diff --git a/.spelling b/.spelling
index 568bdf3df4..b562558724 100644
--- a/.spelling
+++ b/.spelling
@@ -830,6 +830,7 @@ v2
 V2
 v2-mysql
 v3
+validator
 ValueType
 vCPU
 vCPUs
diff --git a/content/en/news/releases/1.9.x/announcing-1.9.7/index.md b/content/en/news/releases/1.9.x/announcing-1.9.7/index.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..176b959e62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/content/en/news/releases/1.9.x/announcing-1.9.7/index.md
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+---
+title: Announcing Istio 1.9.7
+linktitle: 1.9.7
+subtitle: Patch Release
+description: Istio 1.9.7 patch release.
+publishdate: 2021-07-22
+release: 1.9.7
+aliases:
+    - /news/announcing-1.9.7
+---
+
+This release note describes what’s different between Istio 1.9.6 and Istio 1.9.7.
+
+{{< relnote >}}
+
+## Changes
+
+- **Added** validator for empty regex match. ([Issue 34065](https://github.com/istio/istio/issues/34065))
+
+- **Fixed** `EndpointSlice` races leading to error state. ([Issue 33672](https://github.com/istio/istio/issues/33672))
+
+- **Fixed** `EndpointSlice` creating duplicate IPs on service update.