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Rescuers carry a body at the site of an apartment building damaged during a Russian strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 17, 2025.
What We’re Watching: Russia pummels Kyiv, Deal or no deal, Budapest Pride Organizers Rebuff Orban
With world’s attention on Tehran, Russia launches huge attack on Kyiv
Russia last night carried out its deadliest attack yet on Kyiv this year, firing 440 drones and 32 missiles at the Ukrainian capital, knocking down a nine-story apartment building, killing 15 people, and injuring 156. With so much of the world’s attention fixed on the escalating Israel-Iran war, keep an eye on whether the fighting in Ukraine, where peace talks have gone nowhere, worsens significantly as well.
Deal or no deal, G7 edition
US President Donald Trump signed a trade deal with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the G7 summit in Canada on Monday. The deal, first rolled out in May, lowers US tariffs on UK exports of cars and aerospace engines, in return for greater UK market access for US beef, ethanol, and industrial products. Other G7 members weren’t so lucky: Japan and the European Union both failed to strike a deal with the US, though Trump hinted that agreements with each could be in the works.
Rebuffing Orban, Budapest Set to Host Pride
Pride march is going full steam ahead in Hungary’s capital, despite Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz Party passing a law that empowers police to ban such ceremonies. Orban is a vociferous opponent of LGBTQ+ rights: He changed the country’s constitution such that it only recognizes two genders, and said Pride organizers “should not even bother” arranging a parade this year. The Pride event will take place on June 28 – we’ll be watching to see if Orban tries to preemptively halt it.President Joe Biden at an event with Kamala Harris on lowering drug costs for America.
HARD NUMBERS: Biden diagnosed with cancer, Russian drones hammer Ukraine, Israeli forces enter Gaza, Pope Leo gets political, UK and EU are friends again, Austria wins Eurovision
9: Former US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bone. Biden’s cancer has a “Gleason score” of 9 out of 10, which means it is highly aggressive, but since it requires hormones to grow, may respond to treatment that deprives the tumors of hormones. Both US President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris expressed their sorrow on social media and wished the former president a successful recovery as he and his family review treatment options.
273: Russia launched 273 drones in the Kyiv region of Ukraine Sunday, killing one woman and causing widespread damage in its biggest drone attack of the war. Ukraine accused Russia of also intending to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, but Moscow did not comment. The escalation comes ahead of US President Donald Trump’s calls with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine on Monday, to broker a ceasefire deal.
140: Palestinian health officials say Israeli air strikes killed over 140 people in Gaza Sunday, raising accusations of ethnic cleansing by the UN. Israel subsequently began a ground offensive in the territory after peace talks stalled in Qatar, with officials saying that the strikes were part of its plans to “achieve all of the war goals in Gaza” and establish “operational control” of parts of the territory.
200,000: An estimated 200,000 well-wishers, including a slew of world leaders, packed St. Peter’s Square in Rome for the first sermon of Pope Leo XIV - and the pontiff didn’t leave out the politics. Leo stated that his role is to serve without “yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat,” remarked on Ukraine being “martyred,” and deplored the people of Gaza being “reduced to starvation.”
12: The United Kingdom and the European Union have decided that there are plenty of fish in the sea for them to share: London granted EU boats access to UK waters for the next 12 years in return for fewer checks on British food exports to the 27-country bloc. The deal also includes a significant security pact. It’s a significant moment for UK-EU relations, just nine years after their infamous divorce.
160 million: Austria took top prize in the 69th Eurovision song contest Saturday, with classically trained countertenor JJ wowing an estimated 160 million viewers with his soaring pop-opera ballad, Wasted Love. Second place went to Yuval Raphael of Israel with a moving trilingual performance of New Day Will Rise, while Tommy Cash of Estonia came in third with his frothy fast-dancing confection, Espresso Macchiato.A Ukrainian rescue worker sits atop the rubble of a destroyed residential building during rescue operations, following a Russian missile strike on a residential apartment building block in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 24, 2025.
Kyiv under fire, Trump blasts Putin on Truth Social
At least 12 people were killed and 90 others injured in a large-scale Russian assault on Kyiv early Thursday, prompting Donald Trump to post on Truth Social: “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!”
This strike was among the most lethal of the conflict and marked the worst attack on the Ukrainian capital since July, when Russian missiles hit a children’s hospital. Reports suggest that Thursday’s assault involved missiles provided by North Korea.
The attack occurred just hours after Trump and his senior advisers urged Ukrainian officials to accept a US-backed peace proposal that would effectively legitimize Russian control over all occupied Ukrainian territory.
Despite pushing for a resolution, with his Truth Social post concluding“Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE,” the Trump administration has recently indicated they might pull out of peace negotiations if progress isn’t made soon. While this could just be a threat to force Ukraine to the negotiating table, a round of high-level peace talks originally planned for London on Wednesday was postponed, primarily due to the US opting not to attend.
Firefighters work at the site where an industrial area was hit by a Russian missile strike in the Kyiv region on Nov. 13, 2024.
Russia fires on Kyiv
The attack also renewed fears that, with the approach of winter, Russia will again attack energy infrastructure targets in Ukraine to leave parts of the country without power or heat for extended periods. Ukraine’s state-owned national power company announced on Wednesday that new limits will be imposed on electrical supply for businesses in and around Kyiv and in the regions of Odesa, Dnipro, and Donetsk.
People inspect a damaged building after the Russian missile attack on the premises of the lyceum of the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management in Poltava, Ukraine.
