A US official said on Friday night that rising threats from Iran and Yemen’s Houthi forces have prompted orders for some diplomatic personnel to depart and adjustments to embassy staffing across multiple Middle Eastern countries. The State Department had earlier said it ordered only some staff to leave Saudi Arabia and called reports of wider regional withdrawals inaccurate. The official said the staffing changes mainly affect embassies already operating on a limited basis.

Russia said its tactical and attack aviation, strike UAVs, missile units and artillery struck 147 Ukrainian sites, hitting energy and transport infrastructure, storage and launch points for long-range drones, and temporary deployment areas for Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries. Russian air defenses shot down one Storm Shadow cruise missile, four Neptune missiles and 1,297 fixed‑wing UAVs.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told ABC in an interview on the 23rd that Ukraine is willing to agree a ceasefire and end the conflict quickly but will not cede additional territory to achieve that. He rejected proposals to give up 25% of Ukrainian territory, saying Russian forces currently control about 19.3% and that 25% would require surrendering currently unoccupied parts of Donbass, which Ukraine will not accept.