US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 amid reports that Iran’s foreign minister will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on June 23. Iran’s possible decision to close the Strait of Hormuz will cause a significant spike in global oil prices, which would greatly economically and financially benefit Russia by reversing months of declining Russian oil revenue and allowing Russia to continue to finance its war against Ukraine in the medium term.

Russian forces have continued to pursue long-standing operational objectives on the battlefield in Ukraine throughout Spring and Summer 2025 and will likely remain committed to these objectives for the coming months. Russia’s intensified force generation efforts appear to be generating a reserve force that Russia will be able to leverage in Ukraine or against NATO in the future, despite current limitations on Russia’s offensive capacity in Ukraine.

The Kremlin continues to promote rhetoric designed to undermine Ukrainian legitimacy and sovereignty, demonstrating its steadfast commitment to the complete destruction of Ukraine.

Kremlin officials are leveraging the Russian education system to indoctrinate children into the mythos of the Soviet Union’s role in the Second World War and create a centralized state ideology that will shape generations in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine, likely to justify a protracted war in Ukraine and a future military conflict against the West. Ukrainian forces advanced in northern Sumy oblast. Russian forces advanced near Novopavlivka.