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Ukraine created drone army one year ago. It already destroyed $40 billion worth in Russian targets

10 June 2026 at 19:53

Semikolodezyanska oil depot in Yedi-Quyu (Lenine), occupied Crimea, amid a Ukrainian drone attack. Screenshot from video: Ukraine's Special Operations Forces

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) have struck Russian targets worth nearly $40 billion in the year since the branch's creation, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. On 10 June, the Ukrainian president signed a decree establishing the Day of Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS Day).

The $40 billion cumulative damage figure Zelenskyy cited represents a 57% increase over the $25.5 billion in cumulative Russian losses that Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported in April 2026.

The SBS Day decree institutionalizes the unmanned forces as a permanent feature of Ukraine's military doctrine, alongside the army, navy, and air force.

What Zelenskyy said about SBS's achievements

"Only a year since the creation of the SBS group, Russian targets at various levels worth nearly $40 billion have already been hit," Zelenskyy said in his evening address.

He added that SBS is really a model for many other armies, and "these months we are especially grateful for middlestrikes."

"Russian military logistics across the entire depth of the temporarily occupied territory is now accessible to Ukrainian drones. The Russian border zone also experiences our impact," he stated.

The president added that Russia already feels the effect of these strikes, and Ukraine will continue to scale them.

"The most important thing is that these are different types of strikes, and each one adds to our ability to save lives," the Ukrainian president added.

What does middlestrike mean operationally? 

The middlestrike concept Zelenskyy invoked refers to Ukrainian drone strikes against Russian military logistics in the depth of occupied territory and across the Russian border zone. The depth zone covers Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, and parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts. The Russian border zone reaches Belgorod and Kursk. Middlestrikes sit between the very-long-range deep strikes against strategic Russian infrastructure, such as the Volgograd refineries, and the tactical frontline FPV operations. The SBS is led by Brigadier General Robert Brovdi, call sign "Madiar".

Kostiantynivka is one of Ukraine’s “Fortress Belt cities” Russia demands. It may fall by end of summer 2026, says observer

10 June 2026 at 17:57

The city of Kostiantynivka after Russia's advances. Source: The 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Kholodnyi Yar"

Russian forces may capture Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast by the end of summer 2026, Ukrainian military observer Denys Popovych said on Radio NV. The warning comes as DeepState analysts have documented the Russian conversion of Kostiantynivka into ruins, and as Russian forces continue to consolidate in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad.

Kostiantynivka is one of the "Fortress Belt cities" that Russia has demanded as part of its territorial conditions to take the entire Donetsk Oblast in the peace negotiations, even as it continues striking Ukrainian cities.

Popovych says Russia could capture the city despite what he himself characterizes as the broader operational failure of Russia's spring-summer offensive.

Russian success would come even as Ukraine's deep-strike envelope reaches 1,800 km into Russia and the "Logistics Lockdown" campaign degrades Russian rear-area infrastructure. 

Pokrovsk tactic that may be repeated

"We are now talking about the general failure of the spring-summer phase of Russian army offensive actions in the east and the south. But the prize in the form of Kostiantynivka they may take during this summer," Popovych said.

He added that Russian occupiers in Kostiantynivka are attempting to apply the same tactic they used in Pokrovsk: entrenching on the outskirts, then progressively infiltrating into the city itself by occupying multi-story buildings.

"Those enemy infiltration groups are being destroyed. But the question is whether we have enough resources to destroy every group," he continued. 

According to the expert, if one of them holds, settles in, and Ukraine doesn't notice it, then that chain, that path, will be trampled by the Russians.

"They will spread further through the city. This is the standard scenario the Russians have used during those cities that held defense for a long time," Popovych believes.

Russian drone crews may take same actions used in Pokrovsk, but now in Kostiantynivka

After the seizure of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad per DeepState's assessment, Russian forces continue to build up forces inside them, particularly drone crews who have taken control of urban airspace. 

"The enemy is establishing itself in the cities and currently maintains the active task of advancing into the depths of our defense," DeepState noted in its analysis.

The combination of Russian drone control of urban airspace in already-captured cities and the slow-infiltration approach for the next target city is what makes Kostiantynivka's risk, as Popovych described, not hypothetical. Russia has demonstrated that the tactic produces results, slowly, against cities that hold out for extended periods.

Car bomb kills Russian general who armed Russia’s war on Ukraine—fourth top officer assassinated near Moscow since late 2024

10 June 2026 at 12:32

GRAU

The car exploded around 5:30 am on 9 June as Davydov pulled the BMW X3 out of its parking spot on Koldunova Street in Balashikha's Aviatorov microdistrict. Bystanders pulled him from the wreckage still alive, but he died at the scene before medical teams arrived, The Insider said. The outlet published the SUV's license plate and the apartment address on Kozhedub Street, several hundred meters from the blast, to confirm the identification.

Davydov, 57, had headed the missile and artillery ammunition supply directorate within the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate (GRAU) of Russia's Defense Ministry since 2017. Ukraine's Myrotvorets database lists him as a participant in planning and organizing Russia's full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, with operational responsibility for keeping Russian forces supplied with shells and missiles. Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed the death of one man in the blast and opened a criminal case but did not name the victim.

The improvised explosive device carried the force of up to 500 grams of TNT and was attached to the underside of the vehicle, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported. Conflict Intelligence Team founder Ruslan Leviev reviewed the footage and concluded the bomb had been hidden in a separate parked vehicle and detonated remotely as the BMW drew alongside. The Insider attributed the operation to Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) without citing further sources, and Ukrainian officials had not commented as of late Tuesday.

