Russia claims territorial gains, while Ukraine reports drone shootdowns

Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange fire along the front lines on Wednesday, despite reports of modest yet concrete progress in peace talks in Istanbul.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that its forces had repelled multiple attacks by the Ukrainian army in Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and other areas, and launched multiple offensives, taking control of settlements in the Sumy and Donetsk regions.

Russian air defense forces shot down three Ukrainian HIMARS rockets and 109 drones, the ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the bridge collapses in the regions of Bryansk and Kursk bordering Ukraine were a result of terrorist attacks, emphasizing that they targeted civilians.

Putin stressed that Ukraine’s decision to attack the bridges was political and was a deliberate terrorist attack aimed at disrupting the second round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul.

After listening to a report on the talks from the head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky, Putin stated that Russia would not accept the 30-day or 60-day ceasefire proposed by Ukraine, as he thinks the ceasefire proposal may allow Ukraine to regroup and reorganize its military.

Andriy Demchenko, the spokesman of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, said on Wednesday that the Russian army had been continuing small-scale assaults to exert pressure in the Sumy border area.

He said that 178 battles had taken place in the frontline area over the past 24 hours, and that Ukrainian troops had attacked Russian military personnel, weapons, military equipment and ammunition depots.

According to the Ukrainian army, the Russian army had used 95 drones to attack Ukraine since Tuesday evening, with the Ukrainian army shooting down 61 of them in the east, north, south and central parts of Ukraine. The attacks had targeted many areas including Kharkiv, Sumy, and Odessa.

Russia claims territorial gains, while Ukraine reports drone shootdowns

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that the situation in Iran is "under total control" following violence linked to protests that spiked over the weekend.

Addressing foreign diplomats in Tehran, the foreign minister noted that armed terrorist groups had infiltrated the protests, attempting to divert them from their legitimate course. He claimed that evidence has been gathered showing Iranian security forces being shot at, with the aim of causing further casualties. He accused the United States and Israel of exploiting the unrest to interfere in Iran's internal affairs.

Araghchi further stated that the government is closely monitoring developments on the streets, emphasizing that "the situation has come under control." He also affirmed that internet services, curtailed during the unrest, would be restored after coordination with security agencies.

The government has engaged in dialogue with merchants and protest representatives and initiated reforms to address grievances related to price hikes and currency depreciation. Iran has taken a series of actions and measures to respond to the demands of peaceful demonstrators, the foreign minister said.

Earlier on Sunday, Araghchi said that clear evidence links recent riots and vandalism of public facilities in Iran to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. This came after former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned Mossad agents operating on Iran's streets in a social media post. The Iranian foreign minister asserted that police are being attacked by "terrorists" acting under the direction of Israeli operatives, whom Pompeo publicly acknowledged.

The protests initially erupted over a sharp depreciation of the rial and sweeping subsidy reforms. Iranian authorities have blamed the unrest on foreign-linked agents and U.S. sanctions.

Iranian foreign minister says situation "fully under control," accuses Israeli intelligence of stoking unrest