Today there is important news from the Pokrovsk direction.

Here Ukrainians are targeting all the major and minor ammunition depots from Donetsk city all the way to the front line at Pokrovsk.

With shortages of ammunition for Russian soldiers fighting on the contact line, Ukrainian units are able to expertly exploit these weaknesses and take the initiative.

Ukrainian strikes have crippled Russian supplies of weapons in the Pokrovsk direction with multiple confirmed hits against key ammunition depots throughout the region.

Strikes on Donetsk

In Donetsk, a series of massive explosions rocked the city after Ukrainian long-range drones penetrated Russian defenses. Air defense systems were active beforehand, with smoke trails visible in the sky, but they failed to intercept the incoming strikes.

Footage from Russian soldiers captured the true scale of the destruction, with thick black smoke rising above a facility, followed by a colossal explosion that sent shockwaves through the area, knocking down the soldier who was filming.

Secondary blasts continued for hours, clear evidence of hundreds of tons of ammunition igniting and cooking off.

In at least two different parts of Donetsk, separate plumes of smoke confirmed that multiple storage sites had been struck, leaving no doubt that Ukrainian intelligence and precision targeting had hit their mark.

Salidov under attack

Salidov was not spared either, and another geolocated video, taken by Russian personnel, showed a local base and warehouse engulfed in flames, with ammunition exploding uncontrollably.

In the background, a shaken soldier muttered that hell has broken loose, summing up the chaos that unfolded as the depot erupted.

Salidov has long been used as a central logistics hub due to its size and relative concealment opportunities for Russian soldiers in the Pokrovsk direction. Now it has become a death trap for Russian stockpiles due to its proximity to the front line of around 20 km.

Ukrainian forces struck precisely, underscoring that there are no secure places in the Pokrovsk rear, despite the Russian command believing they had relative safety due to the available buildings.

Impact on Russian logistics

The Donetsk-Yasinovato-Khorlivka rail triangle, combined with the Avdiivka-Oharetina road corridor, has always been the lifeline for Russia’s offensive toward Pokrovsk.

By hitting depots within this network, Ukrainian units force Russia to disperse munitions into smaller caches and rely on last-minute convoys that are far easier to intercept.

With Salidov now burning, Russia has no safe ammunition hub south of Pokrovsk, meaning supplies must take longer, more fuel-intensive roads, often through poor road conditions, and exposed to drones and artillery.

Every strike on Yasinovato or Donetsk is immediately felt on the front lines of the Donetsk-Khorlivka rail triangle. Due to immediate rationing of shells, weaker counter-battery fire, along with slower and less coordinated assaults.

Battlefield consequences

Ukrainian drones, which are constantly scanning the area, direct fire on convoys, repair depots, and ammunition caches, ensuring that Russia’s logistic flow remains fragile as supplies are rerouted.

This vulnerability directly translates into opportunities for the Ukrainians on the battlefield. When Russian units cannot sustain sufficient fire support, Ukrainian troops gain windows to rotate, reinforce, or counter-attack with less risk.

Analysts estimate that the recent strikes in Donetsk alone destroyed several hundred tons of shells, a loss that cannot be quickly replenished, given Russia’s already stretched industrial base and vulnerable supply chain.

Historical context and pattern

These disruptions mirror earlier Ukrainian successes on Pokrovsk’s southern flank during the spring and summer, where Russian forces were starved of not only ammunition, but even food and water. water, causing a collapse after weeks of futile assaults.

Now on the northeastern flank near Dobropillia, Russian units find themselves in the same position, and every passing day without resupply weakens their foothold and makes them easier prey for Ukrainian counterattacks.

Strategic assessment

Overall, the recent strikes on Donetsk and Selidov are not isolated incidents, but part of a sustained Ukrainian campaign. 

The Ukrainian tactic is simple but brutally effective – destroy the depots, force dispersal, harass convoys and let the front lines dry out. 

Even when Russian forces managed to achieve a breakthrough towards Dobropillia, these gains collapsed within days because their logistics network could not sustain them. 

Ukrainian defenders, reinforced and well-supplied, pushed back, cleared villages and reclaimed swathes of territory, while Russian soldiers were left undersupplied, demoralized, and vulnerable. 

With every ammunition depot destroyed, the balance shifts further in favor of the Ukrainians and allows them to strike back.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

The new NATO-backed Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program is already delivering results, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address. 

The program allows Ukraine to acquire American weapons and equipment, with costs collectively covered by NATO allies. This approach speeds up deliveries and shares the financial burden among partner countries.

PURL currently covers missiles for Patriot and HIMARS systems, as well as other advanced arms. Zelenskyy said the program will be further expanded in October.

Media reported on Thursday that the first shipment of weapons acquired through PURL had already arrived in Ukraine.

Ukrainian arms exports: first steps

Zelenskyy also outlined initial proposals for controlled exports of Ukrainian weapons, including naval drones. The goal is to provide allies with technology Ukraine has successfully used to defend its own waters.

He said the exports would help strengthen maritime security in the Black Sea and create opportunities for long-term defense contracts.

Ukrainian military officials say Russian forces are attempting to infiltrate Kupiansk while disguised as civilians.

Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast has become one of the war’s most contested frontline cities in recent months.

Small sabotage and reconnaissance teams, usually two to five soldiers, move through the city trying to avoid detection, according to Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for the operational-strategic formation “Dnipro,” RFE/RL reports.

“They attempt to use their numbers to slip through Ukrainian positions and later occupy buildings,” Trehubov said.

Ukrainian forces reportedly destroy Russian units before they can reach residential areas, to prevent them from establishing a foothold in the city.

Trehubov added that Russian troops continue to strike Kupiansk with artillery, drones, and other weapons.

Kupiansk has seen repeated attacks in recent months. Russian forces regularly target the city’s infrastructure and military positions. Ukrainian authorities say civilians remain under constant threat from shelling and infiltration attempts.

Russian forces have been conducting a year-long assault to capture the city, which serves as a critical logistics center and potential launching point for further attacks toward Kharkiv. 

The city now lies 90% destroyed with fewer than 1,700 civilians remaining from its original population, as Russian forces strike it daily with glide bombs, artillery, and drones.

The ISW warns that Russian advances near Kupiansk may soon threaten the city’s main supply route, as Moscow pursues a strategy of gradual encirclement rather than frontal assault.

The UN Security Council will meet on 22 September in response to a Russian airspace violation over Estonia, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said.

Tallinn said three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace on 19 September and remained there for around 12 minutes. NATO said Italian F-35 jets scrambled to respond to the incursion.

It is the first time Estonia has requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council since joining the UN 34 years ago.

“By openly violating Estonian airspace, Russia undermines principles vital to the security of all UN member states,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on X. “When such actions are committed by a permanent member of the Security Council, they must be addressed by that very body.”

Tsahkna called the incursion “a breach of the UN Charter” and “part of a broader pattern of escalation,” noting that 19 Russian drones recently entered Polish airspace while another remained in Romanian airspace for an hour.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine has requested a platform to speak at the meeting. 

“We support friendly Estonia in calling for a strong and united response to Russia’s continued destabilization of international peace and security,” Sybiha added.

Estonia has also requested consultations under Article 4 of the NATO Treaty. NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said the North Atlantic Council will meet early next week to discuss the incident.

NATO scrambled two German Eurofighter jets on 21 September in response to a Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea, German news agency DPA reported, citing the German Air Force.

The encounter comes amid a pattern of increased Russian military activity near NATO’s eastern borders.

The plane, which had no flight plan or radio contact, was in international airspace and appeared to be an Il-20M reconnaissance aircraft.

Additional aircraft are on standby to protect NATO’s eastern flank amid recent airspace violations by Russia.

On 19 September, Russian MiG-31 jets entered Estonian airspace for around 12 minutes and two other Russian aircraft flew over Poland’s Petrobaltic oil platform in the Baltic Sea.

Earlier this month, Russian drones also entered Polish and Romanian airspace.

Two drones in Masovian voivodeship

Masovian voivodeship police reported two separate discoveries of suspected drone wreckage in different counties on 21 September.

In Białobrzegi County, a man spotted remnants of “an object resembling a drone” in a forest near the village of Biała Góra shortly after 9:00. The nearest housing was approximately 6 kilometers away. The police secured the site and the debris, and notified the Military Gendarmerie and the Prosecutor’s Office in Grójec.

Later the same morning, in Siedlce County, another suspected drone crash site was found. According to Masovian voivodeship police, mushroom pickers came across “parts of an object resembling a drone.” in a wooded area near the village of Wodynie, roughly 1 kilometer from the nearest homes. Law enforcement again secured the site and informed both the Military Gendarmerie and the Prosecutor’s Office in Siedlce.

Third object found in Lublin voivodeship

Also on 21 September, police in Lublin voivodeship confirmed that mushroom pickers discovered another “object resembling a drone lying on the ground.” This object was found at about 10:00 in a forest near the village of Sulmice, Zamość County, within Skierbieszów municipality. The debris was located about 1.5 kilometers from the nearest buildings. Local police reported that the area and the remains were secured and that other agencies were informed, including the Military Gendarmerie and the Prosecutor’s Office in Zamość.

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Connection to earlier Russian drone incursion not reported

It remains unclear whether the wreckage found on 21 September is related to the Russian drone incursion into Poland on 10 September or if the objects entered Polish territory during separate, undetected events.

Since then, suspected drone wreckage has been found repeatedly. On 17 and 20 September, Polish authorities reported additional discoveries. On 19 September, missile debris was recovered that may have originated from efforts to shoot down Russian drones. 

Austrian energy group OMV has fired an executive over alleged ties to Russian intelligence after meetings with a Russian diplomat suspected of being an FSB agent, Reuters reported, citing news magazine Profil.

Austria’s energy sector, given the country’s historical ties to Russian gas and Vienna’s role as a diplomatic hub, has become a particularly attractive target for Russian intelligence seeking influence over European energy markets.

The executive, temporarily seconded to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), reportedly had access to sensitive information on both OMV and Adnoc, which are planning a $60 billion merger of their polyolefin businesses.

OMV confirmed the termination and said it is cooperating with authorities.

Austria’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian diplomat to Vienna, requesting a waiver of diplomatic immunity amid pending criminal proceedings. Authorities said the diplomat would otherwise be considered persona non grata.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European law enforcement agencies have reported a significant escalation in Russian spy activities. These include recruitment of local citizens as “proxies” and the targeting of companies with access to sensitive infrastructure data. 

Recent arrests across the UK, Germany, and other EU nations have revealed coordinated networks. These networks use diplomatic cover, social media recruitment, and corporate infiltration to gather intelligence and conduct sabotage operations. 

Russian forces shelled the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast on 21 September, killing one civilian, according to Serhii Horbunov, Head of the Kostiantynivka City Military Administration. He said the victim died in their own home after sustaining fatal injuries during artillery fire.

Kostiantynivka is a frontline city in Donetsk region, around 20 kilometers west of occupied Bakhmut and close to ongoing heavy fighting. It remains under Ukrainian control but is regularly targeted by Russian artillery and airstrikes.

Authorities reported that a second person was wounded when an FPV drone struck a car, damaging the vehicle. Two more residents were injured during shelling and sought medical care at a hospital in the nearby city of Druzhkivka.

Earlier strikes with Smerch multiple launch rocket systems damaged the facades of several apartment buildings, a shop and a shopping center, while an airstrike with a guided FAB-250 bomb hit another residential building. No casualties were reported from those attacks.

Police from the nearby Kramatorsk district are documenting the damage and investigating the shelling as a war crime.

Geolocated footage and Russian source acknowledgments indicate recent territorial advances by both Ukrainian and Russian forces across multiple axes. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported several localized movements in its 20 September assessment.

