Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv claims devastating strike on Crimea bridge destroyed 50 military vehicles

The Ukrainian military claims it has successfully destroyed 50 Russian military vehicles in a devastating strike on the Armiansk bridge connecting occupied Crimea to mainland Ukraine.

Ukraine’s 1st Separate Assault Regiment Da Vinci said the attack “completely paralysed” a key logistical route for Russian forces, rendering the bridge unusable.

Kyiv says the Russian military vehicles hit in the attack were loaded with ammunition and fuel to be used near Zaporizhzhia oblast.

Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, has said that Ukraine is capable of fully cutting off Russia’s access to Crimea in the “near future”.

Earlier, ambassadors from the UK, France and Germany met at the Russian foreign ministry yesterday amid a Europe-led push for fresh peace talks.

The ministry shared a video of the three diplomats arriving at the building in central Moscow to attend a meeting with Sergei Lavrov’s deputy. The foreign minister said on Wednesday Russia was open to hear what Europe had to say.

Bryony Gooch13 June 2026 03:00IMF staff reaches deal with Ukraine for $690 mn disbursement, pending board approval

The International Monetary Fund on Friday said its staff had reached ⁠an agreement with Ukraine following a review of the war-torn country's $8.1 billion ⁠loan program, ​paving ⁠the way for disbursement of $690 million, ⁠pending board approval.

The IMF ​said ⁠Ukraine met ‌all quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets by ‌the end of ‌March, but implemented two structural benchmarks with a ⁠delay and missed one.

To keep the program on track, IMF staff and Ukrainian authorities agreed to a revised timeline for ‌implementing reforms, corrective actions ​to address ‌slippages and ⁠additional policy commitments, the ⁠IMF said in a statement. ‌It ​gave no details.

Bryony Gooch13 June 2026 02:00EU envoys greenlight first phase of membership talks for Ukraine and Moldova

Ambassadors from the European Union's 27 ⁠countries agreed on Friday to advance ⁠membership talks ​with Ukraine ⁠and Moldova, with ⁠the first ​phase ⁠of negotiations expected ‌to begin on Monday.

The ‌Cyprus rotating presidency ‌of the Council ⁠of the EU said in a statement that it will convene the first ‌accession conferences ​with Ukraine ‌and ⁠Moldova on ⁠Monday.

Bryony Gooch13 June 2026 01:00World chess body suspends Russia after legal challenge by Ukraine

The governing body of world chess has suspended Russia - for decades the dominant force in the game - after a successful ⁠legal challenge by Ukraine.

An international tribunal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in March upheld a complaint by Ukraine that Russia's chess federation had usurped control of the game in areas of Ukraine captured by Russian forces since 2022. It gave Russia 90 days to relinquish control of chess bodies in five regions of Ukraine and stop holding tournaments there.

But on Wednesday the International ⁠Chess Federation (FIDE) - which is headed by Russia's former deputy prime minister ​Arkady ⁠Dvorkovich - said Russia had not complied with the deadline and it had therefore decided to "impose the sanction of temporary suspension of (Russia's) membership... with immediate effect".

Nicole Wootton-Cane13 June 2026 00:00NATO weighs options to defend Europe as the US plans for conflict elsewhere

NATO's top military officer is weighing alternative plans to defend Europe should it come under attack from Russia, after the United States announced that it is cutting the number of aircraft and warships that it would provide in a security crisis.

The so-called NATO Force Model is Plan A for making forces from the 32 member nations available in times of peace, crisis or war. It sets out the military assets that commanders can call on in phases over the first six months of any conflict.

But last month, the Pentagon warned its NATO allies that it would be scaling down its commitment to focus on potential threats elsewhere, notably from China in the Indo-Pacific region.

European countries and Canada had waited impatiently for over a year for the Trump administration to detail its plans after it warned that Europe is no longer a top U.S. security priority. They knew cuts were coming, but not how big, fast or what kind.

US General Alex Grynkewich, NATO's supreme allied commander, said that "the United States is still committed to providing limited but critical capabilities to the alliance."

"We need to focus on things that we can acquire quickly, that we can field quickly, and that we can scale rapidly and sustain over time, and that goes for long-range fires" as well as drones, Grynkewich said at the ILA Berlin Air Show on Thursday.

