Heavy fighting persists in eastern Ukraine as drone strikes target civilian areas

Intense military engagements continue across the Ukrainian frontline, with military officials reporting over 200 combat encounters in recent hours. Heavy assaults by Russian troops remained concentrated along the Pokrovsk, Kostiantynivka, and Lyman sectors. Ukrainian forces conducted infantry sweeps and advanced north of Kupiansk along the Oskil River after disrupting enemy drone operations.

Conflicting claims over territorial control persist along several axes. Russian defense officials asserted gains near Sumy, while General Valery Gerasimov publicly rejected assertions of Ukrainian advances in Zaporizhzhia. Away from the frontline, Russian forces launched 138 drones overnight, striking civilian infrastructure. Fatalities were reported in Kyiv Oblast, where a strike killed a mother and two children, and in Kherson Oblast, where a monastery attack resulted in a priest's death.

Sources: NV, Point, Радіо Свобода, The Insider, Українська правда