satellite dishes throughout occupied Ukraine.
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The Kherson Oblast occupation administration claimed it installed 20,000 Russkiy Mir satellite kits in total, while Zaporizhzhia Oblast occupation head Yevgeny Balitsky reported that 5,000 residents installed kits in the past month.
"This is 20,000 homes where the Russian language sounds, where people feel the support and presence of the country. For us, this is proof that Kherson Oblast is confidently moving toward full integration of the region into the unified digital space of the state," noted Roman Grigoriev, deputy minister of digital development and mass communications of the region.
Installation of a Russkiy Mir satellite dish in occupied Ukraine. These dishes transmit only Russian national and local channels, blocking access to Ukrainian and international media. Russian occupation officials reported installing 20,000 such kits in occupied Kherson Oblast and 5,000 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast as of October 2025. Photo: Roman Grigoriev/Telegram
These dishes transmit only Russian national and local channels, blocking access to Ukrainian or international media.
The Ukrainian Resistance Center warned that Russian occupation officials use the installation process to collect personal information on residents by registering addresses and personal details during installation.
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The enforcement of Russian narratives and the erasure of Ukrainian identity operates at every level—from high-ranking Kremlin officials like Maria Lvova-Belova, who openly described "re-educating" Ukrainian teenager from Mariupol, to local occupation administrations threatening parents who refuse Russian schools.
It encompasses all areas of life from children's education to property seizure and control over what information residents have access to. Opposition to Russian control risks persecution and jail, with any dissent carefully monitored.
Russia keeps pushing to occupy more Ukrainian territory despite heavy losses and minimal gains. Ukrainian defenders have held the line for years. Wherever Russia establishes control, it imposes its rules, history, language, and traditions—suppressing the Ukrainian identity that existed before. The battle for Ukraine's sovereignty persists.
Ukrainian Air Assault Forces have liberated the village of Kucheriv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, capturing more than 50 Russian troops and rescuing civilians held by occupying forces, Militarnyi reports.
The liberation of Kucheriv Yar marks another local success for Ukraine’s forces on the Donetsk front, where fighting has intensified in recent weeks around the Pokrovsk and Dobropillia directions. Ukrainian troops have been conducting offensive actions to reclaim occupied s
Ukrainian Air Assault Forces have liberated the village of Kucheriv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, capturing more than 50 Russian troops and rescuing civilians held by occupying forces, Militarnyi reports.
The liberation of Kucheriv Yar marks another local success for Ukraine’s forces on the Donetsk front, where fighting has intensified in recent weeks around the Pokrovsk and Dobropillia directions. Ukrainian troops have been conducting offensive actions to reclaim occupied settlements and disrupt Russian defensive lines.
The operation was carried out by soldiers of the 132nd Separate Reconnaissance Battalion of the Air Assault Forces on the Dobropillia front. After a brief reconnaissance and a series of precision strikes, Ukrainian troops broke through Russian defenses and took control of the settlement.
More than 50 Russian soldiers were captured, while others were killed as they tried to flee. The prisoners have been handed over to relevant authorities.
During the clearing operation, Ukrainian troops discovered civilians held in basements. The captives were evacuated and provided with aid.
According to local residents, Russian troops had been ordered “not to take civilians alive” before retreating - a claim confirmed by an intercepted communication released by Ukraine’s Security Service.
The Dobropillia sector has been one of the war’s most contested fronts since August 2025, when Russian forces advanced roughly 15 kilometers, threatening supply routes to Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka.
Ukrainian elite units pushed back, splitting the Russian salient into pockets. Russia has concentrated nearly 100,000 troops in the area, while Ukrainian counterattacks have reclaimed settlements and disrupted Russian attempts to expand their foothold.
Active fighting is still taking place around the village of Shevchenko in Donetsk Oblast, home to one of Ukraine's largest lithium deposits, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces told the Kyiv Independent on June 27, denying reports Russia had occupied the village.Earlier on June 26, Russia'a Defense Ministry said it had captured Shevchenko along with another other small settlements in the Velyka Novosilka region of the oblast, as Russian troops continue to push along all areas
Active fighting is still taking place around the village of Shevchenko in Donetsk Oblast, home to one of Ukraine's largest lithium deposits, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces told the Kyiv Independent on June 27, denying reports Russia had occupied the village.
