Ireland may have become a back door into the UK for Russian intelligence operatives. The reason behind it is the exploitation of Dublin's liberal visa policy and the lack of internal border controls within the Common Travel Area, The Telegraph reports.

Ireland is one of two EU member states outside the Schengen Area that have their own visa procedures. It belongs to the Common Travel Area, along with the UK, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, meaning that a Russian national who enters Ireland legally can cross to Britain.

Since Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, Ireland has issued 14,000 visas to Russian citizens with a 90% approval rate, and British officials have warned Dublin about the volume, MEP Barry Andrews, a former Irish Minister for Children, says.

“Ireland doesn’t have the most sophisticated intelligence services compared to the UK. The UK is worried that Ireland is a back door,” he states.

Quite lot of evidence already on file

Andrews says there's "quite a lot of evidence of nefarious activities by Russia in Ireland.”

The warning fits into a broader pattern of Russian intelligence using third-country footholds against Britain. In May 2025, a UK court sentenced six Bulgarian nationals to up to 10 years each for running a Russian intelligence cell directed by ex-Wirecard COO Jan Marsalek, with substantial Telegram and cryptocurrency evidence presented at trial.

July EU presidency puts Ireland in crosshairs

Ireland assumes the rotating presidency of the EU Council in July, a role that "puts a target on your back," Andrews says. He calls on Irish immigration officers to step up screening of Russian and Belarusian applicants, including checking social media profiles and conducting in-person interviews, and urged a thorough review of the current visa-issuance process.

“Ireland is in the crosshairs and I think it’s the right time for us to have a proper X-ray of granting visas to Russians and Belarusians,” he states.

Broader European intelligence warning

Andrews's call comes alongside accelerating warnings from European intelligence services about Russian hybrid activity across the continent: three European intelligence agencies in February documented Russian operatives buying properties near military bases across the EU.

A 31 May BelPol investigation mapped more than 100 Belarusian KGB and GRU officers operating in 40 countries under diplomatic cover, with many of them also tasked by Russian intelligence.

A Russian drone destroyed the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Zakitne, Donetsk Oblast, by dropping an incendiary munition onto its roof on 30 May, Ukraine's 81st Separate Airmobile "Slobozhansky" Brigade reported the following day.

The 81st Brigade's chaplain, Father Yaroslav, had conducted services in this church before the village reached the frontline. Zakitne's parish has now been physically destroyed twice in living memory: by the Soviet anti-religious campaign of the 1930s, and by Russia in 2026.

Same weapon used on dugouts

The Russian operators used a drone-dropped incendiary munition, the same kind of weapon Russian forces typically use to target dugouts and wooden buildings, the 81st Brigade noted.

Incendiaries set the structure ablaze on contact rather than relying on blast effects, as wooden parish architecture common across Donetsk Oblast is especially vulnerable. 

Chaplain who used to serve there

"I hoped that the church in the village would stand to the end and that after liberation by our soldiers, I could return there, but the Russians... God will judge them," Father Yaroslav, chaplain of the 81st Airmobile Brigade, said.

He had conducted services at the church when Zakitne was still a rear territory rather than a frontline village.

Built in 2010, after Soviets destroyed first

The current building was designed and constructed in 2009–2010 and was consecrated on 31 July 2010, the village's second attempt at a parish church, after the original was destroyed during the Soviet anti-religious campaign of the 1930s, the brigade noted.

Russia has continued patterns of religious targeting that Soviet authority pioneered: persecution of clergy and parishes in occupied territory has been documented since 2014, Euromaidan Press detailed in coverage of an early Institute for Religious Freedom report.

Ukraine pressed its campaign against Russia's oil industry overnight, striking a major refinery and a key pipeline hub deep inside Russian territory, the Ukrainian General Staff confirmed. The two targets lay in different regions, hundreds of kilometers apart. Together, they hit two parts of one chain: where crude becomes fuel, and where it moves toward export. Another strike targeted an oil depot next to occupied Ukraine.

The refinery in Saratov

Overnight on 31 May, drones struck the Saratov oil refinery, a plant owned by Russia's state oil company Rosneft. The General Staff said units of Ukraine's Defense Forces hit the facility and reported a large-scale fire. 

Russian Telegram channel Astra geolocated the blaze to the refinery's tank farm. Ukrainian channel Exilenova+ said a drone likely hit the isomerization unit. OSINT channel Falcon Insight mapped damage across several key processing units.

Saratov governor Roman Busargin claimed only "civilian infrastructure" was damaged and did not mention the refinery. 

The plant has been hit before. After a March strike, it halted operations, part of a campaign that has repeatedly returned to the same site.

The pipeline hub in Kirov Oblast

The second target was the Lazarevo linear production and dispatch station (LPDS). An LPDS pumps and stores crude as it travels through a trunk pipeline.

Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SOF) said its drones hit the station, which lies almost 1,200 kilometers from Ukraine's border. Serhii Sternenko, an adviser to Ukraine's defense minister, also reported the strike.

What makes Lazarevo valuable is where its pipes lead. The station pushes Western Siberian crude toward the Baltic export port of Primorsk and on to Belarus. The General Staff said it feeds the Surgut-Gorky-Polotsk trunk line. Lazarevo also connects to the Druzhba system, letting Russia move oil between its two largest pipelines in European Russia.

That junction is the point. By hitting it, Ukraine targets Russia's ability to reroute crude around earlier strikes. A comparable Transneft pumping station near Perm burned in April. The station operates large storage tanks of 20,000 and 50,000 cubic meters. Kirov governor Aleksandr Sokolov claimed a drone hit an unnamed enterprise in the Urzhum district, with no casualties.

The wider night of strikes

Ukraine also struck an oil depot at Matveev Kurgan in Rostov Oblast, near the border. SOF called it the Agroprodukt depot, with large tanks and rail and road loading terminals. Exilenova+ reported the depot was hit. Rostov governor Yuri Slyusar claimed "falling debris" started the fire and said residents were evacuated.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it shot down 216 drones over nine Russian oblasts, Krasnodar Krai, occupied Crimea, and the Sea of Azov.

Ukraine's Third Army Corps has declared an operation putting Russian supply lines across occupied Luhansk Oblast under the fire of its strike drones, the unit announced. Its pilots ranged deep over the occupied region toward the Russian border and hit the logistics that sustain Russia's hold there. The Corps cast the move as an answer to Russia's claims of having fully captured the oblast, though a single operation does not amount to lasting control.

Drones crossing occupied Luhansk unopposed

The Corps released footage from the raid. Footage features drones flying over occupied Luhansk city without resistance, passing the city's main landmarks, including the circus, a downtown hotel, and the main avenue.

The video then cuts to Russian vehicles being struck on the oblast's highways.

More than 205 kilometers to the Russian border

Pilots of the unmanned systems battalion reached the Izvaryne checkpoint on the Russian border. That lies over 205 kilometers inside the territory Russia holds. Along the routes, they struck armored vehicles and ammunition depots, the Corps reported.

Brigadier General Andrii Biletsky, the Corps commander, tied the strikes to Russian boasts. 

"In response to the enemy's statements about the complete capture of Luhansk Oblast, we announce an operation to control logistics routes in Luhansk Oblast and Eastern Slobozhanshchyna. Luhansk, Starobilsk, Alchevsk, Brianka, and Kadiivka are now under the control of the Third Army Corps' drones," he said.

Eastern Slobozhanshchyna is a historical borderland of northeastern Ukraine and southwestern Russia, including most of Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts, as well as parts of Donetsk Oblast and of the nearby Russian regions. 

The pilot who grew up in Luhansk

The operation was planned and led by a strike-drone platoon commander with the call sign "Skhid" ("East"), a native of Luhansk Oblast, the Corps said. In 2022, he got into besieged Mariupol. After the city's defense ended, he made his way alone to Ukrainian-held territory. For that, he holds the title Hero of Ukraine.

