Overview

• Russia’s defense ministry said it conducted group strikes in Ukraine’s Odesa region on alleged special operations units, foreign fighters, drone storage at the Shkolny airfield, and Motor Sich workshops, describing them as a response to the deadly attack in Foros, Crimea.
• Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported that air defenses downed four more drones headed toward the capital overnight and said emergency crews were working at debris sites, following a series of intercepts reported over two nights.
• Russian authorities claimed their forces trapped up to 700 Ukrainian troops in Kupyansk and killed 250, figures that could not be independently confirmed, as the Associated Press separately reported Ukraine is struggling with shortages and disjointed command.
• Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny wrote that the cost of Kyiv’s 2024 incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was too high and that the tactical breakthrough failed to deliver broader success.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s description of Russia as a “paper tiger,” reiterated Moscow’s readiness for dialogue, and argued Ukraine’s position is deteriorating while talks with Washington progress slowly.