From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
A series of overnight missile and drone strikes on Kharkiv killed at least three people and injured over a dozen, the city’s mayor said.
Ukraine’s second city was targeted by nearly 50 drones, two missiles and four guided bombs, mayor Ihor Terekho said on Saturday, adding that nearly two dozen people were injured.
“Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war,” Mr Terekhov said on the Telegram app.
Rescue workers continued to look for people who might be trapped under rubble.
The strikes on Kharkiv came amid a massive missile and drone attack on Ukraine involving 452 projectiles, including 407 drones, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
The attack targeted nearly 20 locations across the country, including Lviv, Ternopil, Kharkiv, and the capital Kyiv, damaging civilian and energy infrastructure.
This was reportedly the second-largest overnight aerial assault on Ukraine since the war began. The largest such Russian attack to date on 31 May involved 479 drones and missiles.
The latest attack came barely hours after US president Donald Trump warned that Vladimir Putin’s response to Ukraine’s recent drone strikes on Russian airbases “will not be pretty”.
Kyiv launched a series of drone strikes on Russian airbases last weekend, dubbed Operation Spiderweb, damaging or destroying several warplanes.
Russia has accused Ukraine of postponing a large-scale prisoner of war swap.
Following peace talks in Istanbul officials had also agreed on the repatriation of the bodies of dead soldiers, according to reports by Associated France Press.
Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv agreed on Monday to swap all wounded soldiers and those under the age of 25 who were still held as prisoners of war.
Russia’s top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on social media said: “The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period, both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war.”
Rebecca Thomas7 June 2025 12:44
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces claims that Russia has lost 995,030 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its invasion on 24 February 2022.
Russia has also lost 10,904 tanks, 22,737 armoured fighting vehicles, 51,079 vehicles and fuel tanks, 28,850 artillery systems, 1,410 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,181 air defence systems, 413 airplanes, 337 helicopters, 39,493 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine, according to Ukraine.
Vishwam Sankaran7 June 2025 12:30
US president Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine should be left to “fight for a while,” with other nations leaving them to it.
On Thursday, Mr Trump compared the war to an ice hockey brawl whilst speaking in the Oval Office with his German counterpart Friedrich Merz.
“Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart,” Trump told reporters. “You see it in hockey, you see it in sports.”
The president revealed he shared the analogy with Vladimir Putin during a 75 minute phone call on Wednesday (4 June).
Rebecca Thomas7 June 2025 12:23
Britain is at war with Russia already, one of the authors of the government’s strategic defence review has warned, while arguing that we can no longer depend on the US as a reliable ally.
Rebecca Thomas, Millie Cooke7 June 2025 11:45
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have signed a joint statement supporting Ukraine’s pursuit of EU and Nato memberships.
The parliamentary foreign affairs committees of the countries expressed their commitment to support Ukraine’s EU integration and their goal of welcoming Ukraine as a full EU member by 1 January 2030.
Hungary remains a key obstacle in Ukraine accession, with the country’s prime minister Viktor Orban stating in March that his government would conduct an opinion survey on Ukraine’s potential EU membership.
Vishwam Sankaran7 June 2025 11:30
A 14-year-old girl and a baby boy were among the two children injured in strikes that damaged 18 apartment buildings, Ukrainian officials have said.
Kharkiv’s mayor Ihor Terekhov said the latest attack from Russia was “the most powerful attack” on the city since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to the Associated Press.
Firefighters work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv (REUTERS)
Kharkiv’s regional governor Oleh Syniehubov, according to AP, said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones.
He said among the injured were two children, a baby boy and a 14-year old girl, he added.
Rebecca Thomas7 June 2025 11:25
He writes, as the summer fighting season gets underway in the fourth year of Putin’s full scale invasion of its neighbour, Russia has clearly shifted its main effort to forever destabilising Ukraine.
According to Kiely, Ukraine doesn’t have the capacity to drive Russia out of its lands this year. But it is hanging on and by next year may find it has the upper hand as European aid begins to come through to replace the military support that the US has withdrawn.
Rebecca Thomas7 June 2025 11:07
Data on Russian federal budget expenditures indicate that the number of Russian recruits fell from 93,000 in the second quarter of 2024 to about 50,000 in the third quarter of last year.
This is despite Putin’s increase in federal enlistment bonuses.
Russian recruitment rates may continue declining in 2025 based on the federal subject recruitment rates, according to the American think tank Institute for the Study of War.
For instance, recruitment rates in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic fell by a factor of 1.5 in May 2025 compared to December 2024, despite the region offering one of the highest one-time enlistment bonuses in the country.
Enlistment rate of Russian soldiers has already declined across several federal areas since late 2024 and early 2025, ISW noted.
Vishwam Sankaran7 June 2025 11:00
Russian drones targeted Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday, killing at least three and injuring 21.
The latest offensive, including aerial glide bombs that have become part of Russia’s onslaught during the three-year war, reports the Associated Press.
Andrii Sybiha, minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said in a post on social media platform X: “ Kharkiv had a particularly terrible night. 53 drones, four guided aerial bombs, and one missile. At least three people were killed, with 21 injured. There were strikes throughout Ukraine—in the Donetsk, Dnipro, Ternopil, Odesa, and other regions. People were injured and killed, and the energy infrastructure was also damaged.”
The minister added: “To put an end to Russia’s killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required.”
Rebecca Thomas 7 June 2025 10:56
An attack on Kharkiv at night with drones, missiles and guided bombs killed at least three people and injured 22, the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said on Saturday.
Firefighters work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv (REUTERS)
“Kharkiv is currently experiencing the most powerful attack since the start of the full-scale war,” he said on Telegram.
The Russian strikes reportedly targeted multi-storey and private residential buildings in the city as well as educational and energy infrastructure facilities.
One of the city’s civilian industrial facilities was attacked by 40 drones, one missile and four bombs, Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said, adding that there could be more people trapped under the rubble.
Vishwam Sankaran7 June 2025 10:30