Earlier on June 26, Russia'a Defense Ministry said it had captured Shevchenko along with another other small settlements in the Velyka Novosilka region of the oblast, as Russian troops continue to push along all areas of the front line.
The spokesperson said that while Russian forces had pushed out Ukrainian soldiers on June 26, the situation is constantly evolving and subject to change several times a day.
"This is one of the two most intense directions right now," Viktor Trehubov, the spokesperson, told the Kyiv Independent.
According to the Ukrainian Geological Survey, the Shevchenkivske deposit covers nearly 40 hectares (98 acres) on the eastern outskirts of Shevchenko. Exact data on the Shevchenkivske deposit's lithium reserves are classified, but it's considered one of the most promising.
The deposit's main reserves consist of lithium ores, but it also contains other rare elements such as rubidium, cesium, tantalum, niobium, beryllium, and tin.
Ukraine is home to 20 of the world's critical minerals and metals like titanium used in the aerospace and defense industries and lithium, an essential component of electric vehicle batteries.
The U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal, signed April 30, specifically mentions lithium as one of the mineral resources that both parties could profit from extracting.
Despite the deposit's relatively small size, it could be operated by a single mine, which could make extraction more efficient, according to a Ukrainian Geological Survey data.
The survey classifies the deposit in the highest complexity category of three possible levels, which could complicate development.
According to KSE, Ukraine holds one-third of the European Union's lithium reserves and approximately 3% of global lithium reserves.
Ukraine is preparing to request European Union sanctions against Bangladeshi entities over importing wheat stolen from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, Ukraine's ambassador to India told Reuters.In comments for Reuters published on June 27, Oleksandr Polishchuk said that Bangladesh had failed to respond to Ukrainian diplomatic appeals to stop the trade, prompting Kyiv to escalate the matter to the EU level."It's a crime," Polishchuk told Reuters. "We will share our investigation with our
Ukraine is preparing to request European Union sanctions against Bangladeshi entities over importing wheat stolen from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, Ukraine's ambassador to India told Reuters.
In comments for Reuters published on June 27, Oleksandr Polishchuk said that Bangladesh had failed to respond to Ukrainian diplomatic appeals to stop the trade, prompting Kyiv to escalate the matter to the EU level.
"It's a crime," Polishchuk told Reuters. "We will share our investigation with our European Union colleagues, and we will kindly ask them to take the appropriate measures."
Russian forces have seized millions of tons of Ukrainian grain from occupied areas, with at least 180,000 tons looted through the port of Mariupol alone, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhalsaid in October 2024.
The Ukrainian Embassy in New Delhi sent multiple letters to Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry this year, requesting rejection of more than 150,000 tonnes of grain allegedly stolen and shipped from the Russian port of Kavkaz, according to documents reviewed by Reuters, shared by people familiar with the matter.
According to Polishchuk, Ukrainian intelligence showed that entities in Russia mask grain obtained from occupied Ukrainian territories by mixing it with Russian wheat before shipping it to other countries.
Bangladesh's Food Ministry, in comments to Reuters, denied the imports, saying that they banned grain deliveries originating from occupied Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine's agricultural sector has suffered approximately $80 billion in losses due to Russia's full-scale invasion, Agriculture Minister Vitalii Koval said in February.
The losses include direct damage, disrupted logistics, higher fertilizer and fuel costs, land reclamation expenses, demining costs, and impacts from occupied territories.
Ukrainian drones struck air defense equipment in Russian-occupied Crimea, damaging radar units and components of the S-400 Triumph system, Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) claimed on June 26. The drone strike was carried out by the agency's "Ghosts" unit, HUR said. Video footage of the operation published on HUR's official Telegram channel shows the trajectory of multiple drones as they approach and hit their targets. The attack damaged "critical and expensive components" of Russia's
Ukrainian drones struck air defense equipment in Russian-occupied Crimea, damaging radar units and components of the S-400 Triumph system, Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) claimed on June 26.
