© Eric Lee/The New York Times
Key developments on June 17:
Ukraine's Brave1 defense technology cluster and France's Defense Innovation Agency (AID) launched the Brave France joint defense innovation program with a $22 million budget. Ukraine and France first announced their intention to create Brave France in February 2026, with the final launch agreement signed at Eurosatory 2026, Ukraine's Defense Ministry announces.
Brave France extends Ukraine's growing network of bilateral defense innovation partnerships with European NATO members, following the May 2026 launch of Brave Germany with Berlin.
AID Director Patrick Aufort and Brave1 Operations Director Iryna Zabolotna signed the agreement, with French Minister of Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Catherine Vautrin in attendance.
The parties are currently coordinating the list of priority topics, technical requirements for projects, and forming a joint executive board and expert commissions.
The program's primary focus areas align with Ukraine's most urgent battlefield needs and France's defense-industrial priorities. The maximum grant size of $1.1 million per project is designed to support both early-stage technology development and scaling of proven systems toward production.
Both AID and Brave1 will share oversight through joint expert commissions and an executive board currently being formed.
The September 2026 launch date for the first competitions gives the joint executive board approximately three months to finalize priority topics and technical requirements before opening applications to Ukrainian and French defense companies.
A key element of Brave France will be integration with the Test in Ukraine platform, which allows foreign manufacturers to test new defense technologies in conditions close to actual combat. Ukraine's Defense Ministry offered the same Test in Ukraine framework to Germany earlier this year, with foreign manufacturers sending products to Ukraine, providing online training, and receiving operational reports from Ukrainian forces who deploy them.
The Brave France program will use the Test in Ukraine framework to accelerate the identification of technologies suitable for Ukraine's Defense Forces. The combined approach gives French defense manufacturers access to battlefield validation data while channeling Ukrainian frontline experience into joint product development.
The bilateral programs operate alongside ongoing co-production frameworks announced at Eurosatory 2026, including the Swedish-Ukrainian AIDronesUA-Njord Technology partnership for joint production of MAUL ground robots.
© Arlette Bashizi for The New York Times
Estonian Defense Forces commander Andrus Merilo has visited Ukrainian troops in the southeast direction, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi says. The commanders have received briefings on the operational situation, frontline challenges, and the work of Ukrainian Air Assault Forces and Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS).
Estonia has positioned itself among the most consequential per-capita military aid suppliers to Ukraine and has consistently demonstrated direct command-level involvement in evaluating Ukrainian capabilities and needs.
During the visit, Syrskyi held a separate meeting with the leadership of Air Assault Forces and air assault brigade commanders.
The discussions covered Russian operational activities, current threats to Ukrainian positions, and possibilities for reinforcing Ukrainian units operating in the southeast.
Syrskyi did not specify which sector of the southeastern front was visited, as Ukrainian Armed Forces typically restrict precise location details about command-level visits for operational security reasons.
The Commander-in-Chief also spoke with the command of the Unmanned Systems Forces and commanders of assault regiments.
They reported on the state of affairs in their units, supply situations, and results of combat task execution. The SBS briefing comes amid intensified Ukrainian unmanned-systems development, including a $113-million Logistics Lockdown program for middle-strike drones targeting Russian rear targets. The SBS Group was created in June 2025 as Ukraine's first operationally unified command structure for unmanned systems.
"For international partners, it is important to see the real situation on the front, understand the needs of the Ukrainian military, and evaluate the effectiveness of the provided assistance directly on site," Syrskyi said.
At the end of the visit, the Commander-in-Chief thanked Ukrainian troops for their service, resilience, and professionalism.
"It is precisely thanks to you that Ukraine holds, fights, and brings closer a just peace," Syrskyi added.
© Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times
Latvian Defense Minister Raivis Melnis has transferred 14 CVR(T) family combat vehicles to Ukraine's Third Army Corps during his visit, per Ukrinform. The British-made vehicles will replace outdated Soviet equipment for defense operations and special tasks in the immediate frontline area at the Borova-Lyman direction. Anti-FPV drone protection systems will be additionally installed on the vehicles.
Latvia has emerged as one of the most consequential per-capita donors of military aid to Ukraine, with sustained deliveries across multiple categories of equipment.
