23 June 2026

In Vilnius, Inga Ruginienė’s government resigns today, and President Gitanas Nausėda is due to present Mindaugas Sinkevičius as prime minister on Thursday. The handover follows last week’s ethics ruling that Ruginienė gravely breached conflict-of-interest rules by signing orders covering family trips to the Olympics in Italy and to the Vatican.

In parliament, a Defence Ministry plan to compensate direct property damage caused by lawful military force remains in focus. The draft, already backed by the Seimas National Security and Defence Committee, covers cases tied to illegal migration, balloon-borne smuggling and drones entering Lithuanian airspace, with claims to be filed within three years. The state would be able to spread payments over up to 10 years. At the Belarus border, border guards turned away 13 irregular migrants over the past day, while six more migrants were detained on the Lithuania-Poland frontier.

Vilnius today opens the first European 4x4 wheelchair handball championship at the NBA Basketball School arena. Lithuania secured the event after a 2024 decision to stage the tournament there, and Europe will crown its first champion in the format when it ends.

In a major narcotics case now sent to court, Vilnius police seized about 20 kg of cannabis this year, while the file also cites 3 kg of cocaine intended for the Lithuanian market. Investigators say the drugs were moved from abroad and split across several people and vehicles, and the defendants face lengthy prison terms and asset confiscation. In Jonava, prosecutors are pursuing an attempted murder case after an intoxicated suspect fired at an officer at least three times on June 15. Historian Saulius Sužiedėlis said today he feels not guilt but shame over Lithuanians’ participation in the Holocaust.

Lithuanian volunteer Ignas Kailius was killed in Ukraine. He had previously been reported missing.

Zaporizhzhia region came under 359 Russian strikes in the past 24 hours, wounding 40 people across 13 settlements. Regional chief Ivan Fedorov said the attacks around Zaporizhzhia, Stepnohirsk and Huliaipole involved air strikes, drones and artillery.

Ukraine said its air defences shot down or jammed 118 Russian drones overnight. Kyiv said some were decoys launched from several directions, and officials are still assessing damage to energy and civilian infrastructure. In Odesa, a Russian drone attack overnight killed one woman, and emergency crews are still checking the impact sites for further casualties and damage. Ukrainian forces also said about 250 clashes were recorded across the front near Pokrovsk over the past day, even as Estonian military intelligence had earlier said Russia gained only 15 square kilometres in a week.

Russian drones today destroyed the 19th-century Donciv-Zakharzhevsky estate in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Local officials said the fire burned for hours and the loss of one of the area’s rare pre-revolution heritage buildings is total. Over the past day, the Kremlin rejected Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s warning to Alexander Lukashenko and said Belarus was already part of Russia’s security architecture.

In Finland, Valmet Automotive is preparing to build hundreds of Patria 6x6 armoured vehicles a year. The move expands Nordic defence manufacturing capacity as the region accelerates military production.

Russian strikes in Ukraine killed at least nine people, while shelling in Kherson separately left one man dead. At the same time, Hungary is slowing Ukraine and Moldova’s accession process to the European Union, Politico reported.

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland dominated the World Cup today, scoring all 13 goals across six matches. Messi also became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history, while France crushed Iraq and secured a place in the knockout stage. Iraq’s run ended in Group I, which also includes Senegal and Norway.

A U.N. rights panel in Geneva said Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the threshold of genocide. The experts cited bombardment, mass displacement, aid restrictions and the destruction of much of Gaza’s housing, hospitals and water infrastructure since October 2023. A separate U.N. investigation today said Israel’s deliberate targeting of children forms part of the genocide in Gaza.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said today that Tehran will administer the Strait of Hormuz after implementation of the U.S.-Iran deal agreed in Switzerland. Mediators have set a 60-day road map toward a final accord, and Washington and Tehran are forming working groups on the nuclear programme and sanctions. The United States has also allowed Iran to sell oil for two months and receive payment in dollars. Even so, Vice President J.D. Vance said today the sides remain divided over nuclear inspectors, and the IAEA still lacks access to enrichment sites hit by U.S. strikes.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Katz said today that the Israeli army will keep operating in southern Lebanon without restrictions and stay there as long as needed. Israel and Lebanon also resumed talks in Washington, while Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem urged Beirut to abandon the direct channel. In Russia, Oleg Kashin’s case has returned to view as pressure on independent reporters again centres on coverage of Vladimir Putin’s family and private life. In Montreal, three people were killed in a gunfight, including a police officer.

Lebanon and Israel held a fifth round of U.S.-mediated talks. At the same time, the U.N. maritime agency is starting the evacuation of about 11,000 sailors stranded in the Persian Gulf.