diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-release.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-release.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index e3b151e875f26a..00000000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-release.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,231 +0,0 @@
-name: Publish Release
-on:
-  push:
-    tags:
-      - "v0.*.*" # This should match v0.X.Y
-      - "v0.*.*-rc.*" # This should match v0.X.Y-RC.0
-jobs:
-  set_release_type:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    if: github.repository == 'facebook/react-native'
-    outputs:
-      RELEASE_TYPE: ${{ steps.set_release_type.outputs.RELEASE_TYPE }}
-    env:
-      EVENT_NAME: ${{ github.event_name }}
-      REF: ${{ github.ref }}
-    steps:
-      - id: set_release_type
-        run: |
-          echo "Setting release type to release"
-          echo "RELEASE_TYPE=release" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-  prepare_hermes_workspace:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    env:
-      HERMES_WS_DIR: /tmp/hermes
-      HERMES_VERSION_FILE: packages/react-native/sdks/.hermesversion
-    outputs:
-      react-native-version: ${{ steps.prepare-hermes-workspace.outputs.react-native-version }}
-      hermes-version: ${{ steps.prepare-hermes-workspace.outputs.hermes-version }}
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Prepare Hermes Workspace
-        id: prepare-hermes-workspace
-        uses: ./.github/actions/prepare-hermes-workspace
-        with:
-          hermes-ws-dir: ${{ env.HERMES_WS_DIR }}
-          hermes-version-file: ${{ env.HERMES_VERSION_FILE }}
-
-  build_hermesc_apple:
-    runs-on: macos-13
-    needs: prepare_hermes_workspace
-    env:
-      HERMES_WS_DIR: /tmp/hermes
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Build HermesC Apple
-        uses: ./.github/actions/build-hermesc-apple
-        with:
-          hermes-version: ${{ needs.prepare_hermes_workspace.output.hermes-version }}
-          react-native-version: ${{ needs.prepare_hermes_workspace.output.react-native-version }}
-  build_apple_slices_hermes:
-    runs-on: macos-14
-    needs: [build_hermesc_apple, prepare_hermes_workspace]
-    env:
-      HERMES_WS_DIR: /tmp/hermes
-      HERMES_TARBALL_ARTIFACTS_DIR: /tmp/hermes/hermes-runtime-darwin
-      HERMES_OSXBIN_ARTIFACTS_DIR: /tmp/hermes/osx-bin
-      IOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET: "15.1"
-      XROS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET: "1.0"
-      MAC_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET: "10.15"
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        flavor: [Debug, Release]
-        slice: [macosx, iphoneos, iphonesimulator, appletvos, appletvsimulator, catalyst, xros, xrsimulator]
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Build Slice
-        uses: ./.github/actions/build-apple-slices-hermes
-        with:
-          flavor: ${{ matrix.flavor }}
-          slice: ${{ matrix.slice}}
-          hermes-version: ${{ needs.prepare_hermes_workspace.outputs.hermes-version }}
-          react-native-version: ${{ needs.prepare_hermes_workspace.outputs.react-native-version }}
-
-  build_hermes_macos:
-    runs-on: macos-13
-    needs: [build_apple_slices_hermes, prepare_hermes_workspace]
-    env:
-      HERMES_WS_DIR: /tmp/hermes
-      HERMES_TARBALL_ARTIFACTS_DIR: /tmp/hermes/hermes-runtime-darwin
-    continue-on-error: true
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        flavor: [Debug, Release]
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Build Hermes MacOS
-        uses: ./.github/actions/build-hermes-macos
-        with:
-          hermes-version: ${{ needs.prepare_hermes_workspace.outputs.hermes-version }}
-          react-native-version: ${{ needs.prepare_hermes_workspace.outputs.react-native-version }}
-          flavor: ${{ matrix.flavor }}
-  prebuild_apple_dependencies:
-    uses: ./.github/workflows/prebuild-ios.yml
-
-  build_hermesc_linux:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: prepare_hermes_workspace
-    env:
-      HERMES_WS_DIR: /tmp/hermes
-      HERMES_TARBALL_ARTIFACTS_DIR: /tmp/hermes/hermes-runtime-darwin
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Build HermesC Linux
-        uses: ./.github/actions/build-hermesc-linux
-        with:
-          hermes-version: ${{ needs.prepare_hermes_workspace.outputs.hermes-version }}
-          react-native-version: ${{ needs.prepare_hermes_workspace.outputs.react-native-version }}
-
-  build_hermesc_windows:
-    runs-on: windows-2019
-    needs: prepare_hermes_workspace
-    env:
-      HERMES_WS_DIR: 'D:\tmp\hermes'
-      HERMES_TARBALL_ARTIFACTS_DIR: 'D:\tmp\hermes\hermes-runtime-darwin'
-      HERMES_OSXBIN_ARTIFACTS_DIR: 'D:\tmp\hermes\osx-bin'
-      ICU_URL: "https://github.com/unicode-org/icu/releases/download/release-64-2/icu4c-64_2-Win64-MSVC2017.zip"
-      MSBUILD_DIR: 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\BuildTools\MSBuild\Current\Bin'
-      CMAKE_DIR: 'C:\Program Files\CMake\bin'
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Build HermesC Windows
-        uses: ./.github/actions/build-hermesc-windows
-        with:
-          hermes-version: ${{ needs.prepare_hermes_workspace.outputs.hermes-version }}
-          react-native-version: ${{ needs.prepare_hermes_workspace.outputs.react-native-version }}
-
-  build_android:
-    runs-on: 8-core-ubuntu
-    needs: [set_release_type]
-    container:
