diff --git a/cluster/config-defaults.yaml b/cluster/config-defaults.yaml
index 03cffcbed4..14d20214a4 100644
--- a/cluster/config-defaults.yaml
+++ b/cluster/config-defaults.yaml
@@ -356,8 +356,10 @@ skipper_eastwest_dns_log_enabled: "false"
 # if enabled adds port 8080 as svc port to eastwest svc
 skipper_ingress_eastwest_additional_port: "false"
 
-# if enabled adds service.kubernetes.io/topology-mode: auto to the eastwest service
-skipper_ingress_eastwest_topology_mode_auto: "true"
+# if enabled adds service.kubernetes.io/topology-mode: auto to the eastwest service, tries to add safety automatically by enabling/disabling zone awareness
+skipper_ingress_eastwest_topology_mode_auto: "false"
+# if enabled adds trafficDistribution: PreferSameZone, ignore all magic just make it zone aware
+skipper_ingress_eastwest_zone_aware_clusterip: "true"
 
 # skipper tcp lifo
 # See: https://opensource.zalando.com/skipper/operation/operation/#tcp-lifo
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/02-admission-control/deployment.yaml b/cluster/manifests/02-admission-control/deployment.yaml
index 0bd08bc6db..906c4d59e8 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/02-admission-control/deployment.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/02-admission-control/deployment.yaml
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ spec:
       priorityClassName: system-cluster-critical
       containers:
       - name: admission-controller
-        image: 926694233939.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/production_namespace/teapot/admission-controller:master-305
+        image: 926694233939.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/production_namespace/teapot/admission-controller:master-307
         lifecycle:
           preStop:
             sleep:
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/02-vertical-pod-autoscaler/rbac.yaml b/cluster/manifests/02-vertical-pod-autoscaler/rbac.yaml
index abc9859554..c6397c6045 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/02-vertical-pod-autoscaler/rbac.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/02-vertical-pod-autoscaler/rbac.yaml
@@ -137,6 +137,12 @@ rules:
       - pods/eviction
     verbs:
       - create
+  - apiGroups:
+      - ""
+    resources:
+      - pods/resize
+    verbs:
+      - patch
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
 kind: ClusterRoleBinding
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/03-skipper-validation-webhook/deployment.yaml b/cluster/manifests/03-skipper-validation-webhook/deployment.yaml
index 1fa7ba88b5..207c3b5740 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/03-skipper-validation-webhook/deployment.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/03-skipper-validation-webhook/deployment.yaml
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ spec:
               seconds: 10
 {{- else if eq .Cluster.ConfigItems.skipper_ingress_swarm_type "valkey" }}
       - name: valkey-sidecar
-        image: container-registry.zalando.net/library/valkey-9-alpine:9-alpine3.22-20260330
+        image: container-registry.zalando.net/library/valkey-9-alpine:9-alpine3.22-20260414
         args:
         - valkey-server
         - --save
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ spec:
               seconds: 10
 {{ end }}
       - name: skipper-admission-webhook
-        image: 926694233939.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/production_namespace/teapot/skipper:v0.24.64
+        image: 926694233939.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/production_namespace/teapot/skipper:v0.24.71
         env:
 {{ if or (eq .Cluster.ConfigItems.skipper_local_tokeninfo "production") (eq .Cluster.ConfigItems.skipper_local_tokeninfo "bridge") }}
         - name: LOCAL_TOKENINFO
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/controller-vpa.yaml b/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/controller-vpa.yaml
index 07df7252bc..24ec587b34 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/controller-vpa.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/controller-vpa.yaml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ spec:
     kind: Deployment
     name: "deployment-service-controller"
   updatePolicy:
-    updateMode: Recreate
+    updateMode: InPlaceOrRecreate
   resourcePolicy:
     containerPolicies:
     - containerName: "deployment-service-controller"
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/status-service-deployment.yaml b/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/status-service-deployment.yaml
index c666475e4e..7996fbd4f5 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/status-service-deployment.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/status-service-deployment.yaml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ metadata:
     application: "deployment-service"
     component: "status-service"
 spec:
-  replicas: 3
+  replicas: 2
   selector:
     matchLabels:
       application: "deployment-service"
@@ -73,11 +73,11 @@ spec:
               name: http
           resources:
             requests:
-              cpu: "10m"
-              memory: "7Gi"
+              cpu: "100m"
+              memory: "1Gi"
             limits:
-              cpu: "10m"
-              memory: "7Gi"
+              cpu: "100m"
+              memory: "1Gi"
           readinessProbe:
             httpGet:
               port: 8080
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/status-service-vpa.yaml b/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/status-service-vpa.yaml
index 1c4d9be45e..10f11406e6 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/status-service-vpa.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/deployment-service/status-service-vpa.yaml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ spec:
     kind: Deployment
     name: "deployment-service-status-service"
   updatePolicy:
-    updateMode: Recreate
+    updateMode: InPlaceOrRecreate
   resourcePolicy:
     containerPolicies:
     - containerName: "deployment-service-status-service"
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/flannel/daemonset.yaml b/cluster/manifests/flannel/daemonset.yaml
index 52f152d83c..49395356cd 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/flannel/daemonset.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/flannel/daemonset.yaml
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ spec:
           failureThreshold: 30
           periodSeconds: 10
       - name: kube-flannel
-        image: container-registry.zalando.net/teapot/flannel:v0.28.2-master-46
+        image: container-registry.zalando.net/teapot/flannel:v0.28.4-master-47
         command:
         - /opt/bin/flanneld
         args:
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/kube-metrics-adapter/deployment.yaml b/cluster/manifests/kube-metrics-adapter/deployment.yaml
index 42faec6e73..54abe32b7b 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/kube-metrics-adapter/deployment.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/kube-metrics-adapter/deployment.yaml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ spec:
       serviceAccountName: custom-metrics-apiserver
       containers:
       - name: kube-metrics-adapter
-        image: container-registry.zalando.net/teapot/kube-metrics-adapter:v0.2.8
+        image: container-registry.zalando.net/teapot/kube-metrics-adapter:v0.2.8-16-g6d6c08e
         env:
         - name: AWS_REGION
           value: {{ .Cluster.Region }}
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/role-sync-controller/cronjob.yaml b/cluster/manifests/role-sync-controller/cronjob.yaml
index a532b82c2a..adb8398021 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/role-sync-controller/cronjob.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/role-sync-controller/cronjob.yaml
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ spec:
           restartPolicy: Never
           containers:
           - name: role-sync-controller
-            image: container-registry.zalando.net/teapot/role-sync-controller:main-21
+            image: container-registry.zalando.net/teapot/role-sync-controller:main-24
             args:
               - --subject-group=PowerUser
               - --subject-group=Manual
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/sandbox-controller/30-deployment.yaml b/cluster/manifests/sandbox-controller/30-deployment.yaml
index a220b1d5ce..c6dafcbeab 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/sandbox-controller/30-deployment.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/sandbox-controller/30-deployment.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# {{ $image := "container-registry.zalando.net/gwproxy/sandbox-controller:main-65" }}
+# {{ $image := "container-registry.zalando.net/gwproxy/sandbox-controller:main-69" }}
 # {{ $version := index (split $image ":") 1 }}
 
