Multiple Ukraine War Developments: Putin Misinformed, Zelensky Seeks Missiles, Russia Hosts Forum Amid Attacks

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Putin being fed false battlefield information on Russian forces in war – ISW

Russian president Vladimir Putin is being fed false information from the battlefield, a Washington-based think tank monitoring the war said.

“ISW recently assessed that the Russian military command’s repeated exaggerations of the Russian military’s successes on the ground have likely given Putin a false perception of the battlefield situation,” the Institute for the Study of War said.

It added: “These exaggerations are likely leading Putin to believe his forces can achieve his goals in the near to medium term despite the fact that Russia’s battlefield performance has steadily declined in 2026.”

This perception is despite senior Russian officials warning Putin that spending on the war in Ukraine is currently unaffordable, according to a report.

Arpan Rai3 June 2026 05:11

Zelensky asks Trump for more Patriot missiles to stop Putin's attacks

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine was short of weapons to counter incoming Russian missiles and urged the US to provide more Patriot missiles to stop attacks from Russia.

"Unfortunately, the current level of supplies for our air defence does not enable us to intercept a significant portion of the missiles," he said.

He said more than 70 missiles and 650 drones had been deployed overnight and Russian forces had deployed 100 more drones throughout the day on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian president urged Washington to send additional Patriot missile interceptors.

"If Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, these attacks will continue," Zelensky said on Telegram.

“Europe needs its own anti-ballistic missiles so that this war can finally end. And we definitely need the help of the United States in supplying missiles such as Patriots. We count on the support of our partners and effective responses to today’s strike,” Zelensky said.

Arpan Rai3 June 2026 07:54

Russia downs more than 350 drones ahead of Putin's crucial summit

Russian forces have downed at least 354 drones overnight, the country’s defence ministry said in an update this morning.

The massive barrage of Ukrainian drones has targeted Russia on a day president Vladimir Putin is set to host Davos-like economic investment forum in St Petersburg.

Arpan Rai3 June 2026 07:51

Russia bans entry to five UK nationals including Washington Post journalist

Russia has banned five British nationals, including The Washington Post journalist Catherine Belton and The i Paper correspondent Richard Holmes, from entering the country, the foreign ministry said on its website late on Tuesday.

Belton is an investigative correspondent focusing on Russia and previously reported about the country for the Financial Times and Reuters among other media.

Holmes, an award-winning investigative journalist and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, ⁠is a security correspondent at Britain's The ​i ⁠Paper.

The foreign ministry said the entry ban was an answer to the "provocative anti-Russian rhetoric of British officials, the spread of insinuations about Russia, and London's practical steps to supply the Kyiv regime with weapons".

Other Britons named under the ⁠ban were Alexander Browder, a contributor for the Henry Jackson Society policy think tank; Alice Laugher, chief executive of humanitarian staffing firm Committed to Good; and Richard Westbury, chairman of the Chelsea Group, parent company of ‌Committed to Good.

The UK is among ​countries which imposed sanctions on Russia, ‌including travel bans, ⁠after Moscow's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine ⁠in 2014.

Arpan Rai3 June 2026 07:34

Watch: Zelensky warns Russian forces could again launch a massive attack on Ukraine

Arpan Rai3 June 2026 07:14

'Russian Davos' begins with fire and drones to greet guests

A right-wing US influencer, a serving US official and a German retail billionaire are due to attend president Vladimir Putin's "Russian Davos” today as the Kremlin grapples with stalled growth and a confrontation with the West over the Ukraine war.

But just hours earlier, the St Petersburg Oil Terminal in Russia's Leningrad Oblast came under fire as with eyewitnesses reported large-scale explosions and fires at the site.

Russia's premier investment forum, the fifth since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, opens ⁠just hours after a deadly drone and missile attack on Kyiv which Russia said was in response to a deadly attack on a dormitory in Russian-controlled Luhansk.

Shunned by the West since the 2022 invasion, this year's forum will include Rodney Mims Cook Jr, chairman of the US Commission of Fine Arts, who oversees president Donald Trump’s White House ballroom extension, US right-wing influencer Candace Owens and, possibly, internet personality Andrew Tate.

The Kremlin said this would be the first such Russian investment conference with US participation since 2017-2018.

The war looms large even if Ukraine is not mentioned once in the official programme.

"The question is: does this ​war ⁠end or do we stare into a much tougher future?" one Russian participant told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the matter's sensitivity.

Arpan Rai3 June 2026 06:54

Over 30 flights cancelled as Russia gears up to host forum

Russia downed 50 drones over the Leningrad region northwest of Moscow overnight and continues to repel ⁠suspected Ukrainian attacks, governor Alexander Drozdenko said this morning, as a major annual economic forum was about to start.

More than 30 flights were delayed or cancelled, local news outlets said. St Petersburg has put in place comprehensive safety measures ahead of the event, Alexander Beglov, the city's governor, told the ⁠RIA news agency.

"All new challenges have been fully taken into account. Law enforcement forces have allocated personnel and equipment to ensure public safety and order," he said.

Ukraine has recently stepped up attacks on Russian energy infrastructure as it tries to deprive Moscow of revenues.

At least 20 drones heading to Moscow were downed overnight, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram. In Russia's central Tambov region, outbuildings at ‌an industrial facility in the city of Michurinsk were damaged, the governor said on ​Telegram.

Arpan Rai3 June 2026 06:26

Seven killed and 11 injured after drone hits bus in Russia-held Donetsk

A drone attack has killed seven people and injured another 11 in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region this morning, the Kremlin-installed head of the region said.

Denis ‌Pushilin, posting on ⁠the Telegram messaging app, said the drone hit a passenger bus ‌travelling between ​Moscow ‌and Simferopol in ⁠Russian-occupied ⁠Crimea.

Arpan Rai3 June 2026 05:33

Former Irish rugby player delivers medical aid in Ukraine's Kherson

Former Irish rugby player Shane Leahy has travelled to the frontline city of Kherson to deliver medical supplies.

Leahy is chief executive of the telecoms company Oxygen8, which has co-ordinated the distribution of more than €200 million in medical aid since the war began in 2022, reported The Irish Times.

He set up a charity called One4Humanity which delivers the aid from US charity Heart to Heart International.

“We supply medicines to the Ukraine ministry of health, and they had a problem with a warehouse over here, so they asked us to deliver directly to the hospitals instead of bringing it to their distribution point... I loaded up the truck,” Leahy told the newspaper.

Arpan Rai3 June 2026 05:26

Zelensky asks Trump for more Patriot missiles to stop Putin's attacks

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine was short of weapons to counter incoming Russian missiles and urged the US to provide more Patriot missiles to stop attacks from Russia.

"Unfortunately, the current level of supplies for our air defence does not enable us to intercept a significant portion of the missiles," he said.

He said more than 70 missiles and 650 drones had been deployed overnight and Russian forces had deployed 100 more drones throughout the day on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian president urged Washington to send additional Patriot missile interceptors.

"If Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, these attacks will continue," Zelensky said on Telegram.

“Europe needs its own anti-ballistic missiles so that this war can finally end. And we definitely need the help of the United States in supplying missiles such as Patriots. We count on the support of our partners and effective responses to today’s strike,” Zelensky said.

Arpan Rai3 June 2026 04:46