Russia on June 18 warned the world is "millimetres away from catastrophe" due to Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, just four months after one of its own drones struck the Chornobyl nuclear site in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Israel of escalating the risk of a nuclear incident in the Middle East, despite Russia's own record of repeatedly placing nuclear facilities at risk during its full-scale invasion, and threatening the use of nuclear weapons.

On Feb. 14, Russian forces struck the Chornobyl nuclear facility with a Shahed drone, hitting the protective sarcophagus that encases Reactor No. 4, site of the 1986 nuclear disaster.

Damage was limited, and no radiation leakage occurred, but the act was widely condemned as a deliberate provocation timed to coincide with the Munich Security Conference.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack on the Chornobyl plant "a terrorist threat to the whole world." Ukrainian officials and nuclear security experts said the strike was unlikely to cause significant radioactive contamination but served as a warning of Russia's willingness to weaponize fear of nuclear disaster.

Russia has also intensified strikes near other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, including infrastructure connected to the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which Moscow's forces have used as a military base since early in the war.

Analysts view the attacks as part of a broader campaign of intimidation aimed at pressuring Kyiv and its allies into a settlement.

Zakharova's comments follow growing international concern over the rising tensions between Israel and Iran. Russia has positioned itself as a potential mediator in the conflict, though European leaders have dismissed the Kremlin's neutrality due to its deepening military ties with Tehran and ongoing aggression in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot be trusted" to mediate peace in the Middle East while launching mass strikes on Ukrainian cities, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on June 17. Her remarks came after a Russian missile attack killed at least 28 civilians in Kyiv and injured over 130.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Israel has so far rejected Moscow's mediation offer. U.S. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that Putin had expressed willingness to help mediate.

Russia continues to receive military support from Iran, including drones and missiles used in attacks across Ukraine.

Tired of military aid delays, Ukraine has designed its own ballistic missile — and it’s already in mass-production

Ukraine announced on June 13 that its short-range Sapsan ballistic missile would go into mass production, a major development in Kyiv’s ongoing efforts to domestically produce the weapons it needs to fight Russia’s full-scale invasion. As Ukraine faces growing challenges in securing weapons from Western partners, and Russia continues launching

The Kyiv IndependentYuliia Taradiuk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy

They call you — and suddenly, you’re an “agent,” without even realizing it. Ukrainian law enforcement is reporting a surge in cases where the Russians target pensioners by phone, impersonating officers from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) or the National Police. Victims are then blackmailed into carrying out sabotage missions for Russia, according to the National Police.

Russia’s strategy is clear: recruit people who are unaware they have become pawns in a campaign of international sabotage.

In Ukraine, elderly people are typically contacted via Viber. The goal: coerce them into following “orders” based on fake draft notices, fabricated criminal cases, or alleged links to Russia through purchases of medicines or dietary supplements.

One common scheme involves telling a pensioner that a drug they bought is banned because it was “produced in Russia.” That, the scammers claim, amounts to “collaboration with the enemy.” What follows is extortion — and a so-called “way out”: either wire money or complete a “small task.”

Pensioners in Kyiv have already contacted police after being defrauded or drawn into dangerous schemes. Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes that legitimate security agencies never issue illegal or covert orders to citizens.

According to the SBU, Russian operatives are also attempting to recruit minors. These efforts often begin with photographing sensitive sites or tagging graffiti, and escalate to acts of sabotage against railway and energy infrastructure.

Moreover, in Europe, the Russians recruit Ukrainian agents to cause a double wave: shock in the West and propaganda within Russia. 

Russia's nuclear deterrence capabilities have not been significantly impacted in recent Ukrainian drone strikes on several military airfields, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on June 11.

His comments come days after Ukraine launched a coordinated drone attack, dubbed Operation Spiderweb, targeting at least four major Russian air bases and reportedly damaging dozens of aircraft, including strategic bombers and airborne early warning planes.

Ryabkov claimed that the extent of the damage from the attacks has been "greatly exaggerated" and that none of Russia's strategic forces were weakened.

"Our nuclear deterrence potential against the U.S. and any other potential adversary has not suffered significant damage," Ryabkov said, according to the state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

Russia has repeatedly issued nuclear threats against Ukraine and Western countries since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Those threats have so far not materialized, as Russia continues to wage its war.

The Spiderweb attack was planned over 18 months and carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), and is believed to have disabled or destroyed a significant portion of Russia's long-range bomber fleet.

