Newsletter 10/06/2025
A daily news digest covering important war, political, economic, and cultural topics in Ukraine
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Prisoner exchange with Russia: Ukraine returns wounded soldiers
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the first stage of the return of seriously wounded and injured soldiers from Russian captivity.
“We are continuing the return of our people, as agreed in Istanbul. Today marks the first stage of the return of our seriously wounded and injured soldiers from Russian captivity. All of them require immediate medical attention. This is an important humanitarian act,” Zelensky said.
“The exchanges must continue. We are doing everything we can to find and return every single person who is being held captive. I am grateful to everyone who is helping,” Zelensky emphasized.
Russian attack on Kyiv: Four injured, damage and fires reported in seven districts
An overnight Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital has injured four people, with damage and fires recorded across seven districts.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that four people were injured in the overnight attack on the city. "All have been hospitalized," he added.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, noted that "thanks to the incredible efforts of the Defense Forces, casualties were minimized."
According to him, damage was reported in seven districts of the capital, including partial destruction and fires in apartment buildings and private homes. Vehicles and warehouse facilities also caught fire.
Defense forces destroy 284 Russian drones and missiles
Air defense forces neutralized 284 of 322 Russian air attack weapons.
Since 8:00 p.m. on Monday, June 9, the Russians have attacked Ukraine with 322 air attack weapons:
315 Shahed-type strike UAVs and various types of dummy drones from the directions of Kursk, Shatalovo, Orel, Millerovo, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk;
two KN-23 ballistic missiles from the Voronezh region;
five Iskander-K cruise missiles from the Kursk region.
The main target of the attack was Kyiv.
The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare and unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
According to preliminary data, as of 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 10, air defense forces neutralized 284 air attack vehicles, of which 220 were shot down by firepower and 64 were lost due to location.
213 drones were shot down by firepower, and 64 were lost/suppressed by electronic warfare.
Two KN-23 missiles and five Iskander-K missiles were also neutralized.
Hits were recorded in 11 locations and debris fell in 16 locations.
Famed St. Sophia Cathedral damaged in Russian air raid targeting Kyiv
In Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, na 11th-century St. Sophia Cathedral sustained damage as a result of Russia’s air attack overnight Tuesday, June 10.
"This night, the enemy struck again at the very heart of our identity. The St. Sophia Cathedral that’s been damaged in Kyiv is a shrine that has survived centuries and symbolizes the birth of our statehood. The blast wave caused the destruction of the cornice on the main apse of the monument of national significance. This 11th-century temple is the soul of all of Ukraine," reported Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Mykola Tochytskyi.
Kharkiv strike: body found under factory rubble, five still missing
According to Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov, “during search and rescue operations at the enterprise that was shelled on June 7, a human body was found. The process of removing it is currently underway.”
Work is being carried out around the clock. Five more people may still be trapped under the rubble.
As reported by Ukrinform, on June 7, from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., Russian troops carried out one of the largest attacks on Kharkiv, with nearly 60 explosions. The enemy used 50 UAVs, missiles, and guided aerial bombs. The Kyiv and Osnovyanskyi districts were hit. Hits were recorded on an enterprise, an apartment building, and the private sector. Fifty-six buildings were damaged in the city, and fires broke out. As of the evening of June 9, three people were known to have been killed and 22 injured. Six employees of the enterprise were considered missing.
One killed, several injured in Russian drone strike on residential building in Odesa
In Odesa, two men were killed and nine injured in the Russian drone attack.
Read also: Drones, missiles against civil infrastructure in Kyiv, Odesa: consequences of latest Russian attack
Maternity hospital damaged in drone attack on Odesa
A Russian drone attack in Odesa has damaged the administrative section of a maternity hospital, with no casualties reported.
War
Nearly 11,000 North Korean troops deployed in Russia’s Kursk region - Ukraine defense intel
Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency, HUR, Kyrylo Budanov drew attention to the visit of Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu to North Korea, where, among other things, he agreed on the beginning of work of so-called labor migrants on the territory of Russia in order to partially replace the labor migrants from Central Asia that they consider as not stable for their state and vulnerable to recruitment by our special services and Western ones.
“But there is a big probability that people among this labor migrant, they will start to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense of Russia. And it wouldn’t be the warriors from North Korea. It would be Russian warriors, but of North Korean nationality,” Budanov said.
When asked how many labor migrants he thought would travel from the DPRK to Russia, Budanov replied that the agreement was concluded just recently, so Ukraine is not yet aware of specific numbers.
Read also: Russia to help North Korea produce Shahed drones - Ukraine intel
42 settlements hit as Sumy region faces 130 shellings in 24 hours
Over the past 24 hours, Russian troops have launched nearly 130 strikes on 42 settlements in 19 territorial communities in the Sumy region.
No residents of the Sumy region were killed or wounded as a result of Russian attacks over the past 24 hours.
At the same time, a minor born in 2007 died in the hospital at night after being wounded during the Russian shelling of Sumy with multiple launch rocket systems on June 3.
Over the past 24 hours, the most strikes were recorded in the Sumy and Shostka districts.
The enemy carried out nearly 50 VOG drops from UAVs and also attacked the Sumy region with FPV drones and unmanned aerial vehicles.
A passenger car was damaged in the Velykopysarivska community, two private houses in the Druzhbivka community, and a civilian infrastructure facility in the Hlukhiv community.
Ukraine's HUR aircraft used to tackle aftermath of overnight attack in Kyiv
Aviators from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate came to the aid of Kyiv residents to eliminate the consequences of Russia's June 10 terrorist attack.
Ukrainian forces destroy three Russian field depots with drone in Kupiansk sector/Vide
Ukraine in active dialogue with U.S. on arms purchases – MFA spox
Enemy increases airstrikes in Toretsk, Kramatorsk, Siversk sectors – military
Russians dropped explosives from drone onto car in Kherson, injuring woman
Politics
Russia admits their memo serves as ultimatum Ukraine never to accept - Zelensky
"They are professionals at this: they are absolute world champions in lying. In diplomatic terms, they are manipulators. Those with whom our delegation is negotiating are also like this. It would therefore be good if the mediating countries did not focus on what they could lose from sanctions – what economic disadvantages they would face, or what would happen to space cooperation and satellite communications – but concentrated on what the negotiations are about: the war. On the fact that people are dying. The rest can be discussed in bilateral talks,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in an interview with Válasz Online
Israel denies supplying Patriot systems to Ukraine
The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denied comments made by Israel's Ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, who claimed that Israel had delivered Patriot missile systems to Kyiv.
MFA spokesman unveils Ukraine’s expectations of NATO summit
Kyiv expects Warsaw's policy on Ukraine's security to remain unchanged
Too early to talk of next round of talks in Istanbul - MFA Ukraine
EU sanctions against Russia: Presidential representative says what is “disappointing” about new package
Society
Ukrainian diving champion Mykyta Kozubenko dies in combat
Mykyta Kozubenko, a Ukrainian Master of Sport in diving, coach, and National Guard soldier, has been killed in action.
Born and raised in Mykolaiv, Kozubenko began practicing sports from a young age and dedicated many years of his life to it. Since 2017, he had worked as a diving coach and held a second-level coaching qualification. In 2018, he graduated from Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University.
He died at the age of 31.