Ukraine-Russia conflict newest: US reveals plans to chop navy help to Kyiv and hours later Putin’s forces kill three in Kharkiv strike
Military aid to Ukraine will be cut in the Trump administration’s forthcoming defence budget, the US defence secretary has said – the latest sign of Washington’s waning support for Kyiv’s war effort.
Within hours of Pete Hegseth’s comments, a massive Russian drone strike killed three people and injured more than 60 others in the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Speaking at a congressional hearing on Wednesday, the US defence secretary said the Trump administration would push for a “negotiated peaceful settlement” to the conflict despite Russia’s having launched some of its largest aerial attacks of the war so far in the past week.
His comments signify a dramatic shift in policy compared with the Biden administration, which consistently provided Ukraine with continued military support.
Last week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said the US had diverted 20,000 anti-drone missiles meant for his country to US forces in the Middle East.
“This administration takes a very different view of that conflict,” Mr Hegseth said.
“We believe that a negotiated, peaceful settlement is in the best interest of both parties and our nation’s interests, especially with all the competing interests around the globe.”
Russia returns 1,212 soldiers’ bodies and gets back 27, Kremlin says
Russia has handed over the bodies of 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine, which in turn returned 27 Russian soldiers’ bodies, a Kremlin aide has said.
Russia and Ukraine will begin exchanging seriously wounded prisoners of war on Thursday, Vladimir Medinsky said.
Russian opposition politician faces jail for war comments
A Russian opposition politician will be placed under house arrest for two months, a court has ruled – after his party said he described the war in Ukraine as a game of “bloody chess”.
Lev Shlosberg will also face unspecified restrictions on his activities at the request of state prosecutors, the court in Pskov said.
Shlosberg was detained on Tuesday and charged with discrediting the Russian army.
The 61-year-old made the comment in a video debate in January in which he urged an end to the war.
The liberal Yabloko party, of which Shlosberg is a senior member, said his arrest was linked to those remarks. He denies the charge, it said.
The court service of the Pskov region, which borders Estonia, said the authorities had already designated Shlosberg “a foreign agent”, a label which carries negative Soviet-era connotations and complicates designees’ lives.
Shlosberg, one of relatively few opposition politicians remaining in the country, faces up to five years in jail if convicted.
Finland summons Russian diplomat over airspace violation
Finland’s foreign ministry has summoned a Russian diplomat over a suspected violation of Finnish airspace.
Finland, a NATO member, believes that a Russian military aircraft entered its airspace off the coast of Porvoo on June 10.
“The foreign ministry has invited Russia’s acting head of mission to speak on the issue today,” the Finnish ministry said in a statement to Reuters.
It is the second such event in under three weeks, as Finland summoned Russia’s ambassador over an incident in the same area on May 26.
Ukraine returns bodies of 27 Russian soldiers
Ukraine has returned the bodies of 27 dead Russian soldiers, Moscow’s top peace negotiator has said.
Vladimir Medinsky said on Telegram that the return of the bodies took place as part of an agreement made between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul last week.
Pictures published earlier on Wednesday showed that Russia returned the bodies of more than 1,200 soldiers at an undisclosed location.
Watch: Boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk challenges Trump over Ukraine-Russia war
The unified heavyweight champion issued his challenge to the US president during an interview with BBC Sport on Monday (9 June).
Usyk said: “I advise the US president Donald Trump to go to Ukraine and live in my house for one week, only a week.
“What is going on every night, every night, bombs above my house.”
You can watch the full clip below.
Pictured: Bodies of more than 1,000 soldiers returned to Ukraine
Russia has returned the bodies of more than 1,212 Ukrainian soldiers as part of a deal struck with Kyiv earlier this month.
The two sides agreed to repatriate the bodies of soldiers killed in the conflict during talks in Istanbul on June 2, which also resulted in an agreement to exchange prisoners of war, a process which got under way on Monday.
In a post on Telegram, the prison exchange coordination body said the exchange happened in an undisclosed location.
Photos of the scene show workers from the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) walking past several refrigerated trucks.
Poland charges citizen with spying for Russia
Poland has arrested and charged a citizen with spying for Russian intelligence services, the country’s prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Warsaw says its role as a hub for supplies to Ukraine has made it a target for spies and sabotage from Russia, which Moscow denies.
“The prosecutor charged the detained Polish citizen Wiktor Z. with declaring readiness to act for the intelligence of the Russian Federation and conducting activities for its benefit,” the State Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release.
These included collecting and transmitting information concerning, among other things, the functioning of facilities key to Poland’s defence, according to the statement, which did not elaborate.
“The suspect, Wiktor Z., is 28 years old and has higher education. According to the findings, he acted out of ideological motives and pro-Russian beliefs,” it added.
Kremlin says talks with US over improving ties ‘won’t yield quick results’
Talks with the US aimed at improving ties are not expected to yield quick results, Kremlin spokesman Dmistry Peskov has said.
“There are many obstacles in bilateral relations, and it is unlikely that we can hope for any quick results,” he told reporters.
Relations between Washington and Moscow have deteriorated after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The Biden administration provided Ukraine with consistent military and diplomatic support, though President Donald Trump has drawn criticism for attempting to improve relations with Moscow and suggesting Ukraine bears equal blame for the invasion.
However, Mr Trump recently voiced frustration about Russia’s war actions in Ukraine and the lack of progress towards a peace deal.
Zelensky condemns ‘vile’ Russian attack on Kharkiv
President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned Russia’s overnight drone strike on Kharkiv as “vile”.
In a post on social media, the Ukrainian president said recovery efforts were underway in the eastern city after a drone strike killed three people.
“Every new day now brings new vile Russian attacks, and almost every strike is telling,” he wrote.
“Russia deserves increased pressure, and it proves with every hit on ordinary life that the current pressure is not enough.
“We must not be afraid or postpone new decisions that could make things more difficult for Russia. Without this, they will not engage in genuine diplomacy.”
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic makes first-ever visit to Ukraine
Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic travelled to the Ukrainian city of Odesa for a regional summit on Wednesday, the first time the Moscow-friendly leader has visited the country during his 12 years in power.
In a statement, Vucic’s office said he would travel to Ukraine for one day to take part in the Ukraine-Southeastern Europe Summit in the Black Sea port of Odesa, which this week faced a major Russian drone and missile attack.
Senior politicians from 12 Southeastern European nations were expected to take part in the summit.
Serbia wants to join the European Union, but Russia, a traditional Slavic and Orthodox Christian ally, remains its biggest gas supplier, and the country’s sole oil refinery is majority-owned by Gazprom and Gazprom Neft.
Although Belgrade has refused to join Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, it has condemned Moscow’s policies in the United Nations and expressed support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Source: independent.co.uk
