Ukraine’s Security Service reported that some of the bombers destroyed in the June 1 drone attack on multiple air bases destroyed bombers that were preparing for a strike on Ukraine. The Security Service said that the intensity of the fires proves some of the bombers were fueled up, and cruise missiles can be seen mounted on the pylons in some of the published footage.  An anonymous NATO spokesperson said that NATO’s independent assessment of the attack concluded that at least 40 aircraft were damaged to some extent and 10-13 were completely destroyed. The damaged aircraft include 15 Tu-95s, 20 Tu-22s, and at least one An-50 AWACS aircraft. This amounts to roughly 34% of Russia’s cruise missile-carrying fleet. The source said, however, that NATO has no information as to whether the damaged aircraft were operational or not; some may have been mothballed or used as donors for spare parts. The NATO  numbers closely match Ukraine’s own reports. 

Zelenskyy said that 50% of the planes damaged in Operation Spider Web are too damaged to be repaired. He said that some that can be repaired will take years to return to operational status.

Ukraine’s Security Service has released additional footage of the strikes on the Russian airbases. In the footage, you can see 22 aircraft being damaged/destroyed. These include:

7x  Tu-95

12x  Tu-22M3

2x  A-50

1x  An-12

1x  Il-78M(?)

There is still additional footage from the attack that has not been released yet. Russia has been trying to conceal the extent of the damage from this attack by clearing away damaged air frames and parking undamaged ones in their place. 

Two A-50s from the 610th Central Air Defense and Defense Forces were hit.  One of them has the tail number of RF-50608. This is the same A-50  that was already struck in Belarus in February 2023. It had been repaired, however. This time, it was reportedly struck with multiple drones.  The tail number of the second A-50  isn’t solidly known yet, but most likely RF-50601 or RF-94268. RF-50601 reportedly was flying in March of this year.

There is an unconfirmed report that a Tu-160 sustained some minor shrapnel damage. 

Footage from an FPV before it damaged the radar of a Russian A-50

Footage from an FPV drone shortly before it damaged a second A-50 

Kh-101 cruise missiles on the wing pylons of a Tu-95 shortly before the aircraft was damaged/destroyed

Here is a screenshot of every aircraft damaged in the recently released video. 

A Ukrainian Osa FPV drone. These were reportedly used in the attacks on the Russian airbases. The Osa is capable of carrying a 3.3 kg payload, can remain airborne for 15 minutes, and can fly at speeds of up to 150 km/h. The Osa reportedly has AI targeting and tracking capabilities. The copper-looking portions are shaped charge warheads, possibly the explosive elements (or something similar to the explosive elements) found in Russian/Ukrainian/Soviet explosive reactive armor. 

Ukrainian Nozh explosive reactive armor

A Russian Molniya-2 drone is being used as a carrier/mothership for an FPV drone. This extends the FPV drone’s range. Due to the disposable nature of the Molniya, it doesn’t have a repeater on it, which would harden the FPV against electronic warfare. After the FPV is launched, the Molniya continues on to its own target. Carrying an FPV like this may shorten the Molniya’s range. 

 

A video was published by the Russians showing a 50 km-long spool for a fiber optic drone. The spool weighs 3.8kg. This is a lot of weight for a disposable drone to be carrying, meaning it is likely going to be rare and expensive. At least for now.

Russian sources reported that four Russian citizens were arrested for their involvement in sabotage attempts.  Ruslan Sidiki, an Italian and Russian dual citizen, received a 29-year maximum security sentence after assembling quadcopters to target Dyagilevo military airfield and a freight train at Nedostoevo station in Ryazan. Sidiki was promised $15,000 for his work. Gennady Kalashnikov received 15 years for “inciting terrorist attacks” through messaging platforms, while Alexey Rozhkov and Valery Shipichkin received 16 and 19 years, respectively, for setting fire to military facilities. 

Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Bureau, the DIU, reported that it had successfully hacked into the Tupolev Aerospace Design Bureau, the manufacturer of Russia’s strategic bombers. This hack allowed Ukraine to gain access to large quantities of data including internal communications, personal information about employees such as names, addresses, education history, procurement documents, and notes from private meetings. Personal information on  personnel who maintain strategic aircraft was also gathered in the attack. 

Additionally, Zelenskyy offered a ceasefire to Russia to last until he and Putin meet. He is open to meeting any time after Monday and is willing to meet Putin in Switzerland, the Vatican, or Istanbul.

Bloomberg reported that the US is refusing to help supply air cover to any European troops stationed in Ukraine during a ceasefire. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that US involvement is crucial to providing a solid deterrent that will prevent Russia from reigniting hostilities. France and the UK hope the US would at least be willing to continue to provide intelligence and monitoring of the Ukraine-Russia border. 

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Germany is attempting to buy Patriot air defense systems from other countries so they can be transferred to Ukraine. He said that Germany has transferred ¼ of its own Patriot systems to Ukraine and cannot transfer any more of its own, so it is looking beyond its own borders. He said time is of the essence, and waiting for new systems to be manufactured is simply not good enough. 

Zelenskyy has changed a significant amount of Ukraine’s military leadership. 

The changes include:

• Mykhailo Drapatyi being appointed commander of the Joint Forces. He was removed from the position of commander of the Ground Forces. Zelenskyy said this change allows him to focus exclusively on the front. 

•  Oleg Apostol became commander of the Airborne Assault Forces (instead of Igor Skybyuk)

•  Robert Brovdy "Magyar" -Is now Commander of the SBS (replacing Sukharevskiy)

•  Vadym Sukharevskyi became deputy commander of the Operational Command "East"

•  Ihor Skybyuk was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff

Drapatyi had submitted his resignation due to a June 1 Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian training ground that killed 12 soldiers and injured 60 others. While he was not directly responsible for the events leading up to the strike, he took responsibility as the person in charge. His resignation letter came as a serious blow to many Ukrainians, including members of the military, because Drapatyi is highly respected and has extensive combat experience. Many were relieved when Zelenskyy rejected the resignation and instead reassigned him to a more specific task, relieving him of unnecessarily distracting duties. 

Russia managed to land another successful strike on a Ukrainian training ground in the Poltava region on June 4. The strike hit the training ground while soldiers were conducting training exercises. Reportedly, many were able to make it to shelters before the missile impacted, but there were many wounded. 2 of the wounded have reportedly died from their injuries. A commission has been set up to investigate the incident.  

The Slovakian Wolf AD 25 anti-drone system will be tested in Ukraine. If it is deemed effective, up to “hundreds of units” could be purchased. The system is a Mangart 25 air defense system mounted on a Wolf 4x4 vehicle. The gun fires 25mm ammunition. The development of this system was initiated” by Ukraine. The systems, is adopted will be used for point defense for artillery, logistics, and command posts. It can reportedly target smaller drones like Mavics or FPVs out to ranges of up to 5 km and larger drones like the Lancet kamikaze drone out to ranges of 8-10 km. It’s possible that if adopted, the system will be mounted on Ukrainian-made vehicles. 

Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Kozenko said that Ukraine’s defense industry is capable of producing 10 million drones per year. The main hurdle is financing. He pointed out that drones manufactured in Ukraine are significantly cheaper than those manufactured in the West, and possibly more importantly, they have undergone combat testing and thus have already undergone multiple iterations to hone their designs to be maximally effective on the battlefield.

During their negotiations in Turkey on June 2, Ukraine and Russia agreed on an “all for all” exchange of POWS who are severely injured or ill. In addition to this, they agreed to exchange all prisoners who are between the ages of 18-25. Finally, there was an agreement made for each side to return the bodies of 6,000 dead enemy combatants. Zelenskyy stated that identifying the bodies will take a long time, as only 15-20% of them had been identified by the Russians. Zelenskyy announced that part of this prisoner exchange will take place this weekend, on June 7th and 8th, and will include 500 prisoners. On the 2nd of June, Zelenskyy said this POW swap may include up to 1200 POWS being returned by each side. 

