Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky mocks Putin’s failure to capture Donbas ‘15 times already’

Volodymyr Zelensky has ridiculed Russia’s goal to capture Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, saying that the attempt has been made by Russian forces 15 times and failed. “Since the start of the full-scale war, the Russian army has been given as many as 15 deadlines for capturing our Donetsk region. Russia’s political leadership remains obsessed with Donbas. They have entertained this delusion – that they would fully capture Donbas – 15 times already,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. He warned that Russian president Vladimir Putin will have to end the war or else watch the next deadline be moved once again. “If Russia does not end its war, they will have to move this deadline again as well. If Putin wants to sacrifice another million of his soldiers to keep smashing against this wall, then the million Russians who have not yet been mobilised into the Russian army and are arguing in gas lines should think about what awaits them next,” Zelensky said. In Russia, fuel crisis is deepening as officials may allow companies to temporarily produce gasoline and diesel with lower quality and allow lower quality imports amid Ukraine's attacks on its refineries. Alex Croft30 June 2026 07:53Russia may lower fuel standards as fuel crisis deepens Russia may allow companies to temporarily produce gasoline and diesel with lower quality and allow lower quality imports, Kommersant daily newspaper said on Monday, as the country tries to ease the fuel crisis amid Ukraine's attacks on its refineries. The newspaper, ⁠citing a draft governmental document, said Russia may allow ⁠production of gasoline and ​diesel ⁠of the Euro-2 standard ‌with higher sulphur content and which has been banned since 2013, ‌for a year until ‌July 2027, as well as allowing it to be imported. Ukraine has intensified strikes on Russian energy infrastructure in the fifth year of the war, triggering widespread fuel shortages and price spikes as Kyiv tries to push Moscow to the negotiation table. President Vladimir ‌Putin acknowledged on Sunday ​at a meeting with government ‌ministers and other ⁠officials that Ukrainian drone strikes ⁠had triggered fuel shortages in some ‌regions, but said ​Russia was dealing ‌with them. Arpan Rai30 June 2026 07:20Zelensky mocks Putin's military drive, says same goal set '15 times already' Volodymyr Zelensky has ridiculed Russia’s stated goal of capturing Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, saying that the attempt has been made 15 times and failed. “Since the start of the full-scale war, the Russian army has been given as many as 15 deadlines for capturing our Donetsk region. Russia’s political leadership remains obsessed with Donbas. They have entertained this delusion – that they would fully capture Donbas – 15 times already,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. He recounted multiple deadlines Putin set for his troops to capture the region but has instead faced a war of attrition. “In 2022, the deadlines were 31 March, then 9 May, 1 June, 15 September, and 31 December. In 2023, Putin set two more deadlines for capturing Donbas: 1 March, and then, when that failed again, they moved it to 31 December. In 2024, there were again two such deadlines,” Zelensky said. He added that last year when the Russians wanted to convince Trump that Ukraine would “supposedly fall”, they had set three final dates to completely capture the Donetsk region. He has warned that the deadline will be moved again if the war does not end. “If Russia does not end its war, they will have to move this deadline again as well. If Putin wants to sacrifice another million of his soldiers to keep smashing against this wall, then the million Russians who have not yet been mobilised into the Russian army and are arguing in gas lines should think about what awaits them next,” Zelensky said. In the weeks following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces ‌initially ⁠tried to advance on the capital Kyiv, but when they failed to complete that advance they withdrew and focused efforts on capturing Donbas. Russia has captured all of the Luhansk region and large chunks of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Although Moscow's forces are slowly moving westward through Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials say the advance has slowed considerably ​while Ukraine steps up its ​campaign of medium and ⁠long-range drone strikes. Arpan Rai30 June 2026 07:15Ukraine says it carried out major attacks on Russia’s bridges, warehouse and command posts The Ukrainian military has said it carried out a series of strikes on Russia and damaged three bridges, a Russian military logistics warehouse, multiple drone command posts and military communications facilities, its General Staff said yesterday. The strikes were carried out "to reduce the military and economic potential of the Russian aggressor," it said. It added that Ukrainian forces struck a road bridge near occupied Novoazovsk in Donetsk and two railway bridges in occupied Luhansk oblast. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russian forces were using the bridges to transport personnel, weapons, ammunition, and other military supplies to the front. A Russian logistics warehouse near occupied Novosvitlivka in Luhansk oblast was also hit in the strikes. Arpan Rai30 June 2026 07:01Russia glide bomb attack kills woman in Kharkiv A Russian glide bomb has killed a 23-year-old woman and wounded 10 people in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, according to Ukrainian officials. The strike damaged a tram and more than 15 cars, mayor Ihor Terekhov said. Another glide ‌bomb flew in less than an hour later ⁠but failed to detonate. Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, three large industrial cities, have come under repeated ⁠Russian attacks during the war, now in its fifth year. The strikes represent the first use of glide bombs by Russia in several months, with overnight aerial attacks typically relying on Moscow's larger stockpiles of drones and missiles. A glide bomb includes 675kg of explosives, can be fired from between 40km and 70km away from its target, and has a destruction radius of 200 metres. It has been nicknamed the “building destroyer” by Russian war bloggers. Arpan Rai30 June 2026 06:49Kremlin says Russia's stance on conditions for a Ukraine peace deal has not changed since 2024 Russia has not changed its stance on the conditions needed for a peace deal in Ukraine stated by president Vladimir Putin in 2024, the Kremlin said yesterday. Putin’s conditions from 2024 demand Kyiv's forces to withdraw from four regions Moscow says are its own and publicly drop its plans to join Nato. "Our position is well known. In fact, our position has not changed. It was set out two years ago by our Head of State in a speech at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is well known to the Kyiv regime, it is well known to the American negotiators, and it is entirely consistent," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. In a television interview over ⁠the weekend, Putin reiterated that Russia would ​press ahead ⁠with its battlefield aim of fully controlling the four regions, rejecting what he said was a ⁠new proposal by Ukraine to rein in hostilities in ​the ⁠more than four-year-old war. Zelensky responded to Putin’s remarks and said the ultimatum from Russia has been made 15 times and the deadline has always been crossed. Arpan Rai30 June 2026 06:11UK supply chain suffers blow from months-long delay in defence spending amid Russia threat Britain's nine-month delay in setting out its defence spending plans to meet a rising threat from Russia has forced some small suppliers to collapse, others to hold off investments and many more to expand abroad instead. Prime minister Keir Starmer is finally expected to publish the Defence Investment Plan today, one of his final acts before he steps down in July, after his defence and finance departments spent months arguing over how to fill an estimated £28bn shortfall. Many companies in the sector say that delay has damaged the UK's military supply base and potentially the government's efforts to make its cash-strapped forces war-ready. The chief executive of ⁠UK defence company Cohort said that over the last 18 months demand from militaries in other countries where it works, such as Germany, Poland, ​the Nordics and Baltics, ⁠has been clearly ramping up, in contrast to Britain. Arpan Rai30 June 2026 06:01Russia downs over 400 drones overnight Russia’s air defence units have downed or destroyed at least 419 drones overnight, its defence ministry said this morning. Russia typically reports only how many drones its air defences say they downed, not how many Ukraine launched, and rarely discloses the full extent of damage unless civilians are killed or civilian sites are hit. Arpan Rai30 June 2026 05:48Ukrainian oligarch sanctioned for ties to Russia injured in Monaco blasts Ukrainian construction tycoon Vadym Iermolaiev has been reportedly injured in a deliberate blast in Monaco. Ukrainska Pravda said he was targeted by Ukrainian sanctions in 2023 for ties to Russia. A blast from an explosive device has seriously injured three people at a residential building in Monaco, and the attacker fled to France, local authorities said. French and Ukrainian media reported that a Ukrainian magnate and his family were those injured. French and Monaco authorities are searching for the attacker, whose motive is under investigation, Monaco’s most senior government official, Minister of State Christophe Mirmand, told reporters. Arpan Rai30 June 2026 05:1710 killed in Russian attacks in Ukraine's Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia Russian attacks ​across Ukraine killed 10 people and wounded dozens on Monday, authorities said, with strikes continuing into the afternoon as the death toll climbed. A missile attack in the southeastern city of Dnipro killed six people and wounded 29, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said on Telegram. He said a business, a school, private homes and cars had come under attack, "Russia launched a missile strike on Dnipro, targeting infrastructure," Ukrainian president Volodymyr ⁠Zelensky said on X, adding that ​rescue ⁠operations were underway at the site. “It is essential that Europe is as active as possible in developing its own anti-ballistic defence its own systems and missiles," he said. A Russian drone ​attack ⁠on a passenger minibus in Zaporizhzhia ‌killed two men and a woman, and injured eight others, including a 7-year-old boy, regional officials said. The regional governor, Ivan Fedorov, posted footage on Telegram of a white minibus, its floor bloodied and back doors damaged, with a body of a man inside. Another attack on the city in the afternoon hit a civilian van, Fedorov said, ⁠setting it on fire but causing no casualties. A glide bomb also hit the northeastern city of Kharkiv, killing a 23-year-old woman and wounding 10 others, according to officials there. That strike damaged a tram and more than 15 cars, mayor Ihor Terekhov said. Another glide bomb flew in less than an hour later but failed to detonate. Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, three large industrial cities, have come under repeated Russian attacks during the war, now in its fifth year. Arpan Rai30 June 2026 05:11