Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he had approved a 40-day offensive campaign to “influence” Russia to end the war.Zelensky said he made the decision after consulting the head of the Ukrainian security service.He also confirmed that Kyiv's forces had attacked two more Russian oil refineries in Ufa, 1,500km from the frontline, and an oil depot in the Krasnodar region, 300km from Ukraine, in the latest blow to the rival's infrastructure.Meanwhile, France claimed on Thursday that its forces had intercepted a Russian ‘shadow fleet’ oil tanker, just days after the British Royal Marines stormed a ship in the English Channel.French president Emmanuel Macron said his navy intercepted the tanker as it transited near the coast of Sicily, accusing Russia of using the ship to skirt Western sanctions.“This new action against the shadow fleet, conducted days after a similar operation by Britain, shows Europeans' determination," he said, adding that the interception took place on Tuesday. Ukrainian air defence units repel Russian missile attack on KyivUkrainian air defence units repelled a Russian missile attack on Thursday evening on Kyiv, local officials said, noting that debris had landed in at least one district.No injuries were reported.A Reuters witness saw at least one Russian missile being downed. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the capital's ‌military administration, wrote on ‌Telegram that air defences had "worked on enemy missiles".Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said debris had fallen in an open area in the suburban Darnitskyi district and set fire to a storage area.President Volodymyr ‌Zelensky last ⁠week warned of ⁠impending large attacks on Kyiv ‌and ​other cities. Arpan Rai26 June 2026 06:06Zelensky says he approved 40-day campaign to 'influence' Russia to end the warUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, after consulting the head of the country's security service on strikes against Russian targets, that he had approved a 40-day campaign to 'influence' Russia to end the war against Kyiv.“I approved a 40-day operation ‌by the Service ‌to influence the aggressor state in order ⁠to press for an end to the war," Zelensky wrote on Telegram.Ukraine has for months ‌engaged in waves ​of medium-range ‌and long-range strikes ⁠on targets in ⁠Russia or Russian-held ‌areas, mainly ​focused on ‌the oil ​industry.Arpan Rai26 June 2026 05:42Arpan Rai26 June 2026 05:38Moscow library places 18,000 'Russophobic' books from Ukraine in special archiveA vast state library in Moscow has so far ​taken 18,000 "Russophobic" books from Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine and placed them in a special repository, its director said.Vadim Duda, head of the Russian State Library, said the books had been removed from libraries in areas captured by Russia in the eastern Donbas region and other parts of Ukraine, and were being stored for "scholarly and research purposes".Duda, posting on Telegram, ‌said the books placed in the special archive contained "overtly nationalist and Russophobic ideas that grossly distort our shared history". He said the collection had been started in 2024 on orders from the ⁠Russian culture ministry."This is not an act of destruction, but an act of preservation... for future researchers and historians, enabling them to study not only the facts but also the ways in which dangerous ideological narratives were created and disseminated," he said. Ukraine accuses Russia of trying to eradicate its culture and identity in the war that began in the ⁠Donbas in 2014 and exploded into Europe's deadliest ​conflict ⁠since the Second World War after Moscow staged a full-scale invasion in February 2022.Arpan Rai26 June 2026 04:56Nato chief says billions in new defence contracts to be announced in message to PutinNato allies will announce tens of billions of dollars in defence-related deals at a summit next month in Turkey, and will also underscore their commitment to defence spending goals ⁠and reaffirm their support for Ukraine, Nato chief Mark Rutte said on Thursday.The gathering, he said, would send a strong message to Russian president Vladimir Putin that the 32-member alliance is ready to respond to ⁠any "silly move against us."In comments addressed directly to the Russian leader, Rutte said Putin "is not afraid of commitments, he is afraid of (us) implementing commitments, and that's exactly what we are doing, Vladimir. We will defend ourselves."Rutte ​spoke ⁠at the Atlantic Council policy ‌institute on the final day of a visit to Washington in advance of the summit in Ankara.The summit will underscore that after years of underinvestment, allies are on a "trajectory" to reaching a defense spending goal agreed upon last year of 5 per cent of GDP by 2035, said Rutte.Allies still need to boost defence industrial ⁠production on both sides of the Atlantic, overcome "fragmented national defence industries" in Europe, reduce bureaucracy in Washington and boost innovation, he continued.The prospects for achieving those goals "are plentiful" and tens of billions of dollars in new defence-related contracts will be announced at the summit, Rutte said.“The result is not only improved security. We are ‌in the early stages of a defense industrial revolution that ​will help grow our economies" and support hundreds of ‌thousands of jobs, he said.Arpan Rai26 June 2026 04:40Drones hit industrial facility in Russia's Tula, governor saysA drone attack damaged an industrial facility in Novomoskovsk in Russia's region of Tula, regional governor Dmitry Milyayev said this morning on the Telegram messaging app.He gave ‌no details about the facility ‌in an ‌area home to several large ⁠chemical plants, but added that electricity lines were also damaged and a ‌woman suffered ​injures in ‌the ⁠Shchyokino district of ⁠the region.Arpan Rai26 June 2026 04:31Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine's Kherson left with no powerPower was fully or partially cut off across the Russian-held part of Ukraine's Kherson region bordering Crimea, the Russian-installed governor Vladimir Saldo said on Telegram early on Friday.Saldo did not ⁠provide details.In Sevastopol, the biggest city in Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014, power supply was restricted to avoid overloading the strained network, following Ukraine drone attacks which also triggered a fuel crisis.The number of trains to Crimea, a popular summer destination for Russian tourists, will be gradually reduced, Crimea's Russia-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov said on Thursday.Earlier, he ordered the suspension of children's summer camps there. Aksyonov ‌also said one person ​was killed in ‌a drone ⁠attack in Crimea near the ⁠crossing into the Russian-held part ‌of the Kherson ​region on ‌Thursday.Arpan Rai26 June 2026 03:55Zelenskyy says Russia is shifting air defenses to Moscow and other key sites after drone strikesRussia is moving a significant part of its air defenses to protect a handful of prime targets, including Moscow, as Ukraine’s long-range drones continue to hammer sites deep inside the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.Ukraine has in recent months stepped up its aerial campaign against Russian military installations and energy facilities. Its success has caused fuel shortages and disrupted army supply lines, stalling Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor after more than four years of fighting and rattling Russian officials.Read more here:Rebecca Whittaker26 June 2026 03:00Rebecca Whittaker26 June 2026 02:00Recap: Russia considering legal options in case Britain sells seized oilThe Kremlin said on Thursday that it would look into its legal options and employ them to the fullest extent if Russian crude oil from a tanker seized by Britain this month is sold.The Daily Telegraph newspaper said Britain could hold an auction to sell off the 100,000 tons of Russian crude oil on board the Smyrtos, a suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker intercepted by British forces in the Channel on June 14. The proceeds could be used to fund Ukraine, the paper added."There are certainly legal options for responding; they will be examined, and the situation will be analysed," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on a conference call.Rebecca Whittaker26 June 2026 01:00