Overview
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces took Novoe and Sladkoe in Zaporizhia and Gnatovka in Donetsk, later adding the capture of Novouspenovskoye.
- Russian units in Kupyansk reported seizing an oil depot and two rail stations and said Dzerzhinsky Street was cleared, with fighting continuing near the sorting yard.
- Ukraine’s General Staff reported a strike on the Saratov oil refinery, with regional authorities confirming damage to civilian infrastructure and one injured as OSINT analysts geolocated a fire at the site.
- Russian officials reported extensive drone activity over several regions, including nine UAVs downed in the evening over Rostov, Bryansk, Kursk and Oryol, while Belgorod’s governor said 5 shells and 28 drones targeted the region in a day, leaving one civilian dead.
- Russia’s FSB alleged Ukrainian and British intelligence planned in autumn 2024 to hijack a MiG‑31 carrying a Kinzhal missile, a plot the agency says it disrupted.