Ukrainian forces advance in Sumy and near Pokrovsk

ISW reported that Ukrainian forces recently advanced in northern Sumy Oblast. Geolocated footage published on 20 September shows movement northeast of Kindrativka, north of Sumy City.

In Donetsk Oblast, ISW assessed that Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Pokrovsk direction. Russian milbloggers acknowledged on 19 and 20 September that Ukrainian troops reached the northern outskirts of Novotoretske and moved west of Boikivka, both northeast of Pokrovsk. ISW noted that such admissions likely indicate confirmed Ukrainian gains.

Russian forces make advances in Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts

ISW stated that Russian forces recently advanced in northern Kharkiv Oblast. Geolocated footage published on 20 September shows Russian troops at the Vovchansk Oil Extraction Plant in western Vovchansk, northeast of Kharkiv City.

Additional Russian advances were recorded in Donetsk Oblast. In the Lyman direction, geolocated footage published on 20 September shows Russian movement within eastern Shandryholove, northwest of Lyman. Further footage from 19 September indicates Russian forces advanced in western Novoekonomichne, northeast of Pokrovsk.

ISW also assessed Russian gains in the Velykomykhailivka direction. Geolocated footage published on 20 September shows Russian servicemembers raising flags in multiple locations in Berezove, south of Velykomykhailivka. ISW stated this likely indicates the seizure of Berezove, Dniptopetrovsk Oblast next to DOnetsk Oblast. The Russian Ministry of Defense credited elements of the 36th Motorized Rifle Brigade (29th Combined Arms Army, Eastern Military District) with the operation.

A Ukrainian drone unit released video footage of the destruction of a heavily armored Russian engineering vehicle, marking only the third confirmed loss of this type since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. The report does not mention the exact date or location of the attack.

Ukrainian drones strike rare Russian IMR-3M path-clearing vehicle

On 21 September, Ukrainian military drone unit Nemesis, part of the 412th Separate Regiment of Unmanned Systems Forces, shared a video clip showing the destruction of a Russian IMR-3M military engineering vehicle. Footage shows that the drone pilot hit the IMR-3M while it was in motion, dropping a munition directly onto the moving vehicle. Later, two more munition drops finished off the immobilized and burning vehicle.

According to Militarnyi, such vehicles are in high demand at the front due to their ability to support assault operations by preparing the path for other units. However, confirmed battlefield losses of IMR-3Ms remain extremely limited.

Since 2022, it is only the third such vehicle that has been visually confirmed as destroyed. The previous confirmed kill occurred over a year ago.

In contrast, Russia’s earlier IMR-2M model has suffered far greater losses — at least 49 destroyed or damaged since the full-scale invasion began, according to Oryx Blog equipment losses tracker.

A nuclear-shielded “terminator” turned wreckage

Russian sources often refer to the IMR-3M as a “terminator on tracks.” Built on the chassis of a T-72 tank, it was adopted by Russian army engineering units in 1999. It’s heavily armored and features radiation shielding, allowing it to operate in high-risk zones, including those affected by nuclear strikes.

Its equipment includes a universal bulldozer blade for clearing, grading, and obstacle removal; a telescopic boom mounted on a full-rotation turret that can be outfitted with a bucket, gripper, or other engineering tools; and a mine-clearing system equipped with a blade and electromagnetic mine trawl, capable of neutralizing both contact and magnetic mines, including anti-track and underbelly varieties.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that over 132,000 foreign-made components were discovered in Russian drones and missiles launched at Ukraine over the past week. He urged partners to shut down all supply routes and sanction loopholes allowing these parts to reach Moscow.

132,000 imported parts found in Russian weapons used this week

In a Telegram post, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is defending itself from Russian air attacks almost daily. According to him, in the past week alone, Russian forces launched more than 1,500 attack drones, over 1,280 guided aviation bombs, and 50 missiles of various types.

“These technologies help Russia produce weapons on a massive scale,” Zelenskyy said, adding that it’s all used for “terror against our people.”

Zelenskyy calls for tough sanctions and global pressure

He warned that if Russia is not stopped, this threat will soon extend beyond Ukraine — to Europe and the Pacific region.

He called strong sanctions the key tool to stop the flow of foreign technologies into Russian arms production. That includes blocking all supply routes, cracking down on sanction circumvention, and applying pressure on countries and individual companies that enable the flow of parts.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine counts on the European Union’s 19th sanctions package to be truly painful and wants the United States to join those measures.

“Thank you to everyone already helping,” he added.

Ukrainian military intelligence has released video footage confirming the destruction of a Russian Mi-8 helicopter during a drone operation in occupied Crimea. The attack also targeted two other helicopters and a Nebo-U air defense radar system, according to a 21 September report.

Ukrainian drones strike helicopters and radar in occupied Crimea

Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) stated that its special unit Prymary targeted three Russian Mi-8 helicopters and a Nebo-U radar in an undated drone attack on the occupied peninsula. The agency published a video showing the strikes, and the wreckage of “one of the destroyed” Mi-8 helicopters.

“The Mi-8 helicopters and the Nebo-U radar in Crimea are the latest results of the Prymary unit’s raid,” the HUR noted.

It added that the air fleet of Russian occupiers in occupied Crimea “once again shrank” following the “successful combat work” of the unit.

Radar with 400 km detection range

As noted by Militarnyi, the Nebo-U radar is capable of detecting fighter-type targets flying at altitudes up to 20 kilometers and at distances of up to 400 kilometers. Although it does not belong to individual missile systems, it plays a key role in Russia’s layered air defense network by transmitting target data to defense command posts.

Crimea airfields repeatedly hit in coordinated drone campaigns

Drone operators from both the HUR and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have successfully penetrated Russian air defenses multiple times. In July and early August, the agencies struck the Saky airfield twice, damaging up to six Russian fighter jets.

Additional attacks by the Prymary unit included strikes on Mi-8 helicopters at the Hvardiiske airbase. At Kirovske airfield, transport helicopters Mi-8 and Mi-26 as well as the Mi-28 attack helicopter were damaged, with satellite imagery later confirming these impacts.

Other recent targets included Russian command posts, barracks, depots, railway facilities, and satellite communication centers. At the end of August and early September, at least three missile strikes hit key Russian military and logistical nodes: a Black Sea Fleet communication hub, artillery warehouses of the Russian Dnipro grouping, and FSB hovercraft and barracks.

At the beginning of September, jet-powered drones struck a space communication center. Separately, loitering drones repeatedly targeted electric substations that power Russian rail logistics in Crimea.

Today, there is important news from the Sumy direction in the northeastern Ukraine.

Here, the Ukrainian tactic of cutting off and starving out Russian positions before eliminating them is paying off with the continued capture of village after village. Now, the last Russian stronghold in this sector is about to fall, with hundreds of enemy soldiers being left to either die or surrender.

Ukrainian forces push north as Russian strongholds crumble

Ukrainian forces in Sumy successfully exploit methodical maneuver warfare, pressing forward settlement by settlement to turn Russian positions into manageable targets. Rather than trading lives in costly frontal fights, Ukrainian commanders isolate enemy detachments, sever their supply lines, and then tighten the noose until those positions become untenable. Relentless air and drone strikes have exposed Russian units, leaving many undersupplied and unrotated for several weeks.

By bypassing strongpoints and collapsing salients piece by piece, Ukraine has been able to push north of Kindrativka and even probe back into Kursk while turning both sides of the border into a flexible battlefield.

Oleksiivka nearly encircled, supply road under fire

Another push north from Andriivka led to Oleksiivka being cut off on three sides and the Russians there facing an increasingly dangerous situation.

The encirclement is the result of coordinated Ukrainian maneuver, constant fire control, and persistent pressure, with Ukrainian units now executing flanking attacks to close lateral routes. At the same time, Ukrainian drone units pummel Russian concentrations and roads in the area with hundreds of strikes. This denies the Russians any possibility of moving freely and degrades all reinforcement efforts. With only a single usable road into Oleksiivka, bringing supplies, evacuating casualties, or rotating troops has become effectively impossible, as anyone attempting the approach is detected and struck long before it reaches the outer edge of the settlement.

Russian reinforcements rushed in—and destroyed

Russian soldiers on the ground now openly warn that Oleksiivka is heading for the same fate as Kindrativka unless the Russian command abandons the position rather than bury more troops there, as they report that the semi-encirclement is rapidly turning into a slaughter.

Instead, Russian officers have reacted with frantic redeployments in a bid to break the encirclement, as the exhausted 382nd Separate Infantry Battalion of the 810th Russian Naval Brigade was pushed into action at Kindrativka. Supposed to mount a counterattack and relieve the pocket at Oleksiivka, under normal strength, this formation would field roughly a thousand soldiers, but under current conditions, it only musters close to five hundred. Notably, a large number of these are reportedly newly mobilized, poorly trained, and badly equipped soldiers, thrown in just to bring the battalion up to a higher combat readiness on paper. Russian sources confirm all combat-effective reserves have been redeployed to Pokrovsk, leaving only second-tier and understrength units for the task of preventing a full-on collapse.

One Russian officer even reported they receive only older people, marginals, and simply not combat-ready recruits in poor physical condition. He added that to prevent desertion or the shooting of officers, they are constantly watched by military police and are only issued weapons right before combat missions, with ammunition limited to two magazines each.

The attempted rushed countermeasure to attack Kindrativka to relieve pressure at Oleksiivka was predictable and fated to fail. Replacements arrived under fire, becoming immediate targets for Ukrainian drone and artillery assets, with exhausted Russian units unable to form coherent assault echelons. Rather than rescuing the encircled formations, these hurried moves only dramatically increased Russian casualty counts.

The attempt to plug gaps with understrength battalions highlights an operational dilemma, with Russia’s concept of trading bodies for ground running straight into Ukraine’s deliberate tactics of isolation, starvation, and attrition.

Encirclement strategy is reshaping the Sumy front

Overall, with the Ukrainians maintaining pressure by holding fire control over the approaches, continuing daily drone strikes, and refusing to be lured into costly frontal battles, Oleksiivka’s fate will mirror earlier Russian collapses in the area. Ukraine’s advantage is decisive, with its troops being on the offensive and able to choose when and where to fight.

The fall of Oleksiivka would fracture the western part of Russia’s Sumy incursion, damage morale, and the remaining soldiers would either be captured or neutralized. This will jeopardize the nearby eastern salient and lead to repetition of the events with the same catastrophic outcome for Russia.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

New findings shed light on how Russia systematically indoctrinates and militarizes thousands of Ukrainian children taken by force since the start of the full-scale invasion. Researchers have mapped 210 Russian and Russian-occupied facilities used to house, reeducate, and in some cases militarize the abducted Ukrainian minors.

Russia operates 210 child facilities across 59 regions

France24 reports that a new report by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, published on 16 September, identifies 210 sites in Russia or Russian-occupied territories used to detain Ukrainian children and teenagers forcibly removed from Ukraine. These include hotels in Krasnodar, monasteries in Rostov Oblast, military schools in occupied Donetsk Oblast, and facilities near Volgograd. In total, the network stretches over 5,630 kilometers — from Crimea’s Black Sea coast to Russia’s Pacific shore.

Map: Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) at Yale School of Public Health.

The program spans 59 administrative regions and occupied areas. According to the researchers, 23% of the identified facilities were either built or expanded after 2021, seemingly to accommodate the surge in forcibly relocated children. For example, two cadet training centers in the occupied Donbas were constructed and enlarged since that year.

While many of these sites existed prior to the full-scale invasion and serve other purposes, a significant portion has been repurposed or developed for this mass-scale operation. Some establishments act as transit points, like orphanages for children awaiting adoption. Others, such as military schools, serve as long-term indoctrination institutions.

