Ukraine-Russia war latest: Three dead in Russian strikes as Putin warns of ‘massive’ retaliation for refinery attack
Russian strikes killed at least two people and wounded two others in the northeastern Ukrainian region of Sumy after Moscow threatened escalation for Ukraine’s biggest assault so far Another nine people, including four children, suffered injuries in Kharkiv, which was attacked with Russian guided aerial bombs Ukraine on Friday morning claimed that a crew member of a Panama-flagged ship was killed in a Russian drone attack in the Black Sea waters. Oleksiy Kuleba said that another vessel under the Saint Kitts and Nevis flag was also hit Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov previously warned of “massive coordinated strikes on a regular basis” in response to Ukraine's attack on a Moscow oil refinery for the second time this week Ukraine earlier launched a heavy drone strike on Russia in retaliation for damage done to a historic monastery in Kyiv this week. Hundreds of drones targeted Moscow overnight, hitting the Russian capital's oil refinery for the second time this week, in one of the biggest aerial assaults on Russia of the war so far.Russian court hands Romanian citizen 15-year jail term for espionage A Romanian citizen has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Russian court for carrying out espionage on behalf of Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported this morning, citing Russia's Federal Security Service Alisha Rahaman Sarkar19 June 2026 08Zelensky says EU membership for Ukraine will guarantee Europe's future Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky told an EU summit that the future of Europe was being shaped by the defence of Ukraine and the best security guarantee for the bloc's future would be to grant Kyiv fast-track membership Zelensky said he told member states that Ukraine wanted the war against Russia to be over by the end of the year and urged them to help Kyiv prepare for another winter with air defence missiles and fuel Every democratic nation in Europe deserved to be in the EU and "Ukraine merits this because it has paid more than any other country for its right to be free, independent and ... European", Zelensky said in excerpts of his address posted on X The future of Europe – free, united and of course in peace – is being decided in our defence. That shows how unique our situation is Hours earlier, Ukrainian air strikes struck targets deep inside Russia, including an oil refinery in Moscow, the latest long-range attacks in a campaign Zelensky highlighted as proof of Ukraine's capabilities in meetings with US president Donald Trump and other G7 leaders in France this week Alisha Rahaman Sarkar19 June 2026 08Macron says Trump thought Ukraine would lose war French president Emmanuel Macron said Donald Trump initially believed Ukraine would lose its war against Russia and pushed for a deal Macron told France TV that Trump entered office in 2025 convinced that Kyiv was on the verge of collapse.“What he saw, when he arrived, was that Ukraine would lose. That’s why he wanted to conclude a quick peace,” Macron said “Remember, January-February 2025, it seemed like an eternity. He thought that Ukraine was going to lose. Things were going badly in the Oval office with President Zelensky,” Macron said Alisha Rahaman Sarkar19 June 2026 07Russian attack damages dozens of homes in Kharkiv A Russian attack this morning damaged over 40 homes in the Kharkiv region, the mayor said Ihor Terekhov said that Russia attacked the city with guided bombs after Ukraine's Air Force issued an air raid alert around 3.30am local time Alisha Rahaman Sarkar19 June 2026 07EU has quietly sought to reopen communication with Russia The European Union has reached out to Moscow in a tentative bid to open a line of communication so the continent is not sidelined in any potential talks to end Russia’s grinding war in Ukraine, officials said Thursday The news emerged as Ukraine launched one of its biggest drone attacks since Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago, Russian officials said Thursday. A major Moscow oil refinery was hit for a second time in a week and commercial flights at Moscow airports were disrupted Against the backdrop of conflict, the EU has been quietly seeking to reopen communications with Moscow even as it doubles down on its support for Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has tried to cut out Europe and Kyiv and negotiate Ukraine’s future with Washington More here Alisha Rahaman Sarkar19 June 2026 07UK to provide 150,000 drones to Ukraine Britain will provide 150,000 drones to Ukraine by the end of 2026 as part of a £752m funding package, defence minister Dan Jarvis said on Thursday at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels The package, funded by Britain's £2.26bn loan to Ukraine, includes 350 air defence missiles and ground-based radar systems Alisha Rahaman Sarkar19 June 2026 06Russia says drone attack hit transport workshop at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant The transport workshop of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in eastern Ukraine came under a massive overnight drone attack, with at least 14 strikes recorded, the Russian-installed management said this morning A fire broke out in one section and buildings were damaged, but no casualties were reported, the management said, adding that damage could not yet be fully assessed due to ongoing threat of further attacks Alisha Rahaman Sarkar19 June 2026 06Russian attack kills ship crew member on Black Sea A Russian drone strike has killed a crew member of a Panama-flagged ship in the Black Sea waters, claimed the Ukrainian deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said that another vessel under the Saint Kitts and Nevis flag was also hit and its three crew members were lightly injured Russia appears to have launched coordinated strikes targeted multiple cities in Ukraine after vowing to retaliate for Ukraine's drone attack on Moscow Alisha Rahaman Sarkar19 June 2026 06Ukraine develops naval drone to hunt Russian aircraft Ukraine has developed a new maritime drone equipped with electronic warfare capabilities and missiles to target Russian aircraft, according to local reports The SIRENA unmanned trimaran, designed for high-risk missions, debuted at the Eurosatory defence exhibition in Paris, where it was showcased as a purpose-built platform for electronic warfare operations in confined maritime environments The drone has an integrated multi-band jamming system that operates across a wide frequency range from 300 to 6000 MHz, which allows it to simultaneously block enemy communications, navigation signals, and control channels of other unmanned aerial vehicles Alisha Rahaman Sarkar19 June 2026 06Four children among nine injured in Russian attack Four children were among the nine injured in Russia's attacks on Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv with bombs Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the city was targeted by guided aerial bombs in the early hours of the morning Alisha Rahaman Sarkar19 June 2026 06