-      image: reactnativecommunity/react-native-android:latest
-      env:
-        TERM: "dumb"
-        GRADLE_OPTS: "-Dorg.gradle.daemon=false"
-        ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SIGNING_PWD: ${{ secrets.ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SIGNING_PWD }}
-        ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SIGNING_KEY: ${{ secrets.ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SIGNING_KEY }}
-        ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SONATYPE_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SONATYPE_USERNAME }}
-        ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SONATYPE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SONATYPE_PASSWORD }}
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Build Android
-        uses: ./.github/actions/build-android
-        with:
-          release-type: ${{ needs.set_release_type.outputs.RELEASE_TYPE }}
-          gradle-cache-encryption-key: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_CACHE_ENCRYPTION_KEY }}
-
-  build_npm_package:
-    runs-on: 8-core-ubuntu
-    needs:
-      [
-        set_release_type,
-        prepare_hermes_workspace,
-        build_hermes_macos,
-        build_hermesc_linux,
-        build_hermesc_windows,
-        build_android,
-        prebuild_apple_dependencies,
-      ]
-    container:
-      image: reactnativecommunity/react-native-android:latest
-      env:
-        TERM: "dumb"
-        GRADLE_OPTS: "-Dorg.gradle.daemon=false"
-        # By default we only build ARM64 to save time/resources. For release/nightlies, we override this value to build all archs.
-        ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_reactNativeArchitectures: "arm64-v8a"
-    env:
-      HERMES_WS_DIR: /tmp/hermes
-      GHA_NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GHA_NPM_TOKEN }}
-      ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SIGNING_PWD: ${{ secrets.ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SIGNING_PWD }}
-      ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SIGNING_KEY: ${{ secrets.ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SIGNING_KEY }}
-      ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SONATYPE_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SONATYPE_USERNAME }}
-      ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SONATYPE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_SONATYPE_PASSWORD }}
-      REACT_NATIVE_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.REACT_NATIVE_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with:
-          fetch-depth: 0
-          fetch-tags: true
-      - name: Build and Publish NPM Package
-        uses: ./.github/actions/build-npm-package
-        with:
-          hermes-ws-dir: ${{ env.HERMES_WS_DIR }}
-          release-type: ${{ needs.set_release_type.outputs.RELEASE_TYPE }}
-          gha-npm-token: ${{ env.GHA_NPM_TOKEN }}
-          gradle-cache-encryption-key: ${{ secrets.GRADLE_CACHE_ENCRYPTION_KEY }}
-      - name: Publish @react-native-community/template
-        id: publish-template-to-npm
-        uses: actions/github-script@v6
-        with:
-          github-token: ${{ secrets.REACT_NATIVE_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          script: |
-            const {publishTemplate} = require('./.github/workflow-scripts/publishTemplate.js')
-            const version = "${{ github.ref_name }}"
-            const isDryRun = false
-            await publishTemplate(github, version, isDryRun);
-      - name: Wait for template to be published
-        timeout-minutes: 3
-        uses: actions/github-script@v6
-        with:
-          github-token: ${{ secrets.REACT_NATIVE_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          script: |
-            const {verifyPublishedTemplate, isLatest} = require('./.github/workflow-scripts/publishTemplate.js')
-            const version = "${{ github.ref_name }}"
-            await verifyPublishedTemplate(version, isLatest());
-      - name: Update rn-diff-purge to generate upgrade-support diff
-        run: |
-          curl -X POST https://api.github.com/repos/react-native-community/rn-diff-purge/dispatches \
-            -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
-            -H "Authorization: Bearer $REACT_NATIVE_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN" \
-            -d "{\"event_type\": \"publish\", \"client_payload\": { \"version\": \"${{ github.ref_name }}\" }}"
-      - name: Verify Release is on NPM
-        timeout-minutes: 3
-        uses: actions/github-script@v6
-        with:
-          github-token: ${{ secrets.REACT_NATIVE_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-          script: |
-            const {verifyReleaseOnNpm} = require('./.github/workflow-scripts/verifyReleaseOnNpm.js');
-            const {isLatest} = require('./.github/workflow-scripts/publishTemplate.js');
-            const version = "${{ github.ref_name }}";
-            await verifyReleaseOnNpm(version, isLatest());
diff --git a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/build.gradle.kts b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/build.gradle.kts
index 7658a23fce3b62..796438bc01600f 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/packages/react-native/ReactAndroid/build.gradle.kts
@@ -13,18 +13,16 @@ import de.undercouch.gradle.tasks.download.Download
 import java.nio.file.Paths
 import org.jetbrains.kotlin.gradle.tasks.KotlinCompile
 
