BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Friday moved to prolong temporary protection status for millions of people who have fled the war in Ukraine, but not for new arrivals who would be eligible to serve in the armed forces.
Ukraine is desperate to boost the size of its fighting force more than four years into its full-scale war with Russia. It's estimated to have suffered around 600,000 military casualties. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in February that 55,000 troops have died and many are missing.
More than 4.4 million Ukrainians have been welcomed into the EU since 2022. Most are living in Germany and Poland. They’ve been given temporary residency permits and support, including accommodation or help to get housing, social welfare benefits, medical care and access to schools.
The system is due to expire in March 2027, but the European Commission is proposing that it be extended by a year.
Ukraine has been pressing the bloc to tighten the rules, and EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner said that “temporary protection should not be granted to newly arriving persons who are not allowed to leave Ukraine because of their military obligations under Ukrainian law.”
The new measure would not apply to Ukrainians already in Europe, but could apply to people between 23 and 60 years old who come in the future. The commission hopes that this would enter force within weeks, once the EU's 27 member countries have endorsed the plan.
Brunner said the commission also wants to test a new project that would provide support to Ukrainians in Europe who want to return home immediately or in the near future once the fighting eases.
But Europe’s human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, warned against winding down protection and assistance for Ukrainians displaced by the war, including those eligible for military service.
Human Rights Commissioner Michael O’Flaherty said that the “realities on the ground in Ukraine do not meet the conditions for a safe and dignified return.” He said that taking people’s protections away “without a robust safety net risks driving millions into legal limbo, poverty, and unsafe unvoluntary returns.”
The Council of Europe, which is not part of the EU, said that blanket restrictions on the support that certain categories of people might receive raise human rights concerns. It said that some people might seek protection over concerns about military service, and that applications should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
The commission said that it is trying to provide protection “in a way that ensures Ukraine’s overall ability to best defend itself against the Russian illegal war of aggression and to decide freely on the organization of its defense forces.”
Children returning from school walk between container apartments at the Ukraine village, which has been constructed for Ukrainian families fleeing the war, in Linkeroever, Belgium, Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
A woman and a boy walk by a post office at the Ukraine village, which has been constructed for Ukrainian families fleeing the war, in Linkeroever, Belgium, Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
A woman holds her cat after it being found during search and rescue works in the damaged residential building following Russia's missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Russian air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major nighttime attack on 12 Russian regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday.
It appeared to be one of the biggest drone attacks on Russia and the illegally annexed Crimea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. The previous biggest Ukrainian attack over the past year was 556 drones on May 17.
In an effort to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have for months been battering targets, including oil production and energy facilities, behind the front line and deep inside Russia. The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies and military deliveries, stalling Moscow's efforts on the battlefield, Western officials and analysts say, and heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Initial damage reports from Russia after the overnight attack provided scant information. Russia’s Defense Ministry usually doesn't say what was targeted in Ukraine’s drone attacks, nor does it detail any damage.
Ukraine’s Security Service said it used drones to strike Russian navy ships and air defense radars in Kerch, an important port city in Crimea.
The targets were two reconnaissance and mine-laying ships, the Volga and the Vyatka, and the cargo-passenger ferry Petropavlovsk, the agency said, claiming that the strikes started a large fire. The claim could not be independently verified.
The major attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he had ordered “a 40-day influence operation,” believed to mean an escalation of attacks, aimed at “compelling (Russia) to end the war” after U.S. peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough.
The successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg, have buoyed Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said he got further promises of foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, and that the promised aid will help Ukraine step up its effort to force Putin to the negotiating table.
A NATO summit next month could be another key moment in beefing up Ukraine's military.
In the Tula region just south of Moscow, a private house was damaged by the attack and a woman was wounded, Tula Gov. Dmitry Milyaev said in an online statement, as reports of damage caused by the attack began to emerge.
He also said a power line was damaged and an unspecified industrial facility in the city of Novomoskovsk.
Russian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the report, and there was no official confirmation.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin also reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were downed as they flew toward the Russian capital. He did not report any casualties or damage.
Two people were killed and seven others injured in Russian attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Friday.
Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv and 16 other settlements across the region using guided aerial bombs and drones of various types, Syniehubov said.
Ukraine’s defenses overnight stopped 174 of 189 Russian drones, the Ukrainian air force said. However, four of seven Iskander-M ballistic missiles that were fired got through air defenses and struck various locations, it said.
Ukrainian officials reported damage to energy facilities, homes and other civilian infrastructure in the capital, Kyiv, the southern Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions, and Sumy in the northeast. At least six people were wounded, according to authorities.
Russia is expanding several of its military sites deep inside Belarus, but there is no buildup of forces near the Ukrainian border, a State Border Guard Service spokesman said Friday.
Russia launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine from Belarus, which borders both countries, and Kyiv has kept a close watch on developments there during the war.
Ukrainian intelligence units have detected no grouping or reinforcement of Russian units, equipment or personnel close to the border, spokesman Andrii Demchenko said in remarks to Ukrainian television.
However, Russia has a growing number of training grounds, bases and other sites deeper inside the country, according to intelligence units.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters extinguish a fire in a residential building following a Russian drone attack in Sumy region, Ukraine, Friday, June 26, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters extinguish a fire in a residential building following a Russian drone attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, June 26, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
A woman holds her cat after it being found during search and rescue works in the damaged residential building following Russia's missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
