🇩🇪 Germany will boost its tank brigade in Lithuania from 500 to 5,000 troops by 2027 to deter Russia — the first such foreign deployment since WWII, per Bloomberg.

Final rollout depends on Lithuania building the needed housing & infrastructure, estimated at €1B.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune warns Putin: No serious ceasefire proposal = new sanctions coming. Bipartisan support grows for a bill imposing harsh tariffs & sanctions if Russia refuses talks or attacks again.

🇭🇺 Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán opposes the EU’s plan to phase out Russian oil and gas imports. He warns that if the EU bans Russian energy purchases as Ukraine seeks, Hungary could face an additional annual cost of 800 billion forints ($2.2 billion).

Whose problem is that, Viktor?

According to Russian sources, Andrey Kondratyev, head of the major defense company "Kurganpribor," was attacked in the entrance of his own building in Kurgan. An unknown assailant struck him multiple times on the head with a hammer. Kondratyev is currently hospitalized, while the attacker has fled.

MIM-23 HAWK air defense systems in use by the Ukrainian Air Command 'West'.

Unconfirmed reports in Ukrainian media suggest a “1000-for-1000” prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia could begin today and last several days, with Turkey mediating. Both sides have reportedly prepared and shared lists of names for release.

🇺🇦 UA drone maker Skyeton is developing a new airborne electronic reconnaissance system with Denmark’s Quadsat, using the ACS-3 Raybird UAV. The system will locate enemy radars, EW gear & RF sources—stealthily & in real time. Its release is set for Drone Show Denmark 2025.

Putin has once again proposed the creation of a so-called “buffer zone” along the border with Ukraine, a move Ukraine interprets as a clear rejection of peaceful resolutions. According to sources cited by RBC-Ukraine, Moscow aims to establish a zone 15 to 20 kilometers deep, primarily in Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions, under the guise of enhancing border security.

🇺🇸 Rubio pushes daily for new Russia sanctions, hoping Congress passes the Graham bill with a veto-proof Senate majority to block any reset with Moscow, a source close to him told New Lines. Trump resists, despite privately admitting to EU leaders that Putin thinks he's winning the war.

Russian State Duma Defense Committee member Andrey Sobolyev said the new goal of the "special military operation" should be 'the creation of a single union state of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus' and the 'restoration of the Russian world within its natural borders.'

He said, "We are all Russians. Kyiv is the mother of cities," and called for "military-patriotic education" of the youth to achieve these aims — peak delusion 2025.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban accuses Ukraine of increased espionage in Hungary and claims opposition parties have "deep ties" to Ukrainian intelligence. He warns of a pro-war propaganda network linked to Kyiv within Hungary’s opposition.

In the Kursk direction, UAV operators from the 5th Sumy Border Detachment’s “Prime” drone unit have effectively disrupted Russian operations. They destroyed a tank, 10 shelters, two drone launch and control positions, two artillery positions, two telecom towers, an ammunition depot, and eliminated 10 infantrymen.

Ukroboronprom signed a cooperation memorandum with KNDS Belgium SA to jointly produce medium-caliber ammo for automatic cannons targeting infantry, light armor & low-flying aerial threats. CEO Oleg Hulyak highlights this partnership boosts Ukraine’s integration into NATO’s defense industry.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that a second round of negotiations with Ukraine is planned, with Moscow advancing the memorandum’s development, but dismissed the possibility of talks at the Vatican as unrealistic. He also said that “the question of Zelensky’s legitimacy will be crucial when it comes to signing a peace agreement.”

💥 A Russian Mi-8 military helicopter has crashed in Oryol region. Preliminary reports: no survivors.

A new Ukrainian strike drone “Batyar” has entered production — capable of flying over 800 km.

This 160-kg UAV with a gasoline engine carries an 18-kg warhead in its long-range version.