Overview

• Russia fired a record 537 drones and missiles in the heaviest overnight barrage since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
• Ukraine’s Western-supplied air defenses intercepted 475 of the incoming weapons but lost an F-16 fighter and its pilot, Lt. Col. Maksym Ustimenko.
• Strikes in Kherson, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions killed at least three civilians and wounded others when drones and missiles hit homes, roads and infrastructure.
• Poland and allied forces scrambled jets and activated air defenses to secure Polish airspace following stray debris and warnings from the cross-border assault.
• Russian troops renewed ground offensives around Kostiantynivka in Donetsk, triggering evacuations and urgent appeals from Kyiv for more Western air defense systems to bolster the eastern front.