Overview

• Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed overnight drone strikes on the Syzran oil refinery in Samara Oblast and on a vessel at the Olya port in Astrakhan alleged to carry Iranian UAV components.
• Russian authorities reported civilian casualties and damage in Rostov-on-Don, Kursk, and Belgorod, with local officials citing one death and multiple injuries.
• Moscow’s defence ministry said its air defences shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones, while Kyiv disputes the numbers and independent verification is limited.
• Russia claimed limited territorial advances in Donetsk’s Iskra and Shcherbynivka and a breakthrough near Dobropillia, as Ukraine reported 149 combat engagements over the past day.
• Brigadier General Yuriy Shchygol vowed to continue long-range drone operations until a just peace is secured, positioning the deep-strike campaign as diplomatic leverage.