UKRAINE PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine is counting its dead on the morning of June 2 and drawing a sharper political conclusion. According to the Kyiv Post, Volodymyr Zelensky did not just react with the usual condolences — he explicitly called for an 'independent European anti-ballistic shield.' The word 'independent' is new. It breaks with four years of diplomacy that consisted of asking the United States for more Patriots. The detail that makes the night particularly brutal: 73 missiles of various types (ballistic, cruise, anti-ship) and 656 drones, the largest single-strike volume since the war began. Air defenses neutralized 40 missiles and 602 drones — a real tactical success — but 33 missiles and 54 drones got through. The human result is catastrophic: at least 22 dead per Japan Today, a 24-story building partially collapsed in Kyiv, another demolished in Dnipro with 11 victims including two children. Odesa's hospital and maternity ward were hit — at the time of the attack, mothers and newborns were sleeping inside, miraculously without casualties, according to Ukrinform. Deputy Prime Minister Kuleba accuses Moscow of 'deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, residential areas, hospitals.' And Zelensky tells the Kyiv Post bluntly: 'The main strike targeted Kyiv,' and Europe must build its own system. Former president Petro Poroshenko adds at a Black Sea forum that there is 'a real opportunity to compel Russia to peace' — provided Europe moves without waiting for Washington. For the first time since 2022, the option of autonomous European defense is on the political table.