Intelligence: Russia tries to recruit mercenaries from Central Asia.

U.S. officials have reportedly told their European counterparts about the proposed diplomatic shift, with Trump considering downsizing current special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner's role in negotiations.

Videos posted to social media purportedly show several fires burning in the city of Makhachkala amid active air raid alerts in the region. Preliminary reports indicate explosions reported in the vicinity of the city's port, located off the Caspian Sea.

"(Putin) is wanting to make a deal, ​and if Zelensky is wanting to make ⁠a deal, that'd be very nice," Trump told reporters.

Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SSO) carried out Kyiv's deepest strike into Russia so far in the full-scale war, attacking a natural gas facility 3,200 kilometers (1,988 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Russian officials said a fire broke out on a port embankment in Sochi as a result of a Ukrainian unmanned surface vessel (USV) strike. The attack reportedly disrupted a nearby concert.

The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the EU has thrown out Orban's attempt to block military aid for Ukraine as "it does not fall within the jurisdiction" of the court.

Footage from the attack site shows firefighters battling flames engulfing cars and pools of blood from victims on the asphalt near the mall.

The air-raid alert related to drone threats has been in effect in Kyiv for more than six hours since the start of the day.

At the time of the drone violation, Zelensky's plane was taking off from Moldova en route to Norway.

Three former law enforcement officers now serving in a Ukrainian army brigade, whose name has not been disclosed, allegedly conspired with unidentified accomplices to illegally monitor Oleksandr Shyrshyn and gather confidential information about him, according to the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) and the Prosecutor General's Office.

In this interview, The Kyiv Independent's Francis Farrell speaks with Mykola Bielieskov, senior analyst at Come Back Alive and research fellow at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, about why Russian advances have slowed, how Ukraine’s drone tactics are reshaping the battlefield, and the limits of relying on manpower alone.

The Moldovan President called for more air defense for Ukraine.