Overview
- Ukraine’s military said drones struck Russia’s Orenburg gas processing plant, triggering a large fire and halting intake of gas from Kazakhstan, and reported a separate hit on the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery in Samara region.
- Russian attacks continued to target Ukrainian infrastructure, with power cuts reported in Chernihiv, rail and port facilities damaged overnight, and energy firm DTEK evacuating miners after strikes in Dnipropetrovsk region.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that over the past week Russia used nearly 50 missiles, more than 3,270 attack drones, and 1,370 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine.
- A joint statement by European leaders backed an immediate stop to fighting with negotiations starting from the current line of contact and outlined plans to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
- The diplomatic track showed mixed signals as Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio held a call but a planned Budapest preparatory meeting was delayed, Trump questioned Ukraine’s prospects, and Zelenskyy said Ukraine is preparing a contract to buy 25 Patriot air defense systems.