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.bundling.Jar
+
 plugins {
+  alias(libs.plugins.android.library)
   id("maven-publish")
   id("com.facebook.react")
-  alias(libs.plugins.android.library)
   alias(libs.plugins.download)
   alias(libs.plugins.kotlin.android)
 }
 
-version = project.findProperty("VERSION_NAME")?.toString()!!
-
-group = "com.facebook.react"
-
 // We download various C++ open-source dependencies into downloads.
 // We then copy both the downloaded code and our custom makefiles and headers into third-party-ndk.
 // After that we build native code from src/main/jni with module path pointing at third-party-ndk.
@@ -40,7 +38,8 @@ val reactNativeRootDir = projectDir.parent
 
 // We put the publishing version from gradle.properties inside ext. so other
 // subprojects can access it as well.
-extra["publishing_version"] = project.findProperty("VERSION_NAME")?.toString()!!
+// Use the determined project version
+extra["publishing_version"] = project.version
 
 // This is the version of CMake we're requesting to the Android SDK to use.
 // If missing it will be downloaded automatically. Only CMake versions shipped with the
@@ -489,15 +488,29 @@ android {
   // Used to override the NDK path/version on internal CI or by allowing
   // users to customize the NDK path/version from their root project (e.g. for Apple Silicon
   // support)
-  if (rootProject.hasProperty("ndkPath") && rootProject.properties["ndkPath"] != null) {
-    ndkPath = rootProject.properties["ndkPath"].toString()
+  val rootProjectNdkPath = rootProject.findProperty("ndkPath")?.toString()
+  val rootProjectNdkVersion = rootProject.findProperty("ndkVersion")?.toString()
+
+  project.logger.lifecycle("[ReactAndroid] NDK Config: rootProjectNdkPath = '$rootProjectNdkPath'")
+  project.logger.lifecycle("[ReactAndroid] NDK Config: rootProjectNdkVersion = '$rootProjectNdkVersion'")
+  project.logger.lifecycle("[ReactAndroid] NDK Config: libs.versions.ndkVersion.get() = '${libs.versions.ndkVersion.get()}'")
+
+  // Rely on root project properties (influenced by ANDROID_NDK and libs.versions.toml via root build.gradle)
+  // Ensure your ANDROID_NDK env var points to NDK 27.0.12077973
+  // Ensure libs.versions.toml has ndkVersion = "27.0.12077973"
+  if (!rootProjectNdkPath.isNullOrBlank()) {
+    project.logger.lifecycle("[ReactAndroid] NDK Config: Setting ndkPath from rootProject: '$rootProjectNdkPath'")
+    ndkPath = rootProjectNdkPath
   }
-  if (rootProject.hasProperty("ndkVersion") && rootProject.properties["ndkVersion"] != null) {
-    ndkVersion = rootProject.properties["ndkVersion"].toString()
+
+  if (!rootProjectNdkVersion.isNullOrBlank()) {
+    project.logger.lifecycle("[ReactAndroid] NDK Config: Setting ndkVersion from rootProject: '$rootProjectNdkVersion'")
+    ndkVersion = libs.versions.ndkVersion.get()
   } else {
+    project.logger.lifecycle("[ReactAndroid] NDK Config: Fallback: Setting ndkVersion from libs.versions.toml: '${libs.versions.ndkVersion.get()}'")
     ndkVersion = libs.versions.ndkVersion.get()
   }
-
+  project.logger.lifecycle("[ReactAndroid] NDK Config: Final applied android.ndkPath='${ndkPath}', android.ndkVersion='${ndkVersion}'")
   compileOptions {
     sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_17
     targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_17
@@ -712,13 +725,81 @@ kotlin {
 
