A residential building set on fire by Russian drone strikes, Kharkiv, Ukraine, June 11, 2025

Tuesday’s Coverage: Russia Bombards Kyiv and Odesa

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1659 GMT:

Republican Senators have challenged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Trump Administration’s lack of support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

At a Senate budget hearing, former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said, “America’s reputation is on the line. Will we defend democratic allies against authoritarian aggressors?”

McConnell, who chairs the panel controlling defense fudning, continued:

We don’t want a headline at the end of this conflict that says Russia wins and America loses.

That’s extremely important if we’re going to continue to play the role in the world that the vast majority of members of Congress think we should still play.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the co-sponsor of a bill toughening sanctions on Russia, pressed Hegseth and the Chair of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Dan Caine, on whether Vladimir Putin will stop his quest for expansion if he is successful in seizing Ukrainian territory.

“I don’t believe he is [going to stop],” Caine said. But Hegseth hedged, “It remains to be seen.”

Graham chided the Defense Secretary “Well, [Putin] says he’s not. This is the 1930s all over. It doesn’t remain to be seen.”

UPDATE 1431 GMT:

Ukraine is expecting almost £1.7 billion ($2.26 billion) from the UK for Ranger air defense systems and Martlet lightweight multi-role missiles, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says.

Shmyhal hailed “significant strengthening” of Ukraine’s air defense capacity amid intensifying Russian air assaults.

Rapid Ranger is a mobile, laser-guided air defense system built for rapid deployment and effective against low-flying threats, including drones and helicopters. It is usually paired with the Martlet missile, which is designed for use against drones and light aircraft.

“This month, the UK also announced record aid for the supply of drones. We are talking about £350 million ($473 million), which will allow 100,000 drones to be transferred to Ukraine this year,” Shmyhal posted on Telegram.

The UK has allocated £4.5 billion pounds ($5.8 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine for 2025.

UPDATE 0957 GMT:

The messaging app Telegram has denied an investigative report which found that part of the server infrastructure is maintained by a company with links to the Russian State security service FSB.

Telegram’s press office said the company “has contracts with dozens of different service providers around the world”, but none of them “has access to Telegram’s data or confidential infrastructure”.

All Telegram servers are owned by Telegram and maintained by Telegram staff. Unauthorized access is not possible. Telegram has no employees or servers in Russia. In the entire history of Telegram, not once has it handed over private messages to third parties, and its encryption has never been broken.

The investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found that the messenger’s infrastructure is handled by entities who service secret facilities used by Russian security agencies to surveil citizens.

UPDATE 0841 GMT:

The photo of a recently-swapped Ukrainian prisoner of war, with the words “Glory to Russia” carved into his stomach, is real, confirms Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.

The picture was posted on social media on Monday. It shows numerous scars, signs of torture and apparent surgical procedures.

Military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov said the photo was taken by a doctor examining the man after he returned to Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, this is a real photo. It’s from one of the previous prisoner exchanges. During an examination at a regional center where the guys are undergoing rehabilitation, a doctor just couldn’t resist photographing him and posting it online. It’s evidence of what our defenders go through in captivity,” Yusov said.

UPDATE 0759 GMT:

At least four civilians were killed and 73 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 40 of 85 drones launched by Russia overnight, mainly targeting the Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Odesa regions. Nine drones were lost to electronic counter-measures.

The Russians also fired an Iskander-M ballistic missile.

In the Kharkiv region in the northeast, three people were murdered and at least 64 injured, including nine children, by drones (see Original Entry).

The other fatality was in the neighboring Donetesk region.

Casualties were also reported in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south.

UPDATE 0734 GMT:

As the European Union considers lowering the price cap on Russian oil from $60 to $45 per barrel, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for a reduction to $30.

The European Commission unveiled its 18th package of sanctions against Russia on Tuesday. The proposals also include a tightening of restrictions on Moscow’s “shadow fleet”, used to circumvent the sanctions on oil exports. Measures are imposed against those doing business with the companies running the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Germany, and those with links to 22 Russian banks.

Zelensky responded, in his nightly address to the nation, that the sanctions are a step in “the right direction” with the “compromise” oil cap of $45. However, stronger measures are needed, he emphasized.

Russia’s ability to continue the war is equal to its ability to sell its oil and bypass financial barriers.

That is why it is necessary…to do everything possible to keep the price of Russian oil lower than they can withstand. Each of the partners knows what price cap is needed — $30, no higher. Such a price level will mean real pressure on Russia – they should be forced to seek peace.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that the revised price cap will be discussed at the G7 summit from Sunday to Tuesday.

Zelensky called the EU’s proposed cap of $45-per-barrel a “compromise price.”

UPDATE 0722 GMT:

Ukrainian drones have reportedly struck a gunpowder plant in the Tambov region in western Russia.

Residents in the town of Kotovsk reported multiple explosions. Videos on social media showed a large fire in the vicinity of the plant.

Russian officials declared that a large-scale drone attack on the region was repelled by air defenses. They did not mention an attack on the plant. Regional Governor Maxim Egorov said a fire was extinguished by emergency services, without specifying the location.

The plant was also struck in November 2023, January 2024, and July 2024.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Two civilians have been killed and at least 64 injured, including nine children, in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv by Russia’s latest mass drone attacks.

Russia attacked homes and apartment blocks, among them a five-story residential building, in the city’s Slobidskyi district. Fifteen apartments were set ablaze.

A trolley bus depot, several vehicles, playgrounds, and local businesses were also struck.

Nine civilians have been hospitalized, including a 2-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy.

Russia has been setting daily records for drone and missile strikes, including 499 early Monday. Yesterday’s attacks, with 10 hours of air raid alerts, murdered three civilians and wounded 13 in Kyiv and the port city of Odesa.

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky set Russia’s assault in a wider context, particularly Asia given Moscow’s use of North Korean missiles: