Overview

• Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Russian forces are conducting nonstop attacks along the front and are assigning objectives for the autumn campaign.
• Gerasimov claimed control of about 99.7% of Luhansk, 79% of Donetsk, 76% of Kherson, and 74% of Zaporizhzhia, figures that could not be independently verified.
• Kyiv refuses to vacate its positions in Donetsk and points to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk as key defensive strongholds as Russia threatens to seize the cities.
• Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitrijew accused European countries of undermining peace efforts with unrealistic demands and reiterated rejection of NATO-state involvement.
• European and Ukrainian officials say Moscow is using talk of negotiations to buy time for new attacks, and Gerasimov’s stance contrasts with Western calls, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, for a rapid end to the war.