The drone strike was carried out by the agency's "Ghosts" unit, HUR said. Video footage of the operation published on HUR's official Telegram channel shows the trajectory of multiple drones as they approach and hit their targets.
The attack damaged "critical and expensive components" of Russia's S-400 Triumph air defense system, including two 92N2E multifunctional control radars, two 91N6E detection radars, and an S-400 launcher, according to HUR.
"Radars are the 'eyes' of the enemy's air defense system. Without them, anti-aircraft systems become combat ineffective," HUR wrote.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.
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Video footage of an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian S-400 air defense radar system in occupied Crimea, June 2025. (Ukraine's military intelligence agency / Telegram)
Earlier this month, the Atesh partisan group reported that a Ukrainian drone attack hit Russian military facilities near Simferopol. The group claimed on June 13 that Ukrainian drone attacks likely hit a Russian air defense system.
Ukraine has previously carried out successful attacks on S-400 radar systems in Crimea and other regions, including Russia's Belgorod Oblast. Kyiv regularly launches strikes on military and industrial targets in both Russia and Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.
Russia has illegally occupied Crimea since 2014, transforming the peninsula into a heavily militarized stronghold. Moscow uses the region to support its war in Ukraine, launching missiles from the Black Sea and exploiting the peninsula as a key logistics and transport hub.
The Kerch Airport in Crimea has also been repurposed from civilian to military use, with Moscow-backed proxies transferring part of the airport's land to the Russian Defense Ministry in spring 2025, according to an investigation by Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe.
Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Nizar al-Rifai/The Kyiv Independent)
A lion has attacked collaborator Oleg Zubkov at the Taigan Safari Park he founded in Russian-occupied Crimea, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported on June 22.Zubkov is a businessman who renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and began cooperating with the Russian authorities following Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014He also smuggled animals from zoos in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.During an evening feedi
A lion has attacked collaborator Oleg Zubkov at the Taigan Safari Park he founded in Russian-occupied Crimea, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported on June 22.
Zubkov is a businessman who renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and began cooperating with the Russian authorities following Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014
He also smuggled animals from zoos in the partially occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
During an evening feeding, Zubkov was attacked by a lion which tore his trachea, neck, and chest muscles with its claws. He managed to leave the lion's enclosure but then lost consciousness.
As a result of the attack, Zubkov lost a significant amount of blood and was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Simferopol, Crimea.
Zubkov regained consciousness on June 23 after surgery, and his condition is described as stable.
This is not the first time lions at the Taigan Safari Park have attacked its staff. In 2024, three lions killed Leokadia Perevalova while she was cleaning an enclosure. Perevalova had worked at the park for 17 years.
Arkady Gostev, head of Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service, was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for creating a network of torture chambers in the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) announced on June 19.Gostev was found guilty of orchestrating the transformation of captured Ukrainian prisons into torture sites used to detain and brutalize members of the local resistance. The SBU said victims were subjected to "brutal torture" intended to break
Arkady Gostev, head of Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service, was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for creating a network of torture chambers in the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) announced on June 19.
Gostev was found guilty of orchestrating the transformation of captured Ukrainian prisons into torture sites used to detain and brutalize members of the local resistance. The SBU said victims were subjected to "brutal torture" intended to break their will and force submission to the Kremlin rule.
According to investigators, Gostev personally oversaw the establishment of torture facilities and pushed for their inclusion in Russia's national prison registry through the Justice Ministry.
The court ruled he committed "actions aimed at violently changing or overthrowing the constitutional order or seizing state power."
"Comprehensive measures are being taken to bring him to justice for crimes against our state," the SBU said, noting that Gostev remains in Russia.
Kherson Oblast, which stretches from the Dnipro River to the Black Sea, remains partially occupied, with the east-bank territories still under Russian control.
Gostev joins a growing list of senior Russian officials charged in absentia with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the administration of occupied territories.
Ukraine has also targeted collaborators working with the occupation authorities.
On June 18, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) confirmed the assassination of Mykhailo Hrytsai, a Russian-appointed deputy mayor in Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, for his role in organizing repression and torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
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