Ukraine Hits Kronstadt, Cuts Crimea Supply Line; Hungary Ends EU Veto

Ukraine struck at the heart of Russia's Baltic military infrastructure on Saturday. Drones flew 1,000km to hit Kronstadt — the main base of Russia's Baltic Fleet — along with military arsenals in the Leningrad region and an oil depot 500km south in the Krasnodar region. Leningrad governor Alexander Drozdenko reported more than 140 drones shot down, a fire at a military facility, and resident evacuations. St Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov issued a stay-at-home order — the city's first since February 2022. Zelensky described the Krasnodar strike as part of Ukraine's 'long-range sanctions,' the strike came a day after Putin, speaking at Russia's annual St Petersburg Economic Forum, had refused Zelensky's call for direct negotiations and reiterated that Russia would only end the war when its demands — Ukrainian withdrawal from four regions and abandonment of NATO membership — were met. The attack was the second strike on the St Petersburg region in under a week.

On the southern front, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces drone operators announced they had established aerial control over the Melitopol-Chonhar land corridor — the principal supply route to Crimea — in what the 3rd Separate Special Purpose Regiment called the most significant interdiction of the Crimea resupply line since the destruction of the Kerch bridges. Russia has since restricted artillery ammunition use in the southern sector, according to front-line reporting, as the logistics squeeze takes effect. Over 140,000 Russian troops are concentrated on three southern front sectors, according to Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi — a deployment pattern that Ukrainian planners say telegraphs a renewed push toward Zaporizhzhia and the approaches to Dnipro city.

Ukraine's foreign minister Sybiha said Friday that Putin had 'lost his chance for peace' by refusing direct talks. Separately, Putin rejected Zelensky's open letter calling for a ceasefire and face-to-face negotiations, and Russian advances in the Donbas continue to stagnate. Ukraine also reported a rise in Russian drone attacks routed through Belarusian airspace — a trajectory that avoids some Ukrainian air defence systems positioned along the eastern corridor.

Ukraine simultaneously appealed for an international humanitarian corridor to evacuate up to 2,000 civilians — including nearly 50 children — from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, where families face acute food shortages and families have been unable to leave since Russian forces took the city. The appeal went to the UN and Red Cross.

The diplomatic week's most significant development for Ukraine's long-term future came not from the battlefield but from Budapest. Hungary's new government, led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar of the centre-right Tisza party since his election victory in April, announced a deal with Ukraine on the rights of the approximately 100,000-strong Hungarian minority in Zakarpattia — covering linguistic, educational, cultural and political protections. The deal ends Hungary's 17-month veto on Ukraine's EU accession process. EU ambassador-level meetings in Brussels on June 3 confirmed the shift; intergovernmental accession conferences with Ukraine and Moldova are now scheduled for June 15 alongside a foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg. Hungary has attached a condition: if Ukraine closes all 33 accession chapters within 10 to 15 years, Budapest will hold a legally binding referendum on final membership ratification. Orbán's Fidesz government had maintained the veto for the past two years.

In support news, France confirmed it will honour Ukraine at its July 14 Bastille Day parade in Paris — with Ukrainian participants marching on the Champs-Élysées in the final such event of Macron's term. NATO is discussing a €70 billion military aid package ahead of its Ankara summit. G7 mayors in Nantes pledged continued support for Ukrainian cities.

Russian forces launched fresh drone strikes across multiple Ukrainian regions: a strike on a Kherson petrol station killed two and injured others; attacks in Mykolaiv and Kharkiv regions killed one and injured civilians; shelling hit residential areas in Kherson oblast. Russia also used new LTE-controlled drones — hard to jam with existing Ukrainian countermeasures — in attacks on Zaporizhzhia. An activist organisation estimated up to 800,000 Russian deserters, comparing the scale to a 'hidden crisis.' Ukraine built 822km of anti-drone road tunnels for frontline logistics supply this year — a figure that underscores the scale of adaptation required to move supplies under sustained aerial threat.