The situation 1663 – October 10, 2026

1. Russian President Vladimir Putin used his phone call with US President Donald Trump on October 9 to falsely blame Ukraine for the lack of peace negotiations’ progress despite Russia’s continued unwillingness to engage in meaningful negotiations or make any concessions to end the war in Ukraine.
2. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) is presenting a tailored weekly summary of the Russian forces’ exaggerated military successes aimed specifically at Russia’s domestic audience through Max – the new social media platform that the Russian state has developed to control the Russian internet.
3. US President Donald Trump’s October 9 announcement about the diesel export deal between the United States and Russia disrupted the negotiations meeting between a Ukrainian delegation and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and former Senior Advisor to the US President Jared Kushner in Miami.
4. Ukrainian forces conducted drone strikes against oil and railway infrastructure in Rostov Oblast on October 10. Russian forces launched 160 drones against Ukraine overnight.
5. Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Borova direction.

The full update of the Russian offensive 1663 is available on UNDERSTANDING WAR