Overview
- Russia carried out its most powerful aerial and drone strike on Kharkiv since the war began, killing at least three people, including two children, and injuring 19 others.
- The Russian military announced its first ground offensive into Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region in over three years, with units of the 90th Armored Division reaching its western border.
- Kyiv and Moscow have agreed to conduct a prisoner exchange next week after each side blamed the other for postponing the operation during recent talks in Istanbul.
- Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called on the United Nations to lead a neutral mediation effort aimed at breaking the stalemate between Russia and Ukraine.
- Germany is fast-tracking its rearmament program to restore the Bundeswehr’s full defensive capacity by 2028 in response to the escalating Russian threat.