Morning reports highlighted Ukraine's F-16 achieving its first air-to-air kill, downing a Russian Su-35 over Kursk with an AMRAAM missile. Russia continued bombardments of Kharkiv, killing six and wounding nearly fifty in 24 hours, part of 193 combat engagements recorded across fronts.
The day's dominant story emerged when Zelensky revealed America had redirected 20,000 anti-drone missiles promised to Ukraine under Biden to the Middle East instead. He claimed Ukraine was "very close" to forcing Russia to end the war, arguing Putin's goal was prolonged conflict rather than victory.
Russia appeared to relocate Tu-160 strategic bombers to the Far East following Ukraine's Spider Web strikes, while attempting to dictate prisoner exchange terms unilaterally. Evening brought fresh drone attacks on Kyiv as Zelensky warned Ukrainians to heed air raid alerts. The weapons diversion story dominated coverage, overshadowing military developments and suggesting American priorities had shifted between administrations.