The delivery of German-made RCH 155 self-propelled howitzers has been delayed again. Originally, the delivery of the first systems was set for the end of 2024. Then that date was pushed back to April 2025. Reportedly, the Ukrainian crews that have begun training on the systems are still in the initial phases of training.

Ukraine managed to strike a Russian air defense system with AGM – 88 HARM anti-radiation missile. The damaged system is believed to be either a Buk or Tor air defense system. The rocket fuel from system’s ammunition detonated, causing them to fire off wildly and detonate. The HARM missile was launched by an Su-27. 

The Security Service of Ukraine managed to uncover a Russian spy in Kharkiv who was serving in an assault brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard. He was reportedly providing information to Russian intelligence services, allowing them to launch airstrikes on his own unit. He provided coordinates for headquarters, training centers, and positions of the military unit he was serving with. He also provided the Russians with the names of officers and manpower numbers. The man actively sought out Russian intelligence, rather than being approached by them and recruited. He had relatives who used to serve in the Russian military. He faces life in prison and confiscation of property.

The Security Service of Ukraine launched an attack on the Crimean Bridge, damaging it. The SSU reports that the operation took several months of planning and that they managed to plant explosives on the underwater support of the bridge. The explosion took place at 4:44 AM. The SSU reports that underwater pillars were severely damaged, and they used a bomb that was 1100 kg of TNT.  The bridge was damaged, but there is no footage of extensive damage to the bridge. The Russians reopened the bridge for traffic after a few hours. Russ sources reject the notion that explosives or planted on the bridge, and instead report that it was attacked by naval drones. Russia acknowledges that the bridge was attacked but denies the claims that it was damaged.

It is known that Magura 7 drones were used in the attack. These are naval drones equipped with air defense missiles; in this instance, it was AIM-9M missiles. This may provide support for the notion that the explosion on the bridge was caused by a naval drone. The Russians published a photo of a Magura 7 being targeted and disabled by a Lancet Kamikaze drone during this attack. 

Rheinmetall has received 2 new contracts for 155 mm artillery shells. Both orders were placed by an international customer. The order is for extended-range EFRB shells. The shells will be made by Rheinmetall Denel. The value of the order is in the tens of millions of dollars. Since they are being produced by the Denel branch, these shells will likely not go directly or indirectly to Ukraine, but this order helps justify Rheinmetall’s expansion of production lines and purchase of new facilities, and this ammunition may play a role in deterring future Russian aggression. 

The Czech defense company Czechoslovak Group is almost finished the construction of a production line in Ukraine that produces 155mm artillery ammo. The facility will produce several varieties of ammunition that are in the Czechoslovak Group’s catalog. 

A fire broke out at Avtodiesel PJSC, also known as the Yaroslavl Motor Plant in Russia. This plant builds engines for Russian military equipment such as the Topol-M missile system, Smerch MLRS, Tochka missile launchers, Yars ICBM systems, and Tigr MRAPs. The fire occurred in the part of the plant where “high-performance diesel engines” are manufactured. The fire spread to a size of about 400 square meters before being contained. This is one of Russia’s largest engine companies. 

Commander in Chief Syrksyi has reported that Russian casualties in 2025 have hit 200,000 already. 

