Russia has made further gains within Bakhmut, securing almost all territory east of the railroad. With Russian advances persisting to the west of the railroad as well, Ukraine's ability to use the railroad to obstruct Russian pushes west is rapidly dwindling. Russia is well on track to secure the entire railroad over the next couple of days, at which point Russia will probably briefly reorganize before launching a major assault against Khromove and the remaining Ukrainian-held portion of Bakhmut.
Nearby, Russia finally broke the stalemate slightly around Bakhmut, pushing west of Dubovo-Vasylivka towards Hryhorivka. If Russia can seize Hryhorivka, it will provide them with control over some high ground, but more importantly, they will have reached the canal at yet another point. Crucially, Hryhorivka is tk the north of Chasiv Yar, which means that a Russian capture of Hryhorivka means that they could launch an assault against Chasiv Yar from numerous directions and surround the city fairly easily.
Russian sources have reported that Ukrianian troops have managed to cross the Dnipro opposite the city of Kherson. Ukrainian troops have allegedly established a very small beachhead, and has been able to resupply their positions. Others have stressed that this isn't some major breakthrough, nor is it indicative of a major Ukrainian offensive. The region is the start of a river delta, and fairly swampish. The border here is much more nebulous than further up in the Dnipro. So a Ukrainian presence on the eastern bank is notable, but far less so than if it was further up the river.
Russia suffered two major aviation related embarrassments today. The first involved a Russian Su-34 malfunctioning while flying to Ukraine. The plane accidentally dropped a bomb on the Russian city of Belgorod due to the malfunction. Remarkably, there were few reported casualties; Russian media initially said none were wounded, while Ukrainian media said that two people were harmed. However, several apartments and vehicles were damaged, as was the road that the bomb hit. The Kremlin swiftly promised to investigate the incident. The second embarrassment was over the Sea of Azov, as a Russian helicopter (claimed to have been a Ka-52, though there's no footage to verify) managed to miss land by about 500 meters. Russian milbloggers have confirmed that a Russian helicopter went down, blaming the poor weather at the time.
NATO Secretary Stoltenberg visited Kyiv and Bucha. During a press conference with Zelenskyy, he asserted that discussion of Ukrainian accession to NATO would be discussed extensively at the next NATO summit. Stoltenberg made no promises that NATO membership would be offered then (which is extremely unlikely, due to the ongoing war). But Ukraine may be offered sumbolic measures or Ukraine may be assisted with further aligning their military procedures and equipment with NATO standards. In a separate display of support, the Netherlands and Denmark jointly promised additional tanks for Ukraine.
The G7 and the EU are both contemplating placing a partial embargo on Russia. The embargo would be extremely one-sided, preventing the sale of goods to Russia, but not preventing the purchase of Russian goods. This would greatly inhibit Russian individuals and companies from accessing western goods, without doing the same to G7 and EU citizens (though of course, they would be less effected anyways due to Russia's smaller economy).
The EU and its renegade states are allegedly coming close to a tentative compromise pertaining to Ukrainian agricultural products. The bans will be allowed to remain in place, but only for a few months. This should give the relevant countries time to draft legislation to assist their domestic agricultural industries, while not lasting long enough where a lack of border controls within the EU would cause too many issues with enforcement. In addition to the four that have already placed restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports, the agreement would also apply to Romania, which shares a sizable border with Ukraine.
Fallout from the leak continues to spread, this time involving the United States, Turkey, Syria, and the Kurdish movements and affiliated groups within Syria. According to a leaked document, Ukraine was considering launching drone attacks against Russian troops from remote and "deniable" areas in Syria. The idea would be to compel Russia to devote additional resources to Syria, decreasing the amount of resources Russia could contribute to their war effort against Ukraine. The "deniable" areas are strongly insinuated to be areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is led by the Kurdish YPG militia. Given complex relations between Turkey and the United States, Russia, and Ukraine, and outright hostility towards the SDF, it's not surprising that Zelenskyy ultimately opted against the plans. Following through would have risked chaotic and unpredictable responses in the Middle East, and would have risked angering the United States, the largest military backer of Ukraine.