 {{ if eq .Cluster.ConfigItems.sandbox_controller_enabled "true" }}
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/shadow-traffic-controller/30-deployment.yaml b/cluster/manifests/shadow-traffic-controller/30-deployment.yaml
index 38d1b1cbcd..568dd1308f 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/shadow-traffic-controller/30-deployment.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/shadow-traffic-controller/30-deployment.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# {{ $image := "container-registry.zalando.net/gwproxy/shadow-traffic-controller:main-24" }}
+# {{ $image := "container-registry.zalando.net/gwproxy/shadow-traffic-controller:main-29" }}
 # {{ $version := index (split $image ":") 1 }}
 # {{ if eq .Cluster.ConfigItems.shadow_traffic_controller_enabled "true" }}
 apiVersion: apps/v1
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/skipper/deployment.yaml b/cluster/manifests/skipper/deployment.yaml
index 652a35c4af..c93fc0e2b8 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/skipper/deployment.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/skipper/deployment.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {{/* image-updater-bot detects *image variables so use name with suffix to disable it for the main image */}}
 
-{{ $main_image_updated_manually := "container-registry.zalando.net/teapot/skipper-internal:v0.24.58-1387" }}
+{{ $main_image_updated_manually := "container-registry.zalando.net/teapot/skipper-internal:v0.24.64-1393" }}
 {{ $canary_image := "container-registry.zalando.net/teapot/skipper-internal:v0.24.64-1393" }}
 