Russia has launched the first 16 satellites of its "Rassvet" ("Dawn") constellation, a state-backed bid by the private aerospace company Bureau 1440 to build a domestic alternative to SpaceX's Starlink. However, the project remains at an early stage and has not been confirmed for military use, Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, advisor to Ukraine's Minister of Defense, says. 

The constellation is Russia's path to satellite-communications autonomy after SpaceX cut off the company's Starlink terminals that Russian forces had illegally used in late January 2026. The shutdown collapsed Russia's frontline command-and-control system in many sectors.

"It would be unwise to think they wouldn't pursue this direction," Flash stresses.

16 satellites today, 200-plus needed for stability

For continuous, stable satellite communications, Flash estimated that 200–250 satellites are needed in orbit. The 16 now circling are not enough.

For comparison, Starlink currently operates over 9,000.

"No adequate countermeasures"

The advisor was direct about Ukraine's options.

"I have no idea who in our country... is tracking this project and thinking about possible problems. I can only speak for myself. From day one of the war, I've been collecting all information on this topic," Flash says. 

He flags that there is no good way to counter Rassvet at this stage: striking Russian cosmodromes such as Plesetsk, Vostochny, or Baikonur with Ukrainian drones would be "nonsense," he said.

Ukraine's working method is monitoring through satellite traffic, intelligence, and trophies recovered on the battlefield.

6–10 minute window and Shahed scenario

Each Rassvet satellite currently in orbit passes over Ukraine roughly once a day, offering a 6–10-minute window for high-speed data transmission, Flash explains.

Theoretically, Russia could mount satellite terminals on Shahed strike drones and time launches to the passes, but coordinating that, with so few satellites in orbit, is "too complex organizationally," and military use will not begin until the constellation is dense enough for stable connectivity.

In May, Ukrainian drone commander Robert "Madiar" Brovdi warned that Russia could establish an alternative communication network along the entire frontline within a year, Euromaidan Press reported.

"If military use of Rassvet satellites begins," Flash wrote, "we'll detect it by satellite traffic, by intelligence, or by trophies."

The European Union may freeze its cap on Russian oil prices rather than let an automatic formula loosen it, Bloomberg reported. The step would anchor the bloc's 21st sanctions package, aimed at draining Moscow's energy income and cutting its access to war supplies. Driving the rethink is a problem Brussels never designed the system for: a war in the Middle East.

Why freeze instead of cut

The bloc adopted a moving target last year. Every six months, the cap resets to 15% below the average market price for Russian Urals crude. That formula now sits at $44.10 a barrel, the same line the EU, UK, and others hold. When crude trades above it, European firms cannot insure or carry the cargo.

Washington's Iran war changed the math. With prices high and the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut, the July review would likely lift the ceiling to at least $65 a barrel, above the old $60 G7 level. A freeze would instead lock the current level in place. Officials are weighing two fallbacks as well: suspend the automatic rises through year-end, or hold any increase to the old G7 figure.

Explore further

EU’s 21st Russia sanctions package will target the shadow fleet, banks, and firms selling stolen Ukrainian grain—Politico

What else the package targets

The freeze would be part of a wider round of measures the bloc wants to put forward in early June. New listings would target additional banks, refineries, oil traders, and the crypto desks abroad that help push Russian crude past the cap.

About 20 more tankers from Russia's shadow fleet would face blacklisting, the aging vessels Moscow uses to ship oil around the rules. Eventually, the bloc would stretch that net to ships hauling liquefied natural gas, closing off a gas shadow fleet before it forms. A full ban on maritime services stays off the table for now, as several member states remain wary amid the Middle East's churn.

Brussels would also squeeze the supply side. Export controls could land on about two dozen firms in China, India, Türkiye, and Central Asia, accused of feeding Russia restricted goods. Trade curbs are in play for metals, ores, and the critical minerals that feed Russian aerospace and the drones hitting Ukrainian cities.

The bloc is also working to shield Euroclear, the Brussels clearing house, after a Moscow court ruling opened the door for Russia's central bank to claim its assets. Most of the roughly €210 billion ($245 billion) in immobilized Russian central-bank funds sits there.

Who is fighting in the Ukrainian Army? Meet Oleksii, with the call sign "Molot" or "Hammer", a fourth-generation career military officer with 28 years in uniform, UN peacekeeping deployments to African countries on his record, and a stint as head sergeant of Ukraine's Land Forces Command Directorate, according to the 210th Separate Assault Regiment. 

Molot retired in 2021. He could have stayed out of the full-scale war that broke out nine months later. Instead, he demanded mobilization. 

"If we don't fight now, there's a big chance our children will have to," he said.

In Congo: 95 against 4,500

"In Congo, there were 95 of us. We stood in the way of around 4,500 rebels. We managed to avoid direct contact," Oleksii recalled of one deployment with the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The arithmetic is striking even decades on — a small Ukrainian contingent fronting a force roughly 47 times its size, holding the position by presence alone.

Ukraine was a regular contributor to UN peacekeeping over the past three decades. Thousands of Ukrainian troops served on missions across Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East before the country needed them all at home.

Modern technology changes everything except endurance

The 28-year career left him fluent in a kind of warfare that has been almost completely rewritten since 2022. Modern technology has changed the rules of combat, he said, but a cold mind and endurance remain the bedrock of every operation.

Drones and electronic warfare are layered on top of the older basics, but the older basics don't go away.

We won't live in a cage"

"We'll win through Ukrainian stubbornness and love of freedom," Oleksii said, adding that Ukrainians are free people and "won't live in a cage."

Earlier, Ukraine's Presidential Office reported that it was developing its first strategy to expand relations and presence on the African continent. Meanwhile, Russia continues to rely on African soldiers fighting in the war amid no decision on full-scale mobilization by the state. 

German defense company Quantum Systems, a major supplier to Ukraine's frontline reconnaissance fleet, is developing an experimental electric drone capable of speeds over 650 km/h in horizontal flight. It uses bespoke battery cells from V4Smart GmbH, a Porsche AG subsidiary, and says the technology will feed development of a high-speed interceptor, Defense Express writes.

Speed is the bottleneck for anti-drone interceptors. Russia's newest Shahed-style strike drones, including jet-powered Geran variants, can reach speeds of 400 to 500 km/h and higher. 

Ukraine doubled its 2025 interceptor production in just the first four months of 2026. Quantum Systems CEO Florian Seibel's racing project, aimed at the official world record for an electric drone, is also the company's first public bid to close the speed gap.

Record chase, with Porsche-subsidiary batteries

The current official record sits at 657.59 km/h, set by South African brothers Luke and Mike Bell with their Peregreen V4 drone in December 2025.

Australian developers Ben Biggs and Aidan Kelly have claimed a speed of 730 km/h for their Blackbird drone this year, but the result has not been officially certified.

Quantum Systems is targeting the 700 km/h mark with a "racing" platform built around exclusive components — chief among them the V4Smart battery cells from Porsche.

Quantum's Ukraine ties, and Wild Hornets at 315 km/h

Quantum Systems is deeply embedded in Ukraine's drone economy: it operates production facilities in Ukraine, turning out roughly 80 Vector reconnaissance drones a month, and runs 24/7 operator support out of its Australian office.

This week, Ukraine's Defense Forces set the all-time daily record in the number of destroyed Russian vehicles since the full-scale war began, Ukrainian General Staff data shows. On 29 May, Kyiv forces neutralized 483 Russian vehicles. 

The figures put numbers on what Ukrainian commanders and the Defense Ministry have been calling a "logistics lockdown". It is a coordinated campaign to scale up medium-range drone strikes against Russian supply convoys, depots, command nodes, and air defense systems 20–200 kilometers behind the front.

What does record mean? 

The figure pushed Russia's cumulative motor-transport losses to 100,713 since February 2022, with 7,704 vehicles destroyed in May alone, a monthly tally that military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko of the Informational Resistance group expects to clear 8,000 by month's end.

The May 2026 surge is part of a sharp acceleration that began in March, Kovalenko noted, with each of the past three months setting fresh records. 

Ukraine's "Logistics lockdown" campaign in action

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and General Staff formalized the campaign on 27 May, announcing a $113 million program to channel funds directly to brigades hitting Russian logistics, depots, equipment, and command posts at operational depth.

Western analysts have called the result the most significant operational development of the past week: Australian military strategist Mick Ryan, in his 31 May Substack titled "Highway to Hell," wrote that the program "has entered a new phase of scale and ambition."

What 483 vehicles look like on the ground

The destruction is visible in occupied southern Ukraine. On 31 May, residents of occupied Mariupol reported that Russia had closed the Mangush-Berdiansk highway, diverting traffic onto a jammed coastal alternative via Urzuf.

The day before, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) released footage of drone strikes on Russian fuel tankers, trucks, and a trailer along the Crimea–Donetsk corridor between Berdiansk, Melitopol, and Dzhankoi, Euromaidan Press reported on 29 May.

The 412th Nemesis Brigade has separately announced a "massive hunt" on Russian logistics in the south using strike "wings" developed in cooperation with the manufacturer.

Russia has closed the Manhush-Berdiansk highway in occupied southern Ukraine after Ukrainian drone strikes on its logistics, residents of occupied Mariupol report in local chat groups, Vilne Radio wrote on 31 May. Drivers attempting the route between the two occupied cities have been turned back. Some say the section has been shut for several days.

The closure is one of the first civilian-visible signs that Ukraine's accelerating campaign against Russian logistics in the south is reshaping daily life behind the line of contact.

Russian forces are now denying their own occupied roads to keep them clear of Ukrainian strike drones, and pushing the displaced traffic onto a single coastal alternative that local residents say is already jammed.

Cars routed onto Urzuf, where trucks are stuck

The Manhush-Berdiansk highway is part of the Russian-held land corridor along the Sea of Azov coast linking occupied Crimea to Russian-held Donetsk Oblast.

With the main route closed, drivers are detouring through the coastal village of Urzuf, where, according to Mariupol residents, large columns of trucks have backed up, and entry is reportedly restricted to those with local residency permits.

"We try not to drive unnecessarily, though we used to commute to Mariupol every day," a local resident wrote on social media.

412th Nemesis Brigade announces "massive hunt"

The closures coincide with a public announcement from the 412th Nemesis Brigade, one of Ukraine's most decorated drone units, that it has joined with the Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) in a "massive 'hunt'" for Russian logistics in the south.

The brigade's priority targets are Russian military equipment and supplies in what Moscow calls its "deep rear."

The unit is using strike "wings" that have not previously appeared in public — fixed-wing platforms developed in close cooperation with the manufacturer, "ideally adapted" for the task, the brigade announced on its Facebook page.

The same brigade destroyed an estimated $300 million worth of Russian air defense equipment in a single week in January, Euromaidan Press reported at the time.

HUR's "fire-show" on same corridor

The route-closure reports come a day after Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) released video of drone strikes on Russian fuel tankers, trucks, and a trailer along the same Crimea-Donetsk corridor — between Berdiansk, Melitopol, and Dzhankoi.

"Fire-show continues. More to come," HUR reported on 29 May.

The town of Manhush itself has been a target: in April, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces struck the logistics base of Russia's classified "Rubikon" drone center there.

On a foggy day on the Novopavlivka axis last winter, Russian infantry tried to slip through a tree line under the cover of mist, ArmyInform reports. A Ukrainian ground robotic complex called "Liut" or "Fury" drove out to the firing line, opened up with a Belgian FN MAG machine gun, and pinned the assault to the ground. Then Ukrainian artillery and FPV drones finished it.

The Liut and its operators belong to the ground robotic systems company of Ukraine's 42nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, one of a growing number of Ukrainian units that now run unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) as routine combat and logistics platforms.

On heavily-droned axes like Novopavlivka, stretching across the administrative borders of western Donetsk Oblast and eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, the alternative is sending people in pickup trucks — and that increasingly no longer works. 

Belgian FN MAG on Ukrainian "Liut"

"We set up a position not far from the contact line. When the need arose, 'Liut' drove out to the firing line. We worked 'in suppression' along the tree-line through which the enemy infantry was moving. That let us pin them to the ground," company commander Vasyl recounted.

The mission ran through the entire ammunition load.

"We were worried the machine gun might jam, but luckily that didn't happen," he added.

Platoon commander "Artas" added that the FN MAG, properly maintained, is reliable enough for both suppression and aimed fire. The same UGVs have killed Russian "stayers" hiding in the gray zone and downed an enemy Mavic that hovered too close.

"The operator picked it up and tore it apart," Artas said.

"It's Glovo on maxxed-out settings"

Combat is the smaller share of the work. Most of what the company does is logistics, and on the Novopavlivka axis, Russian drone density has made pickup-truck runs to forward positions effectively suicidal, turning UGVs into the brigade's main supply method.

"It's Glovo on maxxed-out settings," joked a pilot with the call sign "Milfar", steering a "Tarakan 200" carrying fuel and provisions to a forward position.

Missions run from a few hours to several days. Pilots regularly sit still for hours, waiting for Russian drones to leave the area before continuing.

200 kg to position no one had reached for 10 days

The robots deliver food, water, fuel, and ammunition to whichever sub-units of the brigade need them, Vasyl said, and they carry more than the heaviest quadcopters can.

"Compared with heavy drones, UGVs can deliver more cargo in a single mission. From 200 kilograms and up. We once hauled a ton to positions in one run," said Vasyl.

Casualty evacuation is part of the workload, too: the company has pulled out three wounded soldiers and two killed on its platforms. Artas tells one story that has stayed with him.

"There was a position no one could deliver provisions to for 10 days. We broke through and brought them 200 kilograms of everything they needed," added the platoon commander.

Kamikaze UGV and evacuation drone for stuck robots

The 42nd's robot company keeps experimenting. It is currently building its first kamikaze UGV, which is a small platform carrying explosives, and an evacuation robot designed to retrieve other UGVs that have been hit or stuck behind the line of contact.

Ukraine began tracking destroyed Russian ground robots in May as a separate line in its losses ledger, with an initial count of 1,306 units, Euromaidan Press noted earlier this month.

Russia fired more than 2,300 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs, and 108 missiles of various types at Ukraine over the past week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says. He also confirms that Ukraine had received a new IRIS-T launcher from Germany the previous day.

The arithmetic of air defense remains brutal: Russia fires hundreds of weapons on cities and villages, while Ukraine's Patriot air defense systems are running on rationed missile stocks. The shortage extends across other Western systems. Meanwhile, Russia continues to hit "ordinary civilian infrastructure — residential buildings, energy," says the Ukrainian president. 

Zelenskyy was direct about the bottleneck: "We also need missiles for the air defense systems, to have enough capability to repel Russian attacks."

What does IRIS-T launcher do? 

IRIS-T is a modern surface-to-air missile defense system manufactured by the German company Diehl Defence. The system is designed to engage aircraft, helicopters, drones, and cruise missiles, Ukraine's Defense Ministry reports. 

The high-tech IRIS-T missiles are capable of rapid maneuvering, engaging targets both head-on and in pursuit, and are equipped with highly sensitive infrared seekers. They can intercept modern aircraft, overcome their defensive countermeasures, and distinguish real targets from decoys.

Currently, two versions of the IRIS-T system are in service:

• IRIS-T SLS (Short-Range) – range of up to 12 km and altitude of up to 8 km.
• IRIS-T SLM (Medium-Range) – range of up to 40 km and altitude of up to 20 km.