Hard Numbers: Russian missile strike prompts fresh Kyiv calls for air defenses, Corruption makes African youth look abroad, Migrant boat capsizes in English Channel, Housing woes hit all-time highs in rich countries, US Marines assaulted in Turkey
51: A Russian ballistic missile strike on a military academy and a hospital in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday killed at least 51 people. After the attack, which occurred in the city of Poltava, about 200 miles from the front lines, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his call for Western allies to send more air defenses. Separately, the US and Ukraine are close to an agreement on the supply of long-range missiles.
60: How bad is corruption in African countries? Bad enough that 60% of the continent’s young people aged 18 to 24 want to leave because of it, according to a new study by the South Africa-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation. The top destination of choice was North America, followed by Western Europe.
12: At least 12 migrants are dead after their boat capsized in the English Channel en route from France to the UK on Tuesday. Last week, the French and British governments pledged to jointly crack down on the human trafficking networks that bring asylum-seekers across the channel in small boats.
50: The lack of affordable housing is a problem for at least 50% of people in the OECD, a group of nearly 40 wealthy democracies. That’s the highest level of dissatisfaction on record. A combination of high interest rates – which make home loans more expensive – and sluggish construction are to blame. In the US, housing costs are nearly 40% higher than when the Biden administration took office, making housing a key issue in the presidential election. See here for our special report on what Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have pledged to do about it.
2: Two US Marines were assaulted on Monday in Izmir, Turkey, by members of the Turkish Youth Union, a nationalist and anti-American youth organization. Police reportedly detained 15 people over the incident. A video of the altercation showed a group pushing and grabbing two men dressed in civilian clothes, and attempting to put a sack over one of their heads while chanting “Yankee, go home.” Police and other Marines in the area eventually intervened. The two Marines were taken to a hospital to be evaluated but were not injured and have returned to their ship, the USS Wasp.
Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas speaks during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (not pictured) at the Tapa Military Base, in Tallinn, Estonia March 1, 2022.
Kyiv gets a strong ally in Brussels
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallasresigned on Monday and is set to become the EU’s top diplomat.
Kallas, 47, has been one of the Kremlin’s fiercest critics in Europe since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Her appointment as the EU’s foreign policy chief helps ensure strong support for Kyiv in Brussels moving forward — and comes amid palpable anxiety in Europe over the implications the US presidential election could have over the future of Washington’s support for Ukraine.
Former President Donald Trump has expressed opposition to providing continued US aid to Ukraine, and the fact he survived an assassination attempt on Saturday is widely seen as boosting his odds of winning in November.
The US has provided more assistance to Ukraine than any other country amid the war with Russia. If that aid dried up, Kyiv would be in a precarious position. Overall, however, the EU has provided more aid to Ukraine than the US.
Kallas, who has pushed for Europe to provide unconditional support for Ukraine, could serve as somewhat of an insurance policy for Kyiv — but it would still struggle without US support. Though it’s clear Kallas will use her new position to ensure Europe is prepared to counter Moscow’s aggression and ambitions, it’s less evident how she’ll address issues such as EU relations with China, and it will take time for her broader policy approach to take shape. Kallas will remain as Estonia’s caretaker prime minister until a new government is sworn in, likely in early August.
UK's new PM Starmer aims for closer EU ties
Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from the Adriatic Sea.
How will the new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer reset relations at home and abroad?
Well, I think overall there's going to be a lot of continuity in terms of foreign and security policies. They've already sent the defense secretary to Kyiv to say that if anything, it's going to be even stronger support. But in terms of Europe, it’s going to be a new nuance and new attempts. The new foreign secretary, David Lammy, has already been to Germany, he's been to Poland, he’s been to Sweden, and he's talked about a European pact, foreign and security issues, cooperating more closely. And he's been invited to a meeting with all of the foreign ministers. So that's where we are likely to see, some change in the months and perhaps years ahead.
How did Macron survive the snap election in France?
Yep, that remains to be seen. There was, of course, a surprise result in the sense that the extreme right came in third after first the left, which has some extreme element, and then President Macron's coalition. But it's a hung parliament. There's no clear answer who's going to govern. So, we'll have to wait and see what's going to be the governance of France. I think the emphasis has shifted from isolating the far right to isolating the far left and see some sort of stable government can be made out of that. Very much an open question.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy interacts with soldiers during his visit to a military training area to find out about the training of Ukrainian soldiers on the ?Patriot? anti-aircraft missile system, at an undisclosed location, in Germany, June 11, 2024.
NATO to pledge $43 billion in Ukraine support
As world leaders descend on Washington today for this year’s NATO summit, one number is top of mind: $43 billion. That’s the amount NATO leaders are expected to pledge in Ukraine support at this week’s gathering.
The one-year, $43 billion pledge is less ambitious than NATO’s initial proposal of a multi-year, $100 billion support package, but it couldn’t come at a more critical time for Ukraine. The country has weathered a wave of Russian missile attacks against its cities in recent days – one hit its largest children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday – killing 36 people and injuring 140 nationwide, adding to the mounting number of civilian casualties since Moscow renewed its air campaign in recent months.
Will more aid be coming? For some leaders at the summit – particularly those engulfed in domestic political turmoil that is limiting their capacity to commit more long-term resources to Ukraine – this is a tougher question. The summit comes on the heels of the far-right’s success in the European Parliamentary elections and France’s snap election – both of which emboldened the Ukraine-skeptic far right – and as President Joe Biden faces pressure to quit the presidential race that he currently looks set to lose to Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pledged to end Ukraine support.