Overview
- Russia's defence ministry claimed it seized Pokrovsk, but Ukraine said fighting continues and that its forces still hold the northern sector along the railway.
- Independent assessments diverged, with the Institute for the Study of War reporting no proof of a full capture and a senior NATO official estimating Russian control over more than 95 percent with small pockets of Ukrainian resistance.
- Vladimir Putin said Russia will control all of Donbas by force unless Ukrainian troops withdraw and warned of plans that could cut Ukraine off from the sea.
- U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow, where the Kremlin called some American ideas useful, yet Russian aide Yury Ushakov said no specific proposals were agreed.
- Russian forces launched roughly 1,100 drones and 39 missiles over a recent week, causing casualties and power outages as strikes hit cities and energy sites in regions including Kherson and Odesa.