Overview

• On his birthday, Putin visited the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg before convening an in‑person session with top commanders and security chiefs.
• General Staff chief Valeriy Gerasimov reported advances near Severesk and Konstantinovka and said fighting continued toward Zaporizhzhia around Primorsk and Stepnogorsk, while citing progress in Dnipropetrovsk region.
• Gerasimov said strikes are prioritized against Ukrainian facilities producing missile systems and long‑range drones and claimed Ukrainian units were destroyed south of the Kleban‑Byk reservoir.
• Putin thanked Russian service personnel, asserted the defense industry is meeting military needs, and said development and deliveries of new weapons are proceeding ahead of schedule.
• After returning to Moscow, he chaired a Security Council meeting and, in a separate decree, established a Presidential Council on Culture with prominent cultural and media figures plus three annual youth cultural prizes of 5 million rubles each.