MORE: Comparisons of Russia’s gains in 2025 with the same period last year show that Russia’s gains have slowed significantly, even when including Russian infiltrations. Russian forces advanced into 515.84 square kilometers from December 2024 to May 2025, compared to the 40.64 square kilometers into which they advanced or infiltrated in the same time period in 2025-2026. Russian forces thus seized or infiltrated into only 7.87 percent as much territory in 2026 as they advanced into in 2025. (Russian forces were not widely using infiltration tactics in early 2025, and ISW therefore did not have a Russian infiltration layer at that time.) Russia’s year-on-year performance statistics significantly worsen when comparing only areas in which ISW assesses that Russian forces exert control: the 515.84 square kilometers they seized in early 2025 compares poorly with the net loss of 281.1 square kilometers they suffered in the same period this year.
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi voiced strong support for Ukraine while speaking exclusively to Kyiv Post in Odesa.
Pahlavi said Ukrainians and Iranians share a common struggle for sovereignty and freedom, noting that the Iranian regime continues to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“The fate of our two countries is tied together. What works for Ukraine works for us, and vice versa. We are united in this cause,” he said.
Pahlavi also thanked Ukrainians who have stood in solidarity with the Iranian people in their fight for liberty and expressed hope that both nations will ultimately prevail.
NEW: Ukraine’s mid-range strike campaign against Russian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) is disrupting Russian logistics across the theater, from occupied Luhansk Oblast to Crimea.
Other Key Takeaways:
Ukraine may also be expanding its drone strike campaign against Russian training grounds in occupied Ukraine.
Russian officials continue to accuse Ukraine of striking the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
Neither Russian nor Ukrainian forces made confirmed advances throughout the theater in the past day.
Russian forces launched 229 drones toward Ukraine overnight.