Indoctrination and militarization of abducted children

More than 130 of the facilities identified by the Yale team impose “patriotic” education programs rooted in Russian propaganda. Children are made to sing the Russian national anthem, recite Russian poetry, and wear Russian clothes — all in Russian. In many cases, they are stripped of their Ukrainian identity, names, passports, and language.

This form of indoctrination was further detailed in a separate report released days earlier by the British NGO War Child UK. The group interviewed 200 Ukrainian children who had returned from Russia since 2022.

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Helen Pattinson, CEO of War Child UK, said their testimonies reveal “a clear pattern of indoctrination.” She explained that the children are torn from their homes, stripped of their passports, and forbidden from speaking their native language. They are assigned new names and identification papers, made to sing the Russian national anthem, recite Russian poetry, and wear Russian clothing.

“They may even be adopted into a Russian family,” said Pattinson.

The report warns that this approach could create an entire generation of Ukrainian children devoid of their national identity. Nearly half of those interviewed by War Child UK exhibited signs of post-traumatic stress.

In 39 of the sites documented by Yale, children receive combat-related training. These include weapons handling, grenade throwing, trench digging, demining, and even parachute training.

“They’ve been asked or forced to join paramilitary groups, shown how to throw a grenade, dig a trench, hold a gun or handle firearms, clear mines, and essentially trained to fight against their own country,” Pattinson added.

Others were involved in the production of military equipment, including drones and munitions, for Russian forces.

Russia denies deportations, promotes adoptions

The scale and organization of this operation have drawn international condemnation. Ukrainian NGO Bring Kids Back estimates that at least 19,000 children have been taken by Russia since 2014. The International Criminal Court has charged Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, with war crimes for the illegal deportation of civilians.

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Moscow disputes these accusations. It denies any deportation program, claiming instead to have “evacuated” children from combat zones.

Demographic conquest under imperial logic

Andreas Umland, a Russia-Ukraine expert at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, calls this a strategy of “demographic conquest.” He argues that Moscow aims not only to occupy Ukrainian territory, but to assimilate its population — starting with its most vulnerable.

Russia abducts Ukrainian children to “counteract the problem of demographic decline that Russia already had before the large-scale war, which is only partly solved by immigration from Central Asia and the Caucasus,” Umland explained.

The logic driving this strategy echoes Soviet-era practices, where the children are“seen as units to be made to function in a totalitarian society [. . .] and the fate of the individual child was unimportant”,” Umland said. “The higher goal used to be communism, now it’s the Russian Empire. It’s therefore the same utilitarian approach toward children.”

Overnight on 21 September, Russia hit Ukrainian rescue workers with the week’s second double-tap drone strike in Chernihiv Oblast. The second strike injured two firefighters after responding to a fire caused by the first drone attack, local authorities reported.

Russia hits firefighters during second double-tap strike in Chernihiv Oblast

The State Emergency Service reported that Russian forces targeted firefighters in Nizhyn district, Chernihiv Oblast, while they were extinguishing flames at a critical infrastructure site. The fire had broken out during an initial overnight drone strike. As emergency crews arrived to contain it, Russian drones returned and launched a second strike, injuring two responders. They were hospitalized in moderate condition.

Viacheslav Chaus, head of Chernihiv Oblast, confirmed this was the second such incident in the oblast this week. He said Russia deliberately waits for first responders to arrive at the scene before launching follow-up attacks.

“Russia resorts to openly terrorist practices: it strikes, then strikes again once rescuers arrive to deal with the consequences,” Chaus said.

On 20 September, Russia launched another drone attack on Chernihiv city, injuring a 21-year-old local resident. The man was hospitalized in the neurology department. Infrastructure was also damaged during the strike.

Russia’s daily air assaults

This pattern of targeting emergency services is not new, adn Russia repeats it in its daily assaults. On 17 September — Ukraine’s official Rescuer Day — a Russian drone hit a fire station in Donetsk Oblast. The explosion blew out the garage gates and damaged the building’s façade.

On 18 September, Russian forces struck a State Emergency Service unit in Nizhyn, killing one rescuer and injuring two more. The following day, 19 September, Russia launched a repeated strike in Chernihiv Oblast targeting police and medics. Their service vehicles were damaged.

Realgold, a Ukrainian manufacturer, has unveiled domestically produced electric motors for FPV drones. The company showcased its products at Defense Tech Valley 2025 and detailed both its scaling capabilities and the legal obstacles hampering its competitiveness.

Realgold presents homegrown FPV motors, including for interceptors

Ukrainian defense tech outlet Militarnyi reports that at the Defense Tech Valley 2025 exhibition, Realgold introduced several new models of electric motors for FPV drones, all manufactured in Ukraine. According to the company’s representative, the first production batch was completed in January 2025. Since then, monthly output has reached 10,000 units.

Realgold also stated that it is capable of scaling up to 100,000 motors per month “without significant investment,” provided there is adequate demand. However, the company is struggling to compete with Chinese manufacturers due to existing legal frameworks in Ukraine.

Tax system favors foreign suppliers, company warns

The Realgold representative told Militarnyi that foreign drone components imported for military use are exempt from VAT and customs duties. Ukrainian producers, on the other hand, must pay both, which increases the final cost of their products.

Still only partially localized

Realgold is gradually increasing the share of Ukrainian-made components in its products. At present, the company imports finished parts from China and conducts coil winding in Ukraine. However, it has already purchased the equipment needed to begin producing the components itself. This step is expected to begin by the end of 2025.

In an interview with Czech television, Czechia’s President Petr Pavel said NATO must be ready to respond militarily to Russia’s repeated violations of allied airspace — including shooting down intruding aircraft.

Moscow’s provocations come amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, during which it has also carried out espionage, sabotage, and direct military provocations across multiple NATO countries. The only instance when Russia ceased such airspace violations occurred in 2015, after Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber that had entered Turkish airspace.

Czech President says Russian aircraft violating NATO airspace should be shot down

President Pavel stated that Russia’s actions were a serious escalation that could no longer be tolerated.

“According to President Petr Pavel, Russia’s violation of NATO states’ airspace significantly increases tensions in Europe,” wrote Novinky.cz. Pavel said the West must respond adequately — “including a possible downing of Russian aircraft.”

Speaking to Czech TV, he emphasized, “This includes a military reaction. Russia will very quickly realize it made a mistake and crossed acceptable boundaries.”

He warned that it is a delicate situation, but “yielding to evil is simply not possible.”

NATO must stop appeasing Russian provocations, Pavel warns

Pavel underscored that violating NATO airspace activates legitimate defensive mechanisms.

“Violating airspace is a reason to activate defense mechanisms and thus shoot down such an aircraft,” he said. He added, “Russia will behave as far as we allow it.”

Radio Prague International noted that the Czech President said this behavior is not new, recalling past provocations.

“I always used to ask them why they do it, knowing it could provoke conflict. Every time they answered: ‘Because we can’,” Pavel said. 

Estonia invokes NATO Article 4 after MiG-31 incursion

The 12-minute intrusion by the three MiG-31s over Estonia on 19 September triggered immediate concern. NATO patrol aircraft intercepted and escorted the Russian jets. Following the incident, Estonia requested consultations under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

Article 4 allows any NATO member to call consultations if they feel their territorial integrity, political independence, or security is under threat. It does not mandate a military response like Article 5, but initiates collective political deliberation.

Poland reported that Russian jets entered the “security zone” of its offshore platform in the Baltic on the same day, but clarified that no violation of its national border occurred.

The Czech President warned that Russia is probing NATO for weakness.

“What happened in recent days in Poland, Estonia — and what has been happening for four years in Ukraine — affects us all,” he said. “If we do not maintain unity, this will eventually happen to us.”

As always, Russia denies any airspace violations

The Russian Ministry of Defense denied that any border violations occurred. However, the Czech Foreign Ministry labeled the Estonian incident a provocation and escalation.

“Our message to Russia is clear: respect where your borders end, get out of Ukraine, and do not test our patience,” said the Czech MFA, according to Novinky.cz.

President Pavel reiterated that Moscow’s aim is not just to provoke, but to manipulate any NATO response.

“Russia is not only waging an aggressive war against a sovereign country,” he said, “it also seeks to provoke NATO states to test our resolve and use our reactions for its own purposes.”

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Military

Ukraine creates new assault troops branch as separate military force, Zelenskyy announces. The decision to legally establish assault troops as a distinct military branch came after Russian forces began copying Ukraine’s assault unit system, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters.

Ukraine scales up drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, Zelenskyy says. Russian fuel shortages and gas station queues signal the growing impact of Ukraine’s expanded drone campaign, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters

Ukraine hits Russian refineries with 15.8 million-ton annual capacity in Saratov, Samara strikes. Ukraine’s military confirmed “strategic” strikes on Russian refineries processing 2.54% of Russia’s total refining capacity and 8.8 million tons annually at a second facility.

NATO avoids Turkiye’s 2015 response after Russian jets violate skies over Poland’s only Baltic Sea oil platform. From Petrobaltic to Estonian airspace, Moscow executes small moves with outsized risk.

Estonia maps Russian MiG-31 route after Moscow claims neutral waters flight. Three Russian MiG-31 interceptors spent 12 minutes inside Estonian airspace with their transponders switched off, prompting Tallinn to release flight path evidence after the Kremlin denied any border violation occurred.

Intelligence and technology

Lviv hosts world’s biggest defense tech summit, and funnels $100 million into Ukraine’s tight military budget

. Defense innovators from 50+ countries converge on Ukraine, turning the battlefield into a hub for global investment.

British M16 launches “Silent Courier” darknet platform to recruit Russian spies. The initiative coincides with MI6 Chief Richard Moore’s assessment that Putin shows “no interest in negotiations” beyond Ukraine’s capitulation.

Turkish defense giant Baykar expands Ukraine operations as innovations “explode”. Ukraine’s drone companies have grown from ‘few’ to ‘hundreds’ during war, says Baykar’s CEO.

International

Ukrainian civilians pay price after Trump’s Alaska summit with Putin, while US offers no aid to Kyiv. Nearly 3,500 drones and nearly 200 missiles in a single month show escalation is the Russian strategy.

Ceasefire must trigger “real” security guarantees from allies as Russia-Ukraine peace treaty may never be signed, says Zelenskyy. Zelensky acknowledges Ukraine’s situation “definitely differs from Korea,” while accepting that no final war-ending document may emerge.

What’s inside new International nuclear agency’s resolution on Ukraine’s occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, which Russia defies?. The world demands Zaporizhzhia’s plant return, but Moscow refuses to budge, leaving Europe on edge.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russian missile strike ignites ATB warehouse fire in Dnipro during massive overnight assault. ATB Corporation confirmed one of its Dnipro warehouses suffered a direct rocket hit during Russia’s 20 Sept. assault, causing a fire and damaging several company trucks while all staff escaped injury.

Russia fires 619 missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities, killing civilians. A Russian cluster munition directly struck a multi-story residential building in Dnipro during a massive barrage involving 580 drones and 40 missiles, leaving one dead and 26 injured in the oblast

Political and legal developments

Intel: Russia’s economy transforms into military dependency, while oil revenues drop 17%. Russia has trapped itself in a “military rent” scenario where continuing the war becomes financially impossible, yet stopping it triggers mass unemployment and economic restructuring.

Russia’s business empire crumbles — yet its military still marches. Small businesses fail, innovation dies, but Moscow’s energy profits keep its economi alive.

