Key Points
- Deputy Russian foreign minister says Moscow 'remain in constant state of readiness to employ all means, including nuclear ones'
- Military chief says Ukraine has recovered 600 sq km in 2026, an area twice the size of Birmingham
- Zelensky says he had a 'positive conversation' with Trump's peace envoys Witkoff and Kushner
- Zelensky weighs in on Reform UK councils lowering Ukrainian flags and says 'small mistakes can break big friendship'
- Zelensky meets King Charles during visit to London and expresses gratitude for 'ironclad' support
- EU, US and China raise voices at UN to call for a ceasefire in Ukraine as 30 killed since Friday
Putin's minister issues nuclear weapons threat to Nato
09:10 , Arpan Rai
Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin has said Russia and Belarus are constantly ready to use all available means, including nuclear weapons, "to ensure security" in response to Nato strengthening its eastern flank.
Nato yesterday announced that its Forward Land Forces (FLF) Finland, including the Alliance’s newest multinational battlegroup, led by framework nation Sweden, began operations in Finland and Sweden to support the defence of Nato’s northeastern flank.
"We remain in a constant state of readiness to employ all means, including nuclear ones, to ensure the security of the Union State," Galuzin said, referring to the political, security and economic alliance between Russia and Belarus.
Galuzin’s remarks come after senior Russian official Sergei Shoigu claimed that the Nato nations were working out scenarios for strikes on Belarus and Russia during military exercises.
The Nato bloc is “demonstratively and provocatively building up its armed forces in the immediate vicinity of the borders of the Union State of Russia and Belarus”, Galuzin said, reported the Izvestia newspaper.
Zelensky weighs in on Reform UK councils lowering Ukrainian flags
10:45 , Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky has said that “small mistakes can break big friendship” following the decision by Reform UK councils to take down Ukrainian flags from outside town halls.
Some Reform-run councils have lowered the Ukrainian flag from their civic buildings which were hoisted in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion, in favour of flying only local flags and the Union flag.
Ukraine’s president expressed his hope that they would change their course in an interview with the Guardian newspaper which took place in London after he met with Sir Keir Starmer, and the political leaders of France and Germany, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz.
“I hope they will put it back”, Mr Zelensky told the newspaper.
Zelensky weighs in on Reform UK councils lowering Ukrainian flags
Ukraine military chief says Kyiv forces recovered 600sq-km land in 2026
10:15 , Arpan Rai
Ukrainian forces have recaptured more than 600 square km of territory so far this year, according to Ukraine's top military commander.
In May alone, Ukraine recaptured 100 square km more territory than it lost, Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Monday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky also said last month that Ukraine had recaptured around 600 square km in 2026, an area around double the size of Birmingham.
Independently determining lines of territorial control in Ukraine is difficult because of drone warfare that has created a wide no-man's land "kill zone" along the front.
But independent groups that map the battlefield have also reported Russia's total advances slowing or reversing in recent months, for the first time since a failed Ukrainian counter-offensive in 2023.
Syrskyi said Russian forces were still trying to advance in the country's east and south, noting that the number of daily battlefield clashes has substantially increased and describing the frontline situation as "difficult and dynamic".
Fire extinguished at loading complex in Russia's Novorossiysk
09:45 , Arpan Rai
A fire was extinguished at a loading complex in Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after a Monday drone attack, local authorities said this morning.
They said no one was injured and 130 firefighters battled the blaze after reporting the fire more than 24 hours ago.
Novorossiysk is home to one of Russia’s largest oil terminals and export hub on Black Sea.
Local residents said they heard around 50 explosions before thick smoke rose over the oil depot.
A fuel storage depot is burning in Novorossiysk, Russia, after a drone strike hit the tank farm overnight
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) June 8, 2026
Novorossiysk is one of Russia's most strategically important Black Sea ports, handling a significant share of Russian oil exports
🎥 Supernova pic.twitter.com/d2ab4SSuH0
Pregnant woman among three killed in Russian attacks on Kharkiv
08:50 , Arpan Rai
Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region killed a pregnant woman and two other people, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday, while Russia-annexed Crimea said it was repelling drone attacks.
An overnight missile attack on the town of Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region killed three people, including a 22-year-old pregnant woman, regional prosecutors said on Telegram.
The attack damaged residential buildings, garages and shops, they said, adding that six more people were injured.In the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest, a Russian drone attack had caused 16 people to seek medical assistance, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
Officials posted photos of a building engulfed by fire and firefighters battling the flames and dousing burnt-out cars.
The strikes follow large air attacks by Russia on Ukraine in recent weeks, while Kyiv has intensified long-range drone strikes on Russian oil facilities, leading to shortages of fuel in Crimea and elsewhere.
In photos: French warplanes down Russian drone in Latvia
08:29 , Arpan Rai
Four killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine
08:10 , Arpan Rai
At least four people were killed and more than were 20 injured after Russia hit Ukraine's Kharkiv region with missiles and drones, according to officials.
The latest strikes on Ukraine resulted in the deaths of two men, one 70 and the other 56, as well as two women, a 22-year-old and a 70-year-old in the town of Chuhuiv in northeastern Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram, posting a photo of a destroyed apartment building on fire.
He also noted that an overnight drone attack on the regional capital of Kharkiv had caused 15 people, including three children, to seek medical assistance.
A separate post from Chuhuiv's mayor, Galina Minaeva, said six people in the town were injured.
Russia and Belarus ready to use nuclear weapons 'to ensure security', says official
07:50 , Arpan Rai
Russia and Belarus are constantly ready to use all available means, including nuclear weapons, "to ensure security", Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin told the Izvestia newspaper.
In remarks published this morning, Galuzin said Russia has a military presence in Belarus and that the countries regularly conduct joint readiness checks.
"We remain in a constant state of readiness to employ all means, including nuclear ones, to ensure the security of the Union State," he said, referring to the political, security and economic alliance between Russia and Belarus.
Ukraine's former Supreme Court chief justice jailed for graft
07:33 , Arpan Rai
The former head of Ukraine's Supreme Court has been sentenced to serve five years in prison under a plea deal in a high-profile bribery case, anti-corruption prosecutors said.
Vsevolod Kniaziev was accused of accepting a $2.7m bribe in 2023 in exchange for a court ruling in a case seen as a key test of Kyiv's wartime anti-corruption drive, closely watched by foreign partners.
Tackling deep-seated corruption is critical for Ukraine as it seeks sustained financial support and progress towards European Union membership while fighting Russia in the fifth year of the war.
Kniaziev, who had earlier denied wrongdoing, agreed as part of the deal to testify against other suspects, prosecutors said. They did not formally identify him by name, per Ukrainian law.
Under the agreement, authorities will confiscate two properties and more than $200,000. Kniaziev must also donate $1.1m to Ukraine's military.
Ukraine, where anti-graft authorities have charged former ministers and presidential advisers in recent years, ranked 104th out of 182 countries in Transparency International's latest Corruption Perceptions Index.
Russia facing heat from Ukraine's attacks as supply lines threatened
07:05 , Arpan Rai
Experts say Ukrainian drone attacks have caused tangible disruption to Russia’s supply lines at a time it is facing a massive fuel crisis.
Ukrainian forces have started impairing Russian supply lines, especially a significant motorway and bridge linking southern Russia’s Rostov city to Crimea via Ukraine’s Mariupol, which is currently under Russian occupation.
The road "is basically the backbone of Russian occupation in the south", Clément Molin, an analyst at the France-based think tank Atum Mundi, told the BBC.
Ukraine has carried out 300 drone strikes on trucks, including 30 tankers, since the start of May and that the campaign had become more intense this month, he said.
Three killed in Russian attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv region
06:55 , Arpan Rai
At least three people were killed in a Russian attack on the town of Chuhuiv in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on the Telegram messaging app on Tuesday, with emergency services working to extinguish a fire.
Two men, one 70 years old and one 50, and a 70-year-old woman died in the attack on Chuhuiv, he said. In the regional capital, close to the Russian border and also called Kharkiv, six people were injured after the shelling, with a utility building damaged and fires breaking out around the city, mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.
