Overview

• The Kursk nuclear plant operator reported a downed drone damaged an auxiliary transformer, a fire was extinguished, one reactor was reduced to roughly 50% output, and radiation levels remained normal.
• Regional authorities said ten drones intercepted over the port of Ust‑Luga sparked a blaze at Novatek’s oil terminal, with emergency services working the scene and no injuries reported.
• Russia’s defense ministry claimed it destroyed 95 Ukrainian drones across 13 regions, and civil aviation authorities briefly grounded flights at several airports including St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo.
• President Volodymyr Zelensky framed the strikes as a response to ignored peace appeals, while Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western countries of trying to block negotiations.
• Moscow a day earlier claimed the capture of the Donetsk villages of Sredneïe and Kleban‑Byk, and Ukrainian officials reported a 47‑year‑old woman killed by a Russian drone attack in Dnipropetrovsk.