Damage to the Chonhar Bridge, connecting Russian-occupied Kherson region to Crimea, from Ukrainian drone strikes, June 2026
EA-Ukraine VideoCast: How Zelensky Rattled Putin’s Cage
Thursday’s Coverage: Kyiv Attacks Across Russian-Occupied Crimea
UPDATE 1616 GMT:
Amid Ukraine’s strikes hindering Russia’s oil refining, fuel suppliers have notified airlines that they were unable to refuel under contracts at airports in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, and several other cities.
The letters were sent in late May. Exchange sales of jet fuel have virtually ground to a halt: no deals for “jet fuel” have been concluded since May 4, according to the St. Petersburg Commodity Exchange.
Several major airports have issued notices to pilots of jet fuel limits. Refueling is limited to the volume required to operate the flight as planned.
Wholesale prices soared to a record 113,000 rubles ($1559) per ton, a 52% increase compared to early March.
UPDATE 0900 GMT:
Pursuing Europe’s involvement in discussions to end the Kremlin’s invasion, the British, French and German ambassadors to Russia have urged direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
The diplomats issued their message in a meeting at Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
The diplomats said they conveyed to the Russians the conclusions of Sunday’s summit in London of their countries’ leaders and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
UPDATE 0848 GMT:
Ukraine’s air defenses downed 102 of 117 drones fired by Russia overnight.
Fourteen drones struck seven locations.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: As Ukraine expands its strikes inside Russia and Russian-held territory, one of its top commanders has declared, “We will isolate Crimea in the near future.”
Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, the head of Ukraine’s unmanned forces, spoke to Reuters about Ukraine’s disruption of Russian logistics and supply routes, notably through strikes on bridges from Russia to southern Ukraine.
He said Russian military cargo traffic along the R-280 Novorossiya highway, connecting Russia with Crimea through the occupied cities of Mariupol, Berdiansk, and Melitopol, has fallen by 71% over the past two weeks.
“Within another month, we will have total control over the road,” Brovdi assessed. He said striking vehicles on the exposed highway is “as easy as shooting partridges in an open field.”
We will create conditions that will make it extremely difficult for any military personnel or those working in the defense industry to remain in Crimea, in the temporarily occupied territories, or use the access routes to them.
Early Thursday, bridges in Armiansk and at the entrance to Krasnoperekops in northern Crimea were struck. The Ukrainian military said the Armiansk attack destroyed 50 military vehicles, loaded with ammunition and fuel, and put the bridge out of commission: “The enemy’s important logistical route is completely paralyzed.”
Earlier this week, traffic was suspended on the Chonhar Bridge, the key link between the Russia-occupied part of the Kherson region and Crimea.
The pro-Ukraine Crimean Wind channel posted, “It appears there are no intact bridges left on the overland approaches to the peninsula.”
In its latest drone strikes inside Russia, Ukraine hit petrochemical plants more than 1,200 km (620 miles) from the border.
The drones set afire the Togliatti Kauchuk petrochemical plant in the Samara region and the Nizhnekamskneftekhim synthetic rubber plant in the Tatarstan Republic.
