In a first, Ukraine fires US-made weapon inside Russia – latest updates

European governments say Russia is spreading disinformation before the European Union holds an election to the European Parliament form June 6-9.

They say the actions of Moscow and pro-Kremlin actors are part of a wider campaign of interference designed to discredit European governments and destabilise the EU.

Moscow rejects the allegations which include:

• Disinformation, with alleged manipulation of the truth ranging from amplifying already-existing conspiracy theories to deepfake videos and the publication of falsehoods on ‘doppelganger’ sites created to look identical to bona fide sites.

• The Czech Republic said news website voiceofeurope.com had been leading a pro-Russian influence operation in Europe. A pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and businessman, Viktor Medvedchuk, covertly financed the Voice of Europe’s influence operations, it said.

• Belgium said Russian officials had paid European Parliament lawmakers to promote Russian propaganda in Europe.

Russian forces have lost 1,270 soldiers, 14 tanks, 22 armoured combat vehicles and 47 artillery systems over the past 24 hours, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

Last evening, the military officials said Russian and Ukrainian forces clashed 55 times over the course of the day. Russian forces undertook an unsuccessful assault near the village of Starytsia in Kharkiv oblast and carried out 10 airstrikes on the Kharkiv front.

A fake news report that appeared on Poland’s national news agency saying that Prime Minister Donald Tusk was mobilizing 200,000 men starting on July 1 was probably the work of Russia-sponsored hackers and was designed to interfere with the upcoming European Parliament election, authorities said.

“Everything indicates that we are dealing with a cyberattack directed from the Russian side,” said Krzysztof Gawkowski, a deputy prime minister who also holds the digital affairs portfolio. “The goal is disinformation ahead of (European Parliament) elections and a paralysis of the society.”

At least one person was killed and two others were injured in an overnight Russian attack on Kharkiv, the governor of the eastern Ukrainian region said today.

The civilian was killed and the two people were injured when a recreation complex was hit in the Zmiiv district, Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said on Telegram.

The Kharkiv region, which borders Russia, and the Kharkiv city which is administrative centre of the region, have been battered nearly daily, with attacks intensifying in recent weeks after Russian forces launched a new offensive in the area.

Donald Trump can become “loser president” if he imposes a bad peace deal on Ukraine and sides with his ally Vladimir Putin’s ceasefire plans, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Mr Zelensky said the former US president can force a crushing military defeat on Ukraine, end “support, weapons and money” Kyiv is getting to fight back the Russian invasion. Trump can also ‘make deals’ with Kyiv’s partners to stop deliveries of vital arms, he told The Guardian.

“Ukraine, barehanded, without weapons, will not be able to fight a multimillion [Russian] army,” he said.

“Does he want to become a loser president? Do you understand what can happen?” the Ukrainian president said.

Calling the ceasefire “a trap”, he added that the Russian president would violate any peace deal brokered by Mr Trump.

He added that the Russian president would “go further”, humiliating Mr Trump and make him look “very weak” on the global stage.

Ukraine’s air defence systems destroyed 24 of the 25 attack drones that Russia launched overnight, Ukraine’s air force said this morning.

Russia also launched an Iskander-K cruise missile towards Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and an anti-aircraft guided missile, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app.

It did not say what happened to the missiles.

Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Philippines president for backing Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as he reached Manila for a bilateral visit.

“I am grateful to the Philippines for supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, for its clear position on Russia’s aggression against our country, and for supporting important UN resolutions,” he said on X, sharing photos from his visit.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine intends to open an embassy in Manila this year “to strengthen bilateral cooperation”. “We discussed the inaugural Global Peace Summit and the importance of Southeast Asian countries being represented there,” he said.

“I am pleased that the Philippines will participate in the Summit. We also talked about bilateral cooperation, particularly Ukrainian agricultural exports to the Philippines,” Mr Zelensky said.

Ukraine imposed emergency power shutdowns in most of the country yesterday, a day after Russia unleashed large-scale attacks on energy infrastructure and claimed it made gains in the eastern Donetsk province.

The shutdowns were in place in all but three regions of Ukraine following Saturday’s drone and missile attack on energy targets that injured at least 19 people.

Ukraine’s state-owned power grid operator Ukrenergo said the shutdowns affected both industrial and household consumers.

Sustained Russian attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in recent weeks have forced the government to institute nationwide rolling blackouts. Without adequate air defences to counter assaults and allow for repairs, though, the shortages could still worsen as need spikes in late summer and the bitter-cold winter.

Created by Stepan Barna in the wake of the death on the front line of his older brother Oleh, its drone operators claim to have achieved more than 100 kills

Read Askold’s piece in full here:

Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his Philippine counterpart president Ferdinand Marcos Jr for Manila’s participation in an upcoming peace summit in Switzerland later this month.

Mr Zelensky made the remarks during his bilateral meeting with the Philippine leader. It was not immediately clear who would be in the Philippine delegation that attends the summit.