Ukraine allocates record 955 billion hryvnias for weapons in 2026 budget. One-third of Ukraine’s 2.8 trillion hryvnia defense budget will fund weapons procurement in 2026, as the country prepares its fifth consecutive wartime budget amid mounting debt concerns

New developments

Kharkyova wins gold medal at World Military Championships. A 28-year-old Ukrainian fencer outclassed European bronze medalist Angeline Favre in today’s final, securing Ukraine’s 2nd gold medal at the world military championships in Spain.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that military escalation will compel Ukraine to accept his terms, while US President Donald Trump is unlikely to strengthen Kyiv’s defense, according to Bloomberg.

Sources close to the Russian authorities said that during the Anchorage meeting, Putin concluded that the US does not plan active intervention. This prompted the Kremlin to intensify attacks on military and civilian targets in Ukraine and continue strikes on energy infrastructure.

According to the UN, Russia has already killed 14,000 civilians in the war, with additional losses in Mariupol potentially reaching 100,000 civilians.

Escalation as a pressure strategy

In the month following the talks, the number of drone and missile attacks increased by approximately 46%, according to Bloomberg, based on data from the Ukrainian Air Force. On 16 September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that since the beginning of September, Russia had launched 3,500 drones of various types, nearly 190 missiles, and over 2,500 bombs.

These included some of the largest missile and drone strikes since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, damaging government and residential buildings in Kyiv and Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.

This clearly indicates that Putin does not want to end the war against Ukraine. British MI6 Chief Richard Moore also confirmed this, saying that he sees “no evidence” of the Kremlin seeking peace talks or a settlement in Ukraine. He emphasized that the Russian president shows no interest in negotiations that do not involve Ukraine’s capitulation.

Conclusion: The Kremlin continues escalation

Despite the increase in airstrikes, Russia’s territorial advance has slowed, even with intensified pressure along the front lines. Russia redeployed 100,000 soldiers to attack Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian stronghold in Donetsk, yet Zelenskyy reported that Ukrainian forces managed to retake some territory in Donetsk.

“Russia’s summer 2025 offensive failed to secure control over any targeted cities in eastern Ukraine,” said Alex Kokcharov, a geoeconomics analyst at Bloomberg Economics.

Putin plans new victories before winter

The Russian president will continue participating in any ongoing dialogue with the US, but will act according to his own strategy.

“Putin seeks to achieve some visible victories by winter, but he is failing on the battlefield so far,” said Nikolai Petrov, a senior research fellow at the New Eurasian Strategies Centre.

He says that that’s why “Putin turns to nuclear blackmail and psychological pressure, including mass bombardments.”

On 18 September, US President Donald Trump concluded his second official visit to the UK. During a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the American president stated that he feels obliged to resolve the war in Ukraine and expressed hope that good news on this matter would come soon.

He also said that Putin had let him down on Ukraine. However, again, no additional measures or aid for Ukraine have been announced. 

Ukrainian partners could wait for a peace treaty between Ukraine and Russia, but as President Volodymyr Zelensky noted, this may never happen. That is why a ceasefire alone is sufficient to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, UNIAN reports. 

“These effective and reliable guarantees must be provided before the war ends,” Zelenskyy claims.

Is the Korean scenario relevant to Ukraine’s situation? 

The Ukrainian president was asked whether a “Korean scenario”, envisioning ending the war without a final peace treaty, is being considered and whether this is being discussed with US President Donald Trump.

“This may be discussed rhetorically, but our story is definitely different from Korea. And this brings us back to the question of security guarantees — why Ukraine needs them. It may happen that there is no final document ending the war,” Zelenskyy explains.

A ceasefire can provide guarantees

The Ukrainian president stressed that security guarantees should not be delayed until the end of the war. He noted that French President Emmanuel Macron shares this view.

“A ceasefire is sufficient to provide security guarantees. We cannot waste time waiting for a clear treaty ending the war,” Zelenskyy says. 

He clarifies that these guarantees must protect Ukraine from new aggression. 

“What security guarantees are important for us? Guarantees that prevent the ‘Russians’ from launching new aggression. Even if they try, they will face real resistance,” he underlines. 

Earlier, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said that no one is willing to wage a war against the Kremlin, which makes security guarantees “unconvincing.” He added that current guarantees may have the same fate as the Budapest Memorandum, which has not protected Ukraine from aggression, despite the fact that Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons for a military shield by the US, the UK, and Russia. 

In his view, Kyiv requires substantial military aid, instead of empty promises. 

Ukraine’s Lviv has become a hub for defense innovation, drawing international investors into Ukraine’s cutting-edge technologies. At the Defense Tech Valley 2025 summit, Ukrainian Defense Companies attracted over $100 million.

Amid ongoing war and without guaranteed US aid or security assurances, Ukraine faces a critical need for robust defense funding to secure victory.

The annual cost of the war currently amounts to around $120 billion, with Ukraine seeking to allocate $60 billion from its 2026 state budget for defense, roughly half of what is actually needed. The remaining funds must come from international partners, making global investment in Ukraine’s defense sector crucial.

Defense Tech Valley 2025 summit

Over 5,000 participants from 50+ countries attended Defense Tech Valley 2025. At the event, four companies from Europe and the US announced plans to invest over $100 million in Ukrainian defense tech.

Key investments include: 

• NUNC Capital (Netherlands): €20 million for advanced materials, electronic warfare, and smart manufacturing.
• Verne Capital (Germany-Luxembourg): up to €25 million in European defense and cybersecurity companies.
• Varangians (Sweden): closed its first deal (details forthcoming).
• Oedipus Inc.: Europe’s first permanent capital fund focused solely on defense tech.

Boosting Ukrainian defense tech

According to Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, Brave1 has helped Ukrainian defense companies raise $90 million since 2024, with the average investment growing from $300K to $1 million. The initiative continues to expand Ukraine’s defense tech ecosystem and foster international collaboration.

On 19 September, the Polish Border Guard reported that two Russian fighter jets conducted a low flyover above Petrobaltic, Poland’s only offshore oil and gas platform in the Baltic Sea, TVP World writes. 

Unlike Turkiye, which shot down a Russian Su-24 in 2015 for violating its airspace, European NATO members respond to such actions only by strengthening patrols and deploying additional forces under Operation Eastern Sentry.

Poland also did not down the jets over its oil platform. 

NATO on alert

Polish Armed Forces and other services were immediately informed of the violation. On 10 September, Poland shot down 4 out of 19 Russian drones in its airspace with support from NATO aircraft. On the same night, Ukrainian air defenses destroyed more than 380 drones by mobile fire groups across the country. 

Moscow denied targeting Poland after drones. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that no targets on Polish territory were intended. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the EU and NATO “accuse Russia of provocations daily,” and that Western institutions “lack evidence to support their accusations.”

A week later, Warsaw recorded another night of drone provocations from Russia and Belarus. The country’s Border Guard Service reported heightened activity of the enemy targets attempting to violate its airspace. 

Escalation in the Baltic Region

On the same day, three Russian MiG-31 fighters entered Estonian airspace without authorization. They remained for about 12 minutes before being intercepted by Italian F-35 jets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called these actions part of a systematic Russian campaign against Europe and NATO: “Small steps at first, and eventually major losses.”

The conclusion of the war in Ukraine will inevitably lead to an economic collapse in Russia. According to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, military spending has become the main driver of the Russian economy, sidelining private business and civilian sectors. Strengthening Ukraine militarily and economically will accelerate Russia’s financial exhaustion.

Currently, Russia’s economy still largely depends on the oil sector, which accounts for about 77.7% of the federal budget. China remains Russia’s main economic partner. In 2024, bilateral trade between Russia and Beijing exceeded $240 billion. Beyond trade, China supplies Russia with critical components for producing military drones and equipment, boosting Moscow’s military capabilities.

The military-industrial complex keeps the economy Afloat

According to the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service, Russia’s defense spending has risen to nearly 8% of GDP, making the military-industrial complex the sole driver of domestic demand. While the Kremlin supports growth in strategic sectors, it simultaneously destabilizes the broader economy, leaving small and medium-sized businesses without prospects.

Mass layoffs after the war

Once the war ends, Moscow will be forced to cut defense spending. Millions of workers in the military-industrial complex will lose their jobs, and entire regions will be left without an economic foundation.

The demobilization of hundreds of thousands of contract soldiers will create an additional shock to the labor market.

Budget deficit and decline of civilian production

Russia’s federal budget is already strained: revenues in the first half of 2025 fell by nearly 17% due to declining oil and gas income.

Russia rehearses caution in demobilization from war in Ukraine—but 1989 Afghan lesson haunts Kremlin

Sanctions and import restrictions on technology force Russian companies to produce cheaper, simpler goods, reducing competitiveness and closing opportunities in global high-tech markets.

Inevitable economic crisis

Russia is trapped in a “military rent” scenario: continuing to finance the war is increasingly difficult, yet cutting spending without triggering economic collapse is impossible. Resolving this crisis will require a long and painful restructuring of the entire system.

The British Foreign Office announced on 19 September the launch of Silent Courier, a Darknet messaging platform designed to streamline the recruitment of intelligence personnel. The platform, operated under the UK’s MI6, targets potential agents in Russia and other countries, according to the BBC. 

Relations between Moscow and London have worsened in recent years, as Russia has repeatedly threatened NATO countries, including the UK, in response to London’s military aid to Ukraine. A recent update to the UK’s Strategic Defence Review stated that the threat from Russia is at its highest level since the Cold War.

Meanwhile, Russia has escalated espionage and sabotage operations on foreign soil, not only within Ukraine, but also beyond, targeting Ukraine’s allied countries largely in Europe.

On 18 September, three people were arrested in the town of Grays, Essex, England, on suspicion of assisting Russian intelligence services. This has raised concerns about foreign states using British citizens as local proxies.

Technology supporting national security

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the evolving global threats require ensuring the UK is “always one step ahead” of adversaries.

“Our world-class intelligence agencies are at the coalface of this challenge, working behind the scenes to keep British people safe. Now we’re bolstering their efforts with cutting-edge tech so MI6 can recruit new spies for the UK – in Russia and around the world,” Cooper said.

The portal will be open from 19 September for anyone willing to share confidential information about terrorism or hostile intelligence activity. Usage instructions will be published on MI6’s verified YouTube channel. To maintain confidentiality, users are advised to access the platform through secure VPNs and devices not personally linked to them.

Earlier, General Alexus Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, suggested that the US and European countries may have no more than 18 months to prepare for a potential large-scale military conflict with China and Russia.

Russia’s economy is shrinking, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service. Russia’s small and medium-sized enterprises are on the brink of survival.

Record drop in registered companies

According to the agency, the number of registered businesses in Russia fell to its lowest level since 2010. It is just 3.17 million as of 1 September 2025. By comparison, there were 3.29 million companies in 2023.

Causes of the crisis

The main factors driving the business decline are the high interest rate of the Central Bank, which stayed at 21% annually for six months, and intensified tax control.

In 2024, the Russian tax authorities liquidated 100,000 legal entities, compared to 172,000 in 2023 and over 214,000 in 2022. Rather than revitalizing the market, this has weakened competition, reduced jobs, and decreased innovation.

Business “mortality” exceeds “birthrate”

For the first half of 2025, more companies closed than were created, a trend not seen since 2022. Trade, construction, and industrial enterprises were hardest hit. Even with a slight reduction of the key rate to 17%, the market continues to contract, leaving little chance for growth in Russia’s small and medium-sized business sector.

Ukrainian fencer Vlada Kharkyova claimed victory at the CISM World Military Championships in Seville, Spain, according to the Ukrainian Fencing Federation.

The 28-year-old athlete defeated Switzerland’s Angeline Favre 15-9 in today’s épée final on 20 September. Favre, a bronze medalist at the 2024 European Championships, could not match Kharkyova’s performance in the decisive bout.

This marks Kharkyova’s second world championship title. She previously won her debut world championship gold in July at a tournament in Georgia, reports the Ukrainian Fencing Federation.