"We need missiles": Sweden, PURL, and interceptor gap

Zelenskyy notes that Ukraine this week secured a new support package from Sweden, including reinforcement of Ukrainian aviation with Gripen fighter jets, and reported fresh contributions to the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program.

"We are counting on both the US and European partners. Anti-ballistic defense is one of the key priorities for Ukraine," he said.

Strong air defense, he added, "can give more protection to our people and deprive Russia of its last advantage."

He closed with a line: "It is very important that there be understanding: choosing war will have consequences."

Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) says its long-range drones can now travel up to 3,500 kilometers, a reach that would place every region of European Russia — and targets as far east as Krasnoyarsk in Siberia — inside the strike envelope of Kyiv's deep-strike campaign in Russia's war on Ukraine.

The claim came from a HUR operator using the call sign "Vector," who leads a long-range drone group and spoke to Ukraine's 24 Kanal. "Any territory of Russia up to the Urals is reachable for us," he said, adding that Ukrainian unmanned aircraft that once struggled to fly 1,000 kilometers are now launched in the hundreds.

Two drones doing the work of missiles

The backbone of the effort, Vector said, is the "Liutyi," the first Ukrainian deep-strike drone to fly past 1,000 kilometers on a routine basis. Crews said the Liutyi now ranges 1,500 to 1,700 kilometers depending on wind and carries a warhead of 50 to 70 kilograms.

A newer system, the jet-powered "Peklo," behaves more like a cruise missile. An operator using the call sign "Logist" said the drone moves at 700 to 1,000 kilometers per hour and can reach Moscow, roughly 800 kilometers away, with enough precision to enter the window of a targeted building.

Crews also fly warhead-free decoy drones to saturate Russian air defenses, and said no two missions are alike, with new designs tested in the field before being scaled across other Ukrainian units.

Russia's layered defenses "broken"

HUR operators described a planning cycle that begins with mapping Russian air defenses — including Pantsir and Tor systems — and electronic-warfare coverage, then converting an approved tactical objective into a flight plan loaded onto the drone.

Two years ago, Vector said, Russia's echeloned defense made strikes far harder. Now, he argued, that layering is "broken," leaving wide windows and corridors through which hundreds of drones reach their targets faster than Moscow can rebuild its networks.

The interview surfaced as Russia's deep rear absorbed an unprecedented warning. On 29 May 2026, authorities issued a missile-danger alert across the entire Ural Federal District for the first time since the full-scale invasion began, reaching the Yamal Peninsula more than 2,000 kilometers from Ukraine.

A claim that outruns the confirmed record

The 3,500-kilometer figure remains a capability claim rather than a demonstrated strike. Ukraine's confirmed long-range record stands at roughly 1,750 kilometers — the SBU's February 2026 attack on the Ukhta refinery in Russia's Komi Republic. A verified 3,500-kilometer strike would carry Ukrainian drones nearly to Krasnoyarsk, deep in Siberia.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has urged NATO allies to take seriously a fresh warning from a senior Russian official that drones will keep entering European airspace, after a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in Romania.

"Poland, the Baltic states, and now Romania. Russian provocations are growing ever more frequent," Tusk wrote on 30 May on the social platform X, adding that all NATO members should "finally start taking these facts and words seriously."

He was responding to remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, who warned, according to Reuters, that "wandering" drones would continue to fly into European territory and that EU citizens, as residents of "warring countries," would no longer sleep peacefully. "Let them get ready: this will continue. There is a war on," Medvedev said.

Moscow's threats and disputed origin

Medvedev claimed it was still unclear which country the drone that struck Romania belonged to, while telling EU leaders to drop their indignation because their states were "directly involved in the war against Russia." He suggested such incidents could recur near sites in Europe where drones are produced for Ukraine — echoing an April move in which Russia's Defense Ministry published purported addresses of plants it called "potential targets."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking to reporters in Kazakhstan, said he had "just heard" about the Romanian incident and that its origin could not be established "without an examination," suggesting the drone may prove to be Ukrainian. The first reaction to such drones, he said, is "always panic," before they turn out to be Ukrainian.

Romanian authorities reject that account. President Nicușor Dan said a Russian "Geran-2" drone hit the building in Galați, declared Russia's consul general in Constanța persona non grata, and ordered the consulate closed, calling it the most serious incident on Romanian soil since the start of Russia's war on Ukraine. Dan convened the Supreme Council of National Defence, discussed the strike with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and notified the UN Security Council.

The Galați strike

The drone struck overnight on 28-29 May amid a Russian assault on Ukraine's Odesa Oblast, with one UAV crossing into Romania and slamming into a 10-story residential block in Galați, the country's Defense Ministry reported. It caused minor injuries to 2 people and forced about 70 residents to evacuate. Fighter jets on patrol over the country had clearance to act but did not down the drone. Prosecutors in Galați have since opened a criminal investigation, with one line of inquiry treating the impact as attempted aggravated murder.

Romanian Foreign Minister Oana-Silvia Țoiu called the drone Russian, summoned Moscow's ambassador in Bucharest, and said Russia bore "direct responsibility" for what she described as a serious and irresponsible breach of international law and Romanian airspace. Bucharest briefed EU and NATO partners and asked them to speed up the transfer of anti-drone capabilities. Romania's Defense Ministry says drone debris has been recovered on its territory on 47 occasions since Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in 2022.

Allies rally behind Bucharest

NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart condemned what she called Russia's recklessness, saying the alliance was in contact with Romanian authorities and would keep strengthening its defenses against all threats, including drones. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russia had "crossed yet another line," pledged solidarity with Romania, and noted a 21st sanctions package in preparation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the drone formed part of the assault on Odesa Oblast, called for tougher measures against Moscow.

The episode adds to a run of incursions across the alliance's eastern flank that Estonia has attributed to deliberate Russian redirection of drones launched at Ukraine.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declined to say whether Washington will expand deliveries of interceptor missiles for Ukraine's Patriot systems, telling reporters on the sidelines of a security forum in Singapore on 30 May that the United States would "find a way" to help Kyiv defend itself.

Hegseth was responding to a question about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's recent appeal for more Patriot munitions. He gave no direct answer on whether a decision had been taken, instead pointing to an overhaul of US weapons manufacturing.

"We are changing the way we produce all of these critical munitions, so our companies deliver not just a little more, but significantly more across the board," Hegseth said.

"Find a way to provide what's needed"

The Pentagon chief stressed that Washington helps Ukraine where it can and is pressing European allies to shoulder a larger share of support. "Where we can help Ukraine, we do. Where we can enable Europe to do more, we do that too," he said.

Hegseth praised European partners' efforts and said Ukraine must be able to defend itself against Russian strikes. "We want Ukraine to be able to defend itself, and we will find a way to provide the help it needs," he said, without confirming any increase in Patriot interceptor supplies.

Zelenskyy's letter to Trump and Congress

The remarks follow an urgent letter Zelenskyy sent to US President Donald Trump and members of Congress on 26 May, first reported by the Kyiv Independent and confirmed by presidential communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn. In it, Zelenskyy asked for accelerated supplies of Patriot PAC-3 interceptors, warning that Ukraine relies "almost exclusively" on the United States to stop ballistic missiles and that its stockpiles are running low.

Ukraine's Ambassador to Washington, Olha Stefanishyna, said the appeal — distributed to the White House and Congress — followed Russia's massive 24 May assault on Kyiv. The letter also flagged that the current pace of deliveries through the NATO-backed Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) no longer matches the threat, and offered to expand joint Patriot production with US allies under American control.

Strikes and Russian threats

The Ukrainian Air Force said the 24 May barrage involved roughly 90 missiles and 600 drones, with Kyiv the main target. The strike marked the third combat use of Russia's Oreshnik missile in the war on Ukraine.

A day after the attack, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced what it called "systematic strikes" on military-industrial sites and "decision-making centers" in Kyiv and urged foreign diplomats to leave the city — warnings Western missions, including the EU delegation, have publicly rejected.

Estonia has switched on its first fixed drone-detection equipment along its land border with Russia, the Interior Ministry announced on 30 May, opening what officials describe as the first phase of a surveillance network meant to span the country's entire eastern frontier by the end of 2026.

The initial systems were installed at 3 sections of the southeastern land border, including near the Luhamaa checkpoint, where the borders of Estonia, Latvia, and Russia meet. The equipment is already running, the ministry said.

"The first devices are already installed and operating. Of course, this is only the beginning," Interior Minister Igor Taro said, describing the rollout as proof that earlier preparatory work had paid off. He linked the timing to recent intrusions, saying Estonia had "assessed the risks very realistically" when planning the capability.

Wider barrier and procurement underway

On 29 May 2026, the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) briefed Taro on construction near Saatse-Saapa and on the state of monitoring systems being installed along the Piusa River. The PPA is now running procurement for equipment to cover further sections, the ministry said, with preparatory work on or ahead of schedule.

The deployment forms part of a broader Estonian effort, reported in regional media as a "drone wall," to layer acoustic sensors, radars, optical systems, and electronic-warfare tools along the roughly 294-kilometer border with Russia. Taro has previously estimated the full build-out could cost about €500 million, partly financed by the European Union.

Months of Baltic airspace breaches

The investment follows a wave of drone incursions across NATO's eastern flank tied to Russia's war on Ukraine. On 19 May 2026, a fighter jet on NATO patrol shot down a stray Ukrainian strike drone over Estonia — the first such interception over Estonian territory — and a day later Lithuania closed Vilnius airport after a drone was tracked from Belarus.

Ukrainian officials say their drones target sites inside Russia but are knocked off course by Russian electronic warfare. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has argued that Moscow deliberately steers those drones into NATO airspace to erode Western support for Kyiv, a claim several allied ministers have echoed. Estonia has also pressed Ukraine to tighten control over its long-range drones, while Baltic governments have turned to Ukrainian firms for bomb-shelter expertise.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs has urged the EU to weigh extra financial support for border regions hit by drone incursions linked to the war.

Japan has joined the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), allocating $14,658,000 — roughly ¥2.2 billion — to buy American-made non-lethal equipment for Ukraine, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on 29 May. The funding comes from Tokyo's FY2025 supplementary budget.

The contribution covers a PURL package limited exclusively to non-lethal gear, with the specific list of supplies to be coordinated with NATO. Japanese officials said the aid would likely mirror Tokyo's earlier payments into NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) trust fund for Ukraine, the alliance's long-running channel for non-combat support.

"Japan will continue to support Ukraine in order to achieve a just and lasting peace and intends to strengthen cooperation between Japan and NATO," the ministry said.

Zelenskyy thanks Tokyo and 11 other contributors

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Japan for the contribution, noting that Tokyo has aided Ukraine substantially since Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine. Writing on X, he said this year's PURL backers also include Norway, the Netherlands, Canada, Bulgaria, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Iceland.

Zelenskyy added that some contributions were made privately, that total pledges since the start of the year stand at roughly $1.5 billion, and that 28 countries now participate in PURL.

Japan's involvement extends beyond financing. Its Defense Ministry confirmed that the country will, for the first time, send four officers to the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) mission in Wiesbaden, Germany, deepening Tokyo's operational ties to the alliance's coordination hub for Kyiv.

From denial to participation

Japan's entry follows months of mixed signals. In February 2026, broadcaster NHK reported, citing unnamed NATO representatives, that Tokyo planned to join PURL by financing non-lethal defense equipment — a report the Japanese government initially denied.

The shift was enabled by Tokyo's revision of its "three principles of defense equipment transfer." Defense equipment is now sorted into "weapon" and "non-weapon" categories by lethality. Exports of non-lethal items such as radar early-warning and control systems face no restrictions, while lethal exports — including destroyers and missiles — are permitted only to the 17 countries, among them the United States and the United Kingdom, that have signed information-protection agreements with Japan.

On 1 May 2026, Ukraine's ambassador to Tokyo, Yuriy Lutovinov, said Japan could help fund Ukraine's development of a domestic air-defense system to reduce reliance on US-made Patriot missiles. He also argued that Japanese firms could help Kyiv diversify sources of the electronics and microcomponents needed for the thousands of drones deployed along the front.

What PURL is

The United States and NATO signed the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List on 14 July 2025, creating a mechanism for European and partner states to fund purchases of American weapons for Ukraine. Secretary General Mark Rutte has said the arrangement can deliver large quantities of air-defense systems, missiles, and ammunition.

Early contributors set the template: the Netherlands financed an initial €500 million package, while Denmark committed about 580 million Danish kroner, Sweden $275 million, and Norway roughly $135 million; Germany also joined. First deliveries reached Ukraine on 18 September 2025, a NATO representative told Suspilne. After meeting Rutte on 24 September, Zelenskyy said the program had drawn $2.1 billion in its first two months. By 3 December 2025, Rutte said allies and partners had committed more than $4 billion through the mechanism.

Ukraine and Canada have signed a government-to-government arrangement to manufacture Ukrainian reconnaissance drones on Canadian soil, with the finished aircraft bound for Ukraine's Defense Forces, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense announced on 29 May 2026.

The agreement establishes a new 50-50 joint venture, Airlogix-Sentinel, pairing Ukrainian defense-tech company Airlogix with Sentinel Research and Development, a Hamilton-based manufacturer of uncrewed aerial systems. Defense officials from both countries signed the arrangement at CANSEC, Canada's premier defense and emerging-technology event, held this week in Ottawa. Minister of National Defence David J. McGuinty co-signed alongside his Ukrainian counterparts.

Combat-tested designs, Canadian airframes

Under the deal, Sentinel will be subcontracted to build airframes for the drones, drawing on an intellectual-property licensing agreement with Airlogix that remains subject to export controls. Sentinel's flagship product is the Rekam, a multi-role fixed-wing system, alongside a vertical-takeoff Rekam Ascent and a jet-powered Rekam Echo. Neither Kyiv nor Ottawa has specified which systems will be produced in Canada, and the number of drones and the delivery timeline have not been determined.

Airlogix chief commercial officer Dmytro Piatrin told reporters the goal is to deliver effective systems to Ukraine's army as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Defense framed the project as a way to accelerate the supply of reconnaissance and operation-planning equipment to front-line units in Russia's war on Ukraine.

Rooted in Carney's drone pledge

The venture grows out of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's August 2025 commitment to invest in drones, counter-drone capabilities, and electronic warfare, including through partnerships between Canadian and Ukrainian industry. It was structured through the Department of National Defence's Directorate of Military Assistance Coordination, which began working with Sentinel after Canada signed a letter of intent with Ukraine in August 2025 to finance joint production of military equipment in Canada.l

The deal also reflects Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's "Build with Ukraine" initiative, launched in June 2025 to help diversify the country's supply chain. "Canada is proud to deepen its defence partnership with Ukraine," McGuinty said.

Part of a widening Canadian commitment

Ottawa says it has provided more than C$25 billion in military and non-military assistance to Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion, with some C$2 billion in military assistance planned for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Earlier in May, Carney announced an additional $200 million for weapons procurement channeled through the multinational Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List program.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Armenia could face a "Ukrainian scenario" over its European integration ambitions, speaking at a press conference after the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) summit in Astana on 29 May, The Moscow Times reported.

During the press conference, Putin also responded to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys, who had said that NATO would be capable of completely destroying Russian bases in Kaliningrad Oblast in the event of a conflict. The Russian leader replied that Moscow would raze to the ground anyone who attempted such a strike.

Commenting on Yerevan's EU aspirations, the Kremlin leader drew a parallel with Ukraine, claiming that "the crisis in Ukraine began with attempts by Ukraine to join the EU" and that Moscow had not objected at the time.

Years of strain between Moscow and Yerevan

Relations between Russia and Armenia have been in deep crisis. Yerevan has accused Moscow of failing to meet its security obligations and has moved noticeably closer to the West, effectively freezing its participation in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization. At an earlier press conference in May, Putin had already pressed Armenia to hold a referendum choosing between the EAEU and the EU, framing a split as a "soft, intelligent and mutually beneficial divorce" — a characterization Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan rejected, saying Armenia had no plans for such a vote. Pashinyan skipped the Astana summit, delegating Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and citing the parliamentary election campaign.

Washington steps in

The warnings land as the United States deepens its ties with Yerevan. On 26 May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Armenian capital and signed a strategic partnership charter, a memorandum on critical minerals, and a framework on the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) with Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. The corridor would run a roughly 43-kilometer road and rail route through southern Armenia, linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave and opening a transit path for US energy companies toward Central Asia; under the framework, a US-backed company would hold a 74% stake for an initial 49-year term, with Armenia retaining full sovereignty over the project areas. Days later, President Donald Trump endorsed Pashinyan ahead of the 7 June parliamentary election in a Truth Social post, calling him "a great friend and Leader" and pledging to break ground on the corridor.

Moscow has criticized Armenia's westward course, while Yerevan maintains that its foreign policy is not directed against Russia. The 7 June vote is widely viewed as a test of Pashinyan's pro-Western direction.

Drones struck port infrastructure in Taganrog, in Russia's Rostov Oblast, during the night of 29-30 May, setting a tanker and a fuel storage tank on fire, while an oil depot in Krasnodar Krai was also hit, monitoring channels and regional authorities reported.

Rostov Oblast Governor Yuriy Slyusar said on his Telegram channel that the fire involved a tanker, a fuel-storage tank, and an administrative building at the port. He added that the blaze was later extinguished, with no fuel leak reported, and that two people were injured in the attack. Taganrog's mayor, Svetlana Kambulova, said the drones struck loading infrastructure at the pier.

Taganrog is a port city in southwestern Russia, located in Rostov Oblast on the north shore of Taganrog Bay (Sea of Azov), about 67 km west of Rostov-on-Don and near the Ukrainian border. Ukraine has been regularly striking Taganrog, with attacks intensifying in 2025–2026.

Air defenses active across the obla

Slyusar reported that Russian air defenses downed drones over Taganrog and in the Chertkovo, Matveyev Kurgan, and Neklinovsky districts of the oblast. He said almost 50 drones were downed across the region, which borders Ukraine's Donbas. Taganrog, a port city of about 240,000 on the Sea of Azov, has been under a local state of emergency since 27 May, which the mayor said had been extended.

Oil depot struck in Armavir

A separate target overnight was an oil depot belonging to Yuzhnaya Neftyanaya Kompaniya in the city of Armavir, in Krasnodar Krai. Local authorities said a fire at the depot in the city's industrial zone had been brought under control and that there were no injuries; Armavir has a population of about 185,000. Ukrainian outlets characterized the burning vessel at Taganrog as a tanker linked to Russia's so-called shadow fleet, the network Moscow uses to move oil around sanctions, though that description has not been independently confirmed.

The port strikes preceded a separate claim later on 30 May, when Unmanned Systems Forces commander Major Robert "Madyar" Brovdi said his drones had also destroyed 2 Tu-142 maritime aircraft and an Iskander missile system at the Taganrog military airfield.

Background

Ukraine's Defense Forces have repeatedly targeted military sites and infrastructure in Rostov Oblast and Krasnodar Krai through Russia's war on Ukraine. On the night of 8 March, drones hit the "Armavir" linear production and dispatch station in Krasnodar Krai, igniting a large fire at the facility. On 27 May, drones struck the 325th Aviation Repair Plant in Taganrog, a site placed under sanctions by the European Union, the United States, and Ukraine over Russia's invasion. The city also hosts the Beriev aircraft plant, a long-standing focus of Ukrainian deep-strike operations, where a Ukrainian attack in November 2025 destroyed Russia's sole remaining A-60 laser aircraft.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces destroyed 2 Tu-142 long-range aircraft and an Iskander operational-tactical missile system at a military airfield in Taganrog, in Russia's Rostov Oblast, during the night of 29-30 May, the force's commander said.

Major Robert "Madyar" Brovdi announced the results on social media on 30 May and published footage he said showed the strikes. He attributed the operation to long-range drones operated by the 1st Separate Unmanned Systems Center, carried out under the coordination of the force's newly created Center of Deep Strike. Brovdi added that the damage was not limited to the listed targets and that "things also heated up near the water," promising further video. The Iskander launcher was struck at a launch site near the city, he said. Russia has not commented on the claim, which has not been independently verified.

Aircraft Russia can no longer replace

The Tu-142 is a long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft based on the Tu-95 turboprop strategic bomber. Russia's Naval Aviation uses the fleet to track submarines and monitor naval activity across the Black Sea and adjacent waters. The aircraft carry no near-term replacement: Russia has no current production line for the Tu-142, so each loss represents a capability that cannot be quickly restored. Roughly 100 of the aircraft were built, the vast majority at the Taganrog plant, with production ending in 1994, and the Military Balance counted 22 Tu-142s in Russian naval aviation at the start of 2023.

Part of a wider overnight assault

The airfield strike came alongside a broader wave of attacks across southern Russia the same night. Drones hit port infrastructure in Taganrog, setting a tanker and a fuel storage tank ablaze, while an oil depot in Krasnodar Krai was also struck. Local channels in Taganrog reported the city was under attack from around 1 am, with a drone threat persisting until at least 5 am.

A recurring deep-strike target

Taganrog has drawn repeated Ukrainian deep-strike operations through Russia's war on Ukraine. The city hosts the Beriev TANTK plant, which maintains and modifies several of Russia's most valuable aviation assets, including the A-50 early-warning aircraft. In November 2025, a Ukrainian strike on the Beriev plant destroyed Russia's sole remaining A-60 laser aircraft, and the 325th Aviation Repair Plant in the city was hit on 27 May 2026.

Russia launched a combined missile-and-drone assault on Ukraine overnight on 30 May, deploying one Iskander-M ballistic missile, 6 Kh-101 cruise missiles and 290 attack drones, the Ukrainian Air Force reported. The drone wave included jet-powered Shahed variants alongside Gerbera, Italmas and Parodiya decoy models.

As of 09:00, air defenses had downed or electronically suppressed 284 targets — 5 of the 6 Kh-101 missiles and 279 drones — across the north, south, center and east, the Air Force said. Two missiles, one cruise and one ballistic, failed to reach their targets. Crews recorded direct hits from 9 attack drones at 7 locations and falling debris at 10 more. The Air Force warned the assault was continuing, with several drones still in Ukrainian airspace.

Deadly strike on Zaporizhzhia

In Zaporizhzhia, a morning strike on industrial infrastructure killed one man and wounded two others, regional military administration head Ivan Fedorov said. He initially reported a man in his 40s in serious condition, then confirmed the victim had died of his injuries. A 24-year-old man was among the injured. Over the previous day, Fedorov said, Russian forces had carried out 911 strikes on 40 settlements across Zaporizhzhia Oblast, generating 96 reports of damage to infrastructure, homes and vehicles.

Gas pipeline hit in Kherson

In central Kherson, a Russian drone struck a gas pipeline at about 23:00 on 29 May, injuring three residents, the city military administration reported. Two men aged 76 and 64 and a 55-year-old woman sustained blast injuries and acute stress reactions; all were released for outpatient care. The administration said seven settlements in the Kherson hromada came under artillery fire and drone attacks over the previous day, damaging private and multi-story buildings. In total, 20 people were injured across the hromada.

