Ukraine and Russia

• Pres. Zelensky conceded that his counteroffensive is going "slower than desired" but still making positive progress. He urged his Western backers to have patience: "Some people believe this is a Hollywood movie and expect results now. It's not."
• A Russian official in occupied Crimea blamed Ukraine for blowing up a bridge linking Kherson with Crimea. He claimed the attack was "ordered by London" - though it seems unlikely the UK would be directing Ukrainian operations - and said it used Storm Missiles donated by the UK (which is more plausible). The bridge was damaged but not destroyed.
• Russia also blamed Ukraine for deploying three drones to strike military targets near Moscow. Ukraine has consistently avoided confirming operations and strikes within Russia and declined to confirm this one.

• Rwanda's Pres. Kagame offered a positive report on the war his forces and their regional allies are waging against Islamic State-linked militants in northern Mozambique: he said "maybe 80% of the problem has been addressed." [I'm unclear how exactly he's quantifying progress in a war but 80% "addressed" seems better than 50% or 0% "addressed."]

• The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs quietly traveled to Venezuela this week to advocate for two Americans the U.S. declared "wrongfully detained." There are two other Americans known to be currently detained - but not "wrongfully" so - in Venezuela.

• The U.S. and India plan to sign new defense agreements during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Washington. As part of one of the agreements, U.S.-based Micron committed to investing $800 million in a new chipmaking plant in India.
• The U.S.-India relationship is more pragmatic than unconditional, so Pres. Biden is tiptoeing around criticizing Modi's human rights record and focusing on topics the leaders align on - like countering China.