Ukraine’s national team finished the CISM World Championships-2025 with five medals total: two gold, one silver, and two bronze medals.

The federation also noted that Ukrainian para-fencers secured third place at the World Championships in South Korea.

 A missile from the Russian overnight assault struck an ATB supermarket chain warehouse, triggering a fire that has since been extinguished, local Telegram channel reported on 20 September.

On the night of 19-20 September, Russian forces attacked Dnipro, damaging a high-rise building during a large-scale combined attack on the city. Casualty figures from the broader attack have risen to 30 people, with 12 currently hospitalized, according to Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak.

“One of the rockets during the shelling of Dnipro hit our warehouse. A fire broke out, which has now been extinguished, and several company trucks were damaged. Fortunately, none of the employees were injured,” Serhiy Demchenko, head of corporate communications at ATB Corporation, said.

The warehouse fire was contained by emergency services, though the attack damaged multiple commercial vehicles belonging to the company, according to Demchenko’s statement to Chas Pik.

The warehouse strike occurred during Russia’s massive overnight assault on Ukraine that deployed 619 drones and missiles, with Ukrainian forces reporting 583 intercepted or suppressed, according to the provided information. The attack also targeted residential areas, with Russian forces hitting a multi-story apartment building in Dnipro during the same bombardment.

Ukrainian forces responded by striking strategic targets in Russia’s Saratov and Samara oblasts during the night of 20 September.

Ukraine’s 2026 state budget draft allocates a record 955 billion hryvnias ($23 bn) for weapons procurement and production, representing one-third of all defense spending, according to Roksolana Pidlasa, head of the parliamentary Budget Committee.

The “Servant of the People” MP announced on Facebook that total defense expenditures will reach 2.8 trillion hryvnias in 2026, marking the fifth wartime budget since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.

“More than half of the expenditures – about 45% – is the planned monetary provision for military personnel. A record 955 billion hryvnias (one third of all defense funds) is planned to be directed to the procurement and production of weapons,” Pidlasa wrote.

Ukraine finances its defense spending through domestic revenues and borrowings, as international partners do not allow their aid to be used for weapons purchases, with Britain being the sole exception.

“At the same time, all non-military expenditures are in the sphere of the state budget deficit. The need for international financing is $45.5 billion, of which $18 billion is an uncovered need,” the committee head said.

The borrowing requirement stems from Ukraine dedicating approximately 60% of its budget to defense needs.

“We will be giving every hryvnia earned and borrowed in Ukraine to national security and defense needs next year, because currently international partners do not allow us to use the money they give to the budget for weapons purchases and monetary provision for military personnel,” Pidlasa explained.

This financial strain continues to increase the national debt burden. “As a result, the state debt continues to grow and by the end of next year may reach 101.6% of forecast GDP (compared to 43.3% in 2021). This situation will persist until the end of active hostilities, while we will be directing about 60% of our budget to defense,” according to Pidlasa.

The MP called on fellow parliamentarians to exercise restraint in their budget proposals to avoid further increasing the deficit during the budget review process.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that assault troops will soon be legally established as a separate branch of the Armed Forces, according to Suspilne media.

Speaking to journalists, Zelenskyy said that assault battalions and regiments formed in 2025 have demonstrated “good results.” However, Russian forces decided to copy this system, which contributed to the decision to formalize assault troops legally.

“We will now create separate assault troops, this decision has been made. Everything is being prepared now, and I think in about a week to ten days, everything will be working,” Zelenskyy said. “Modern assault troops with a drone component, with everything else. Of course, they work together today, assault regiments with the Airborne Assault Forces perform joint tasks.”

The president said that preparations are currently underway to announce this decision officially.

Recently, Hero of Ukraine Colonel Valentyn Manko was appointed to head the assault troops management within the Armed Forces structure. Previously, he commanded the 33rd Assault Regiment.

The formalization represents a significant restructuring of Ukraine’s military organization, elevating what began as battalion and regiment formations into a distinct military branch with specialized capabilities including integrated drone operations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine has increased its use of long-range drones for strikes on Russian oil refineries, attributing recent successes to higher daily deployment numbers, Suspilne reported on 20 September.

“Regarding oil refineries: we have drones, we know how to produce them. Everything depends on the number of drones we use per day. I think, based on the results of recent operations, it’s clear that we started using more drones,” Zelenskyy told journalists.

The president acknowledged current production levels remain below his targets for manufacturers and the Ministry of Defense. “As soon as the number of drones becomes comparable to the ‘Russians’ – they will feel it through fuel shortages, through the number of queues at gas stations. We see this more and more. A little more is reaching the target,” he said.

Zelenskyy identified funding as the primary constraint on expanding drone operations. Ukraine’s long-range drone production has reached a level where “everything depends exclusively on financing this weapon,” according to the president.

Beyond oil infrastructure, Ukraine targets military facilities with long-range drones. “Military facilities, warehouses – this is constant destruction on temporarily occupied territory and on Russian territory, where their drones are stored. This also has an impact,” Zelenskyy explained.

Recent strikes demonstrate the expanded drone campaign’s reach. On 18 September, Special Operations Forces attacked the Volgograd refinery, forcing it to halt operations. Overnight 19-20 September, Ukrainian forces struck refineries in Russia’s Saratov and Samara oblasts.

Since August, Kyiv has intensified attacks on Russian energy assets, seeking to disrupt Moscow’s military efforts in Ukraine and reduce Kremlin revenues as peaceful negotiation attempts have stalled.

Ukrainian drones achieved a milestone on 13 September, striking Russia’s largest oil port “Primorsk” for the first time since the 2022 war began, temporarily halting operations there.

The campaign’s impact extends beyond individual facilities. Reuters reported, citing three industry sources, that Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft warned producers they may need to reduce extraction following Ukrainian drone attacks on key export ports and refineries.

The General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has adopted a resolution titled “Nuclear Safety, Physical Protection, and Safeguards in Ukraine,” which calls on Russia to immediately deoccupy the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). Moscow, however, has no intention of doing so.

The ZNPP has been under occupation since 4 March 2022. Since then, the IAEA has repeatedly passed resolutions calling for the plant’s return to Ukrainian control, none of which have been implemented. 

Earlier, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for the creation of a “demilitarized zone” around the ZNPP at the UN Security Council. But Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, immediately dismissed the proposal, Deutsche Welle writes.

Effectively, the only solution is to deoccupy Zaporizhzhia Oblast to protect European countries from the destruction of the largest station in Europe. 

A direct call for deoccupation

“The resolution contains a direct call for the immediate removal of all unauthorized military and other personnel from the ZNPP,” states the Ukrainian Energy Ministry. 

The document confirms that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and all nuclear facilities in Ukraine must operate under the full sovereign control of competent Ukrainian authorities. 

The resolution also reaffirmed the mandate and ongoing work of the IAEA mission at ZNPP despite Russia’s repeated attempts to undermine its activities.

Additionally, the document highlighted Russian strikes on the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and damage to the New Safe Confinement, emphasizing the risks these actions pose to international nuclear safety.

The ZNPP case illustrates how limited the enforcement of international law can be in real-world situations.

Ukraine’s response and pressure

“We are grateful to every country that supported this crucial document. Sixty-two votes in favor demonstrate the civilized world’s clear stance: nuclear terrorism is unacceptable, and the ZNPP, occupied by Russia, must be immediately returned to Ukrainian control,” claims the agency. 

Ukraine’s Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk says Ukraine will continue to work with the IAEA and partners to ensure the implementation of every provision of this resolution. 

Ukraine stresses that the increased international pressure on Russia is necessary to ensure full and unconditional compliance with all IAEA resolutions and the return of the Zaporizhzhia NPP under Ukrainian control.

Legal violations of the ZNPP occupation

• UN Charter: The occupation and military maneuvers around ZNPP endanger nuclear safety, violate the principles of peaceful coexistence, and threaten regional stability.
• Hague and Geneva Conventions (First Additional Protocol, 1977, Article 56): Attacks on objects that could cause major technological disasters, such as nuclear power plants, are prohibited. Even if such objects are considered military targets, attacks are forbidden if there is a risk of severe civilian casualties.
• International treaties on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and IAEA resolutions.

Estonia’s Ministry of Defence released a map illustrating the violation of the country’s airspace by three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets on 19 September, according to the ministry’s social media posts. The aircraft entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland without permission and remained there for 12 minutes.

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the jets entered Estonian airspace and lingered over the Gulf of Finland for 12 minutes. The ministry reports that the Russian fighters flew parallel to the state border from east to west, then entered the airspace to a depth of less than 10 kilometers with transponders off and without radio communication. NATO aviation escorted the aircraft.

Prior to this incident, Russia’s Defence Ministry reported that on 19 September, three MiG-31 aircraft flew from Russian Karelia to an airfield in Kaliningrad Oblast “without violating the borders of other states.”

Moscow maintained that the aircraft route passed over neutral waters, contradicting what Estonia’s Defence Ministry map shows.

Defence Minister Margus Tsahkna said that Russia has already violated Estonia’s airspace four times this year, calling such actions “unacceptable,” but described the incursion of three fighters as “unprecedentedly brazen.” Following the incident, Estonia’s government requested NATO to invoke Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

Additionally, Poland reported that on 19 September, two Russian fighters violated the security zone of the Petrobaltic drilling platform in the Baltic Sea.

Ukraine has become a hub of innovation during Russia’s war. Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar says the country is experiencing a true boom in technological innovation, and world leaders recognize its potential, UkrInform reports. 

From startups to large industrial companies

At the world’s largest aviation and space technology festival, TEKNOFEST 2025 in Istanbul, Bayraktar said that Ukraine has developed a powerful innovation base and gained valuable experience.

“The war has become a catalyst for rapid technological innovation: while there were only a few companies producing drones before, today there are already hundreds. The same applies to robotics and other high technologies,” he emphasized.

According to him, the key task now is to transform startups into large industrial enterprises.

Baykar supports Ukraine 

Bayraktar noted that Baykar’s Ukrainian office already employs more than 120 people, and the company continues to assist Ukraine both technologically and in other areas.

“In Ukraine, efforts are underway to harness this experience and give startups the opportunity to grow into larger companies on an industrial scale,” he said.

A new science and education center for Ukrainian youth

Beyond military innovations, Baykar, together with the National Center “Minor Academy of Sciences of Ukraine”, will create a modern educational center for children and young people.

“Ukrainian youth will have the opportunity to gain knowledge and education through the latest scientific and technological methodology already applied in Turkiye,” Bayraktar announced at the TEKNOFEST 2025.

He added that the Academy already hosts a Mathematics Museum, and the new center will expand practical opportunities for students in other sciences.

In a welcome move, Italy isn’t just giving Ukraine prized M-113 armored personnel carriers—it’s giving Ukraine VCC-1s, upgraded versions of the classic “battle taxi” that one source described as “an Italian M-113 on steroids.”

The timing matters. Ukrainian medics are getting picked off by cheap suicide drones while trying to evacuate wounded soldiers from trenches. The VCC-1’s extra armor plating can stop drone fragments and small arms fire that punch through standard M-113 aluminum—exactly what evacuation teams need when they’re crawling within 200 meters of Russian positions to grab casualties.

The first photos of the vehicle reportedly en route to Ukraine recently circulated online.

Italian VCC-1 Camillino’s which have been out of service for many years now have been spotted being transported, months ago Italy pledged several “M113’s and variants” to Ukraine, so these are likely to be part of that pledge and are now on their way to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/AtTIrC4nJY

— A-129 Mangusta (@NichoConcu) September 18, 2025

How NATO military vehicles help Ukrainian medics under Russian fire

The 12-ton, nine-person tracked vehicles are especially useful as ambulances. Fast, maneuverable, and easy to drive—and wrapped in just enough aluminum armor to offer some protection from artillery fragments and tiny explosive drones—the M-113s and their Italian kin can help medics fetch wounded troops from the front line … and speed them to lifesaving care at a battalion aid station.

