Morning coverage moved from Rubio's talk of new ideas after Moscow and Kyiv visits to Novorossiysk, described as the city's most massive attack: four dead including a child, 29 injured, with a state of emergency and mourning declared. The Defence Ministry claimed nearly 600 drones intercepted and announced retaliatory group strikes on logistics centres and drone depots in Kyiv and Nikolaev, plus the capture of Ozerne and encirclement of Ukrainian units in Kharkiv region.
Diplomacy continued in parallel: Putin received Vietnam's To Lam, the Kremlin briefed on roadmaps and a possible venue for talks, while Trump said Putin was inclined to agreements and did not rule out a trilateral meeting, amid reports the CIA director could replace Witkoff and Kushner.
By afternoon attention turned to a first: drones reaching Novy Urengoy in Yamal, 2,800 km away, causing fire and evacuation, followed in the evening by unmanned-boat explosions in Sochi.