The European Union has stated that Ukraine's recent incursion into Russia's Kursk region is considered a "legitimate military action of self-defense." A spokesperson for Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy and security chief, emphasized that Ukraine has the right to defend itself, including striking enemy forces within Russian territory. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that approximately 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers are involved in the ongoing offensive, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency in Kursk Oblast. The EU reiterated its full support for Ukraine's self-defense efforts and committed to continuing its political, financial, humanitarian, diplomatic, and military aid to Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Russia has experienced widespread disruptions to YouTube access, as reported by Russian internet traffic monitoring services. Thousands of outages were recorded, with users only able to access the platform through virtual private networks (VPNs). Some users reported that YouTube was not functioning at all, while Reuters correspondents in Russia also faced difficulties accessing the site, although it remained available on certain mobile devices. The speed of YouTube downloads in Russia has notably slowed in recent weeks, a situation Russian lawmakers attribute to Alphabet, YouTube's parent company, which denies these allegations.