Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) and Donald Trump at the G7 summit in Évian, France, June 16, 2026
Sunday’s Coverage: Trump Administration’s Insults of “Little F*****” Zelensky
UPDATE 1754 GMT:
At least 10 civilians were murdered and 48 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.
Air defenses downed 79 of 89 attack drones, but nine struck targets at six locations.
In the Sumy region in the northeast, a Russian drone strike on a home killed a 13-year-old boy, his 36-year-old father, and his 73-year-old grandmother. The attack critically wounded the 31-year-old mother and the 13-year-old daughter, and injured the 10-year-old son.
In the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast, three people were killed and 10 others injured, including an 11-year-old boy.
In the neighboring Kherson region, one person was slain and another injured.
In the Kharkiv region, one civilian was murdered and 13 wounded.
In the Donetsk region in the east, one person wqs killed and seven injured.
Casualties were also reported in the Dnipropetrovsk and Chernihiv regions.
President Volodymyr Zelensky commented:
Russia began this day not by honoring those who fell in World War II, and not with signals that could help bring the current war – Russia’s war against Ukraine – closer to an end. Instead, it began with more completely unjustifiable killings.
UPDATE 1058 GMT:
Ukraine has struck a large electronics factory, producing parts for advanced missile systems, in the Russian city of Voronezh.
The Voronezh Semiconductor Plant supports Iskander and Kh-101 missiles and the Pantsir S-1 air defense system.
Voronezh borders eastern Ukraine, with the regional capital located around 200 km (nearly 120 miles) from the frontline in the Kharkiv region.
The military plant in Russian Voronezh after the strike.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@antongerashchenko.bsky.social) June 22, 2026 at 11:07 AM
UPDATE 1033 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted about Russia’s latest killing of Ukrainian civilians in missile and drone attacks:
This Russian war has no justifiable cause. Putin was driven by exactly the same motives as the aggressors who came before him. He shows the same contempt for human life. He is just as delusional about this absurd “empire” of his that nobody needs. This war must be brought to an end.
UPDATE 0659 GMT:
Russia launched drone attacks on three merchant ships in the Black Sea, heading to ports in Ukraine’s Odesa region, early Monday.
A Panama-flagged bulk carrier was hit, setting a fire and forcing the evacuation of the crew. An Egyptian citizen who worked as a cook was killed.
Vessels flying the flags of Palau and Belize were also attacked. There were no casualties.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Donald Trump plans to ask US weapons manufacturers to build air defense missiles under production licenses for Ukraine and Europe.
Zelensky asked Trump for the licenses in a 30-minute meeting at the G7 summit in France last week. He said Trump “responded positively”.
The Ukrainian President has noted repeatedly that the American munitions are needed to counter Russia’s ballistic missiles fired on Ukraine almost every night.
G7 leaders said in their joint statement that their countries are “ready to consider extending to Ukraine the benefit of licenses to allow for an increase in Ukraine’s military production”.
Zelensky reaffirmed in a Sunday interview, “This time, it became quite public that the American team, for the first time, responded positively to the licenses.”
He added, “During the summit, all the G7 members were aware of our operation in Moscow Oblast, had seen the results, and supported Ukraine’s absolutely justified and appropriate responses.”
Ukraine’s Counter-Attacks
Zelensky also spoke on Sunday of the successful Ukrainian counter-attacks deep inside Russia, hindering refineries, terminals, ports, and facilities supporting Moscow’s 52-month full-scale invasion.
During wartime, fury is an absolutely justified emotion for our people. But fury must be followed by action. It can’t just be fury and nothing more. The Russians must feel that the war must return to Russia, to the territory of the country that launched the aggression.
He noted Saturday’s strikes on an oil refinery in the Tyumen region, with two new Fire Point drones covering 2,070 km (1,286 miles), and said they will soon be able to reach more than 3,000 km (1,864 miles).
Zelensky hailed the opening of talks with the European Union on Ukraine’s accession, covering justice, freedom, and human rights. “There is a chance to open five more clusters between mid- and late July, provided there is no purely political obstruction,” he said.
