Putin’s field commanders brief that the Northern Group has pushed a deep “security zone” into Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions—about 940 square kilometers and 32 settlements, including Volchansk—while the Western Group says its 25th Army is fighting inside Krasnyi Lyman, has cut key supply roads to Siversk, and is grinding down encircled Ukrainian units near Kupiansk, with Putin urging continued operations to finish off remaining pockets and harden Russia’s newly expanded border buffer.