Overnight air war set the tone, with Russia launching jet drones from five directions at Kryvyi Rih, Izium, Mykolaiv and Kyiv, where a drone hit a petrol station injuring four, while Ukraine claimed first-ever hits on an energy facility in the Arctic Yamal and the port in Makhachkala near the Caspian Flotilla.
By afternoon attention fixed on Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk region, where a Russian strike on a shopping center and market street destroyed pavilions and cars. The toll climbed through successive updates from two dead to seven dead and more than 70 wounded, with Kyiv region reporting another dead in warehouse fires.
From Canada, where Zelensky began a three-day visit, he responded by announcing a 100-year partnership, Canadian air-defence aid including $350m for interceptors, and expectations of first negotiation results by end-September and progress with Trump on two tracks.