Russian natural gas company Gazprom has reportedly given up on its plans to use Turkey as a means of re-entering the European gas market. This plan was supported by Putin back in October 2024, but some people at the company always had doubts as to whether this could come to fruition. It’s not an outlandish idea, however, since Turkey already is connected to 2 Russian pipelines. Russia used to make $8 billion from sales of natural gas to Europe every month. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency Director General, Rafael Grossi, reported that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is not ready to be restarted any time soon, and Russia has not put in any significant amount of work to enable that. He said that one problem is that the cooling pond water levels are too low after the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam, so water would have to be pumped in from the Dnipro River. He also said that connections to external power sources remain unsteady; these connections are frequently attacked by Russia itself. The plant has not generated power in 3 years, and, according to Grossi, “a number of things” would need to be done before the plant was capable of generating power again. Over the past few years, there have been occasional reports of deteriorating conditions and equipment at the plant, as well as reports that Russia has stolen equipment for use in its own plants. 

The Sumy Oblast military administration reported that on June 4, 12 Russian drones attacked the Budyl experimental bioethanol production plant in the city of Lebedyn. Storage tanks and the facility’s building were damaged, and fires broke out. There was a large spill of Molasses as well. About a dozen nearby homes also received damage. There were no casualties. 

The Sumy fuel plant after the attack. 

On June 4, Russia launched 20 drones at Odesa, damaging residential buildings, garages, a warehouse,  and a car repair shop. One person received a leg wound.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not attend the  “Ramstein” Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting on June 4. This is the first time the US Secretary of Defense declined to participate; Hegseth didn’t even attend virtually. Hegseth has not authorized any new military aid to Ukraine and has urged Ukraine to abandon its goals of reclaiming its land from Russia and of joining NATO. 

UK Ministry of Defense Secretary John Healey announced that the UK will supply Ukraine with 100,000 drones by April 2026, and that the UK has provided Ukraine with 140,000 artillery shells so far this year. This is part of a $6 billion aid package for Ukraine. The drones will cost $473 million. 

The Netherlands announced a plan to provide Ukraine with $457 million worth of naval equipment. This package includes more than 100 patrol boats and other vessels, and more than 50 naval drones. Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said that the vessels are equipped with weapons, sensors, and communications systems that are useful for special forces operations. The Netherlands is also providing €20 million for training Ukrainian marines at a facility in Romania. Some elements of this package have already been delivered, and the rest with continue in tranches delivered from now through 2026.

The European Commission has proposed extending the temporary protections provided to Ukrainian refugees living in EU countries. The proposal would extend the protections until March 27. 4.26 million Ukrainians are beneficiaries of these temporary protections. 

Russia’s oil and natural gas revenues dropped by 53% when comparing May 2025’s profits to April 2024. They dropped from $12.1 billion to $5.7 billion, and were down by 35% year over year. Oil and gas revenues were down 14.4% year over year in the first 5 months of 2025, a decrease of approximately $49.9 billion. Russia’s Wealth Fund, its “rainy day fund,” shrank by 14% in May of 2025, bringing it to its lowest levels since 2008. It lost $5.8 billion, bringing it down to a total of $35.7 billion.  The cause of this decrease is rising war spending and dropping oil prices. Since February 2022, the Wealth Fund has shrunk by 68%. 

 

Ukraine’s parliament has passed its first reading of a bill that would allow men over the age of 60 to serve voluntarily in the Ukrainian military for a one year long contract. They would first have to pass a medical examination. 

North Korean 60mm mortar in service with the Russian army

North Korean 140mm mortars are also in use by Russia now.

NASA’s FIRMS fire-detecting satellites detected a fire near the Chongar bridge in occupied territory. This possibly implies there was a strike in this area, it is unclear.

A Russian milblogger discussed an attack on the headquarters of the Russian 155th Naval Infantry in Kursk.

Milblogger ZA_NAS_ZA_VDV:

“Rylsk. Consequences of yesterday's UAV attack.

Unfortunately, the reason for the attack: the command post of the 155th Marine Brigade was located in a residential area. The camouflage was, to put it mildly, a C grade. As a result, it hit the target, the crests weren't shooting at random.

I hope they will draw conclusions. Such mistakes are expensive.”

This same Russian also thinks the promotion of Robert Magyar Brovdi is a sign that Ukraine is planning to focus more on killing individual Russian soldiers more

Milblogger ZA_NAS_ZA_VDV:

“Supplement on Magyar.

