Mapped: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Below we have a map of the frontline in Ukraine after more than three years of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Tom Watling20 June 2025 07:48
Russia downs two drones that tried to attack Moscow, mayor says
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Friday that air defence systems had downed two drones en route to Russia’s capital.
He posted twice on Telegram, first at 4.55am GMT and secondly at 6.07am, claiming two separate attacks.
He said emergency services were working at the site of the fallen debris.
Earlier, Moscow’s defence ministry claimed that Ukraine fired 61 drones at targets across Russia overnight.
Tom Watling20 June 2025 07:37
In pictures: Russian drone attack hits high-rise in Odesa
Earlier, we told that you an overnight Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa had killed at least one person and left 14 more wounded.
The Russian attack hit several high-rise apartment blocks, setting them on fire.
Below, you can see pictures from the scene.
A firefighter helps a woman during an evacuation from her apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike in Odesa, Ukraine (via REUTERS)
(via REUTERS)
Paramedics assist a girl at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike in Odesa, Ukraine (via REUTERS)
Tom Watling20 June 2025 07:31
Russia fires 86 drones at Ukraine overnight
Ukraine’s air force said on Friday that Russia had launched 86 drones on Ukraine overnight.
The military noted its air defence units shot down 34 drones while another 36 drones were lost – in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them – or they were drone simulators that did not carry warheads.
However, the military reported that drones hit 8 locations.
Tom Watling20 June 2025 07:20
One killed, 14 injured in overnight Russian attack on Ukraine’s Odesa
One person was killed and at least 14 were injured when Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa overnight, damaging high-rise buildings and railway infrastructure, local authorities and prosecutors said on Friday.
Odesa is Ukraine’s largest Black Sea port, key for imports and exports, and has been under constant missile and drone attacks by Russia since the war began.
“Despite the active work of air defence forces, there is damage to civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, a higher education institution, a gas pipeline and private cars,” local governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram messenger.
Kiper released photos of burning houses and charred high-rise buildings.
Local emergencies service said that during the attack there were at least 10 drone strikes on residential buildings, causing massive fires.
Ukrainian state railways Ukrzaliznytsia reported that Odesa railway station was damaged during the attack, with power wires and rails damaged.
Russian drones also attacked Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine overnight, damaging several private and multi-storey houses, Kharkiv officials said.
Tom Watling20 June 2025 07:15
Russia issues ‘Chernobyl-style catastrophe’ warning for ally Iran’s nuclear plant: ‘Beyond evil’
The head of Russia’s nuclear energy corporation has warned that an Israeli attack on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant could lead to a “Chernobyl-style catastrophe”.
Bushehr is Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant and was built by Russia.
The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, warned that the situation around the plant was fraught with risk.
“If there is a strike on the operational first power unit, it will be a catastrophe comparable to Chernobyl,” the state RIA news agency cited Mr Likhachev as saying.
He was referring to the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, when a reactor exploded at Chernobyl in Soviet Ukraine.
An attack on Bushehr would be “beyond… evil,” Mr Likhachev added.
An Israeli military spokesperson said Israel had struck the site, but an Israeli military official later called this statement “a mistake” and said he could neither confirm nor deny that the Bushehr site on the cost of the Gulf had been hit.
Additionally, Russian president Vladimir Putin told journalists in the early hours yesterday that Israel had promised Russia that Moscow’s workers – who are building more nuclear facilities at the Bushehr site – would be safe, even as Israel tries to degrade Iran’s nuclear capabilities by force.
Arpan Rai20 June 2025 07:08
Ukraine and Russia exchange more prisoners of war in latest swap
Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war, officials from both countries said, the latest round of swaps under an agreement struck in Istanbul.
President Volodymyr Zelensky posted images of the freed Ukrainian troops, smiling and draped in the national flag, most of whom had been held captive since the early months of Russia’s February 2022 invasion, he said.
The Ukrainian POWs exchanged yesterday were either sick or injured, according to Kyiv’s coordinating council for POWs. The Russian POWs would also be sent for treatment and rehabilitation, Moscow’s defence ministry said.
Neither Ukraine nor Russia, whose talks on ending the war have yielded few results besides the exchange of prisoners or remains, provided an exact figure of how many POWs had been exchanged.
Arpan Rai20 June 2025 06:45
Watch: Russia’s defence of Iran shows need to tighten sanctions, says ZelenskyRussia’s defence of Iran shows need to tighten sanctions, says Zelensky
Arpan Rai20 June 2025 06:40
North Korea will send 5,000 military construction workers to Russia, Kremlin says
North Korea is sending 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers to Russia’s Kursk oblast, where Moscow is repairing widespread damage from a Ukrainian incursion, according to a top Kremlin official.
Presidential security adviser Sergei Shoigu said the workers would help rebuild the strategic border region, which was invaded by the Ukrainian military last August and retaken by Russian forces earlier this year.
The dispatch of the workers was discussed in Mr Shoigu’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, state media outlet KCNA reported on Wednesday.
Arpan Rai20 June 2025 06:17
Russia claims South Africa invited Putin to G20 summit
South Africa formally invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 summit, a Russian diplomat has claimed.
“Last week, we received an official invitation. This is an appeal from the head of state, the president of South Africa (Cyril Ramaphosa), to his colleagues,” Russian Ambassador-at-large Marat Berdyev told state-owned media outlet RIA.
The summit will take place in Johannesburg from November 22 to 23.
However, South Africa is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), meaning it is obliged to arrest Mr Putin on arrival. An arrest warrant was issued for the Russian leader in March 2023 over allegations of illegal deportation of Ukrainian children during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Arpan Rai20 June 2025 06:15