Overview
- Over the weekend, both sides launched long‑range strikes that hit military and civilian sites, with Ukraine reporting strikes deep inside Russia at Samara and a propellant plant in Kamensk‑Shakhtinsky and Russia striking Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
- Ukraine's navy released footage saying it hit a rare Russian Bastion coastal missile system on Crimea, and the Ukrainian General Staff reported a strike on a Russian solid‑propellant plant that caused a large fire.
- Moscow officials described one of the heaviest drone attacks on the capital in recent memory, with Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claiming about 600 drones were used, while open‑source investigators say Russia has also built new long‑range drone bases near Belarus and Ukraine.
- Kyiv is accelerating plans to reduce reliance on U.S. Patriot interceptors by pushing the European‑Ukrainian 'Freyja' air‑defence project and pursuing domestic production of rockets and launchers because western interceptor stocks are limited.
- The EU has announced a planned autumn expansion of sanctions to add roughly one third more Russian persons and entities, and analysts warn that the growing attacks on logistics and energy hubs will deepen civilian and economic fallout and shape Western policy responses.