Springsteen, Bono and Stevie Wonder will help the Obamas open their presidential museum

Former President Barack Obama is getting a little help from his friends in celebrating the opening of his presidential museum in Chicago.

The guestlist for Thursday’s dedication ceremony includes Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera and Bono, along with former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama are expected to give remarks. The invite-only celebration will be livestreamed and kicks off a weekend of events centered around the Obama Presidential Center, which opens to the general public on Juneteenth.

President Donald Trump is not among the announced guests. He called the $850 million center a “total disaster” in a social media post in February.

The Thursday celebration “will reflect a spirit of inspiration and joy, with a big boost from the performers who are sharing their talent with us,” said Valerie Jarrett, the Obama Foundation’s chief executive and former Obama top adviser. “We hope to inspire people everywhere to believe in their power to bring change home.”

Other celebrities slated to appear on Thursday include Common, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Vedder, John Legend, Marc Anthony and The Roots.

General admission tickets for the center are sold out through the end of October. But tens of thousands of people have already been offered a sneak peek of the nearly 20-acre campus on Chicago's South Side in Jackson Park.

The center, located near where Obama lived and began his political career, is expected to attract more than 1 million visitors annually. It is adjacent to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in the lakefront park, and not far from the University of Chicago.

The campus includes a towering museum that covers the political and personal realms of the nation’s first Black president, while public spaces include a branch of the Chicago Public Library, a playground and athletic center, basketball courts and a picnic area with grills.

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama on stage as they surprised administration and campaign alumni in Chicago ahead of the dedication ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)

Former President Barack Obama appears on stage as he surprises administration and campaign alumni in Chicago ahead of the dedication ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)

People stop to take a closer look at a scale model of the Obama Presidential Center as they arrive for a stakeholders reception at the Obama Presidential Center, Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)

Former President Barack Obama stands on stage with former first lady Michelle Obama at a stakeholders event at the Obama Presidential Center, Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama on stage as they surprised administration and campaign alumni in Chicago at the ahead of the dedication ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)

Ukraine hit a major Moscow oil refinery for a second time in a week and disrupted commercial flights at the city's airports in one of its biggest drone attacks since Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago, Russian officials said Thursday.

The attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had held “an important coordination call” with the presidents of the United States and France, and had won key pledges of further support from the G7 summit this week.

Zelenskyy was expected in Brussels later Thursday for talks with NATO and European Union leaders, including discussions about the possible building of a continental system to protect against ballistic missiles. Russia has relentlessly struck Ukraine with those types of missiles, which air defenses struggle to counter.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russia’s oil facilities, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the invasion. Some areas have reported fuel shortages.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X: “One of the most popular questions asked by Muscovites this morning is ‘What is going on?’ I can answer. Your country started a war of aggression against ours. For years, it has been killing our people. Now that you know what’s going on, ask Putin when he is planning to end it.”

Images and video released by the Russian media showed massive fires raging at the Moscow Oil Refinery, located about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Kremlin. Thick black clouds of smoke rose over the city.

The refinery is one of Russia’s biggest, according to its official website, and produces more than a third of the Moscow region's fuel. It was last attacked by Ukrainian drones on Tuesday, catching fire, but officials said the blaze was swiftly put out.

Flights from four Moscow airports were temporarily halted, transport and aviation authorities said.

In the Moscow region, which surrounds but does not include the capital city, a drone hit a residential building in the town of Zhukovsky, and the building was being evacuated, according to Gov. Andrei Vorobyov.

Buildings elsewhere in the region were damaged by drone debris and 16 people, including two children, were wounded, according to Vorobyov.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that its air defenses overnight shot down 555 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions, with almost 200 intercepted as they were approaching the Russian capital.

That was roughly double the number of drones that Russia launched at Ukraine overnight, according to the Ukrainian air force.

The attack was the latest embarrassment for Russian President Vladimir Putin, after a Ukrainian drone attack on his hometown of St. Petersburg earlier this month just as he held a showcase economic forum in the city with foreign VIP visitors.

Putin on Thursday was in Kazan, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) east of Moscow, hosting leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as Russia seeks to bolster business and other ties with the nations of the regional bloc.

Zelenskyy said the attack on Moscow was part of Ukraine’s efforts to force Putin to the negotiating table. The Ukrainian president has accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by Trump but Putin has refused, and U.S.-led peace efforts have petered out.

“If Putin does not want to end this war and wants to continue it, we will not sit quietly — we will respond,” he added in a voice message to a group chat with journalists.

As well as pledges of more diplomatic and military help at the G7 summit, Ukraine recently has gained momentum on the battlefield against Russia’s bigger army thanks to its high-tech drones, Western officials and analysts say.

Longer-range drone strikes are choking Russian supply lines in occupied regions of Ukraine, in addition to disrupting Russian oil production.

Macron said the G7 summit was “very important for Ukraine” because its supporters — crucially including the United States — vowed to help it, although the French president provided no details. The U.S. under Trump has cut back assistance to Ukraine, leaving the Europeans as the biggest suppliers of military and financial aid. Trump and Zelenskyy have had an at times strained relationship.

“America is with us on Ukraine, that is very important,” Macron told reporters as he and Trump left the Palace of Versailles near Paris.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends the Russia-ASEAN summit in Kazan, Russia, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

This photo provided by Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyev's official telegram channel shows smoke rising from a damaged building after a Ukrainian drone attack outside Moscow on Thursday, June 18, 2026. (Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyev's official telegram channel via AP)