Russia-Ukraine war latest: Massive aerial attack on Ukraine’s second city kills 3

Russia’s central bank announced that it had lowered its key interest rate from an over two-decade high of 21 per cent to 20 per cent.

This is the first time Moscow has lowered interest rates since September 2022.

The step was likely taken due to increased pressure from Kremlin to project economic stability.

There is already rising tension between Kremlin officials and the Central Bank over Russia’s compounding economic constraints.

While the Kremlin claims Russia’s inflation rate hovered around nine to 10 percent, the actual figure could be closer to 20 percent as of March 2025, experts said.

The latest move to reduce interest rate further could drive further economic instability and contribute to elevated levels of inflation, they said.

Ukraine is reportedly innovating and expanding its air defence by testing new drones that intercept other strike drones.

Ukrainian forces have downed over 160 drones over Kyiv since February 2024 using these interceptor drones, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Russia is attempting to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defence to inflict maximum damage and combat Kyiv’s drone and counter-drone capabilities.

Russia launched 452 projectiles yesterday, including 407 drones from Kursk and Oryol cities, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

The strikes hit 19 locations, including civilian and energy infrastructure in Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil, Chernihiv, and Kremenchuk cities.

In Kyiv, Volyn, Sumy, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, and Cherkasy oblasts were hit, according to the air force.

The strikes killed at least three civilians in Kyiv alone, with the overall toll across all Ukrainian cities rising to 7.

This is notably the second-largest overnight strike in Ukraine by Russian forces using drones and missiles since the start of the war.

It comes after Moscow’s overnight attack between 31 May and 1 June when it launched 479 total drones and missiles towards Ukraine.

• At least four people and over 40 injured in a massive aerial attack from Moscow, which targeted almost all of Ukraine.
• Russia fired over 400 drones and more than 40 missiles in the attack.
• The Kremlin said the strike was in response to Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia.
• Ukraine’s national police has said investigators are documenting “the war crimes of the terrorist state” of Russia after three rescuers died in the attack.
• Kyiv completed its own drown attack on an industrial enterprise in the southern city of Engels, according to a regional governor in Russia, Roman Busargin.
• Busargin said a high-rise apartment block was also hit, but there were no casualties.
• Ukraine also reportedly destroed an Mi-8 military helicopter in a strike on Bryansk airport.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky hopes to meet with his American counterpart Donald Trump at the G7 summit to take place in Alberta, Canada, from 15 to 17 June 15 to 17.

Ukrainian officials recently visited Washington to arrange for the meeting between the two leaders, according to Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office.

The trip followed Zelensky’s statement that Ukraine “wants to buy” weapons the US.

“This is what the agreement is about – no gifts,” Zelensky said.

Turkey, meanwhile, said it planned to facilitate a meeting between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine.

“I had a conversation with President Erdoğan of Turkey. And indeed, he sent a signal, asking how I would feel about a meeting of four leaders: himself, the President of the United States, Putin, and me,” Zelensky said.

Moscow is planning to seize half of Ukraine by the end of 2026, according to a senior Ukrainian official.

However, it is unlikely to succeed as the flow of Western aid to Ukraine continues, according to Ukrainian Presidential Office deputy head Colonel Pavlo Palisa.

The Ukrainian official said Russia is likely seeking to create a buffer zone along the northern Ukrainian-Russian border by 2025 end.

He added that Russia seems intent on occupying the whole of eastern Ukraine by the end of 2026.

A map presented by the deputy head colonel suggests Russia plans to seize about 222,700 additional square kilometres of Ukrainian territory by the end of 2026.

Russia is ready to provide political asylum to Tesla titan Elon Musk if needed amid his ongoing public spat with American president Donald Trump, according to Dmitry Novikov, deputy chair of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs.

“He [Musk] won’t need political asylum, although if he did, Russia could certainly provide it,” Novikov told Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.

Musk, a key figure in Trump’s campaign and early administration, has been feuding openly with Trump over his “Big Beautiful Bill” tax proposal that could expand the US deficit by $600 billion.

The Tesla boss has earned support from Russian officials.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, hinted as a joke that he would broker peace between Musk and Trump in exchange for Starlink shares.

The White House appears to be attempting to persuade Senator Lindsay Graham to soften his bipartisan bill calling for more sanctions against Russia.

The sanctions bill introduced by Mr Graham and Senate Democrat Richard Blumenthal on 1 April called for a 500 per cent tariff rate on all countries still purchasing Russian oil, according to the Wall Street Journal.

White House officials have sought Mr Graham to tone down the regulation, the WSJ added.

New sanctions would be in play only when it became clear that peace talks were not moving forward, the American president said, adding that any such move would apply to both Ukraine and Russia.

“It takes two to tango,” Mr Trump said.

US president Donald Trump is reportedly holding back from confronting China over its support for Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.

Trump is instead prioritising US-China relationship at the moment, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous officials privy to the matter.

The Trump administration has reportedly lowered the Ukraine-Russia war on its list of foreign policy priorities, focusing instead on resolving bilateral issues with China.

The US president is currently prioritising issues like tariffs, technology restrictions, and rare earths in talks with China, according to Bloomberg.