Russia Pounds Ukraine With Drones and Missiles as EU Prepares to Open Accession Talks

Russian forces hammered Ukraine with a fresh wave of drone and missile strikes this week even as the European Union moved to open a new front in the war's diplomacy, preparing to launch formal membership negotiations with Kyiv. The juxtaposition captured the dual reality of Ukraine's struggle: relentless bombardment on the battlefield and slow, hard-won progress toward integration with the West.

Overnight into June 12, Russia launched 117 drones against Ukrainian targets, according to the Institute for the Study of War's daily assessment. On the afternoon of the same day, Russian forces struck a solar power plant in the southern Odesa region, part of a sustained campaign against Ukraine's energy infrastructure. A separate long-range artillery strike on the city of Sumy wounded six people. Ukrainian forces, for their part, continued to hit back at Russian oil and energy facilities, striking infrastructure inside Russia on the night of June 11.

On the ground, the picture remained grim for Ukrainian defenders. Russian troops continued to make tactical gains in and around Kostyantynivka in the eastern Donetsk region, where analysts said Ukraine's ability to hold the southeastern sections of the city was deteriorating. The grinding advances have come at enormous cost to Russian forces but have steadily pressured Ukrainian lines through the late spring.

Against that backdrop, the European Union signaled a major political milestone. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on June 12 that the bloc would "open the cluster on fundamentals" for Ukraine and Moldova, with formal accession talks set to begin June 15. The fundamentals cluster, covering the rule of law, democratic institutions and the functioning of the judiciary, is considered the most consequential stage of the membership process and a powerful signal of the EU's long-term commitment to Kyiv despite the ongoing war.

The diplomacy extended to Washington as well. Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk met with President Donald Trump at the White House on June 12, a high-profile encounter that underscored Ukraine's continued effort to keep its cause visible in the American capital. For Kyiv, the week distilled the broader strategic equation it has faced for more than two years: every step toward European integration must be defended on a battlefield where Russia shows no sign of relenting, and where the cost of the war is measured nightly in drones overhead and lives lost on the ground.