Overview
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro approved ruling‑party proposals to prepare for armed resistance in the event of U.S. aggression.
- Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, reports the White House has weighed options from sanctions and regional force deployments to airstrikes or covert operations, even as Trump voices doubts about an attack.
- Russia says Ukrainian troops encircled in Krasnoarmeysk surrendered and claims advances in Kupyansk, while Ukraine’s General Staff reports elite units were sent to reinforce Pokrovsk.
- Russia’s Defense Ministry reports air defenses downed 75 Ukrainian fixed‑wing drones overnight across multiple regions, with one civilian killed in Volgograd and damage reported at energy and industrial sites including in Volgorечensk and Volgograd.
- The Pope urged dialogue over the U.S.–Venezuela confrontation, and Russia’s UN envoy said a proposed Security Council statement calling for restraint was blocked by one member.