Rutte brings all 32 NATO ambassadors to Kyiv as Ukrainian drones hit St Petersburg oil terminal and Kronstadt base

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte arrived in Kyiv by train in the early hours of June 3, accompanied by the ambassadors of all 32 NATO member states, in a show of solidarity one day after a massive Russian missile and drone barrage — more than 700 weapons, by Ukrainian count — killed at least 22 people and injured more than 100, with 16 of the dead in Dnipro. Ukraine's state railway Ukrzaliznytsia published photos of his arrival at Kyiv's central station, calling the visit "a gesture of solidarity and support."

At a joint press conference with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rutte said Russia's recklessness "is not new" but its position is weakening: "As Ukraine continues to stand strong, to innovate and to make battlefield gains, Russia is increasingly desperate." He cited NATO's estimate of Russian losses: "Russia's losses are substantial, over 30,000 per month. This means losing more men in one month than the Soviet Union did in 10 years in the 1980s in Afghanistan. Absolutely staggering numbers." Addressing "young Russians and their families" directly, he said: "Men like you who join the fight, you won't be trained. The equipment they'll provide you is substandard. There is a very high chance you'll die or be wounded while you're out there. And the odds are that if you are wounded, you will be left to suffer in the mud and die. So when we talk about tens of thousands of Russian casualties, that's not abstract. That will probably be you."

Rutte said NATO sees no problem with Ukraine striking St Petersburg on the day the city opened its International Economic Forum, drawing a parallel with the May 9 parade in Moscow: "Ukraine is now so successful that Putin is only able to organise a 9 May parade with an official presidential decree by this President," he said, pointing at Zelenskyy — "I think for two hours you allowed him to do it? And it ended in 1 hour and 55 minutes, so he didn't risk." Zelenskyy said Ukraine is not targeting Vladimir Putin personally, who is due to speak at the forum on Friday: "To be honest, I don't follow it. I don't have an agenda of where Putin is going on which day. We respond to strikes on Ukraine. I believe we carry out fair strikes... we respond exclusively against oil refineries and military targets, legitimate targets."

The overnight strike itself — carried out by the SBU, the Unmanned Systems Forces, Special Operations Forces, the State Border Guard Service and other units — hit the St Petersburg oil terminal, roughly 1,100 kilometers from Ukraine's border, and what Zelenskyy called "purely military targets" at the Kronstadt naval base, where drone forces commander Robert "Magyar" Brovdi published video of strikes on the Baltic Fleet corvette Boykiy, in dock for a scheduled overhaul and in service only since 2013. A defense enterprise in Russia's Tambov region, nearly 600 kilometers from the front, was also hit; Russian Telegram channels identified it as the Progress plant in Michurinsk, which produces control systems for military aviation and missile technology, while regional governor Yevgeny Pervyshov reported damage to outbuildings of an industrial facility, a residential building and a library, with no injuries. Russia said it shot down 350 Ukrainian drones overnight, at least 50 of them over the Leningrad region according to governor Alexander Drozdenko, and aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia temporarily restricted flights at Pulkovo airport. "There are good results from our long-range sanctions. Important facilities on Russian territory were hit overnight," Zelenskyy wrote, adding: "I thank our soldiers for their accuracy. The Ukrainian long-range sanctions plan is being implemented exactly as it is needed to bring peace closer."

On membership, Rutte said the alliance's position stands: "Allies have been very clear, and this was last time reconfirmed in the NATO summit on the occasion of the 75th birthday of the Alliance, that there is this irreversible path of Ukraine into NATO." He acknowledged there is still no unanimity, but said Ukraine's armed forces are increasingly interoperable with NATO, industries are interconnecting, and "we are learning from Ukraine, as NATO, when it comes to drone and counter-drone technology." Zelenskyy said of the Ukraine-NATO Council meeting in Kyiv: "Today, many countries said they see Ukraine in NATO... a very large number, a majority. And no one said they do not want to see it, although some remained silent on this." He added: "I believe even the Russians need Ukraine in NATO. Because in the future it could be painful if Ukraine is not in NATO."

Zelenskyy also disclosed an unprecedented defense-industrial figure: "Ukraine is currently directing around $45-50 billion a year to weapons production" — a tenfold increase since 2022 — and said financial security guarantees will be pursued at the G7 summit and the NATO summit in Ankara in July, to which Rutte has invited him. Kyiv is pressing member states for larger deliveries of air-defense munitions, particularly US Patriot interceptors.

The day's violence continued on both sides of the line. A drone hit a passenger bus travelling from near Moscow to Simferopol in Russian-occupied Donetsk, killing eight people and injuring 10 according to Russian officials — Moscow-installed regional head Denis Pushilin had earlier reported seven dead and 11 injured — with 53 people registered on the bus; Russia's Investigative Committee opened a "terrorist attack" case through spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko, while Ukraine's general staff said it does not comment "on statements made by the aggressor state" and disinformation-center chief Andriy Kovalenko accused Russian propaganda of "creating a parallel reality." In Ukraine-held Donetsk region, Russian shelling killed three people in Kramatorsk, said official Vadym Filashkin; an 86-year-old woman was killed in an overnight drone attack in Kherson region, said city military administration head Yaroslav Shanko. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 198 drones overnight, 189 of which were shot down — and Zelenskyy warned in his evening address that intelligence pointed to a possible new large-scale attack the following night. The Kremlin has promised as much: "This practice will continue," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a day earlier.