Watch: Aftermath of Russian strike on postal terminal in Kharkiv's district
06:32 , Arpan Rai
Fire extinguished at loading complex in Russia's Novorossiysk
06:03 , Arpan Rai
A fire was extinguished at a loading complex in Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after a Monday drone attack, local authorities said this morning.
They said no one was injured and 130 firefighters battled the blaze after reporting the fire more than 24 hours ago.
Novorossiysk is home to one of Russia’s largest oil terminals and export hub on Black Sea.
Local residents said they heard around 50 explosions before thick smoke rose over the oil depot.
There was an air raid alert in Novorossiysk for half a day.
— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) June 8, 2026
They say there was an explosion and a even bigger fire started. https://t.co/6RDrPE4Ll3 pic.twitter.com/viruGBoWcc
Ukraine military chief says Kyiv forces recovered 600sq-km land in 2026
05:31 , Arpan Rai
Ukrainian forces have recaptured more than 600 square km of territory so far this year, according to Ukraine's top military commander.
In May alone, Ukraine recaptured 100 square km more territory than it lost, Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Monday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky also said last month that Ukraine had recaptured around 600 square km in 2026, an area around double the size of Birmingham.
Independently determining lines of territorial control in Ukraine is difficult because of drone warfare that has created a wide no-man's land "kill zone" along the front.
But independent groups that map the battlefield have also reported Russia's total advances slowing or reversing in recent months, for the first time since a failed Ukrainian counter-offensive in 2023.
Syrskyi said Russian forces were still trying to advance in the country's east and south, noting that the number of daily battlefield clashes has substantially increased and describing the frontline situation as "difficult and dynamic".
Zelensky weighs in on Reform UK councils lowering Ukrainian flags
05:10 , Arpan Rai
Volodymyr Zelensky has said that “small mistakes can break big friendship” following the decision by Reform UK councils to take down Ukrainian flags from outside town halls.
Some Reform-run councils have lowered the Ukrainian flag from their civic buildings which were hoisted in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion, in favour of flying only local flags and the Union flag.
Ukraine’s president expressed his hope that they would change their course in an interview with the Guardian newspaper which took place in London after he met with Sir Keir Starmer, and the political leaders of France and Germany, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz.
“I hope they will put it back”, Mr Zelensky told the newspaper.
Zelensky weighs in on Reform UK councils lowering Ukrainian flags
Zelensky meets King Charles during visit to London
04:58 , Arpan Rai
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky ended his visit to the UK by meeting King Charles III as he thanked the country for supporting his war-hit nation.
“As always, a good audience with His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I thank His Majesty, the people, and the entire United Kingdom for their ironclad support for our people,” he said, sharing a photo from his audience with King Charles in a post on X.
As always, a good audience with His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I thank His Majesty, the people, and the entire United Kingdom for their ironclad support for our people.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 8, 2026
Photo: The Royal Family.@RoyalFamily pic.twitter.com/XVTc1Uebfn
Calls made at UN to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine
04:43 , Arpan Rai
At a special session of the UN Security Council yesterday, the fifth held on the war in Ukraine in 20 days, representatives from the European Union, the US and China, among others, urged continued efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Indrika Ratwatte, acting assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told Security Council members that Russia was escalating the scale and intensity of its attacks on major Ukrainian population centers.
At least 30 civilians were reported killed and 200 injured since Friday, he said.
Seven humanitarian vehicles were also damaged in attacks in the southern Kherson region, Ratwatte said, injuring aid workers and volunteers in what he called "unacceptable attacks”.
Ukraine's permanent representative to the UN, Andriy Melnyk, told the debate that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had rejected outright Zelensky's proposal for a meeting of the two leaders in a letter he sent to the Kremlin leader last week.
Russian representative Vasily Nebenzya dismissed the Ukrainian leader's proposal as "rudeness and ultimatums" and said Moscow sought a real settlement not "imitation talks".
