President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the United States to finalise a bilateral drone agreement, emphasising the mutual benefits of sharing expertise. In a post following an interview on CBS's Face the Nation, Zelenskyy noted that while the US has tested various Ukrainian drones, a formal framework deal has yet to be signed. 'The US wanted to test all types of our drones. We agreed to the way they wanted to test, train with, and use our systems in the air, on land, and at sea. But we still don’t have a bilateral drone deal – a big framework document,' he said.
Zelenskyy highlighted that Ukraine has already secured drone deals with several Middle Eastern and European countries and is preparing a major agreement with the European Union. He expressed hope for a similar arrangement with the US, despite President Donald Trump's dismissive stance on Ukraine's drone expertise. 'American companies have advanced AI technologies we don’t have. In turn, we have many things they don’t have, due to our extensive experience on the battlefield. I think this cooperation can be huge … for this, we need President Trump to say yes,' Zelenskyy stated.
On the battlefield, Ukraine continued its strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. The Ukrainian general staff reported that drones hit the Rosneft oil refinery in Saratov, south-western Russia, causing a large fire. The refinery is said to be supplying Moscow's war effort. Additionally, Ukraine struck the Lazarevo pumping station in the Kirov region, over 1,200km from Ukrainian-controlled territory, which helps transport oil from Siberia to Belarus. A fuel depot in the Rostov region was also set ablaze, according to local authorities.
Russia retaliated with drone attacks on Ukraine. A truck driver was killed in the Chernihiv region, and 40,000 people lost power following a strike on the area. In Dnipro, one person died and nine were injured, while an oil refinery in the Rivne region was set on fire. A Russian-appointed official in the occupied Kherson region reported that a Ukrainian drone struck an apartment building in Henichesk, killing a child and injuring 11 people.
Ukraine received a new Iris-T missile launcher from Germany, as Zelenskyy appealed for more air defence ammunition. 'We also need missiles for air defence systems to have sufficient capabilities to repel Russian attacks,' he said. The Iris-T is a short-range missile capable of intercepting drones, rockets, and aircraft, but not ballistic missiles.
In the Face the Nation interview, Zelenskyy accused Russia of treating abducted Ukrainian children as combatants, training them to fight against their own country. 'They taught these children to hate their native country, to hate [their] native people. And Ukrainians, can you imagine, such young Ukrainians – young boys – come to the battlefield and kill [other] Ukrainians,' he said. Russia has separated siblings and offered to trade some children for captured Ukrainian soldiers. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for war crimes related to the abduction of children.
