As Russian battlefield gains slow and recruitment drive falters, Ukraine is warning that the Kremlin may finally reach for the measure it has long resisted — a forced mobilization.

According to Kyiv, Moscow is preparing to call up tens of thousands of fresh soldiers to offset its climbing battlefield losses.

"We will open the cluster on fundamentals; the backbone of the accession process," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on June 12. "It covers the core values and principles on which the EU is built, from the rule of law to strong democratic institutions."

The news comes after a stray Ukrainian naval drone exploded in the Romanian Black Sea Port of Constanta on June 5, without causing casualties.

During the meeting, the Russian side presented "an objective assessment of the destructive policies" of Western countries, namely the ongoing support of Ukraine via the Coalition of the Willing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Some 31.9% of respondents said the controversy, which sparked a diplomatic row between Kyiv and Warsaw, did not affect their view of Ukraine, according to a survey conducted by the SW Research agency.

Iran and the U.S. traded strikes for the second day in a row, raising concerns about the fragility of a ceasefire.

The Kyiv Independent’s Martin Fornusek speaks with Phillips O'Brien, a U.S. historian and professor of strategic studies, about U.S. policy on Ukraine under President Donald Trump, the future of transatlantic relations, and the state of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Zelensky gave a Ukrainian military unit a new name. It reopened the most painful chapter in Polish-Ukrainian history, despite Kyiv's assurances that it was not meant to offend its western neighbors.

The shift comes after Rumen Radev — a Russia-friendly former president and a longtime critic of military aid to Kyiv — won the Bulgarian parliamentary elections in April.

Candace Owens billed her trip to Russia last week as a family vacation. It turned into something far more useful for the Kremlin.

The U.S. far-right conspiracy theorist — boasting 35 million followers across all social media platforms — ended up appearing at Russia's flagship economic forum