Watch: Aftermath of Russian strike on postal terminal in Kharkiv's district
04:25 , Arpan Rai
Zelensky says he had a 'positive conversation' with Trump's peace envoys
04:14 , Arpan Rai
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a "positive" conversation with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and praised what he called their readiness to work on a settlement of the Ukraine war in the coming weeks.
"A very positive conversation," Zelensky said on Telegram during a stopover in the Moldovan capital Chisinau.
"Grateful for the readiness to work as actively as possible already in the weeks to come to give a boost to diplomacy for ending Russia's war against Ukraine," he wrote.
Zelensky was returning to Kyiv from talks in London with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany on how to move forward with a settlement of the more than four-year-old war.
Four killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine
03:59 , Arpan Rai
At least four people were killed and more than were 20 injured after Russia hit Ukraine's Kharkiv region with missiles and drones, according to officials.
The latest strikes on Ukraine resulted in the deaths of two men, one 70 and the other 56, as well as two women, a 22-year-old and a 70-year-old in the town of Chuhuiv in northeastern Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram, posting a photo of a destroyed apartment building on fire.
He also noted that an overnight drone attack on the regional capital of Kharkiv had caused 15 people, including three children, to seek medical assistance.
A separate post from Chuhuiv's mayor, Galina Minaeva, said six people in the town were injured.
Russia and Belarus ready to use nuclear weapons 'to ensure security', says official
03:49 , Arpan Rai
Russia and Belarus are constantly ready to use all available means, including nuclear weapons, "to ensure security", Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin told the Izvestia newspaper.
In remarks published this morning, Galuzin said Russia has a military presence in Belarus and that the countries regularly conduct joint readiness checks.
"We remain in a constant state of readiness to employ all means, including nuclear ones, to ensure the security of the Union State," he said, referring to the political, security and economic alliance between Russia and Belarus.
Pictured: The aftermath of a Russian drone attack in Zaporizhzhia on Monday
02:00 , James Reynolds
France and Germany scrap next-gen fighter project, officials say
01:00 , James Reynolds
France and Germany have agreed to scrap a landmark project to develop and build a new-generation fighter jet, two German officials said on Monday.
Friedrich Merz and Emmanuel Macron discussed the troubled project on the sidelines of the EU-Western Balkans summit in Montenegro last week and concluded there was no prospect of breaking months of deadlock, the officials said.
The project, which centres on a core fighter jet supported by drones and linked by a classified "combat cloud", had been in doubt for months as the two sides have wrangled over specifications and control.
A European source briefed on the matter said the two sides were moving towards a face-saving solution in which the remaining systems outside the core fighter, such as the "combat cloud" of highly secure links, would maintain the same name: Future Combat Air System or FCAS.
Zelensky says ‘small mistake can break a big friendship’ after Reform councils pulled down Ukraine flags
Tuesday 9 June 2026 00:03 , James Reynolds
Volodymyr Zelensky said the decision by some Reform councils to pull down Ukrainian flags was the kind of “small mistake that can break a big friendship”.
He told The Guardian that both countries “need each other”, as the threat posed by Russia to Ukraine poses one to Britain, too.
“British people helped us from the very beginning of this war, it’s true. It’s because of security, not only values … But it’s about security in Europe. It’s in the interests of the UK,” he told the newspaper after meeting with Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz in London.
Asked whether Reform should put back up flags taken down from council buildings, the Ukrainian said: “I hope they will put it back. I don’t want to be involved in any political things, but you know, the world is so sensitive today. Sometimes little, small mistakes can break big friendship or huge contacts.”
Ukraine claims to have recovered 600sq-km land in 2026
Tuesday 9 June 2026 00:00 , James Reynolds
Ukrainian forces have recaptured more than 600 square km of territory so far this year, according to Ukraine's top military commander.
In May alone, Ukraine recaptured 100 square km more of territory than it lost, Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Monday.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also said last month that Ukraine had recaptured around 600 square km in 2026.
Independently determining lines of territorial control in Ukraine is difficult because of drone warfare that has created a wide no-man's land "kill zone" along the front. But independent groups that map the battlefield have also reported Russia's total advances slowing or reversing in recent months, for the first time since a failed Ukrainian counter-offensive in 2023.