 tasks.withType<Test> { jvmArgs = listOf("-Xshare:off") }
 
-/* Publishing Configuration */
-apply(from = "./publish.gradle")
+// -----------------------------
+// Publishing Configuration
+// -----------------------------
+// Upstream ReactNative ships both release & debug AARs to Maven Central via a top‑level publish.gradle.
+// Here, we adapt that flow to push our patched artifacts into our GitHub Packages fork.
 
-// We need to override the artifact ID as this project is called `ReactAndroid` but
-// the maven coordinates are on `react-android`.
-// Please note that the original coordinates, `react-native`, have been voided
-// as they caused https://github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/35210
-publishing {
-  publications { getByName("release", MavenPublication::class) { artifactId = "react-android" } }
+// We removed the generic publish.gradle include, opting for an in‑place Kotlin DSL block
+// that binds our build artifacts to GitHub Packages.
+
+afterEvaluate {
+  // make sure both sources-jar tasks wait for codegen
+  listOf("releaseSourcesJar", "debugSourcesJar").forEach { name ->
+    tasks.named(name) {
+      dependsOn("generateCodegenArtifactsFromSchema")
+    }
+  }
+
+  group = "com.facebook.react"
+  version = "0.79.2"
+  publishing {
+    publications {
+      // 2) Mirror upstream: publish both release and debug components
+      create<MavenPublication>("release") {
+        from(components["release"])
+        groupId    = "com.facebook.react"
+        artifactId = "react-android"
+        version    = "0.79.2"
+        pom {
+          name.set("Aura Patched ReactAndroid")
+          description.set("Release build of ReactAndroid AAR for the Aura project.")
+          url.set("https://github.com/isubscribed/react-native")
+        }
+      }
+      create<MavenPublication>("debug") {
+        from(components["debug"])
+        groupId    = "com.facebook.react"
+        artifactId = "react-android-debug"
+        version    = "0.79.2"
+        pom {
+          name.set("Aura Patched ReactAndroid (Debug)")
+          description.set("Debug build of ReactAndroid AAR for the Aura project.")
+          url.set("https://github.com/isubscribed/react-native")
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    repositories {
+      maven {
+        // Push to your fork's GitHub Packages registry
+        name = "GitHubPackages"
+        url = uri("https://maven.pkg.github.com/isubscribed/react-native")
+        credentials {
+          // try a project property first (so you can set -Pgpr.user=foo locally),
+          // then fall back to the GitHub Actions env
+          username = (project.findProperty("gpr.user") as String?)
+              ?: System.getenv("GITHUB_ACTOR")
+          password = (project.findProperty("gpr.key") as String?)
+              ?: System.getenv("GITHUB_TOKEN")
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
 }
+
+/**********************
+ * Some utility tasks 
+ **********************/
+
+tasks.register("printComponents") {
+  doLast {
+    components.names.forEach { println(it) }
+  }
+}
+
+tasks.register("printPublications") {
+  doLast {
+    println(">>> publications: " + publishing.publications.names)
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/react-native/gradle/libs.versions.toml b/packages/react-native/gradle/libs.versions.toml
index 43c8bb3c463e67..664b9d19b16572 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/gradle/libs.versions.toml
+++ b/packages/react-native/gradle/libs.versions.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ minSdk = "24"
 targetSdk = "35"
 compileSdk = "35"
 buildTools = "35.0.0"
-ndkVersion = "27.1.12297006"
+ndkVersion = "27.0.12077973"
 # Dependencies versions
 agp = "8.8.2"
 androidx-annotation = "1.6.0"