Overview
- Russia’s Defense Ministry reported large strikes on Ukrainian military and energy sites and said its forces took two towns, as Kyiv authorities confirmed overnight blasts with initial casualties and President Volodymyr Zelensky said hundreds of drones and 18 missiles were launched.
- Russia’s TASS said a group of Ukrainian marines surrendered in Donetsk, a claim reported by the state agency as Moscow also touted battlefield gains.
- A U.S. draft at the UN that envisions a temporary international presence in Gaza faces resistance, while Israeli commentators warned operations to disarm Hamas could resume if it fails and Egypt’s foreign minister rejected any move to divide the enclave or forcibly displace Palestinians.
- Syria’s national committee probing the Sweida violence announced arrests of individuals seen in videos and insisted its work is impartial, even as new clashes and mutual accusations of truce breaches were reported in the province.
- Fighting in Sudan escalated in Kordofan with the UN citing roughly 150,000 deaths since the war began, and Sudan’s delegation in Geneva rejected Human Rights Council provisions to set up an international fact-finding mission on alleged abuses in Al-Fasher.