“Ukraine – Russia”

Ukrainian drones have hit several locations across Moscow in Kyiv’s biggest air raid on the city since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, setting a major ⁠oil refinery on fire and forcing evacuations at the country’s largest airport.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described the attack as a response to Russia’s striking of a historic Kyiv monastery complex earlier this week.

Footage of a Ukrainian attack drone hitting a storage tank at the Moscow Oil Refinery this morning, sending the tank lid perfectly soaring hundreds of feet. pic.twitter.com/2GIHEGk52M

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 18, 2026

This week, the war in Ukraine will pass a sombre milestone: it will have lasted longer than the First World War.

Much Western discussion continues to focus on tactical successes, technological innovation, and dramatic long-range strikes. Ukraine’s remarkable courage, resilience, and ingenuity in resisting Russia’s invasion deserve recognition. Supported by its allies, it has imposed very substantial costs on its adversary and will continue to do so for as long as the war lasts.

The hall at St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Calgary is packed. Three gigantic, artistically painted wooden Easter eggs dominate the stage. Heavily accented voices rise and fall amid the chatter as attendees nibble on poppyseed cake and other Ukrainian delicacies. No one wears the bright blue-and-yellow of the war’s early days, but embroidered vyshyvanky peek from under sweaters and jackets.

A Russian drone has struck a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel near the disused Chernobyl (Chornobyl) plant, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, said it had been informed of the attack and that radiation levels at the site had remained stable.

The facility is located around 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Chernobyl plant, the site of the world’s ​worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

Pic – Chernobyl Doggo

A successful drone strike on an oil terminal in St Petersburg this week has dramatically illustrated the increasing damage that Ukraine’s air campaign is doing to the Russian economy. Together with the bloody stalemate on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, this is contributing to growing war weariness in Russia.

For the first time, Russian establishment figures have begun to call publicly for an early peace, even at the price of giving up key Kremlin demands. In the words of Russian commentator Alexander Nosovich in the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, “the expert community is split between those in favor of continuing the special military operation until the goals are achieved, and those who believe it’s time to end it, since the worst-case scenario is not even defeat. It’s an endless special operation.”

Ukraine says it has struck five ships carrying illegal cargo in the Sea of Azov and in coastal waters of Russian-occupied territories.

The Ukrainian drone forces commander said the vessels were involved in “stealing” Ukrainian grain, as well as transferring military cargo and fuel.

The strikes come a day after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky offered face-to-face talks with Vladimir Putin on ending the war, an offer the Russian leader rejected while visiting St Petersburg for an economic forum.

A major corruption scandal has once again engulfed Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned energy giant, after anti-corruption investigators uncovered an alleged embezzlement scheme involving nearly UAH170 million (€3.3 million) during the construction of critical infrastructure at the Tashlyk hydroelectric power plant.

The case was exposed by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), the same Western-backed agencies that previously uncovered an alleged $100 million extortion operation at Energoatom linked to businessman Timur Mindich, a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

European Union member states are weighing whether Ukrainian men of military age should be excluded from future extensions of the bloc’s temporary protection scheme for people fleeing the war with Russia.

According to an internal Council of the EU document seen by Euractiv, one of the options under consideration would be to extend temporary protection while narrowing its eligibility criteria. The paper references “the exclusion of men of conscription age” as well as individuals who did not leave Ukraine legally. The current framework is due to remain in effect until March 2027, and any such restriction would apply only to future applicants seeking temporary protection status.

Prison guards led Vitalii Kryschenko to an inhospitable, cramped cell. Inside, the prisoners were curious. They watched with great interest as Kryschenko found his allotted place. A small, gentle man with a nervous expression, he wasn’t a typical criminal but a Jehovah’s Witness. Kryschenko was jailed by Ukrainian authorities for refusing to go to war; taking up arms is forbidden by his religion. He was now going to share his days with the very worst of Ukrainian society. This would include thieves, those guilty of assault or worse.

‘I was living with murderers, people jailed for life,’ he said. ‘It was terrifying. On my first night, I asked myself how I would survive in these conditions. All the same, I continued my daily prayers and read the Bible.’

Britain and France have scuppered a proposal for Nato allies to spend 0.25 per cent of GDP on military aid for Ukraine.

Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary-general, this week conceded his plan wouldn’t be taken forward because it didn’t have sufficient support.

“I don’t think this one will be proposed,” he told reporters, without naming the opponents.

But now The Telegraph can reveal that the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Canada blocked the idea when it was floated in discussions for how to boost support for Kyiv.

We’ve already spent over 20 Billion with no indication the spigot will be turned off. This sounds like performative BS for domestic consumption.

Small skulls hover on screens inside boardrooms in Kyiv. What looks like the scoreboard of a video game represents the number of Russians killed on the front line in Ukraine.
Kills translate into points and the more virtual points a Ukrainian unit scores, the better the weapons it can buy on the Brave1 online marketplace.

This gamification of the war does not suit everyone. Western leaders have apparently left the meetings grim-faced, perhaps because the cold reality of modern warfare is difficult to square with the Call of Duty-style icons.

The decision to ease sanctions on Russian oil is a disappointing and deeply concerning step by the United Kingdom. For all these years of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has looked to Britain as one of its strongest and most principled allies.

It was among the first countries to provide military assistance, political support and tough sanctions against Russia. That support was both practical and symbolic. It showed Ukrainians that democratic countries were ready to stand firmly against aggression and defend international law. That is why Sir Keir Starmer’s move sends a very dangerous message.