A second device, then a third

Hours after the Balashikha blast, a Zeekr electric vehicle caught fire in a parking lot at the intersection of Butlerova and Vvedensky streets in Moscow's Konkovo district. Bomb technicians found a device under the car and neutralized it with a controlled detonation. Around 6 p.m., Moscow police evacuated the Nebo shopping center in Solntsevo after another suspicious object was discovered beneath a parked vehicle. Russian authorities ordered mass under-vehicle inspections across the capital region.

The pattern of four

Tuesday's killing fits a deepening pattern: the fourth senior Russian officer assassinated in the rear since late 2024. Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of Russia's chemical defense troops, was killed by a scooter bomb outside his Moscow apartment in December 2024 in an operation the SBU claimed openly. Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of the General Staff's Main Operational Directorate, died in April 2025 in a car bombing 350 meters from Tuesday's blast site, also in the Aviatorov microdistrict; Russia's FSB later sentenced Ignat Kuzin, who said he worked for the SBU, to life in prison. Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, who oversaw the General Staff's operational training, was killed by a bomb planted under his Kia Sorento in southern Moscow in December 2025.

Background

The slain officer grew up in the closed nuclear city of Penza-19, now called Zarechny, where his father worked at the Start production association, a facility that built nuclear warheads until 2002. He held patents in rocket-engine design and artillery ammunition. In 2009 he led the Central Testing Technical Bureau attached to the 51st GRAU arsenal in the Vladimir region, and bought the BMW X3 in 2024 from a businessman in that same area, the Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported. The Kremlin, the Defense Ministry, and the SBU had not commented publicly as of late Tuesday.

Chonhar bridge halted twice, now Arabat Spit crossing hit — Kherson’s occupied south loses two routes

10 June 2026 at 07:33

russian air-defense crews now hunted ukraine bolts rocket pods its long-range drones · post nasa firms satellite detection fire arabat spit kherson oblast after ukrainian drone strike 0258 17 2026

Ukraine attempted a missile strike on a bridge connecting Henichesk to the Arabat Spit early on 10 June 2026, according to Vladimir Saldo, Russia's installed head of the occupied part of Kherson Oblast, who posted the claim on social media.

The strike is the latest in a series of Ukrainian attacks targeting road links between Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast and Crimea. The Chonhar bridge—the main overland route—was first struck on 7 June, after which traffic resumed in reversible mode; a second Ukrainian drone strike on 9 June halted movement again. Saldo had advised drivers to use alternative routes through Armyansk and Perekop.

Traffic across the Henichesk–Arabat Spit bridge has been temporarily closed, Saldo said, with emergency services on site establishing the circumstances.

Power outages across eight districts

In the same post, Saldo reported that eight municipalities were left without electricity following a separate overnight Ukrainian drone attack: Henichesk, Novotroitske, Chaplynka, Kalanchak, Ivanivka, Hornostaivka, Kakhovka, and Nova Kakhovka. Utility and emergency crews were working to restore power, he said.

Broader logistics pressure

Russian pro-war bloggers have in recent weeks reported an intensified Ukrainian drone campaign against military transport in southern Ukraine, Hromadske reports. On 30 May, Russian-occupied Crimea imposed limits on sales of A-95 petrol, citing drone strikes on Russian oil refineries; occupied Luhansk Oblast followed with similar restrictions shortly after.

Fire reported at Kuibyshev oil refinery in Russia’s Samara after drone strike

10 June 2026 at 07:10

title · post fires raging kuybyshevsky oil refinery samara russia 10 2026 fires-rage-at-samara-kuybyshevsky-oil-refinery ukraine news ukrainian reports

A fire broke out at the Kuibyshev oil refinery in Samara, Russia, following a drone strike on 10 June, according to OSINT analysis by Astra and Russian Telegram channels.

The Kuibyshev refinery is one of the largest oil industry facilities in the region and is part of Rosneft. The 10 June strike is the third reported attack on the plant since August 2025.

What happened overnight

Residents of Samara Oblast reported explosions during the night of 9–10 June. The regional governor wrote of a missile threat in the oblast.

Astra said its analysis of eyewitness footage established that the Kuibyshev refinery in Samara was struck and caught fire.

The same refinery halted operations in August 2025 following a drone attack, Russian social media channels reported. It was struck again in January 2026.

Ukraine reportedly strikes Russian defense plant ‘Progress’ in Cheboksary with Flamingo missiles

10 June 2026 at 06:25

Russia

A fire broke out at what is reportedly the Progress defense plant in Cheboksary, Russia, following a missile strike on 10 June, the governor of Russia's Chuvash Republic said, according to Russian telgram channel Astra.

The incident marks the second reported strike on the same facility in under a week — on 5 May, Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo missiles were reported to have struck the VNІIR-Progress defense enterprise in the same city, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirming the attack.

Oleg Nikolaev, governor of Chuvash Republic, confirmed on Telegram that Cheboksary had come under missile attack. He did not specify casualties or damage.

What the strike targeted

Photos and video of a fire following the strike in Cheboksary were published by Russian social media channels, including footage of a missile passing over the city. According to OSINT analysis by Astra, the targeted facility is the VNIIR-Progress defense enterprise.

The plant manufactures Kometa antennas — systems designed to protect drones from electronic warfare — as well as other components used in Russian Shahed drones and Iskander-M and Kalibr missiles.

Astra analysts also noted that the VNIIR-Progress premises had been fully covered with camouflage netting following the previous strike.

The weapon used

Monitoring channel Exilenova+ identified the missiles used as Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles. Denis Shtilerman, founder of the Ukrainian company FirePoint, which produces the Flamingo, published a photo of a launch on X on 10 June, without providing further details.

Previous strike

The 5 May attack on the same plant caused a large-scale fire after a missile struck the facade of one of the factory buildings, according to OSINT analysts. Zelensky confirmed the use of Flamingo missiles in that incident.

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