[EKS] [request]: Support for Kubernetes 1.35

[rgoltz]

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I'd like EKS to support Kubernetes 1.35:

• https://kubernetes.io/blog/2025/12/17/kubernetes-v1-35-release/
• https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/CHANGELOG/CHANGELOG-1.35.md

Tell us about your request
I'd like to be able to use Kubernetes 1.35 on EKS and be aware of the release timeline to help plan for it. This issue was opened to track progress on the new release.

Which service(s) is this request for?
EKS

Tell us about the problem you're trying to solve. What are you trying to do, and why is it hard?
n/a

Are you currently working around this issue?
n/a

Additional context
n/a

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[danielloader]

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/kubernetes-versions-standard.html#kubernetes-1-35

Yay?

[mbevc1]

Is it me or comms on those releases are getting worse? 🤪

[joebowbeer]

Where can I verify that Image Volumes are supported in EKS v1.3.5?

I don't see any mention of Image Volume support in the linked announcement, but I do see mention of the containerd v2 prerequisite.

The ImageVolume feature gate (KEP-4639) was enabled by default in Kubernetes v1.35.

[nickkadams]

Where can I verify that Image Volumes are supported in EKS v1.3.5?

I don't see any mention of Image Volume support in the linked announcement, but I do see mention of the containerd v2 prerequisite.

The ImageVolume feature gate (KEP-4639) was enabled by default in Kubernetes v1.35.

A team member shared this command and this is the result after upgrading one of our clusters to v1.35:

kubectl get --raw /metrics | grep "kubernetes_feature_enabled" | grep "ImageVolume"
kubernetes_feature_enabled{name="ImageVolume",stage="BETA"} 1

Our EKS v1.34 clusters show 0 vs 1.

[spyroang]

Kubernetes version 1.35 is now generally available on Amazon EKS
https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2026/01/amazon-eks-distro-kubernetes-version-1-35/