diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a40b6baaa19804a8845a0a0c1263a8272f7f47dc..4e62f8875f93c87c36f66c14dd2e03eb6bb5ff05 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15)
 
-project(Stripping VERSION 16.5
+project(Stripping VERSION 16.6
         LANGUAGES CXX)
 
 # Enable testing with CTest/CDash
diff --git a/ReleaseNotes/v16r6.md b/ReleaseNotes/v16r6.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6b49f11b65aa0e6ca542fe59b73b909ef07358fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ReleaseNotes/v16r6.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+2023-05-09 Stripping v16r6
+===
+
+This version uses Phys v27r6, Rec v25r4, Lbcom v24r4, LHCb v46r4, Gaudi v36r12, LCG 103, ROOT 6.28.00 .
+
+This version is released on `run2-patches` branch and is intended for use with Run1 or Run2 data. For Run3, use a version released on `master` branch
+Built relative to Stripping [v16r5](../-/tags/v16r5), with only changes to upstream projects.