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Ukraine quietly won the NATO summit where everyone was waiting for drama. Ukraine got everything it realistically could from NATO, and somehow, that was enough.

Military

Ukraine’s Bobr, Baklan, and Obrii drones struck support center in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast, destroying fuel depots. Multiple explosions tore through the supply center, causing a large fire.

ISW: Ukrainians advance near Borova and Velyka Novosilka, Russians in Vovchansk and near Pokrovsk and Novopavlivka. A Ukrainian brigade reports it destroyed a Russian platoon in the Lyman direction.

Explosions rock Russia’s Taganrog and Moscow suburbs during suspected drone attack. Local sources report flashes and loud blasts overnight as Russian air defense systems opened fire on incoming UAVs.

Putin overstretched: Russia withdraws forces from Kaliningrad, Poland says. As Russia tries to form new units near Finland, its forces are being stretched thin, prompting a major withdrawal from Kaliningrad, Poland’s foreign minister says.

Intelligence and technology

Netherlands funds 20 hybrid-powered battlefield vehicles for Ukraine’s wounded soldier rescues. Rheinmetall’s Ermine modular ground vehicles equipped with diesel-electric engines will provide Ukrainian forces with both tactical mobility and energy generation capabilities.

In Russia’s Alabuga and Kupol factories workers glue together death for daily attacks. These aren’t just loitering munitions anymore. They’re evolving into a weapon of strategic paralysis.

By 2026, skies over Ukraine could be swarming with thousands of Russian drones—tracking and killing civilians in real time, warns expert. Maria Berlinska warns that Russia is building a future where AI-powered killer drones stalk Ukrainian cities day and night,

Meet the Magura W6: Ukraine’s latest threat to Russian warships. The new sea drone follows the successful deployment of earlier models that caused massive Russian naval losses.

Better late than never: Ukraine finally tests its own gliding bomb kit (video). Russia has used its UMPK guidance kits since 2023 — now Ukraine is racing to close the gap.

“Lilac” CS gas, outlawed since 1925, is now Russia’s silent weapon in Dnipropetrovsk trenches. Russia has used it over 1,000 times since 2022, and now the world has forensic proof.

Europe must be ready to build millions of drones as Russian threat grows, EU warns. EU Defense Commissioner Kubilius urges Europe to act on lessons from Ukraine before it’s too late.

Ukraine’s war is just beginning, next battlefield will be invisible. Nuclear weapons won’t decide the wars of tomorrow.

FT: Europe believes US did not destroy Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile. Iran’s most dangerous nuclear material—408kg of uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels—was not destroyed in US bunker-buster attacks because it had been reportedly moved from the targeted Fordow facility beforehand.

International

At NATO summit allies flattered Trump and quietly built defense shield across Europe and Ukraine. Careful diplomacy pays off, Trump signs off on key European proposals without a fight.

Hungarian PM Orbán claims 95% reject Ukraine in EU — his survey has many controversies. Opposition groups and civil society organizations criticized the Voks 2025 consultation as a propaganda tool with compromised methodology, noting that only 29% of eligible voters participated in the legally non-binding survey.

Almost half of Poles want to reduce military aid to Ukraine – they fear for their own safety. Polish concerns about national security are overtaking solidarity with Ukraine, with three-quarters of Poles demanding NATO strengthen its eastern flank while nearly half want military aid to Kyiv reduced, according to a new IBRiS poll.

Norway to provide $ 6 million to support women’s organisations in Ukraine. Norway will channel $5.9 million to 90 Ukrainian women’s organizations over three years, prioritizing groups in smaller towns and remote areas that have maintained community services throughout the war.

Turkish president says Trump willing to join Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Türkiye only if Putin attends. Türkiye positions itself as the primary mediator in the war, with Erdogan declaring that recent Istanbul negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian delegations “opened the door to peace.”

Australia sanctions 37 Russians, 7 firms and deepens NATO cooperation amid Russo-Ukrainian war. Sanctions list includes government insiders and disinformation agents.

Putin has received ammo from North Korea. Now he wants soldiers — and Pyongyang is ready to send them in July. Month by month, authoritarian allies deepen their military cooperation.

Art is never neutral—Russia has made sure it serves its imperial ambitions, says top manager of New York’s Metropolitan Opera. For Russia, culture has never been a mirror, it’s a weapon.

Meloni urges Trump to show Iran-level determination for Ukraine ceasefire. Despite Trump’s push for a ceasefire, Moscow has shown zero interest in his agenda and continues escalating its attacks on Ukraine.

Bloomberg: How NATO leaders are trying to save Ukraine — by flattering Trump. NATO leaders must endure humiliation if it buys more time for Zelenskyy’s defense, the Bloomberg columnist says.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russia maintains daily terror strikes on civilians amid stalled peace talks. Number of injured, killed only grows. One of the drone strikes hit a residential building in Donetsk Oblast, leaving five civilians injured on 26 June.

Some of these defenders were just 21 when captured in Mariupol—three years later they step back onto Ukrainian soil. One was guarding Chornobyl. Another fought in Sumy.

Political and legal developments

German court confirms conviction of couple who killed two Ukrainian women and stole a child. A German couple will spend life in prison after the country’s highest court rejected their final appeal for murdering two Ukrainian refugees and stealing their baby in March 2024.

Moscow threatens retaliation against nations backing Ukraine’s quest for justice in tribunal for Russia’s aggression. With the tribunal set to expose war crimes, Russia intimidates with “restrictive measures” against countries that support it.

Bloomberg: Russian banks fear systemic crisis within 12 months as Ukraine war debt mounts. Russian banks are sitting on trillions of rubles in bad debt as corporate and retail borrowers struggle with 20% interest rates, creating what banking officials privately describe as a dangerous situation that could trigger a systemic crisis within a year.

Read our earlier daily review here.