Syrskyi said Russian forces were still trying to advance in the country's east and south, noting that the number of daily battlefield clashes has substantially increased and describing the frontline situation as "difficult and dynamic".
Three killed in Russian attack on Kharkiv, officials say
Monday 8 June 2026 23:52 , James Reynolds
Three people were killed in a Russian attack on the town of Chuhuiv in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on the Telegram messaging app on Tuesday, with emergency services working to extinguish a fire.
Recap: EU releases nearly €2.8 billion to help Ukraine
Monday 8 June 2026 23:00 , James Reynolds
The European Union released nearly €2.8 billion ($3.2 billion) to Ukraine on Monday as part of ongoing efforts to finance Ukraine as it deals with its war with Russia, the European Commission said.
"Ukraine's speed and commitment to delivering meaningful reforms has merited this payment, and we are now also paving the way for further progress in the accession negotiations," Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement, said in a statement.
Explained: Why are Poland and Ukraine at odds about their history?
Monday 8 June 2026 22:00 , James Reynolds
Poland is weighing whether to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of its top honour for renaming an army unit after Ukrainian nationalist insurgents who massacred Poles in World War Two.
The decision caused a chorus of outrage in Warsaw and led President Karol Nawrocki to call for Zelensky to be stripped of the Order of the White Eagle, which he was awarded in 2023.
Zelensky signed a decree recognising a Ukrainian combat unit's contribution to the fight against Russia by naming it after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
During and after World War Two, when Ukraine belonged to the Soviet Union, the UPA fought against the Red Army, for a time allying itself with the Nazi German invaders, to seek Ukrainian independence.
Ukraine says the naming of the unit carries no "anti-Polish intent" and was chosen by soldiers who wanted to commemorate others who had fought against Moscow.
But the UPA was also involved in the Volhynia massacres carried out by Ukrainian nationalists from 1943 to 1945, in which Warsaw says around 100,000 ethnic Poles were killed. Thousands of Ukrainians also died in reprisal killings.
Polish historians view the massacres as a genocide intended to prevent a post-war Polish state claiming sovereignty over Ukrainian-majority areas that had been part of Poland between the two world wars.
Kyiv rejects the term, saying that thousands of Ukrainians were also killed in what was a complex conflict.
Zelensky holds 'positive' conversation with US envoys
Monday 8 June 2026 21:45 , James Reynolds
Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he had a "positive" conversation with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and praised what he called their readiness to work on a settlement of the Ukraine war in the coming weeks.
"A very positive conversation," the Ukrainian president said on the Telegram messaging app of the conversation during a stopover in the Moldovan capital Chisinau.
"Grateful for the readiness to work as actively as possible already in the weeks to come to give a boost to diplomacy for ending Russia's war against Ukraine," he wrote.
Zelensky was returning to Kyiv from talks in London with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany on how to move forward with a settlement of the more than four-year-old war.
Watch: NATO fighter jet shoots down Russian drone over Latvia
Monday 8 June 2026 21:00 , James Reynolds
Zelenskiy spoke with Witkoff and Kushner, presidential advisor says
Monday 8 June 2026 20:44 , James Reynolds
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky held a call with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, on Monday, a presidential advisor said.
He did not provide further details of the conversation.
The Independent View: Zelensky is an indispensable ally in Britain’s new security partnership with Europe
Monday 8 June 2026 20:00 , James Reynolds
It tells us more about the UK than it does about Ukraine that Volodymyr Zelensky is on his fourth British prime minister since the Russians launched their full-scale invasion of his country in 2022.
But at any rate, as he comes to London for talks with Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz – a group known as the “E3” – Ukraine’s special relationship with Britain remains strong.
Zelensky is an indispensable ally in Britain’s new security partnership with Europe
EU to release over £2 billion to help Ukraine
Monday 8 June 2026 19:15 , Rebecca Whittaker
The European Union has release almost €2.8bn (£2.4bn) to Ukraine to help with its recovery.
Under the Ukraine Facility support mechanism the country will be provided with up to €50bn in financial support between 2024 and 2027.
More than €28bn has been released so far.