Back in the spring, Rome pledged 400 M-113s “and variants” to Kyiv’s war effort.

Ukraine had already received around 1,500 American-designed M-113s plus hundreds of similar Dutch-made YPR-765s—and had lost no fewer than 400 of them in action all along the 1,100-km front line of Russia’s 43-month wider war on Ukraine.

The Ukrainians weren’t familiar with the M-113 prior to the wider war, although the type has been a stalwart of mechanized brigades in NATO armies for half a century.

“I pay attention to the road, to what is being done around me,” one Ukrainian M-113 crew member said last year after gaining some experience on the M-113. “I don’t think about how to turn on a lower gear to go uphill, as I had to do on Soviet analogues.”

Explore further

The Bulat tanks are tired. But Ukraine can’t afford to ditch them.

Why Italy’s VCC-1 upgrade matters for Ukraine’s battlefield medicine

The Italians’ super-upgraded M-113, the 1980s-vintage VCC-1, features key improvements over the baseline M-113. In particular, it has extra armor on top of the M-113’s usual armor, which ranges from 12 to 44 mm in thickness.

“To increase protection from 7.62-mm bullets, light [armored-piercing] rounds and 12.7-mm rounds, steel plates 6 mm thick were added on the sides and front of the vehicle,” Tank Encyclopedia noted.

The resulting vehicle is a few tons heavier than a standard M-113. Since Italian vehicle-maker OTO Melara didn’t add up-rated propulsion, instead keeping the M-113’s standard Detroit 6V53T diesel engine producing 275 hp.

But the downgrade is minimal. A vanilla M-113 makes 68 km/hr under ideal conditions; a VCC-1 makes 64 km/hr. Still pretty speedy for an APC.

The VCC-1 is a different beast on the inside.

“Due to the reduced internal space, the carrying capacity was reduced from 11 infantry to 7,” Tank Encyclopedia explained. “The remodeled rear compartment displaced the fuel tank, which placed them on the sides of the rear fighting compartment. This, coupled with the inclination of the rear walls reduced the internal space of the rear compartment.”

It’s not the roomiest possible ambulance, but it’s one of the more thickly armored.

Ground robots start displacing manned evacuation teams on the battlefield

As the threat from tiny explosive drones intensifies, battlefield casualty evacuation has become more challenging. The medics and their evacuation vehicles are targets, too. It’s not for no reason that more and more Ukrainian brigades are deploying ground robots for the task.

New robot models can crawl up to a casualty, grab them with a hook or arm, and drag them onto a sled before speeding them to the nearest aid station. A robot “makes it much easier to work in all areas,” a trooper from the 93rd Mechanized Brigade explained.

But the ambulance ‘bots are a new development; for now, manned ambulances are still standard. And as ambulances, those Italian VCC-1s are better-protected than the M-113s currently handling many evacuation missions.

It’s also possible the Ukrainians will use the VCC-1s as assault vehicles, of course. With their heavier armor, the VCC-1s functioned as infantry fighting vehicles in Italian service.

Explore further

Ukraine’s M-2 Bradleys engage Russian infantry at point-blank range

The Russian motorcycle trooper was enjoying good fortune, it seemed. Riding fast along a well-traveled track threading across the no-man’s-land somewhere along the 1,100-km front line of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine, the bike soldier maneuvered toward a gap in a deep anti-tank trench the Ukrainians had prepared for just this scenario.

The flat gap, a kind of earthen bridge, was a veritable door for attacking Russian vehicles. Apparently.

It was, in fact, a trap. And not the first one Ukrainian troops have sprung along the Russians’ preferred routes as Russia’s wider war on Ukraine grinds into its 43rd month.

Incredibly, the Russian wasn’t deterred by the nearby hulks of numerous destroyed armored vehicles. It’s possible one alternative—trying to jump the trench—scared him more than the prospect of motoring across a possible kill zone.

Recall what happened when, back in May, a different Russian bike soldier raced in broad daylight across the no-man’s-land, miraculously avoiding mines, artillery, and drones.

That biker’s luck held until he neared a long Ukrainian anti-tank trench—one without a convenient crossing. Apparently confident in his bike-handling, the rider accelerated up the loose dirt piled up on the edge of the trench, clearly aiming to jump.

He fell short—and died, or was badly injured, in the resulting crash at the bottom of the trench.

Apparently preferring to cross a trench rather than jump it, the Russian motorcyclist in the more recent incident rode right into the Ukrainians’ trap. As a Ukrainian drone observed, the trooper sped over a mine—and exploded in a towering fireball.

Incredibly, the Russian survived—at least for a little while. He could be seen moving amid the wreckage of his wrecked motorcycle.

Ukrainian war correspondent Yuri Butusov was bemused but not surprised. “Russian banzai suicide bombers race across the field straight into a mine with a natural result,” he wrote.

“It is clear that they were far from the first at this location. But the Russian commanders do not care about the endless conveyor belt of the dead and maimed.”

Butusov’s cynicism is justified. This kind of thing has happened before.

Explore further

Russia saved armor all year for this moment—150,000 troops close in on Pokrovsk

Chasiv Yar bridge became chokepoint for Russian armored columns

In April 2024, the Ukrainian troops defending Chasiv Yar—a now-ruined town in the no-man’s-land in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast—set a similar trap for the Russian mechanized forces pushing west across Donetsk.

The trap straddled a bottleneck for Russian forces rolling out from their forward base in occupied Ivanivske. That bottleneck is a small bridge on the T-0504 road that threads west out of Ivanivske and through a forest into Chasiv Yar’s southern districts.

If the Russians—possibly from the 11th Air Assault Brigade then operating from the ruins of Bakhmut, a few miles to the east—could get over the bridge, they would’ve been able to disappear into the woods and creep toward Chasiv Yar with some degree of concealment from drones and artillery and protection from mines.

And they eventually did cross the bridge—but only after suffering shockingly heavy casualties. Local Ukrainian forces—from the 42nd and 67th Mechanized Brigades and adjacent units—concentrated enough firepower on the bridge to temporarily block Russian assaults on southern Chasiv Yar before they reached the protection of the trees.

“The road connecting Chasiv Yar and Bakhmut has several bridges over the water channel,” the group explained. “With the right approach and correctly allocated resources, Chasiv Yar could potentially be a very formidable obstacle to advancing Russian troops.”

It was especially formidable given Russian commanders’ inability to adapt quickly—and find a safer route for their beleaguered troops.

Ukrainians outsmart Russians using their own doctrine

What’s especially shocking is that the Ukrainian tactic on display on that vehicle-eating crossing is that it’s straight out of the Russians’ standard battlefield doctrine.

According to the definitive The Russian Way of War, Russian regiments construct fortifications to “protect the forward edge of the defense and canalize the enemy into fire sacs within the defense.”

This strategy, repeatedly used by Ukraine, funnels enemies into kill zones where they are destroyed with concentrated firepower.

The fire in the fire sac could be tank fire, artillery, anti-tank missiles or—as was the case for that unfortunate biker—mines.

Explore further

The battlefield around Pokrovsk is “a total mess.” And it’s about to get worse.

Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed strikes on strategic facilities in Russia’s Samara and Saratov oblasts that support Russian military operations, according to an official statement on 20 September. The operations were conducted by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces and Special Operations Forces.

The Saratov oil refinery in Saratov city sustained damage from the attack, with explosions and fires reported at the facility. The refinery processes approximately 2.54% of Russia’s total oil refining capacity, handling over 7 million tons of crude oil annually, the General Staff reported.

Ukrainian forces also targeted the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery in the Samara Oblast, where explosions and fires were confirmed. This facility processes over 8.8 million tons of crude oil per year.

The operations extended to critical infrastructure, with Special Operations Forces striking the Samara Linear Production Dispatch Station in Prosvet, Samara Oblast. This facility handles the mixing of high- and low-sulfur crude oil from various fields to create the Urals export grade, accounting for up to 50% of Russia’s total oil exports.

“All targeted facilities are involved in supporting the Russian armed forces,” the General Staff reported in their statement.

Local Russian officials acknowledged the attacks but provided limited details. Saratov Oblast Governor Roman Busargin said that a residential building was damaged and one person was injured during the attack on Saratov.

Flight restrictions were imposed at Samara airport due to drone threats, with limitations on aircraft arrivals and departures implemented as a precautionary measure.

The strikes represent the latest in a series of Ukrainian operations targeting Russian energy infrastructure. The Novokuybyshevsk refinery has been hit multiple times by Ukrainian drones in previous operations.

Russian regional governors in Volgograd and Rostov also reported drone activity. Volgograd Oblast Governor Andrey Bocharov said drone debris fell in several districts of the regional center and one district of the oblast, with no casualties reported. Rostov Oblast Governor Yuri Slyusar claimed the drone attack was repelled, though private homes and agricultural enterprises sustained damage, along with grass fires and power outages.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Russia launched a massive overnight attack using 40 missiles and approximately 580 drones against Ukrainian targets, with F-16 fighter jets playing a key role in the country’s defense.

Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russian forces deployed 619 air attack assets: 579 Shahed-type strike drones and various decoy drones, 8 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, and 32 Kh-101 cruise missiles.

“Each such strike is not a military necessity, but a conscious strategy of Russia to intimidate civilians and destroy our infrastructure. That is why a strong international response is needed,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

Ukrainian air defenses successfully intercepted 583 aerial targets, including 552 Russian drones, 2 ballistic missiles, and 29 cruise missiles, according to the Air Force. The defense forces recorded direct hits at 10 locations, with debris from destroyed targets falling at additional sites.

Russian forces regularly attack Ukrainian oblasts using various weapons including strike drones, missiles, guided aerial bombs, and multiple rocket launcher systems. Russia’s leadership denies that its military deliberately targets civilian infrastructure in Ukrainian cities and villages during the full-scale war, killing civilians and destroying hospitals, schools, kindergartens, energy facilities, and water supply systems.

Ukrainian authorities and international organizations qualify these strikes as war crimes by the Russian Federation, emphasizing their deliberate nature

Zelenskyy thanked Ukrainian military personnel, particularly F-16 fighter pilots, “who once again proved their skill and worked effectively in defending Ukraine from cruise missiles.”

The attack targeted Ukrainian infrastructure, residential areas, and civilian enterprises, according to Zelenskyy.

In Dnipro, a Russian missile with cluster munitions directly hit a multi-story residential building. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak confirmed one fatality and 26 injuries in the oblast, with 14 people requiring hospitalization, including a 55-year-old man with burns covering 70% of his body.

Khmelnytskyi Governor Serhii Tiurin reported finding the body of a man in his 50s in a home after firefighters extinguished a blaze, with two others injured in the oblast.

In Kyiv Oblast, the State Emergency Service reported car fires at a parking lot near a multi-story building in Bucha district, and a fire with partial destruction of a private residential house in Obukhiv district. The regional military administration confirmed strikes in Bucha, Boryspil, and Obukhiv communities, damaging a home, 10 garages, and five parked cars.

Mykolaiv faced attacks from both ballistic missiles and drones targeting industrial infrastructure, with ongoing firefighting efforts, according to local reports. Drones also struck a farm in Sniguriv community, causing fires there as well.

Odesa Oblast emergency services reported a warehouse fire at a farm facility and destruction of an agricultural equipment storage building.

The attack affected multiple oblasts including Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, and communities in Poltava, Sumy, and Kharkiv oblasts. Overall casualty reports indicate dozens of injured and three fatalities from the assault.