Ukraine claims the operation damaged 41 aircraft and disabled up to 34% of Russia's strategic bombers. Independent satellite imagery has confirmed destruction or damage at several sites, including multiple Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 bombers at the Belaya air base.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on June 4 that nearly half of the planes hit in the attack are impossible to repair. NATO estimates that between 10 and 13 Russian planes were completely destroyed, and more were damaged.

Ryabkov previously acknowledged damage to Russian aircraft but claimed that all of them could be put back into service.

Ukraine’s SBU releases fresh video of Operation Spiderweb, teases ‘new surprises’

“The SBU is hitting and will hit (Russia) where it considers itself unreachable!” SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk said. “We are working on new surprises, no less painful than the Operation Spiderweb.”

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

Ukraine warns of a nuclear disaster risk that could impact all of Europe. Moscow is reportedly considering reconnecting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to the Russian energy grid despite serious technical problems, UNIAN reports.

According to Yury Sheiko, First Deputy Minister of Energy of Ukraine, the plant’s power units remain in cold shutdown and are not generating electricity. The station is still being powered by Ukraine’s energy grid.

“They have no spare parts, no equipment, and no idea how to maintain or repair it,” Sheiko stresses.

The situation is even more dangerous due to a lack of qualified personnel. Most Ukrainian specialists do not have access to the equipment, and the technical condition of the plant remains unknown.

“No repairs have been carried out. The plant is not ready to be restarted. It’s extremely risky,” he warns.

Ukraine believes that Russia is using the prospect of restarting the plant as a tool of nuclear blackmail, trying to pressure both Kyiv and the international community.

Earlier, Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, reported that Russia may be preparing to connect the ZNPP to its own grid, constructing a power line to restore the plant’s full operation.

Meanwhile, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated that the agency has no evidence that the plant is being reconnected to the Russian grid. He also noted that the ZNPP cannot be restarted due to a lack of cooling water for the reactors.

A massive leak of Russian military procurement files obtained by Danish and German journalists has revealed extensive details of the country’s nuclear weapons modernization program, including internal blueprints of missile bases and underground structures.

Danwatch and Der Spiegel journalists reportedly obtained and analyzed more than two million documents. They show not just the scale of physical reconstruction but also reinforce that Russia’s nuclear modernization is active, real, and more advanced than previously visible from open sources.

Leaked secrets from deep inside Yasny base

The publications obtained access to hundreds of original highly detailed technical blueprints, “that Danwatch systematically retrieved from a public database over a period of many months.” Those show how Russia has secretly rebuilt and fortified its strategic missile forces. The documents reveal comprehensive upgrades at sites like the Yasny base in Orenburg Oblast, one of 11 sites in Russia, where nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles are deployed.

Blueprints show the creation of triple electric fencing, underground tunnels, new barracks, remote-controlled weapons systems, surveillance infrastructure, and highly detailed interior layouts. The missile bases, once only observable from satellites, are now described room by room, including control centers, storage vaults, guardrooms, gyms, and even recreation areas.

“Entire bases have been almost leveled and rebuilt from the ground up; hundreds of new barracks, watchtowers, control centers and storage buildings have been erected; and several kilometers of underground tunnels have been excavated,” Danwatch wrote.

Intelligence goldmine

“This is the ultimate intelligence,” said Philip Ingram, former British Army intelligence officer. Hans M. Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists added: “Now […] we can go inside the buildings… and all the way underground. It’s completely unprecedented.”

The leak is a result of poorly secured Russian procurement platforms, where confidential tenders and documents remained publicly accessible for years. Danwatch and Der Spiegel have identified blueprints for the strategic nuclear weapons bases attached to tenders as recently as the summer of 2024.

As conventional forces falter, Russia’s nuclear reliance comes into focus

Despite a 2020 law restricting public access to military tenders, journalists were able to retrieve sensitive data using digital methods and server networks across Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.

According to Norwegian expert Tom Røseth,

“This is information Russia would obviously want to keep hidden. It makes their bases potentially more vulnerable.”

The exposed facilities include those hosting the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle—central to Putin’s vision of renewed nuclear deterrence.

While Russia officially maintains that its nuclear doctrine prohibits the first use of nuclear weapons, the leaked documents coincide with a noticeable shift in its military posture. According to a statement provided to Danwatch by the Danish Defense Intelligence Service (DDIS), Russia has become increasingly reliant on its nuclear arsenal as a means of deterrence against the West, largely due to the degradation of its conventional military capabilities amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war.