diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4b429a12c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+## 0.44.8 - 2024-03-20
+
+### Bug fixes
+
+- Sanitize names while pretty printing to avoid invalid names (#2860)
+- When converting Quint lambdas, derive the return type from the Quint type inferred for  the lambda, rather the type inferred for the body expression, avoiding mismatches with Apalache type variables. (#2856)
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 3a6eef1337..c6cd196e63 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.44.8-SNAPSHOT
+0.44.8