The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]
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Russia’s war against Ukraine
A Russian drone is shot down by Ukrainian air defences during a massive night strike on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on June 10, 2025, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Sergei Supinsky / AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine begins new major prisoner exchange with Russia. Among those freed are defenders of Mariupol who had spent more than three years in captivity.
Ukraine reinvented Trojan Horse with Operation Spiderweb, NATO admiral says. “Today, we see this kind of tactic being reinvented by technical and industrial creativity,” NATO Admiral Pierre Vandier said.
Ukraine shoots down nearly 500 drones, missiles in Russian record strike, Air Force says. Ukraine had reportedly neutralized 479 Russian drones and missiles, with 292 shot down, and 187 jammed or lost via electronic warfare.
Russia makes a year’s worth of NATO ammunition in 3 months, Rutte says. “The capabilities of Putin’s war machine are speeding up, not slowing down,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.
Russia sentences 2 Azov fighters to over 20 years in prison. Russian authorities accuse sniper Ruslan Orlov and paramedic Artem Novikov of shooting three civilians in Mariupol in April 2022.
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Drone attacks target Russia’s Tatarstan Republic, Leningrad Oblast, media reports. Drone attacks targeted Russia’s Tatarstan Republic and Leningrad Oblast in the morning of June 10, independent outlet Astra reported.
Ukraine says it hit Russian MiG-31, Su-30/34 fighter jets following attack on airfield. The overnight strike targeted the Savasleyka airfield in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, which the Kremlin uses to launch MiG-31K jets armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, according to the General Staff.
Russia claims offensive in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast aimed at creating ‘buffer zone,’ Ukraine denies reports of incursion. “As of the morning of June 9, all Russian information, including (Kremlin spokesperson’s) statements, about an offensive in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast does not correspond to reality,” said Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation.
Pro-Ukrainian partisans destroy car used by Russian drone operators in occupied Melitopol, Atesh claims. A car used by drone operators in the Russian 64th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade was destroyed by the Atesh partisan group in occupied Melitopol overnight on June 10, the group claimed.
Putin approves new naval strategy as Russia seeks to restore maritime power. Since September 2022, Ukraine has used naval kamikaze drones to target the Russian Black Sea Fleet, destroying several vessels. The latest strike sank a Mangust-class patrol boat off the coast of occupied Crimea using a domestically produced Magura drone.
Read our exclusives
Ukraine war latest: Ukraine shoots down nearly 500 drones, missiles in Russian record strike, Air Force says
Ukraine’s Air Force said on June 9 that it intercepted a total of 479 Russian drones and missiles during a record-high wave of strikes overnight. Ukraine had neutralized 479 of the incoming targets.
Photo: Oleh Syniehubov / Telegram
New school in Ukraine helps the displaced build new lives through hospitality
In a luxurious resort complex north of Kyiv, 12 women are retraining to enter the hospitality sector in a new school that will kickstart a fresh life for Ukraine’s internally displaced people (IDPs).
Photo: Fabian Kaluza / Grains
What UK’s Strategic Defense Review means for Ukraine
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on June 2 that the United Kingdom is moving to “warfighting readiness,” in large part in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the threat Russia poses to Europe.
Photo: Richard Pohle / Pool / AFP via Getty Images
Exiled Russian scholar on why Dugin is no philosopher, and Russia no defender of ‘traditional values’
In recent years, the Kremlin has sought to cast Russia as a bastion of so-called traditional values, positioning itself in stark contrast to what it describes as the morally decaying West.
Photo: Gavriil Grigorov / Pool / AFP via Getty Images
Human cost of Russia’s war
Russian missile and drone barrage hits Kyiv, Odesa, killing 1 and injuring 8, damaging maternity hospital. Four people were injured in Kyiv, according to local authorities. Meanwhile, in the southern city of Odesa, one was killed and at least four were wounded in the latest Russian attack on June 10.
Opinions and insights
Key to Russia’s potential defeat lies in its economy
“As the war in Ukraine grinds on, attention remains fixed on the battlefield. But Russia’s most vulnerable flank is not in the trenches — it’s in the treasury,” writes Wojciech Jakóbik.
Photo: LightRocket via Getty Images
International response
US accuses Russian of laundering millions, helping Moscow obtain sensitive technology. U.S. prosecutors have charged cryptocurrency entrepreneur Iurii Gugnin with laundering over $500 million and helping sanctioned Russian entities bypass export controls.
NATO’s Rutte calls for 400% increase in air defenses to counter Russia, Bloomberg reports. “Danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.
‘Not even capable of defeating Ukraine‘ — Orban questions Russia’s ability to attack NATO. “The Russians are too weak for that,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.
Canada to hit NATO spending target this year as it shifts defense focus toward EU. Speaking at the University of Toronto, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said the move is part of a strategic pivot away from reliance on the U.S. and toward deeper cooperation with the European Union, citing growing security threats from Russia, China, and other adversaries.
In other news
Ex-Ukrainian military official suspected of $290,000 in illicit enrichment. The national agencies did not disclose the suspect’s name, who faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
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