Russian state media reported President Putin spoke with Belarusian President Lukashenko to discuss expanding bilateral allied cooperation.

Rosstat data show April aviation output, including manned military aircraft and drones, rose 117% YoY. The surge highlights Moscow’s shift to a new economic and military reality: with tank and conventional armour production and effectiveness reaching limits, cheap, scalable unmanned systems such as drones are among the few industrial areas still able to expand rapidly. Douglas Barrie, senior research fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said: "First-person-view drones now dominate ground combat, making any force concentrations within several kilometres of the contact line dangerous. Long-range drones allow Moscow to supplement its much smaller inventory of land-attack cruise missiles and sustain strikes on key Ukrainian national infrastructure."

ECB governing council member REHN said the June rate rise would be an insurance hike.