Ukrainian F-16s have been spotted for the first time over Russian-occupied Kakhovka district in Kherson region, Russian media reports.

Ukrainian helicopters reportedly operating over Kursk.

Ukraine now controls a gas metering station about five miles inside Russia in Kursk, according to an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

— Some analysts speculated that Kyiv's goal could be to turn off all Russian gas deliveries to Europe as a leveraging point.

— On Thursday, gas was still flowing through Sudzha, the last operational shipping point for a pipeline that carries Russian natural gas to Europe via Ukraine.

— Ukraine earns lucrative transit fees from this pipeline, but has expressed a desire to cut off Russia's remaining energy business in Europe.

Source: WaPo

Ukrainian advancement in Kursk region.

Associate Professor Carlo Pinciroli from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) on drones and swarm robotics:

— Drones are enabling new tactics and capabilities. Inexpensive drones can be used as cheap "vessels" to deploy bombs deep behind enemy lines.

— (On armed robot dogs) Once you have lots of robots, you arm them, and then you make an army.

— Integrating autonomous drones and robots with human soldiers is a major challenge, as the robots need to behave in predictable ways that soldiers can trust.

— Giving weapons to AI systems raises concerns about when and how they will decide to engage targets, as AI decision-making may exceed human speeds.

— Adversaries could also try to deceive or spoof autonomous weapons systems, making them ineffective.

— Swarms of drones could provide enhanced situational awareness and logistics support for military operations. Autonomous drones and robots may allow for fewer human soldiers on the battlefield, acting as "force multipliers".

Source: gdh

New Hamas clash footage from Gaza.

Washington warned Iran that its new government and the Iranian economy could “suffer a devastating blow if it launched a major attack on Israel,” WSJ reports.

Trump:

If anybody I know is Jewish, and they would vote for Kamala over me, they should have their head examined.

Russia is now sending military reinforcements to Kursk region.

Ukraine incursion into Russia's Kursk
region "is consistent with our policy" Pentagon says.

“Ukrainian forces are taking actions to protect themselves from attacks that are coming from a region that are within the US policy of where they can operate.”

Russian woman (probably from Kursk region):

"Putin, please help! Please help, they are destroying villages there! It's scary what is happening there! Please help!"

Dozens of Ukrainian kamikaze UAVs hit Russia's Lipetsk Air Base earlier today.

This air base serves as a key combat training center for the Russian Aerospace Forces.

The base is approximately 330 kilometers away from Ukraine border.

Chinese scientists are working on a new type of hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) that represents a significant upgrade to China's hypersonic weapons capabilities.

— The new HGV uses a trajectory similar to a skipping stone, allowing it to dive into and jump out of the atmosphere multiple times.

— The skipping stone trajectory significantly increases the range of the hypersonic glider, potentially allowing it to reach the other side of the Earth.

— The vehicle can travel at speeds exceeding Mach 15 (15 times the speed of sound).

— It utilizes a new solid-fuel booster capable of multiple ignitions, enabling the repeated atmospheric entry and exit.

— HGVs are warheads designed to maneuver and glide at hypersonic speeds, allowing for controlled missile trajectories after launch.

Source: SCMP

Aftermath of Ukrainian strike on Russian Army column in Rylsk, Kursk region.