Ukraine is preparing to evacuate its citizens from Israel and Iran as hostilities between the two countries intensify, the Foreign Ministry told Ukrainian media outlet NV on June 18.The move comes as Israel on June 13 launched widespread air strikes against Iran, targeting nuclear facilities and the country's military leadership. Iran responded with missile strikes on Tel Aviv and other cities, killing multiple civilians, including five Ukrainian citizens on June 14.As of the morning of June 18,
Ukraine is preparing to evacuate its citizens from Israel and Iran as hostilities between the two countries intensify, the Foreign Ministry told Ukrainian media outlet NV on June 18.
The move comes as Israel on June 13 launched widespread air strikes against Iran, targeting nuclear facilities and the country's military leadership. Iran responded with missile strikes on Tel Aviv and other cities, killing multiple civilians, including five Ukrainian citizens on June 14.
As of the morning of June 18, 293 Ukrainians in Israel and 85 in Iran have requested evacuation, the ministry said. Ten additional foreign nationals with permanent residency in Ukraine have also asked for assistance to evacuate from Iran.
Ukraine's embassy in Israel has received over 400 calls on its hotline as citizens seek updates on possible evacuation routes. The ministry told NV it is developing evacuation plans, including potential flights organized in cooperation with international partners.
On June 13, Kyiv expressed concern over the security situation in the Middle East, describing Tehran as a "source of problems" in the region and beyond.
Iran is a key supplier of weapons to Russia, including Shahed-type drones and ballistic missiles used in attacks on Ukrainian cities. Israel, which hosts a significant Russian-speaking population, has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow.
Tensions in the region grow as U.S. President Donald Trump is also considering launching U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear targets, Axios reported on June 17.
On Truth Social, Trump demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" and threatened Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, while boasting about American control of Iranian airspace.
Trump has also floated Russian President Vladimir Putin as a possible mediator in the conflict.
Putin held separate calls with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on June 13, condemning Israeli strikes and offering to mediate.
Israel has not publicly responded to Russia's proposal, but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on June 17 that Tel Aviv appeared unwilling to accept Russian mediation.
Iran's Health Ministry claimed on June 18 that 585 people had been killed by Israeli strikes, with Tehran alleging that 90% of the casualties are civilians.
The cities of Donbas have turned into fortresses—battered, besieged, others reduced to ash and rubble under Russia’s grinding advance that devours territory inch by inch, house by house. Yet Ukraine’s Armed Forces fight and hold what remains. Among those on the line is Mykhailo “Malina” Malinovskyi, a 45-year-old combat medic from Zhytomyr who volunteered the moment Russia’s full-scale invasion began.
His reason was simple: stop the enemy before they reach home.
During brief pauses in the
The cities of Donbas have turned into fortresses—battered, besieged, others reduced to ash and rubble under Russia’s grinding advance that devours territory inch by inch, house by house. Yet Ukraine’s Armed Forces fight and hold what remains. Among those on the line is Mykhailo “Malina” Malinovskyi, a 45-year-old combat medic from Zhytomyr who volunteered the moment Russia’s full-scale invasion began.
His reason was simple: stop the enemy before they reach home.
During brief pauses in the fighting, Malinovskyi records his thoughts in a war diary. What emerges is a raw account of survival at the zero line, where death hovers one drone strike away.
“I thought Bakhmut was the darkest. I was wrong.”
Here I am — 45 years old and working as a combat medic. Who’d have imagined it? But life keeps teaching, and I keep learning.
Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, Vovchansk. I thought those were the darkest days I’d face. I was wrong.
Now I’m back in the Donbas: Chasiv Yar again, Toretsk, Kostiantynivka. Each time I return, it feels like fate has raised the difficulty level. Only now, I’m not just responsible for myself. I’m responsible for every man next to me.
Leaving hell on earth – Bakhmut. Photo: Mykhailo Malinovskyi FB
Not even in my worst nightmares did I expect to dig my comrades out of a collapsed dugout. To treat the wounded in the open while enemy drones carrying grenades swarm above. FPVs flying over us one by one, shredding the last of our cover. Flash. Explosion. Silence.
A fog invades the brain. Then nothing. For a second, everything vanishes. Voices sound distant, muffled, like they’re coming from deep underground. And then, realization — I’m still alive. I still have a little time to do something that matters.
In that moment, nothing else exists. Just me, the casualties, and the med training that kicks in.
I drag the wounded guy into the ruins of the burning blindage — a reinforced shelter where I can shield him, at least from sight. Survival instincts shut down. Emotions go dark. You work on autopilot. You do what you were taught.
One chance in a hundred
And when you survive ten attacks, a thought creeps in — you can’t die. Not yet. God has more plans for you. You grow more confident, and that confidence spreads to those around you. You grow hard, tough-skinned. But when the job’s done, that hardness starts to scare you.
War has changed. Two years ago, in Bakhmut, we had better odds. Here, it’s one in a hundred. One chance — and you have to choose the right moment to take it.
After weeks underground, your legs stop working. They’re stiff, numb. Permanent soreness. But now, you have to move. Walk. Run. Drag. Hide. Then run again. You hesitate at the mouth of the shelter. The sky hums with drones. You wait for the next wave, but you don’t hear the FPVs yet. So, you venture out. First steps, heavy with doubt.
Out now. Emotions vanish again. All you see is the distant goal — you gotta get the group 250 meters to the next cover. You move carefully, watching every step for mines, live drones, and dropped explosives. Your head spins. Ears scan the air like radars. You calculate as your eyes scan the gray sky: the seconds before impact, drone trajectory, distance.
