A Russian air strike in the front-line town of Kostiantynivka, eastern Ukraine, killed three people and injured one. The strike also destroyed a one-story administrative building. Firefighters extinguished fires in four buildings, according to national emergency service officials.
Vadym Filashkin, governor of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which includes Kostiantynivka, urged residents to evacuate to safer areas of Ukraine due to Russia’s ongoing westward offensive.
A five-year-old boy died from burns sustained in a Ukrainian drone strike in the Russian city of Kursk. This raised the death toll to four, including a member of Russia’s National Guard.
Russian forces advanced at key points along the eastern Ukrainian frontline, defeating Ukrainian units in at least six regions. Moscow’s forces used missiles and drones to strike ammunition depots and airfields, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence. Russia also claimed to have captured a village in Donetsk.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy engaged in a “substantial” conversation with Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, in Rome, following Trump’s pledge to send additional defensive weapons to Kyiv.
Zelenskyy met with Pope Leo at the latter’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, where the pontiff expressed the Vatican’s willingness to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks. This marked the Ukrainian leader’s second meeting with the pope during his papacy.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will open the Rome conference on Ukraine, attended by Zelenskyy and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen. Other expected attendees include German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Dutch leader Dick Schoof, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Merz has announced plans to offer air defense systems to Ukraine during the Rome conference.
Ukraine detained a Chinese father and son on suspicion of spying on its Neptune antiship missile program, a vital part of Kyiv’s domestic arms industry. Kyiv has accused China of assisting the Kremlin’s war effort.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the Kremlin possesses evidence of Ukraine’s repeated use of antipersonnel mines, which have injured civilians. In June, Ukraine announced its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, which bans the production and use of antipersonnel mines.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit North Korea over the weekend, continuing a series of high-profile visits by top Moscow officials as military ties between the two countries grow, according to Zakharova.