Massed drones over Sumy Oblast

Russian forces also launched a massed drone strike on the Shostka hromada in Sumy Oblast, damaging residential and administrative buildings, regional head Oleh Hryhorov said. Air defenses destroyed part of the drone wave, but hits to civilian infrastructure left homes, non-residential buildings and vehicles damaged. Emergency crews worked through the night to clear the aftermath.

The strikes extend a pattern of intensifying long-range attacks in Russia's war on Ukraine. On 28 May, a Russian drone strike killed two people in the Velyka Pysarivka hromada of Sumy Oblast's Okhtyrka district.

Ukraine's Third Army Corps, one of the country's most prominent formations, commanded by General Andrii Biletsky, plans to replace roughly 30% of its infantry with ground robotic systems by the end of 2026, his advisor Vladyslav Sobolevskyi told the Black Sea Security Forum in Odesa, Ukrinform reports.

The plan, if executed, would mark a transition from drones augmenting infantry to drones replacing it in the next phase of the autonomous-systems transformation that has redefined Ukrainian battlefield tactics since 2022.

Sobolevskyi framed the goal in human terms: "To save the lives of our soldiers."

From 2014 testing to 2026 replacement

"In 2014, battles were mostly fought in traditional formats. But even then, we began working on hybrid formats," Sobolevskyi recalled.

The Third Army Corps was experimenting with robotic platforms more than a decade ago, before drones had become standard equipment in Ukrainian frontline units.

Of the corps' current drone fleet, "70% is logistics and the evacuation of wounded. The other 30% are drones taking part in offensive actions," he said.

Biletsky's plan extends that 30% figure into the ground-robot domain, replacing roughly one in three infantry roles with unmanned systems by the end of next year.

"A fundamentally new stage"

Such a transition "could open a fundamentally new stage in this war," Sobolevskyi added.

Ukraine has already integrated ground robotic complexes into combat across multiple roles, from logistics runs and mine-clearance to assault and casualty evacuation.

In May, Ukraine began tracking destroyed Russian ground robots as a separate line in its losses ledger, with an initial count of 1,306 units, reflecting how saturated the battlefield has become with autonomous and remotely controlled systems on both sides.

Why does timing make sense? 

The Third Army Corps' plan reflects a broader trend across Ukraine's armed forces: an industrial-scale shift toward drones, robots, and autonomous systems to preserve Ukrainian lives in a war of attrition.

Defense Ministry advisor Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov echoed the underlying logic earlier on 29 May, arguing that "warfare has changed" so fundamentally that "any column of equipment won't last more than a few hours" in the current environment.

Russian drones struck three foreign-flagged merchant ships transiting Ukraine's Black Sea maritime corridor on the evening and overnight of 29 May. The strike ignited fires and injured two crew members on a Vanuatu-flagged vessel, Vice Prime Minister for Restoration Oleksii Kuleba reported. The ship was towed for repairs after the strike.

The attack continues a pattern of Russian targeting of civilian shipping in the corridor that has handled most of Ukraine's grain exports since Moscow walked out of the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative in 2023.

"Despite constant Russian attacks, Ukraine maintains the operation of the maritime corridor, and ports and crews continue to ensure cargo movement and global food security," Kuleba stressed.

ANT bulk carrier hit en route from Odesa to Turkiye

One of the ships hit was the bulk carrier ANT, which had departed an Odesa Oblast port carrying cargo bound for Türkiye when a Russian drone struck its superstructure and started a fire, the Ukrainian Navy said in its own update.

The Maritime Search and Rescue Service and Navy units localized the blaze and evacuated two wounded crew members by patrol boat to a medical facility.

Crews extinguished onboard fires

Crews aboard the other vessels extinguished onboard fires themselves. Ukraine has not yet released full details on the flags or names of the other two ships hit overnight, beyond confirming that a Vanuatu-flagged vessel suffered injuries.

Sustained campaign against civilian shipping

The 29 May strikes follow a recent run of Russian attacks on foreign-flagged commercial shipping in the corridor. On 18 May, Russia hit a Chinese commercial vessel flagged from Beijing, Moscow's closest war ally, in Ukrainian Black Sea waters with a Shahed drone.

Chinese companies are reportedly supplying Russia with components for combat drones despite international sanctions and Beijing’s claims of “neutrality.”

Ukrainian officials describe the campaign as a deliberate effort to disrupt Ukraine's maritime logistics and impose additional risk on international carriers.

A new investigation by the Belarusian opposition group BelPol has identified more than 100 career officers of Belarus's KGB and military intelligence (GRU) operating under diplomatic cover in roughly 40 countries, according to a summary published by Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU).

Many of the same agents also carry out tasking for Russian intelligence, effectively turning Belarusian embassies into branches of the Kremlin's foreign-intelligence service, per the report.

KGB secretaries and GRU defense attachés

The operations are run by two agencies: the KGB's foreign-intelligence directorate and the General Staff's GRU. BelPol identifies three categories of personnel: intelligence and recruitment officers, diplomatic couriers carrying documents and equipment, and cipher officers.

KGB officers most often hold posts as first or second secretaries at embassies or as advisors. GRU officers concentrate in defense attaché and assistant military attaché slots, though they also use civilian cover.

The GRU has been "bolder" than the KGB lately and has been involved in political repression for more than 15 years, BelPol writes.

Semi-legal agents — and their wives

A distinct category is the so-called "semi-legal" agents officially responsible for embassy security.

They have open contacts with the host country's law-enforcement bodies, a cover that allows them to operate almost openly.

The investigation also documents the use of the wives of Belarusian "diplomats" for surveillance, intelligence collection on specific individuals, and counter-surveillance during operations.

Largest network is inside Russia

Minsk's priority regions are Europe, especially neighboring states, the US, and Asia, BelPol notes. But the single largest overseas Belarusian spy network is the one inside Russia itself, covering Moscow plus every city with a Belarusian consulate or embassy section.

The findings land alongside an active European counter-effort: in September 2025, Czech, Hungarian, and Romanian agencies broke up a Belarusian KGB network operating across the continent, expelling a Belarusian "diplomat" from Prague and arresting a former deputy head of Moldova's intelligence service for treason, CNN reported.

Inside Ukraine, the Security Service has been rolling up Belarusian KGB activity for years. In January 2026, it arrested a Belarusian woman in Kyiv on suspicion of spying for the KGB since 2015, as Euromaidan Press covered at the time.

Ukraine's Defense Forces struck a string of targets deep inside Russia overnight, halting a major oil refinery and igniting a fire at a strategic pipeline station, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed. By the next afternoon, Russia had declared missile danger across roughly 20 regions, reaching parts of the country thousands of kilometers from the war. The raids extended Kyiv's long-range campaign against the fuel and industry that sustain Moscow's invasion. 

Volgograd refinery halts production

The General Staff said drones struck the Volgograd oil refinery on the night of 29 May, sparking a fire and damaging the primary oil processing units AVT-1, AVT-3, AVT-5, and AVT-6, as well as secondary systems. Volgograd is located about 500 km east of the war zone. The plant stopped its production processes, according to the GenStaff.

The Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ began sharing photos and videos of the Volgograd fire around 00:50, before the military confirmed the strike. The Russian news Telegram channel Astra reported that the Lukoil refinery was burning and called it at least the tenth attack on the refinery during the full-scale war. 

Volgograd's governor claimed a drone hit an apartment building in the Krasnooktyabrsky district, with no casualties. Astra later noted that the building stands about 2 km from Titan-Barrikady, a heavily classified Russian defense plant that builds launchers for the Yars, Topol-M, and Iskander-M missile systems. 

Ukraine struck the facility for the ninth time in two years back in February.

Yaroslavl pipeline station ablaze

Ukraine also hit the Yaroslavl-3 oil pumping station in Yaroslavl Oblast, the General Staff said, recording a fire and confirming two burning oil tanks holding 50,000 and 20,000 cubic meters. Yaroslavl is 700 km northeast of Ukraine. The station is a node on the Surgut-Polotsk pipeline, which carries crude from Siberia and northern Russia to the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga and on to Belarus. It belongs to the Russian state company Transneft.

