Ukraine

Civilian casualties and violations in Ukraine have significantly escalated in recent months, including a sharp rise in often deadly drone attacks, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said in a report published on Monday. It covers the period from 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2025, during which 986 civilians were killed and 4,807 injured – a 37 per cent increase compared to the same period the previous year.

North Korea will send more troops to Russia to assist in its war against Ukraine, possibly as early as July, a South Korean lawmaker said Thursday, citing information from Seoul’s spy agency.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, have signed an agreement on the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, including the Statute of the Special Tribunal.

Civilians in Sumy City, Ukraine, are being killed and injured by “increased unlawful attacks” from Russia involving Grad rockets, Amnesty International reported on Tuesday.

A combined drone and missile barrage by Russian armed forces overnight between 16 and 17 June appears to be the deadliest on Kyiv in almost a year, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said today. According to local authorities, the attack killed at least 14 civilians and injured 114 in Kyiv.  

Estimates of the value of Russia’s frozen sovereign, or state, assets vary. In September 2023, officials from sanctioning countries assessed the total at around $280 billion (€262 billion), with approximately €210 billion ($224 billion) held in EU member states. Russian estimates are slightly higher.  

An unofficial two-week deadline Trump set to determine whether Putin is engaging in a good-faith search for peace or “tapping us along” passed several days ago – and now the violence in the Middle East could potentially stay his hand further, particularly if he turns to the Kremlin for help brokering an Iran-Israel truce or an agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged countries that back Kyiv in its defense against Russia's invasion to step up sanctions against Moscow, saying the Kremlin doesn't care about massive casualties but could be swayed to end the war if economic pressure is sufficient.

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a new prisoner swap and the return of thousands of dead soldiers during direct talks in Istanbul, although little headway was made towards ending the war.

The Security Council today met for a second consecutive day on Ukraine, as the Russian Federation accused European States of artificially keeping the issue in the spotlight and obstructing peace by arming Kyiv.  However, many Council members countered that it is Moscow that is prolonging the war and violating the Charter of the United Nations.