Overview
- Russian assault units began clearing the Zapadnaya‑Vtoraya neighborhood in Kupyansk, searching basements and utility spaces for holdouts, according to a Defense Ministry video featuring a commander identified as Lavrik.
- A Russian assault leader said troops who took Yablokovo in Zaporizhzhia offered Ukrainian fighters a chance to surrender and used force against those who refused, a claim made in ministry footage.
- A priest in Russia’s Kursk region told RIA Novosti that some Ukrainian servicemen tried to leave the area in civilian clothes after discarding their weapons; the account could not be independently verified.
- Ukraine’s parliament postponed votes on dismissing Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko after opposition lawmakers blocked the rostrum, as NABU and the anti-corruption prosecutor pursue the ‘Midas’ probe alleging at least $100 million in laundering and bringing charges that include businessman Tymur Mindich.
- France and Ukraine signed a cooperation declaration that envisages Kyiv buying up to 100 Rafale jets and SAMP/T air-defense systems, while the Kremlin said such aircraft would not change the battlefield; Montenegro summoned Russia’s ambassador over comments on NATO’s NSATU, and Berliner Zeitung reported the incoming Czech government may shift policy in ways that could weaken EU ammunition supplies to Kyiv.