Russia downs 269 Ukrainian drones; Ukraine faces 27 bln US dollars defense budget deficit

Russian air defense system intercepted and shot down 269 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions in 12 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

During the day, from 08:00 to 20:00 Moscow time, air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 269 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones, the ministry said in a statement.

A day earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that over the past 40 days, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had persistently launched attacks on Russian civilian and logistics facilities using missiles and drones, which he described as “another gamble” by Ukraine and its Western backers aimed at inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.

Putin said that Russian troops were not only continuing offensives along all fronts but also stepping up military pressure, and expressed confidence in accomplishing the goals of the special military operation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Ukraine expects 30 billion euros from the European Union (EU) this year to help fund its fiscal deficit, while the country faces 27 billion U.S. dollars of defense budget deficit.

He also said that holding elections is impossible under the country’s current conditions, adding that elections right now would be a tsunami for the country that would tear Ukraine apart.

His strategy is to bring the country to the end of the war and preserve an independent and sovereign state, Zelensky told reporters.

Ukraine would be ready to discuss holding possible elections only if its partners provide specific guarantees that the vote could be held safely, legitimately and democratically, without strikes or shelling, Zelensky said.

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov recently said that Ukraine should find a legal and safe way to hold elections even during the conflict.

A presidential election was expected to be held in 2024 but was postponed due to the country’s martial law, which has been in effect since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said on Sunday that the country has prepared scenarios for every hostile action by the United States, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

His remarks came in response to recent comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump.

In a Wednesday post on Truth Social, Trump announced “the most crushing economic operation ever taken” against any country providing a lifeline to Iran.

“This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale,” he said, calling the move “an ECONOMIC D-DAY”.

Mohebbi said that the U.S. statements regarding “an economic war” are intended to exert psychological pressure on the Iranian public.

Iran has already developed plans to counter the adverse effects of the “economic war” and will continue to engage in economic exchanges with other countries to circumvent U.S. restrictions, he said.

Iran has no concerns about its economy, and the effects of the relevant measures will become evident, said the spokesman.

On June 18, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on ending the war in the region on all fronts, including Lebanon. Under the MoU, they were scheduled to hold negotiations within 60 days, which ended last Monday, to reach a final agreement, but the fate of the talks remains unclear following the escalation between the two countries last month.