Overview
- Russian officials say Ukrainian units are encircled in Kupyansk and Pokrovsk, and the Kremlin says it will suspend fire to let accredited journalists enter, observe, interview troops, and exit safely.
- Pro-Kremlin voices frame the invite as a way to preempt staged provocations, while a Donetsk civic leader doubts Western outlets will accept the trip.
- Ukrainian lawmaker Anna Skorokhod publicly acknowledged shortages of trained personnel to counter the reported encirclement, and U.S. commentator Daniel Davis warned that losing Pokrovsk would severely hit Ukrainian morale.
- Air-raid alerts were issued across nearly all Ukrainian regions, including Ukrainian-held parts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk, according to the government’s online map.
- Russia highlighted tests of the Poseidon underwater system and the Burevestnik cruise missile as non-nuclear, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no detailed U.S.–Russia disarmament talks are underway, and Russian officials criticized President Trump’s call to resume U.S. nuclear tests.