(KYIV, UKRAINE) – Ukrainian forces have liberated 200 square kilometres of territory in the east of the country, effectively erasing a year of Russian gains and restoring the frontline to its May 2025 position. The successful counter offensive has reportedly cut off a Russian salient near Lyman and driven Russian troops back toward the Zherebets River.
The territorial gains were made by the 60th Mechanised Brigade and other units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to a video released by the brigade.
The news of the military success came as Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, endured a massive overnight barrage. Russian forces launched a combined missile and drone attack on the city, killing at least five people and injuring over 18. The attack, which lasted approximately seven hours, began shortly after US representatives departed from Kyiv. Targets included apartment buildings, food storage facilities and shopping areas. The assault involved 166 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys, over 60 percent of which were jet-powered variants, alongside 32 Kh-101 cruise missiles and approximately two dozen ballistic missiles. Ukraine’s air defences neutralised 142 drones, 31 cruise missiles and two ballistic missiles.
Russia also targeted a passenger train in Zaporizhzhia and a television station in Kyiv during the day, actions described by Ukrainian officials as terrorism.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian attack drones struck the Saratov oil refinery in Russia, one of the largest in the country, causing significant fires. Russian aviation has also suffered a disastrous week, with eight aircraft lost in four days. Two Su-35 fighter jets collided mid-air in the Kursk region, while multiple helicopters, including a Ka-52, Mi-28, Mi-8 and Mi-35, were destroyed at Saky air base in Crimea and Taganrog air base. The losses represent the worst four-day period for Russian aviation since the start of the war.
The economic strain on Russia continues to mount. Aeroflot, the state airline, is reportedly unable to replace hundreds of old engines, each costing an average of 2.2 billion rubles (£20.6 million / $25 million), due to a cash shortage. Furthermore, Russia has officially become a net importer of gasoline and diesel as Ukrainian strikes continue to degrade its refining capacity. Federal spending on the war reached a new record of 10.68 trillion rubles (£100 billion / $123 billion) in the first half of 2026, with defence spending nearing 11 per cent of GDP, the highest since 1989.
In a direct challenge to recent claims by the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, Commander of Ukraine’s Third Army Corps, released a video from the town of Sviatohirsk in Donetsk Oblast. The footage shows him walking freely through the town, which Putin had falsely claimed was under Russian control. “There are no Russian soldiers here yet,” Biletsky stated, addressing the Russian military and political leadership. He called on Putin’s inner circle to “take down those clown noses” and stop making fools of themselves.
In the UK, the government pledged a £100 million ($122 million) air defence package for Ukraine ahead of the winter months. The package will include air defence interceptors, large calibre artillery rounds and drones, provided through NATO’s prioritised requirements list.
A Ukrainian woman who survived a Russian drone attack on a shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih two weeks ago, which killed 18 people, has written a public letter of gratitude to a jeans company. In the review, she credited the quality of her jeans with saving her legs from severe injury from metal and glass fragments.
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