Overview

• Demonstrators in Tbilisi broke metal barricades and entered the presidential residence courtyard, prompting special forces to deploy pepper spray and water cannon.
• Police pushed crowds back from the residence, cleared Freedom Square, and kept units near parliament as some protesters remained in central areas.
• Authorities reported detentions of at least two opposition activists after calls to move the rally to the president’s residence.
• Belgorod region officials said Ukrainian forces fired 72 shells and conducted over 100 drone attacks in 24 hours, with fatalities reported and a separate drone strike in Belgorod injuring four at a commercial site.
• Russia’s gasoline shortage persists, with media citing supply disruptions in about 10 regions and roughly 38% of refining capacity idle, which analysts partly link to Ukrainian attacks on fuel infrastructure.