Ukraine updates: EU sends Ukraine €1 billion in latest loan

• The EU has sent Ukraine €1 billion ($1.15 billion) as part of a G7 package
• The latest loan brings the bloc's support for €150 billion, Ursula von der Leyen said
• Ukraine has received the bodies of 1,200 soldiers killed fighting the war against Russia
• Meanwhile, a bus carrying a group of Ukrainians has crashed in France, killing at least four people

Below you can follow the main developments from Russia's war in Ukraine from Friday, June 13, 2025:

06/13/2025June 13, 2025

Ukraine receives 1,200 bodies of soldiers from Russia

Dozens of POWs have been swapped this week, but neither Ukraine nor Russia have disclosed exactly how manyImage: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout/REUTERS

Ukrainian authorities on Friday said Russia had returned the bodies of 1,200 Ukrainian soldiers.

"According to the Russian side, the bodies belong to Ukrainian citizens, in particular military personnel," Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (KSHPPV) said on Telegram.

The statement added that law enforcement investigators and "experts" would conduct tests to identify the repatriated bodies.

The bodies were returned as part of a deal this month in Istanbul that also saw the two sides agree to a large prisoner of war (POW) exchange.

The Istanbul talks provided for the return of the remains of more than 6,000 fallen soldiers from each side.

Dozens of POWs have been exchanged since. Around 1,200 soldiers were swapped on Thursday.

Also this week, Ukraine repatriated the bodies of 1,212 soldiers who died fighting the war, which began in February 2022 after Russia launched a full-scale invasion. 

06/13/2025June 13, 2025

EU sends Ukraine €1 billion as part of G7 aid package

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday announced that the European Union had sent a further €1 billion to Ukraine.

"We are with Ukraine for the long haul," von der Leyen said on X.

The latest loan, which von der Leyen explained would be repaid with interest from frozen Russian state assets being held in the EU, brings the bloc's support for Kyiv since the war began in 2022 to €150 billion.

The EU and its member states, including Germany, have sought to bolster their support in the form of more financial and military aid this year amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

The €1 billion is part of a major aid package that was announced by the Group of Seven (G7).

The forum, which is made up of the world's leading democratic economies, is due to hold a leaders' summit in Canada on Sunday.

Von der Leyen also said on X that she will call on the EU's G7 partners "to keep coordinating strong support for Ukraine and hard-biting sanctions against Russia. Until the Kremlin stops this war."

The G7 has pledged to send approximately €45 billion in aid to Ukraine in the next two years, with the EU pitching in with €18.1 billion of that total.

The latest payment announced Friday brings the bloc's contributions to €7 billion so far this year.

06/13/2025June 13, 2025

Welcome to our coverage

Karl Sexton | Jenipher Camino Gonzalez

Image: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP Photo/picture alliance

A day after German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius' visit to Kyiv, which he said underscores Berlin's commitment to supporting Ukraine long-term, the war-torn country's European allies on Friday announced a new loan as part of a major G7 aid package.

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said the EU, which has now sent €150 billion to Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, is with Kyiv "for the long haul."

Meanwhile, Ukraine said it has received the bodies of 1,200 soldiers who were killed fighting the war against Russia.

The bodies were returned as part of a deal signed in Istanbul this month that also saw one of the largest exchanges of prisoners of war (POWs) of the three-year conflict.

Follow DW for real-time news and analysis of Russia's war in Ukraine.