Russia on Friday said its forces had taken full control of the strategic town of Konstantinovka in the Donetsk region, while Ukraine said it had carried out drone strikes on two Russian military airfields in Crimea.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian troops had captured Konstantinovka, a claim that Ukraine had not responded to. The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday released video footage which it said showed Russian forces in control of the town.
According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a command post of the joint forces also on Friday and said the capture of Konstantinovka marked an important first step toward seizing the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk defensive hub.
Putin also said Russian forces had recently completed the takeover of the Lugansk region and now held the strategic initiative along the front line.
Ukraine's Security Service said on Friday that its drones had struck two Russian military airfields in Crimea, damaging at least seven aircraft, according to preliminary information. Russia had not yet commented on the claim.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) said the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant had again lost its off-site power supply, marking the 21st such outage since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis.
The plant's emergency diesel generators have started operation to supply electricity for reactor cooling and other essential nuclear safety systems.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi urged all parties to exercise maximum military restraint to prevent a nuclear accident.
Russia claims capture of key Donetsk town, Ukraine reports drone strikes on Crimea airfields
China has continued to strengthen its capacity to ensure energy and resource security, according to the Global Mining Development Report 2026 released by the China Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources on Friday.
The report indicates that since China launched a new round of strategic actions for mineral exploration in 2021, the exploration of strategic emerging minerals has achieved leapfrog development, and the country's capacity for independent resource supply has been significantly enhanced.
According to the report, China's new round of strategic actions for mineral exploration has produced remarkable results, with mineral resource reserves growing substantially. China currently ranks the first in the world in reserves of 14 minerals and has achieved three-dimensional expansion in oil and gas exploration, with deep-layer and deep-sea areas becoming new growth points.
Meanwhile, China's scale of mineral product production and smelting and processing remains the world's largest, and its leading position in the industrial chain has been continuously consolidated. In the smelting and processing sector in particular, the output of more than 30 metallurgical products ranks the first in the world, and the output of 17 mineral products accounts for about 50 percent of global mineral product output. This signifies that China is not only a major mineral resource producer, but also a supply leader and important driver in the global smelting and processing industry.
In addition, the scale of China's mining economy and its role in driving employment have continued to strengthen, providing strong support for socioeconomic development. As of April 2026, China had boasted 12,600 exploration rights and 30,400 mining rights, along with 55,000 mining enterprises and 834,000 smelting and processing enterprises. The mining industry and its related sectors have become an important pillar of regional economic development and people's livelihoods and employment.
"China has actively contributed its strength to global mining transformation. China has signed memorandums of understanding on geological and mining cooperation with more than 70 other countries, and technologies and equipment such as autonomous mining trucks, mining large models, and tailings resource recovery have been deployed globally," said Zou Xiehua, chief drafter of the Global Mining Development Report 2026.
China continues to strengthen energy, resource security capacity: global mining report
