The U.S. Middle East envoy contacted the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Iraq to ask them to urge Iran to lower tensions with Israel after a suspected Israeli air strike on Iran’s embassy in Syria.
Armed fighters claiming to be Russian citizens opposed to the Kremlin conducted cross-border incursions into western Russia from Ukraine using tanks. Moscow reported repelling the attacks. The groups, acting independently according to Ukraine, aimed to distract Russian forces and relieve pressure on Ukrainian troops in eastern Ukraine. The Freedom of Russia Legion claimed control of Tyotkino, a village in Russia’s Kursk region. The attacks involved the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Siberian Battalion. Russia’s defense ministry stated it repelled the incursions and drone attacks in the Belgorod and Kursk regions. The incidents occurred days before Russia’s presidential election, with the groups hinting at opposition to the expected re-election of Putin.