 Those who are in the know understand that the situation will become more complicated with Madyar's appointment. His main gimmick is hunting not for equipment, but for manpower. While other UAV operators from the Ukrainian Armed Forces are chasing loaves of bread and armor, his roosters methodically track down infantry.

 They work competently and without fuss. Unfortunately, they are effective - and that is why such a castling among the crests says a lot. This means that they are now betting on the targeted knocking out of personnel.

So there is no need to relax, the enemy's tactics will change.

But such things will not break us. We work, we hold the line.”

Russian milblogger unfair_advantage_tg reported on some of Ukraine’s modern drone tactics.

Unfair_advantage_tg:

 "Baba Yaga" in conjunction with other types of drones.

The enemy, don't be stupid, does not stand still - he not only hones the most effective ways to use various types of weapons, but also improves them, inventing more and more new tactics for using this or that type. And heavy agrodrones like "Baba Yaga" are no exception.

So more and more often the enemy uses drones like "Baba Yaga", accompanied by several attack FPV kamikaze drones, which are designed to strike at points from which anti-aircraft fire is conducted at "Baba Yaga". Considering that "Baba Yaga" is used at night, the accompanying drones are equipped to fly and conduct surveillance in the dark. The enemy tries to return such accompanying drones back if targets for them are not identified. They are not smashed, like daytime FPV drones, against our supposed positions if the target is not detected. They are used only against clearly identified targets.

In addition to using FPV drones to accompany heavy agrodrones like Baba Yaga, the enemy uses the tactic of accompanying them with observation UAVs like Mavic. Baba Yaga operates at a predetermined target, in the area of ​​which the enemy directs barrel artillery. After the Baba Yaga has been fired and retreated, the enemy continues to observe using Mavic UAVs. If movement is detected in the target area (evacuation, attempts to extinguish a fire, etc.), artillery fire is adjusted from it.”

Russian milblogger reported that the Russian military are demanding better protections for their aircraft to protect them from drone attacks, but they are going about it in a nonsensical way. 

From Russian milblogger Fighterbomber:

“Telephone messages, orders and instructions to the troops began pouring in…

One interesting thing is that they finally made someone take responsibility and sent down a project for a standard shelter for equipment. 

But of course there is a nuance. 

You have to build it at your own expense. That is, from your own pocket, or go somewhere and steal or beg. 

That is, essentially nothing has changed. If this shelter falls on a helicopter from the wind and breaks something off, then the one who built it will not get any money anyway. Because the aircraft mechanics and UAV drivers who will build these shelters are not very certified builders. Not at all. Therefore, everyone will pay for the shelter, and a scapegoat will be found for the broken helicopter.

…

In general, it is no secret to anyone that there is a lot of money in the country. And there is especially a lot of it in the Ministry of Defense today.

The same Vanuatu Aerospace Forces are allocated millions for all sorts of crap, which in theory would cover all the needs of the aviators, making our assistance of 600 million laughable and insignificant.

More has been allocated for the repair of the barracks in Chekalda this year.

These are the so-called "limits". These are billions. Many billions. Which year after year return to the treasury unspent. For the last three years, they have been returning to the budget, while you and I are chipping in a hundred here.

Why?

The answer is simple.

Because these are billions. There is something to steal.

Due to the fact that everyone wants to steal and help the country, all these big bosses cannot agree among themselves whose contractor will develop them. 

Who will build these shelters of yours and so on. Landscapers and florists from Chuvashia, or a heating installation company from Chita. 

As soon as one of the bosses is successfully jailed, or transferred to another honorable job, then this obstacle will be removed, and shelters, equipment, gloves and everything else will start to grow like mushrooms after rain. 

But this, of course, is also not certain.”

Quote of the Day:

“Meeting a hedgehog face to face is like meeting a distant cousin — you’re aware of your shared history.”

-David Attenborough