The assault triggered air raid alerts across all Ukrainian oblasts around 5:45 am local time, lasting until approximately 7 am Initial explosions occurred in Pavlohrad and Mykolaiv around 4:40 am, with additional blasts in Dnipro after 6 a.m.

During the attack, Poland’s Air Force scrambled NATO fighter jets to protect Polish airspace. The incident follows recent violations of NATO airspace, including Russian drones over Polish territory and Estonian airspace violations that prompted Estonia to request NATO Article 4 consultations.

Poland says two Russian fighter jets flew low over a Polish offshore oil platform in the Baltic Sea on 19 September. Earlier the same day, Russian military aircraft violated Estonia’s airspace.

Russian jets violate safety zone over Polish oil platform

According to the Polish Border Service, the two Russian warplanes carried out a low-altitude flyover of a platform operated by Petrobaltic in the Baltic Sea. The aircraft violated the platform’s designated safety zone. Petrobaltic is a Polish company involved in oil and natural gas exploration and production in the country’s exclusive economic zone.

The border guards did not specify the exact model of the aircraft involved in the incident.

The incident occurred on 19 September 2025 and was publicly reported by the Polish Border Service on X at 18:45 local time. In its post, the agency stated:

“Two Russian fighter jets carried out a low-altitude flyover above the Petrobaltic platform in the Baltic Sea. The safety zone of the platform was violated. The Polish Armed Forces and other services have been notified.”

Pattern of provocations continues

The airspace breach near the Polish platform took place just hours after a separate violation of Estonia’s airspace. On the same day, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets reportedly entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland without permission.

Estonian officials said the aircraft remained in their airspace for approximately 12 minutes and flew near Tallinn before Italian F-35 jets operating under NATO command were scrambled to intercept them.

More than a week earlier, multiple Russian military drones violated Polish airspace, prompting NATO aircraft to scramble and shoot down some of the drones. Later, a Russian drone also entered Romanian airspace.

Exclusives

Ukraine could make the EU’s drone wall actually work—if politics allows. Europe’s weapons cost millions; Ukraine’s solutions cost hundreds.

As Russia clamps down, Ukraine sells assets in wartime reform gamble. Record $216 million in transparent auctions sends crucial signal to Western allies.

Ukraine’s AI drones have 18 months to outpace Russia in existential “ruthless swarm” race. They can’t hit moving trucks yet—but they have 18 months to become “ruthless swarms” in a race that could decide the war

PepsiCo still making money in Russia—and helping fund war. PepsiCo must exit Russia immediately or be held accountable.

The Bulat tanks are tired. But Ukraine can’t afford to ditch them.. They used to be Ukraine’s best tanks. But they’re worn out and they’re too heavy, so the Bulats are fading away.

The battlefield around Pokrovsk is “a total mess.” And it’s about to get worse.. How many Russians are left in their salient northeast of Pokrovsk, and where are they? No outsiders know for sure.

Military

Frontline report: Ukraine Targets Russia’s Logistical Backbone in Coordinated Rail Sabotage Campaign
Ukrainians have unleashed a devastating rail campaign that systematically targeted Russia’s core supply arteries across multiple regions, disrupting the flow of troops, fuel and equipment that keep the Russian war effort alive.

Zelenskyy announces plans for controlled arms exports to fund Ukrainian weapons production
While priority remains supplying frontline units and national stockpiles, Zelenskyy announced that controlled exports of surplus weapons will help finance expanded domestic arms production.

Ukraine’s WWI-era weapon downs advanced Russian Kh-69 cruise missile over Kyiv with $11 worth of ammo

Ukraine’s SOF strike in Kursk Oblast destroys hub for Russia’s 810th Marine Brigade
According to the military report, the attack wiped out depots, equipment stores, and hidden weapons supporting Russian operations near Kharkiv and Sumy.

Ukraine to outmatch Russia’s drone attacks with 1,000 interceptors a day, Ukrainian PM assures
Shmyhal claims Ukraine’s ability to intercept drones will soon surpass the intensity of Russia’s nightly drone use.

Frontline report: Ukrainian Army’s Brazilians quietly encircle Russian troops near Pokrovsk — and eliminate them one by one
In the forests and villages outside Pokrovsk, foreign fighters ambushed infiltration groups and raised Ukrainian flags in secured areas.

Intelligence and Technology

Russia, Iran recruiting Middle Eastern mercenaries for war in Ukraine – media
Intelligence sources describe large-scale deception operation targeting conflict zone populations.

Kremlin still believes they can win war of attrition against Ukraine — yet ISW says Russia’s victory “not inevitable”
Putin and Gerasimov continue to promote the idea that Russia’s slow advances will ultimately force Ukraine’s collapse.

Ukrainian drone engineers suggest dropping nets on Russia’s roadside ambush drones (video)
The nets tangle the enemy drones’ propellers, trapping them in waiting positions, unable to launch an attack on passing vehicles.

Ukraine’s drone forces aim to reach 5% of total military — for full front coverage
August statistics show the Unmanned Systems Forces is responsible for over 21,000 out of 60,000 verified targets.

Russia might have transferred nuclear submarine reactors to North Korea for US strike capability
Kim Jong Un inspected submarine construction in March while persistently requesting advanced fighter jets alongside nuclear technology.

International

Russian warplanes violated Polish oil rig zone on same day as Estonia airspace breach. Defense services were alerted after the planes breached the safety perimeter of Poland’s offshore energy site.

Eight EU countries continue to buy Russian gas – EU spokesperson

The European Commission announced a full ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports on Friday, marking a major step to end the EU’s reliance on Moscow.

Russian warplanes violated NATO member Estonia’s airspace – Tallinn
Three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace on Friday amid heightened tensions with NATO, the Estonian Foreign Ministry reported.

Russian crypto, banks, and oil trade hit in EU’s proposed 19th sanctions package
The proposal bans Russian LNG, hits 118 vessels, and still needs approval from all member states to take effect.

ExxonMobil, largest US-based oil company, says it doesn’t plan to engage in Russia’s Arctic project after Trump-Putin summit
CEO Darren Woods confirms the company seeks only asset recovery through arbitration rather than renewed investment.

Humanitarian and Social Impact

Zaporizhzhia building anti-drone tunnels over roads to protect civilians and logistics
Netting tunnels protect civilians and logistics routes against increasingly sophisticated fibre-optic drone attacks.

Another 86 Russian drones launched overnight—most intercepted, some hit Kyiv and Pavlohrad, injuring a man
Air Force confirms 71 drones downed, 15 struck targets in six locations, another landed unexploded in Kyiv.

Read our previous daily review here.

Today the biggest news comes from the Russian Federation. 

Here, Ukrainians unleashed a devastating rail campaign that systematically targeted Russia’s core supply arteries across multiple regions. 

With the flow of troops, fuel and equipment disrupted or halted completely, Ukrainians severed the veins that keep the Russian war effort alive.

Recent major rail attacks

Just two days ago, three Russian National Guard officers were killed by a mine planted under the rail line in the Orel region.

The explosion halted the connection to Kursk and delayed more than 15 trains, a direct hit on one of the primary corridors of supplying Russian forces along the Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

That same night, sabotage in Leningrad Oblast derailed a locomotive pulling 15 fuel tankers. Rail traffic in both directions was stopped and a train operator was killed.

In Tver, Ukrainian military intelligence conducted a precision operation. Planting explosives beneath parked fuel cars and remotely detonating them at the main junction.

Farther south, Ukrainian special operation forces confirmed a successful strike on a fuel train at Jankoy station in Crimea, disrupting supply to Russia’s southern grouping of forces.

And in a particularly brutal sequence near Ostrakivk in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian forces blew up a rail line, derailed a freight train and then used FPV drones to ignite the spilled fuel.

Strategic campaign scope and innovation

These are not isolated incidents. They are the sharp edge of a campaign to make rail-based Russian logistics near impossible. 

The pace and precision of the campaign are accelerating as Ukraine is now striking deeper, more frequently, and with a broader toolkit of rail bombs, FPVs, sabotage units and coordinated drone raids. 

This reflects not only Ukrainian innovation but also a strategic playbook, outlined months ago in reports echoed by Russian analysts. 

Railways are Russia’s logistical backbone, as nearly all heavy equipment, fuel and personnel destined for Ukraine pass through a handful of chokepoints, bridges, traction substations and switching stations. 

Suppose two or three such disruptions happen at once, in that case reserves get stuck, rotations are missed and continuous offensive pressure collapses, allowing Ukrainian frontline soldiers to deal with scattered offensives more easily.

Additional infrastructure attacks across multiple regions

Beyond the headline strikes, the rest of the rear is also under strain, because in the Leningrad region three more cars were derailed and in the Komny region partisans set fire to a locomotive on the station. 

Drone attacks damaged relay cabinets at Arkheda station in Volgograd and sparked fires across multiple rail points in Rostov. 

In Voronezh, a Ukrainian strike hit a traction substation that powers the Zhuravka-Milervo line, a route built to bypass Ukrainian territory, and forced an automatic shutdown of the nearby nuclear reactor due to electrical instability. 

Krasnodar and Bryansk also saw substations hit, both key to moving trains along the southern corridor. 

In Melitopol, Ukrainian intelligence blew up an ammo depot linked to a railway route and killed multiple Russian marines, while additional fuel trains were targeted in Molochansk and in southern Zaporizhzhia.

Strategic pattern and infrastructure targeting

The pattern of strikes follows a clear logic, not just targeting moving trains, but attacking the static infrastructure that supports them. Substations, relay boxes and switching stations are now regular targets.

In total, Russian sources admit that over 250 trains were delayed in recent weeks alone, with the bulk of the economic disruption stemming from strikes in the Rostov, Volgograd and Krasnodar regions.

It is a map-wide degradation that may not fully paralyze Russian logistics in a single stroke, but it is sustained and increasingly difficult for Moscow to contain.

Overall impact and strategic assessment

Overall, the collapse of Russian logistics is no longer a prediction, it is a visible process unfolding in real time.

Ukraine has found the formula in bypassing hardened military targets and striking the soft static infrastructure that supports them.

Rail sabotage, fuel train ambushes and targeted substation attacks have left Russia scrambling to repair, re-route and recover their railway network.

With each strike, the cost of moving supplies grows, and the margin for sustaining their various offensives narrows.

If this tempo holds, Russia may soon be unable to move fast enough to fight at all, as many sectors are already seeing the Russian offensive tempo decrease dramatically.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

In response to frequent drone attacks in the region, authorities in Zaporizhzhia Oblast have begun constructing specialized anti-drone tunnels by erecting netting structures over key roads, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said on Friday, as reported by Akzent.zp.ua.

The anti-drone netting tunnels allow civilians and military vehicles to move safely while keeping supply routes open near the frontline.

Zaporizhzhia Oblast, in southeastern Ukraine, contains active frontlines in the ongoing war with Russia. The region experiences frequent attacks, including drone strikes and artillery fire, putting both civilians and military supply routes at constant risk.

FPV drones controlled via fiber-optic cables rather than traditional radio signals have increasingly threatened roads up to 25-30 kilometers from the front line. In recent weeks, attacks by these drones have claimed at least four civilian lives. 

“Since the enemy began deploying fiber-optic drones extensively, supply routes have become extremely dangerous, even 15-20 kilometers from the front. These tunnels are currently the only effective way to protect civilians and military personnel,” Fedorov said.

The first test segment, stretching 6.4 kilometers, has already proven effective. Authorities now plan to expand the network over tens of kilometers, with the ultimate goal of covering hundreds of kilometers across the region.

Fiber-optic FPV drones transmit video and control signals through a cable that unspools in flight, making them largely immune to electronic countermeasures. While their reliability and resistance to jamming are big advantages, their range is limited by cable length, and the fiber can become tangled or damaged during operations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday plans to begin controlled exports of certain Ukrainian weapons to help finance domestic arms production.

