“The EU’s willingness to tighten sanctions against the RDIF (Russian Direct Investment Fund) once again demonstrates that the fund will remain an important channel for financing projects aimed at modernizing the Russian economy and strengthening its industrial base,” said RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev. He stressed that the statements of the head of the European Commission are related to the EU’s willingness to continue the war in Ukraine and dissatisfaction with the work of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in restoring relations between Russia and the United States. Earlier, Ursula von der Leyen proposed imposing sanctions against the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and its investment projects.
German Ambassador to Ukraine Martin Jaeger will be appointed head of German intelligence, Der Spiegel magazine reported.
Tensions between Victor Orban and Volodimir Zelensky also continue: “Zelensky attacked us because Hungarians do not want to die for Ukraine”. This is how the Hungarian prime minister responded to Zelensky’s interview with Válasz Online, where he accused Orban of anti-Ukrainian policies and espionage. Orban: “We do not want our children to return from the front in coffins and Hungarian money to end up in Ukraine!” he wrote on Facebook.
From the United States, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced that the US intends to reduce spending on arms purchases for Ukraine in 2026. According to Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s administration views the Russian-Ukrainian conflict “completely differently” and considers a negotiated peace agreement the best solution. He stated this during a hearing on the planned defense budget at the House Appropriations Subcommittee.
Overall, the US defense budget for the next fiscal year amounts to about $1 trillion. According to Hegseth, most of the funds will be spent on rebuilding the armed forces.
Russia has finally handed over the bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine, the representative of the parliamentary coordination group for military operations, Russian State Duma deputy Shamsail Saraliev, confirmed to RBC.
Russia has handed over to the Ukrainian side 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen who died during the fighting in Kursk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia and other border regions. Ukrainian agencies confirmed receipt and began identification procedures.
Earlier it was reported that Russia was ready to transfer more than 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian servicemen. These are bodies taken from the line of contact, as well as from the territories where the Ukrainian Armed Forces attempted to conduct offensive operations.
The head of the Russian delegation in Istanbul, Vladimir Medinsky, reported that the transfer of the bodies of the fallen soldiers, which Kiev had refused for 3 days, has begun. He confirmed that 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers have been transferred to the Ukrainian side and that 27 fallen members of the Russian Armed Forces have been returned. “Now they can be buried in a Christian way. The work will continue all these days,” he wrote. He also said that tomorrow Russia and Ukraine will begin urgent “medical exchanges” of seriously injured prisoners on the front lines.
As of June 10, Russian Ambassador to the United States Alexander Darchiev reported that Russia and the United States have made a preliminary decision to move talks on diplomatic “issues” from Istanbul to their respective capitals, a new round of talks between Russia and the United States on diplomatic “issues” will be held in Moscow in the near future, Darchiev told TASS. On June 11, Darchiev reported that Moscow has provided Washington with a roadmap for the return of Russian diplomatic property to the United States. He also recalled that the US authorities seized a total of six diplomatic properties.
Russian presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky said that Ukraine is expressing its reluctance to negotiate. In his opinion, such tactics could worsen the neighboring country’s position in the current conflict. “We want peace,” the head of the Russian negotiating team said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. He added that “if Ukraine continues to be guided” by the interests of other states, “then we will be forced to respond.” According to Medinsky, the reluctance to compromise will cost Ukraine several territories.
The mistake that Western countries are making in the conflict in Ukraine is that they consider this conflict similar to the clash between England and France, two countries with their own history and culture, Medinsky continued to the WSJ. Medinsky says that the conflict in Ukraine is a clash between two states with a common language and culture, which, “in essence, are one people and are destined to be close allies.” “It’s like a conflict between two brothers, one older and one younger, about who is smarter and more important,” Medinsky says. “Unfortunately, this conflict sharpens our differences, and that’s why we want it to end as soon as possible.” Medinsky suggested sending Rutte a textbook so he could learn that “there was no Ukraine in the 12th century.”
And now a look at the front line as of 15:30 on June 11. The forced evacuation zone has been expanded in the Kharkiv region, according to the regional administration. “We are talking about the settlements of the Kupyansk district: Baranivka, Berezivka, Novomykolaivka, Sobolivka, Staroverovka, Duvanka and Fedorivka,” — the report reads.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a massive drone attack in Kotovsk, Tambov region. At night, Ukrainian drones attacked Kotovsk, Tambov region, Acting Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said. As a result of the fall of one of the downed drones, a fire broke out, which was extinguished without causing casualties. Locals report that the target of the attack was the Tambov gunpowder factory.
According to Russian social media sources: “The Ukrainian Armed Forces Command was surprised by the Russian offensive on the second line of defense that neglected the attack on its flank. From the outskirts of the border villages of Kursk, Gornal and Guevo, Russian troops moved towards Sadky, and then reached the key village of Mohrytsya for the region.” In the early afternoon, another missile attack was recorded in Sumy. An agricultural complex near the city of Lebedyn was hit. 1-2 impacts were recorded, with a large fire engulfing much of the complex and surrounding areas.
Last night, at least 18 Russian Geran-2 drones attacked the city of Kharkiv. At least 15 impacts were recorded, most of them in the industrial areas of the Slobidskyi district and Osnovianskyi district. The targets included a factory and several small businesses. Debris from one intercepted Geran drone fell on a residential high-rise building, causing a large fire that killed 3 people and injured many others.
In 9 days the Siversky-Donets Canal line fell. Ukrainian forces had to retreat to the village of Bila Hora, as well as to the final section of the defensive line. This is a direct consequence of the localized Russian breakthrough in both Dyliivka and Dachne, and the consequences will now be catastrophic for the defense of Kostyantynivka.
The Russian Group of Forces “East” on the night of June 10-11 reached the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region, near Dachny. In addition, Russian troops from the Far East are approaching Komar from the east.
Other sources report that Russian troops are consolidating in the direction of Novopavlovsk, on the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region. According to local sources, the Russians managed to advance along a relatively wide front in the southwestern part of the DPR, approaching one of the defense lines of the Ukrainian Allied Forces, which the Ukrainians were building east of the Mezhova – Novopavlivka line.
Units of the “East” group of forces, as a result of active actions on a wide front, reached the western border of the Donetsk People’s Republic and are developing an offensive in the territory of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Personnel and equipment of two mechanized brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and one territorial defense brigade were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Shevchenko of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Horlivka and Malynivka of the Zaporizhia region.
Graziella Giangiulio
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