Vision blurs. But you keep your eyes fixed on that one patch of cover up ahead. Exhausted, you crawl into the hole. You can’t breathe properly. Each breath scrapes your throat raw, followed by desperate gasps for air. Shortness of breath keeps your lungs half-empty.
“Relief comes, but only briefly — evacuations are still ahead”
You lie there, body tensed, ears ringing, sky buzzing. Something tells you — now. “Move!” you scream.
Your body nearly empty, you force yourself across scorched ground to reach the last bit of cover before the evac point. Your body threatens to collapse. You drop, gasping. Then, a car horn. The vehicle’s here to take the wounded. You have one minute.
You push yourself once more. You’re on the edge of blacking out, watching from the sidelines through blurry eyes. You override the exhaustion. Just for a moment.
Everyone’s loaded in. You slump over, almost unconscious. But there’s one thought keeping you conscious — you made it. You breathe out, relief washing over the fear of what tomorrow might bring.
Quiet moments are rare. Malinovskyi creates pysanka (traditional Ukrainian Easter egg) during one such moment. Mykhailo Malinovskyi FB
“What if you can’t handle it one more time?”
Because this isn’t a one-time test. Tomorrow, it starts again. And you’re afraid — what if you can’t handle it one more time?
You don’t really sleep. You drop off in short bursts. You live in a constant state of tension. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month.
Back on the zero line — the front-line combat position — you’re slowly rotting away. But you’re grateful for a 1.5-liter bottle of water dropped by drone — no vehicle can reach you here. You haven’t had more than a few sips in days. You save some water — for coffee. Just a mouthful. You can’t waste it. But you brew it anyway. Sip it slowly. You light a cigarette. Inhale. Exhale. Quiet.
Because maybe this-this tiny, bitter moment — is the most peace you’ll get in the next few months.
And in that moment, that unbelievable moment, you feel human again. You’re here, you’re standing on your land. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.
Malinovskyi on the Maidan in Kyiv in January 2014. Mykhailo Malinovskyi FB
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War intensifies amid Russia’s summer offensive. Ukraine has spotted a massive redeployment of Russian self-propelled artillery and air defense systems to Sumy Oblast.
Control over Sumy and its surrounding roads would allow Moscow to sever the main supply lines supporting Ukrainian operations in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Additionally, seizure of the city would strengthen Russia’s territorial claims in any future peace talks.
Ukrainian forces have recorded a large-scale transfer of Russian military
War intensifies amid Russia’s summer offensive. Ukraine has spotted a massive redeployment of Russian self-propelled artillery and air defense systems to Sumy Oblast.
Control over Sumy and its surrounding roads would allow Moscow to sever the main supply lines supporting Ukrainian operations in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Additionally, seizure of the city would strengthen Russia’s territorial claims in any future peace talks.
Ukrainian forces have recorded a large-scale transfer of Russian military equipment from Crimea and Kherson towards Sumy Oblast. According to Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Occupation Studies Center, this is the largest movement of weaponry in the past six months.
Ukrainian General Staff reports that Russian forces have lost over 28,900 artillery systems since the start of the war, with about 42 artillery systems lost in the past day alone.
“More than 10 self-propelled artillery systems, air defense systems, and convoys of over 40 trucks carrying ammunition and personnel,” Andriushchenko says.
The equipment is being loaded onto trains and sent to Russia’s Kursk Oblast, effectively heading to Sumy. The Russians are now stationed approximately 25-30 km from it. If they reach the city’s border, they will use artillery to strike it.
Special attention is drawn to the military equipment markings, which, with their dominant tactical symbol of a triangle within a triangle, indicate reinforcement of this specific direction.
Amid this buildup, Sumy faces heavy drone attacks. Konotop mayor Artem Semenikhin stated that on 8 June, the region endured the most powerful drone assault since the war began: “The entire sky over the region turned red with targets.”
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Authorities have ordered the mandatory evacuation of residents from 11 additional villages in Sumy Oblast due to escalating Russian attacks, Governor Oleh Hryhorov said on May 31.Hryhorov signed the order citing the "constant threat to civilian life" caused by ongoing shelling in the region. The evacuation covers settlements in local communities of Sumy Oblast, which lies near the Russian border."(Russia) continues its terror of the borderlands, and our shared task is to save every life," Hryho
Authorities have ordered the mandatory evacuation of residents from 11 additional villages in Sumy Oblast due to escalating Russian attacks, Governor Oleh Hryhorov said on May 31.
Hryhorov signed the order citing the "constant threat to civilian life" caused by ongoing shelling in the region. The evacuation covers settlements in local communities of Sumy Oblast, which lies near the Russian border.
"(Russia) continues its terror of the borderlands, and our shared task is to save every life," Hryhorov said in a statement. "I urge residents not to delay the decision to evacuate. Staying in a zone of constant danger is a direct threat to your life and health."
With the latest order, a total of 213 settlements in Sumy Oblast are now under mandatory evacuation.
The move comes as Ukrainian officials and military analysts warn of a possible new Russian offensive targeting the region. On May 29, State Border Guard Service spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said Russia had amassed "sufficient forces" in neighboring Kursk Oblast to potentially launch an incursion into Sumy.
Speaking on national television, Demchenko noted that Russian troops have remained stationed in Kursk Oblast after being pushed out by Ukrainian forces during a counteroffensive in August 2024. Since then, Kyiv has observed fluctuating numbers of soldiers and equipment along the border.
"They have enough forces there (in Kursk Oblast) to carry out operations against our border and attempt to attack the territory of Ukraine," Demchenko said.
Russian forces recently captured four border villages, Novenke, Zhuravka, Veselivka, and Basivka, prompting further concern. President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that Moscow is concentrating 50,000 troops near Sumy Oblast in a bid to create a 10-kilometer buffer zone.
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The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir
