Russia pounds Kyiv as Putin sends message ahead of NATO summit

Overnight attack kills 11 as US VP Vance says Russian forces have exhausted offensive potential.

Russia pounds Kyiv as Putin sends message ahead of NATO summit — Russia attacked Kyiv overnight with 351 drones and 68 missiles, killing at least 11 people and wounding 46, in what Israeli outlet Ynet described as a 'message from Putin' ahead of the NATO summit and a planned Trump-Zelensky meeting.[^1] The assault, the second in less than a week, included ballistic and hypersonic missiles that Ukraine could not intercept. Maariv framed the attack as 'Putin's gift to Trump,' emphasizing the personal dynamics between the leaders, while Times of Israel focused on the humanitarian toll and Zelensky's plea for air defenses.[^1] US Vice President JD Vance stated in an interview with The Sunday Times that Russian occupation forces have 'exhausted their offensive potential on the Ukrainian theater of operations,' a notably optimistic assessment that contrasts with the scale of the overnight bombardment.[^2] The attack followed a 90-minute phone call between Trump and Putin on July 4, raising questions about whether the Kremlin is testing the limits of Washington's patience. Ukraine's ability to sustain its defense hinges on continued Western support, but the gap between Vance's rhetoric and the reality on the ground is widening. If Russian forces are truly exhausted, why launch the second-largest drone barrage of the war? IDF operations in southern Lebanon intensify as tunnel network uncovered — IDF forces operating in the southern Lebanese village of Hadatha over the past month located over 150 Hezbollah weapons and destroyed more than 90 terror infrastructure sites, the military announced on Monday.[^1] Separately, the IDF destroyed a 200-meter underground terror tunnel in the village of Majdal Zoun, revealed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday night.[^1] The operations, conducted by the 401st Brigade, killed over 20 Hezbollah terrorists.[^1] Hours earlier, the IDF carried out a precision strike on a vehicle carrying four suspicious individuals who were approaching the security zone border in the Al-Aqida area of southern Lebanon.[^2] The strikes come amid ongoing efforts to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure