Daily Briefing

Key Takeaways

• Trump-Putin diesel deal fractures US-Ukraine relations: Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports (300,000+ tons immediately, scaling to 3M tons), threatened to cut Ukraine's intelligence access over refinery strikes, and publicly called for Zelensky's removal — 124 sources corroborated the deal announcement.
• Zaporizhzhia KAB strike is the deadliest single attack in recent weeks: Russian forces dropped five guided aerial bombs on residential buildings, killing at least 20 people including 3 children and wounding 18 more, with search-and-rescue still ongoing.
• Ukraine struck back hard at Russian energy and tech infrastructure: Ukrainian drones hit the Samara oil dispatch station for the second time in eight days, set the Novoshakhtinsk oil terminal in Rostov ablaze, launched 400+ UAVs toward Moscow (280+ flights disrupted), and destroyed a third Yandex data center in Vladimir Oblast — knocking out 80+ cloud services.
• Miami talks collapsed: The Ukrainian delegation left early after Witkoff and Kushner presented terms including sanctions relief and a Lukoil stake sale in exchange for a partial ceasefire; Ukraine rejected the package, demanding security guarantees instead.
• Finland will deliver F-16 ammunition to Ukraine within days following a Zelensky-Stubb call, a rare positive signal amid the broader US-Ukraine rupture.