Overview

• A presidential decree created a Presidential Council on Culture chaired by Vladimir Putin, named prominent artists and officials to its roster, and introduced an annual children's cultural prize of three awards worth 5 million rubles each.
• Putin marked the day with a visit to St. Petersburg's Peter and Paul Cathedral alongside senior security and defense officials, then met commanders for frontline briefings and hosted them for lunch at the site.
• Upon returning to Moscow, Putin convened an operational meeting of permanent Security Council members to discuss protection of Russia's information infrastructure.
• Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported advances by Russian forces in multiple directions, citing fighting in Seversk and Konstantinovka, battles for Primorsk and Stepnogorsk near Zaporizhzhia, gains in Dnipropetrovsk region, progress around Kupyansk and Volchansk, and control of most of Yampol, while saying strikes prioritize Ukrainian missile and long‑range drone production.
• Putin said Russian troops have taken 219 populated areas and about 5,000 square kilometers this year and praised the defense industry for fully supplying precision weapons as development and deliveries accelerate, as the Kremlin highlighted birthday congratulations from more than 40 foreign leaders including Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi and Kim Jong Un.