"Those sorts of things can help us mitigate the near-term risk should we find ourselves needing to deter and defend," he added.

Nicole Wootton-Cane12 June 2026 23:00Members of Wagner mercenary group ‘guarding Russia’s shadow fleet through the English Channel’

Members of the Wagner mercenary group have taken part in an operation to guard Russia’s shadow fleet through the English Channel, according to reports.

Russian mercenaries and former operatives for Russian intelligence have been identified among the 83 security guards on board Russian tankers, according to an investigation by The Times in partnership with outlets across Europe.

Their findings came days after Britain and France intercepted a sanctioned Russian oil tanker suspected of flying a false flag in the Atlantic.

You can read the full report below:

Nicole Wootton-Cane12 June 2026 22:00

Nicole Wootton-Cane12 June 2026 21:00Who is Damir Davydov? Putin’s ammunition chief killed in car bombing outside Moscow

Vladimir Putin’s ammunition chief was killed in a car bombing in Moscow earlier this week, according to Russian news reports.

Damir Davydov, responsible for supplying missiles and artillery ammunition to the front line at the Russian ministry of defence, was killed in an explosion in Balashikha at 5.30am local time on Tuesday, according to a report from Russian investigative outlet The Insider.

The Investigative Committee of Russia said it was opening an investigation into reports that an explosive device was detonated while a BMW X3 was driving near a residential building, a post on Telegram said.

Nicole Wootton-Cane12 June 2026 20:00Recap: Ukrainian attack on Crimea bridge ‘destroys 50 Russian military vehicles’

The Ukrainian military claims to have destroyed 50 Russian military vehicles in a strike on the Armiansk bridge, which connects occupied Crimea to mainland Ukraine.

Ukraine's 1st Separate Assault Regiment Da Vinci stated the attack "completely paralysed" this crucial logistical route, rendering it unusable for Russian forces.

Kyiv reported that the targeted Russian vehicles were laden with ammunition and fuel, intended for use near the Zaporizhzhia oblast.

Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, asserted that Ukraine possesses the capability to fully sever Russia’s access to Crimea in the "near future".

Ukrainian forces released footage of the strike (1st Separate Assault Regiment )

Nicole Wootton-Cane12 June 2026 19:00Kyiv military chief accuses Russia of recruiting teenage Ukrainian teen girls to kill soldiers

Ukraine's police chief has accused Russia of recruiting teenage Ukrainian girls to kill Ukrainian military personnel, following the arrest of a 17-year-old suspected of murdering a serviceman on the instructions of a Russian operative.

In an interview published on Wednesday by Ukrainian media outlet Cenzor.NET, national ⁠police chief Ivan Vyhivskyi said there had this ​year ⁠been six cases of contract killings arranged via the Telegram messaging app, one of which was prevented.

"We are talking about planned murders ⁠organised by the special services of the aggressor state and carried out ​by Ukrainian citizens," ⁠he said.

Russia's FSB security service ‌was not immediately available for comment. Russian security services accuse Kyiv of recruiting Russians for bombings in Russia, and Ukrainian military intelligence has claimed responsibility for ‌assassinating several senior Russian officers since Moscow's 2022 invasion.

Vyhivskyi ‌said Russian recruiters found young women via messaging platforms, promising them easy money and coordinating their actions remotely.

Devon Spurgeon, a Telegram spokesperson, said in an emailed comment that attempts to recruit people for ⁠sabotage on Telegram were routinely detected and removed. "Telegram is a platform for peaceful communication and privacy, not war."

The young women were instructed to search for Ukrainian military personnel on dating websites, and received money from their handlers to rent apartments to meet them, Vyhivskyi said.

They were told of places where they could obtain methadone, a synthetic opioid used as a painkiller that can be lethal ‌in high doses, for lacing drinks, he said.

More than 1,100 Ukrainians have ​been accused of committing arson, terrorism or sabotage in betrayal of ‌their country during the war, Ukraine's security ⁠service has said.

Police detained a 17-year-old woman in the western ⁠region of Zhytomyr last week following the poisoning of a serviceman and said she had been communicating ‌via Telegram with a ​man who was likely a Russian security ‌services agent.

She had received a parcel ​containing a crystalline substance which investigators presumed was methadone, police said.

Nicole Wootton-Cane12 June 2026 18:00