Yaroslavl Oblast Governor Mikhail Evraev claimed a massive drone attack on the region, saying most drones were shot down but that a hit struck industrial fuel-storage sites, with no casualties. An Astra OSINT analysis confirmed the strike on Yaroslavl-3, tying it to Transneft-Baltika and the Baltic Pipeline System that feeds the nearby Slavneft-YaNOS refinery and the Primorsk export terminal. 

The hit fits a recent expansion of Kyiv’s campaign from mostly targeting refineries to also striking the pipelines and pumping nodes that move crude between them. 

Other overnight targets

A seaport in Temryuk, Krasnodar Krai, also caught fire after the attack. Krasnodar's operational headquarters blamed falling drone debris and reported no casualties, using the phrasing Russian officials routinely lean on to play down successful Ukrainian strikes.

Beyond the oil sites, the General Staff said Ukraine also struck a Tor-M2 air defense system near Berdiansk in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and hit a command post, three enemy drone-control points, a logistics depot, and several troop concentration areas across occupied Ukraine and Russian border regions. 

Afternoon: the alarm reaches the Urals

Hours later, the strikes appeared to widen. Astra reported at 15:25 that Russia had declared a missile threat in at least 10 regions, from Rostov and Volgograd to Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, and Chuvashia, and had restricted airports in Cheboksary and Perm. By 16:20, the warning covered the entire Urals federal district, reaching the Yamal peninsula more than 2,000 km from Ukraine for the first time, with airports in Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, and Perm shut and alerts spreading to at least 20 regions.

Around 17:00, an Astra OSINT analysis identified an explosion near the Chapaev plant in Cheboksary, Chuvashia, 970 km from Ukraine. The Rostec-owned plant mainly makes anti-hail rockets, but defense products account for at least 30% of its order book. 

A 2022-style global invasion from Belarus "will no longer be possible" because of how warfare has changed, Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, advisor to Ukraine's Minister of Defense, wrote on Telegram on 29 May. Though he did not rule out Russia using Belarusian territory to launch missiles or Shahed drones at Ukrainian cities.

The post appeared amid weeks of warnings from Ukrainian leadership about a steady Russian-Belarusian military buildup near the border. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in April said Ukrainian intelligence had detected road construction and artillery positions on the Belarusian side of the border.

Flash maintained that the northern border is now "sufficiently fortified and covered by combat-ready troops."

"No more than a few hours"

"A 2022-style global invasion will no longer be possible. Warfare has changed. Any column of equipment won't last more than a few hours," Flash argued.

Opening a new front from Belarus could only serve to "draw part of our forces to a new section of the front," he added.

Real risk: missile or Shahed launchpad

Flash did not rule out the possibility that Russia would push Belarus to host launches of cruise missiles or Shahed drones in a scenario that is already partly underway.

Russia has been routing its drones through Belarusian cellular infrastructure and launching signal-relay balloons from Belarusian territory to extend the reach of its drone fleet, Euromaidan Press documented in May.

The defense ministry advisor added that Ukraine's Defense Forces "are ready for the most varied scenarios."

"Nothing to divide"

The advisor closed with an appeal to the Belarusian people, saying that he sincerely believes that the "people and army of Belarus see the current format and results of this war for all sides and won't allow themselves to be drawn into this madness."

"The people of Ukraine and Belarus have nothing to divide and nothing to fight over," he wrote.

His analysis tracks closely with a 26 May Institute for the Study of War assessment that a Belarusian ground invasion of Ukraine is very unlikely but that Russia may push Minsk to allow drone launches from Belarusian soil.

Ukraine's drone forces hit a string of Russian targets across occupied Crimea and the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts over two nights, according to the Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS). The strikes spanned air-defense systems, a fuel train, supply depots, and command posts, as well as the supply vehicles. Ukraine's General Staff confirmed several attacks.

Two air-defense kills in occupied Crimea

On 28 and 29 May, the SBS shared footage of its latest strikes. In occupied Feodosia, eastern Crimea, operators of the 1st Separate Center destroyed the radio-transparent dome over an ST-68 radar, then hit the radar itself. The station tracked aircraft for Russia's air defense.

The same center struck a Pantsir-S1 air-defense system in the western part of the peninsula. The SBS valued it at about $15 million. The Pantsir-S1 is one of Russia's main short-range shields.

Depots, fuel tankers, and a fire group

Other units cast a wider net. The 414th "Madyar's Birds," the 20th "K-2," the "Phoenix" border guard unit, and the 412th "Nemesis" brigade hit logistics targets in occupied Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk oblasts. They coordinated through the SBS Deep Strike Center.

The 1st Separate Center hit railway fuel tankers in Makiivka, Donetsk Oblast. The 412th "Nemesis" struck a supply depot near occupied Mariupol. 

The 1st center also struck an ammunition depot in Luhansk Oblast, and the "Phoenix" unit hit a Russian mobile fire group there.

Ukraine's General Staff confirmed a parallel wave of strikes overnight on 28 May. It named the Feodosia radar and drone command posts near Kalynove and Novohrodivka in Donetsk Oblast. It also listed supply depots near Mariupol, Novoselivka Druha, and Buhas, plus an ammunition depot near Hrabove in Donetsk Oblast. A 27 May strike near Paraskoviivka killed 18 Russian troops, the General Staff reported.

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Other strikes

Last night, the Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ reported explosions at a fuel station in occupied Alchevsk, Luhansk Oblast.

Also overnight on 28 May, explosions echoed across occupied Crimea. The Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported a drone overflight, gunfire, and four blasts near Feodosia around 01:00. The next morning brought more explosions and air-defense fire in the Saky district and Sevastopol.

A day earlier, the General Staff confirmed a 27 May Storm Shadow strike against Russian aviation systems in Sevastopol, a strike Euromaidan Press already covered on the day of the attack.

Romania will close Russia's consulate in Constanța and has declared the consul persona non grata after a Russian "Geran-2" drone crashed into a 10-story apartment building in Galați overnight, Romania Journal reports. President Nicușor Dan announced this on 29 May, after an emergency meeting of Romania's Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT), following the drone strike that injured two civilians. 

The move marks Romania's sharpest diplomatic response yet to repeated Russian drone incursions into its territory and airspace. Until now, Bucharest had largely confined its reaction to scrambling fighter jets, recovering wreckage, and summoning the Russian ambassador.

"Full responsibility lies with Russia"

"We had a serious incident last night, in which two Romanian citizens were injured, and full responsibility for this lies with Russia," Dan said.

He confirmed that the entire Russian consular mission in Constanța would be closed. Moscow's diplomatic presence in Romania will be reduced to its embassy in Bucharest and the consular section attached to it.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he does not know the details regarding the drone that crashed in Romania. He made the statement during a meeting with journalists on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union summit, according to URA News.

“No one can say what kind of drone it was until an investigation is completed. Ukrainian drones have flown into many places across Europe,” Putin stated.

Drone from a swarm of 43

The drone that crashed into the Galați apartment was part of a swarm of 43 Russian UAVs aimed at targets in Ukraine, Dan noted.

Euromaidan Press covered the strike earlier on 29 May: the long-range kamikaze UAV punched through the roof of the residential tower, set a top-floor apartment ablaze, and forced an evacuation.

Two Romanian F-16s and a helicopter were airborne but held their fire over the populated city.

Dan confronts domestic minimizers

The president also criticized Romanian politicians who had tried to downplay Russia's responsibility for the incident.

The remark lands as Romania continues to reckon with a year of Russian-linked political interference, including the Constitutional Court's November 2024 annulment of the first presidential round due to Kremlin-backed influence operations, an outcome that opened the way for Dan's centrist, pro-Western victory in the May 2025 redo.