On the 26th the Russian defence ministry said Russian forces seized three
settlements in Sumy and Kharkiv regions in the past 24 hours and struck
Ukrainian transport infrastructure, Ukrainian units and temporary deployment
points for foreign mercenaries across 152 locations. It said strikes hit a Kyiv
data-processing centre that supported the Ukrainian armed forces’ mobile
internet and Starlink satellite communications. As of 0800 on the 26th, Russian
air defences had shot down 645 Ukrainian drones over Belgorod, Bryansk and the
Black Sea. Ukraine’s General Staff reported 205 engagements along the front in
the past day; Ukrainian air force, missile and artillery units struck three
drone command-and-launch sites, six artillery systems and one ammunition depot,
and Kyiv said it launched multiple attacks in the North Slobozhansk, South
Slobozhansk and Kursk directions.