 {{/* Allow to override manually canary image by config item */}}
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/skipper/service-eks-internal.yaml b/cluster/manifests/skipper/service-eks-internal.yaml
index 45f2fa4955..0106ffd89a 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/skipper/service-eks-internal.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/skipper/service-eks-internal.yaml
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ metadata:
   annotations:
     external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/hostname: skipper-ingress-eks.{{ .Values.hosted_zone }}
     service.beta.kubernetes.io/aws-load-balancer-additional-resource-tags: application=skipper-ingress,component=ingress
+    service.beta.kubernetes.io/aws-load-balancer-attributes: dns_record.client_routing_policy=availability_zone_affinity,load_balancing.cross_zone.enabled=false
     service.beta.kubernetes.io/aws-load-balancer-backend-protocol: tcp
     # SG of the old cluster worker nodes
     service.beta.kubernetes.io/aws-load-balancer-extra-security-groups: {{ .Cluster.ConfigItems.worker_sg_legacy_cluster }}
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/skipper/service-internal.yaml b/cluster/manifests/skipper/service-internal.yaml
index e0446354c9..07b23597f0 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/skipper/service-internal.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/skipper/service-internal.yaml
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ metadata:
     component: ingress
 spec:
   type: ClusterIP
+{{- if eq .Cluster.ConfigItems.skipper_ingress_eastwest_zone_aware_clusterip "true" }}
+  trafficDistribution: PreferSameZone
+{{- end}}
 {{- if eq .Cluster.Provider "zalando-eks" }}
   clusterIP: {{ nthAddressFromCIDR .Cluster.ConfigItems.service_cidr 50 }}
 {{- else}}
diff --git a/cluster/manifests/skipper/skipper-valkey.yaml b/cluster/manifests/skipper/skipper-valkey.yaml
index 3d0db1026a..4697669844 100644
--- a/cluster/manifests/skipper/skipper-valkey.yaml
+++ b/cluster/manifests/skipper/skipper-valkey.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# {{ $image := "container-registry.zalando.net/library/valkey-9-alpine:9-alpine3.22-20260330" }}
+# {{ $image := "container-registry.zalando.net/library/valkey-9-alpine:9-alpine3.22-20260413" }}
 # {{ $version := index (split $image ":") 1 }}
 {{- if eq .Cluster.ConfigItems.skipper_ingress_swarm_type "valkey" }}
 apiVersion: apps/v1
diff --git a/cluster/node-pools/master-default/userdata.yaml b/cluster/node-pools/master-default/userdata.yaml
index 418e325484..86184553ae 100644
--- a/cluster/node-pools/master-default/userdata.yaml
+++ b/cluster/node-pools/master-default/userdata.yaml
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ write_files:
             limits:
               memory: {{ .Values.InstanceInfo.MemoryFraction (parseInt64 .Cluster.ConfigItems.apiserver_memory_limit_percent)}}
 {{- end }}
-        - image: 926694233939.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/production_namespace/teapot/admission-controller:master-305
+        - image: 926694233939.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/production_namespace/teapot/admission-controller:master-307
           name: admission-controller
           lifecycle:
             preStop:
@@ -406,7 +406,7 @@ write_files:
             value: {{ .Cluster.ConfigItems.apiserver_business_partner_ids }}
 {{ end }}
         - name: skipper-proxy
-          image: 926694233939.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/production_namespace/teapot/skipper:v0.24.64
+          image: 926694233939.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/production_namespace/teapot/skipper:v0.24.66
           args:
           - skipper
           - -access-log-strip-query
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ write_files:
             name: ssl-certs-kubernetes
             readOnly: true
         - name: skipper-metrics
-          image: 926694233939.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/production_namespace/teapot/skipper:v0.24.64
+          image: 926694233939.dkr.ecr.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/production_namespace/teapot/skipper:v0.24.66
           args:
           - skipper
           - -access-log-strip-query
diff --git a/test/e2e/README.md b/test/e2e/README.md
index 8ebfc29621..bd7463bf52 100644
--- a/test/e2e/README.md
+++ b/test/e2e/README.md
@@ -205,8 +205,13 @@ Follow up code, that waits for creations to be happen:
   make
   ```
 
-  This will setup the go modules correctly and build a binary
-  `e2e.test`.
+  This will build a binary `e2e.test`.
+
+  Install `ginkgo` if you haven't already:
+
+  ```bash
+  make deps
+  ```
 
   Run all Zalando tests from your local build:
 
@@ -220,5 +225,20 @@ Follow up code, that waits for creations to be happen:
   -allowed-not-ready-nodes=-1
   ```
 
+  To run a _single test_ often the most useful, you can do it like this:
+
+  ```bash
+  # S3_AWS_IAM_BUCKET and AWS_IAM_ROLE is required for the AWS-IAM tests.
+  KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config HOSTED_ZONE=example.org CLUSTER_ALIAS=example \
+  S3_AWS_IAM_BUCKET=zalando-e2e-aws-iam-test-12345678912-kube-1 \
+  AWS_IAM_ROLE=kube-1-e2e-aws-iam-test \
+  ginkgo -procs=1 -flake-attempts=2 -focus="name of test" \
+  e2e.test -- -non-blocking-taints=node.kubernetes.io/role,nvidia.com/gpu,dedicated \
+  -allowed-not-ready-nodes=-1
+  ```
+
+  Note that the flag `-procs` is set to `1` in this case. If it's set to `25` but
+  only focusing on one test it will just hang.
+
 
 [ginkgo]: https://onsi.github.io/ginkgo/