The CVR(T) family is a British-design lightly armored tracked reconnaissance and combat vehicle category that includes the Scimitar, Scorpion, Spartan, Sultan, and Striker variants.
The vehicles' deployment to the Kharkiv-Donetsk Oblast border area places them in one of the most active operational zones along the eastern frontline.
"I hope these vehicles will find the right place to defeat the enemy. If there is a need for training or any other assistance, we are ready," Mēlnis said.
The Latvian defense minister added that this is not the first batch of equipment from Latvia. The previously transferred 42 Patria armored personnel carriers have already been used in combat in Ukrainian operations.
"In terms of aid volume, Latvia competes with large European countries. This help arrives on time. It has its own price. The previous Patria vehicles have already achieved combat successes and have passed and liberated kilometers of Ukrainian territory," Third Army Corps commander Brigadier General Andrii Biletsky said.
He added that "the Latvian side has always supplied equipment in a fully complete configuration — that is, equipment from the box that can be used here immediately."
Ukrainian forces can deploy their new equipment quickly without waiting for spare parts, training packages, or technical kits to arrive separately.
The CVR(T) family is a series of British-designed light armored fighting vehicles developed by the British Army in the 1970s. The vehicles are lightly armored, tracked, and designed for high-speed reconnaissance and rapid deployment.
© Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Bulgaria's new government plans to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, a shift that breaks with the European Union's push to pressure Russia, Bloomberg reported. The country's Defense Minister tied the move to a call for negotiations rather than arms, echoing a prime minister who has long been hostile to military aid for Kyiv.
Bulgarian Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov told reporters in Sofia on 9 June that his government would end weapons deliveries to Kyiv.
"Ukraine needs more people, not more armament," he stated, and called instead for a "just peace that will be defined by both sides participating in the conflict."
He added that the EU's role in any peace process is "extremely important." But the Bloc would struggle to act as a mediator, he claimed, after assisting Ukraine throughout the war.
The stance reflects Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who has long held that the war cannot be won on the battlefield. Radev, a former air force commander and president until January, has repeatedly opposed the EU's military support for Ukraine. He has also called for lifting sanctions on the Kremlin, arguing they damage Europe's economy. In office for only a month, the Prime Minister has promised to expand Bulgaria's weight in joint European decisions.
Bulgaria ranks among the EU's biggest producers of Soviet-standard ammunition. Those older Soviet-caliber shells proved crucial to Ukraine early in the war. The government officially refused direct military aid in 2022. Even so, Bulgarian shells reached the front through exports to other EU countries. Since 2022, Sofia has sent 13 packages of military aid, keeping their value and contents classified.
The plan surfaced days after the leaders of France, Germany, and Britain urged the Kremlin to accept an immediate, complete ceasefire that would open talks on a lasting deal. Moscow has rejected Kyiv's offer to meet and negotiate an end to the full-scale invasion, launched more than four years ago.
The Times earlier called the rise to power of pro-Russian Radev a strategic success for Putin.
In a huge warehouse in Geel, Belgium, $9.7 million in contraceptives have been locked up since early 2025. Some 77% of the shipment from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was destined for about 10 African countries, including Kenya, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali. But when Donald Trump’s administration dismantled the world’s largest development aid organization, these medicines were left stranded, destined either to be destroyed or to expire box by box. About 5,800 miles south of Belgium, in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, Jane Anyongo, Violet Mosomi, Salma Kamau, and hundreds of thousands of women are still waiting for their pills, condoms, subdermal implants, intrauterine devices, and other sexual and reproductive health supplies.
© Diego Menjíbar
© Diego Menjíbar
© Diego Menjíbar
© Diego Menjíbar
© Diego Menjíbar
© Diego Menjíbar
© Diego Menjíbar
© Diego Menjíbar
A few months ago, at a center for malnourished children in the remote Darfur region of Sudan, an orphaned baby who had arrived days earlier on the brink of death gripped Tom Fletcher’s finger with surprising strength. The United Nations’ humanitarian chief says those seconds eased his frustration at international inaction and the “anger” he feels over cuts to aid at a time when needs and conflicts are rising around the world.
© Álvaro García
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