Speaking in his evening address, Zelenskyy said that while priority remains supplying frontline units and maintaining national stockpiles, surplus modern weapons – such as sea drones and some anti-tank systems – could be exported under strict controls.

Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine can produce certain modern weapons in far greater quantities than it can currently fund on its own, while some types of arms are already in surplus relative to the country’s immediate needs.

He emphasized that exports will be for allied countries with verified interest in supporting Ukraine, while preventing technology from reaching Russian forces or their collaborators.

Ukrainian forces, companies, and the army possess extensive experience in modern warfare, particularly in operating advanced weapons and cutting-edge technologies, the president highlighted.

Within two weeks, Ukraine plans to present three export platforms: one for the US, one for European partners, and one for other international allies.

Zelenskyy said the initiative will allow Ukrainian manufacturers to expand production, particularly of drones needed at the front, while covering funding gaps in domestic defense production.

He also indicated that there is strong international interest in collaborative weapons production with Ukraine, and that demand for Ukrainian arms is clear.

“First priority is the front, supplying our brigades. Second is our national arsenals. Only third comes controlled exports,” Zelenskyy said. He stressed that exports are not meant as “weapons charity,” but as a strategic tool to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities.

Europe faces a problem it’s never solved: how to stop thousands of cheap drones without bankrupting itself firing million-dollar missiles at styrofoam.

Ukraine already knows the answer.

The European Union’s “drone wall” defense initiative, reinvigorated just hours after Russian drones violated Polish and Romanian airspace on 10 September, could elevate Ukraine from aid recipient to essential defense partner— if said allies can overcome the technical and organizational challenges of such an ambitious project.

The scale of the ambition involved is hard to understate. “It requires a whole paradigm shift,” Kirill Mikhailov, a military researcher with the Conflict Intelligence Team, told Euromaidan Press. Brigham McCown, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, called it a “monumental undertaking.”

If successful, the initiative can further accelerate Ukraine’s transformation from a beleaguered country asking for aid into an important part of European defensive strategy. Ukraine can help develop the technology, industrial practices, and organizational doctrines required for a new way of air war.

The need to integrate weapon systems and practices could also bind Ukraine even closer to its allies and help develop additional trust, potentially helping its arms-producing companies develop.

Why Ukraine holds the keys to Europe’s defense future

For Europe, it’s a way to evolve from reliance on big, expensive weapons, a doctrine that’s aging in the face of massed cheap unmanned aerial vehicles now swarming the skies.

“It should be pretty obvious that you don’t shoot down styrofoam drones with $2 million missiles,” Mikhailov said. “Thing is, that is all the Europeans currently have.”

Andrius Kubilius, the European Commissioner for Defense and Space, acknowledged a similar point at Ukraine’s Defense Tech Valley expo in Lviv on 17 September.

“We understood a simple truth: we do not have those capabilities that Ukraine has on how to fight against drone invasion,” Kubilius said. “We have F-16s, we have F-35s, we have all other weapons, but we do not have those capabilities.”

It’s unclear to what degree the EU intends to protect Ukraine with this initiative. Kubilius said this curtain must extend “across the entire EU Eastern flank.” This language suggests the possibility that Ukraine will be left to protect its own airspace alone as the EU turtles up.

Furthermore, Kubilius told Euromaidan Press that “each country on the frontline needs to have its own companies to produce,” making unclear the role of Ukrainian developers in the EU’s strategic air defense planning.

Depending on how strongly the EU countries favor local companies, this could make the drone wall more costly and difficult to build.

Kubilius told Euromaidan Press that it was too early to estimate the cost or build time of the initiative, but said that some public estimates by analysts suggest it could be done within a year.

Several defense experts who spoke with Euromaidan Press believe that multiple years are a likelier estimate.

First steps

NATO has been looking into a drone defense initiative throughout the full-scale invasion, military insiders told Euromaidan Press.

The term “drone wall” has cropped up in the news for months. French company Altares, speaking at the Defense Tech Valley, said it’s been working on it for six months, together with the Alliance.

But the rhetoric around a drone wall went into overdrive after the incursion of Russian drones into Polish and Romanian airspace on 10 September. Hours following the attack, in her 2025 State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen revealed plans for a new “Eastern Flank Watch.”

This would include the “drone wall,” which she said would stretch down from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.

Von der Leyen said the EU would set up a “drone alliance” with Ukraine, funded by 6 billion euros. This will fall under the aegis of the G7-led Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration initiative, which is supposed to provide about 45 billion euros in financial support to Ukraine, with the EU contributing 18.1 billion euros.

Von der Leyen said that a roadmap for “getting new common defence projects off the ground” will be presented at the next European Council on October 23-24, with an eye towards setting clear goals for 2030.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and Poland agreed to establish a joint operational group on unmanned aerial systems, with representatives from both countries’ armed forces.

What’s in it for Ukraine: from aid recipient to tech powerhouse

There are multiple potential upsides for Kyiv becoming Europe’s defense tech guru. For one, it could help Ukrainian companies grow and expand.

“Ukraine has the silicon valley of this kind of technology, type of know-how and can become the world leader in drone and anti-drone tech, detection, counter, and this has very broad application beyond the current conflict,” McCown said.

Euromaidan Press spoke to several Ukrainian drone producers, who said that despite the government’s stated intention to procure all weapons produced from accredited and trusted contractors, the state is not able to afford their entire production capabilities.

Some Ukrainian companies are longingly eyeing the export market, but Ukraine’s hard restrictions on the import of military tech doesn’t allow it. The drone wall initiative may change things in that regard.

“The government hasn’t been warm to the idea of lifting the arms export ban,” Mikhailov said. “Now that Zelenskyy can paint himself the savior of Europe and make Ukraine indispensable for European security, I have few doubts he would greenlight it if asked.”

DeVore said that Ukraine’s innovation with drones, machine learning, AI and battle management is absolutely deeply respected. Allies are “very hungry to learn these lessons and one can think of this as a form of soft power or influence that Ukraine has.”

However, when asked if this might translate into more negotiating leverage for Kyiv, DeVore doesn’t believe so. “I think those allies that most appreciate and are most eager to learn these lessons are those that already have really close relations with Ukraine and are doing as much as feasible to help Ukraine,” he said.

Countries that are less worried about Russian attacks, such as Spain, Italy, and Hungary may not be swayed enough to change the overall status quo.

“This is a good thing for Ukraine, because that would build trust, interdependence, interoperability,” Mikhailov said. “It can be like the backbone of Ukraine’s further participation in NATO.”

The head of a Ukrainian company that builds interceptor drones, who did not wish to be identified for security reasons, said he hopes a closer working relationship between Ukraine and its allies, as part of the drone wall initiative, could help isolate Russia.

Explore further

Can Ukraine’s $ 1,000 drones really beat Russia’s $ 35,000 Shaheds?

The massive technical challenges ahead

The obstacles the EU must overcome to build the drone wall are as almost as diverse as the hardware involved.

The most obvious challenge is logistical — drones require management of their power supplies, weather resilience and durability. Many thousands of drones must be built, deployed and serviced on a regular basis, with each requiring batteries, charging stations and redundancy plans for failure.

Data architect Daniel Connery said that the truly defining obstacle would be the creation of a software layer that can manage inputs from so many different systems and turn them into one coherent defense network, which is secure from outside tampering.

“Without a unifying software layer, you don’t have a ‘wall’ — you have scattered bricks,” he wrote to Euromaidan Press.

Ukrainian networked battlespace systems like Virazh and Delta may show Europeans the way forward, experts pointed out.

Manufacturing priorities are also bound to come up. After decades of consolidation, Europe has a small number of large defense contractors. These types of companies aren’t the most nimble when it comes to pivoting from producing few expensive weapons to many cheap ones.

Most analysts agreed that smaller companies will rush to fill that space, whether it’s local European firms that manufacture civilian equipment, or Ukrainian firms opening subsidiaries.

Speaking at the Defense Tech Valley, some Western firms complained about bureaucracy and confusing official procedures when it comes to doing business in each others’ territory. Legal, administrative and security clearance questions likely need to be resolved before cooperation can be scaled up to greater heights, experts said.

Ukraine might also need to accelerate its judicial reforms, as its legal environment is an Achilles’ heel when it comes to foreigners doing business with the country.

DeVore said that one problem with European defense programs is the dilemma between spending in Europe and spending efficiently. Systems produced in European nations are more popular with policymakers, but they aren’t the most cost-effective solution.

DeVore believes the drone wall is “fully feasible, it just requires some combination of political will and money.”

“Those two are inversely correlated,” he added. “The more political will the West has in putting this together, the cheaper it is.”

Alya Shandra, the editor-in-chief at Euromaidan Press, contributed reporting.

Explore further

Ukraine’s AI drones have 18 months to outpace Russia in existential “ruthless swarm” race

Eight European Union countries continue to import Russian natural gas, EU energy spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said on Friday, as reported by The Guardian.

This comes as the European Commission announces a full ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports on Friday, signaling a major step to end the bloc’s reliance on Moscow.

The countries identified are Belgium, France, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain. The EU does not have detailed data on where the gas is ultimately used.

The announcement comes amid pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has urged the EU and NATO members to completely stop importing energy from Russia. 

Some member states, notably Hungary and Slovakia, have raised concerns about phasing out Russian gas without reliable alternative sources. In response, the European Commission moved to fast-track the LNG import ban and release funds to help secure the support of these countries.

Despite efforts to reduce dependence on Moscow since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia still accounts for roughly 19% of the EU’s gas imports. 

The bloc continues to push for reduced dependence on Moscow as part of broader sanctions targeting Russia in response to the invasion.

Estonia on Friday summoned the Russian Federation’s chargé d’affaires to protest a violation of its airspace, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Three Russian MIG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland without permission and remained for approximately 12 minutes, officials said.

The jets reportedly flew near Estonia’s capital city, Tallinn, before NATO’s Italian F-35 jets scrambled to intercept them. 

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal later announced that the country is invoking NATO’s Article 4 over the incident. Article 4 of the NATO treaty allows any member state to request consultations with allies when it perceives a threat to its territorial integrity, political independence, or security. Poland took the same step earlier this month following drone breaches into its airspace on 10 September.

“Russia has already violated Estonia’s airspace four times this year, which in itself is unacceptable. But today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. 

“Russia’s increasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure,” he added

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas called the incursion an “extremely dangerous provocation,” adding that “Putin is testing the West’s resolve.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the Russian incursion as part of a broader campaign of destabilization against Europe and NATO. He described the violations as “not accidental” and called for a coordinated response from the international community.

“Russian destabilization is spreading to new countries and directions. They are using all tools, from interference in political processes to violations of airspace,” Zelenskyy said, urging Europe, the United States, and the G7 to act decisively.

He stressed that sustained international pressure, particularly through sanctions, combined with a strong Ukrainian military, is essential to increase Russia’s losses in the war and defend against further aggression.

The incident follows heightened tensions on NATO’s eastern borders, with recent Russian drone breaches into its airspace, including Poland and Romania earlier in September. In response to these provocations, NATO launched Operation Eastern Sentry on September 12 to bolster defense along its eastern flank. 

Ukraine’s first year of large-scale electronic auctions raised over 8.9 billion hryvnias ($216 million) from just four major asset sales, marking long-awaited progress toward market reforms even as the state has expanded control over key economic sectors during wartime.

Ukraine pulls off an economic contradiction: expanding state control while privatizing billions in assets. The country maintains profitable state-owned enterprises that generate billions for the war effort while selling large assets to prove its democratic market commitment to Western allies.

International investors watch wartime experiment

Ukraine’s privatization success during active warfare represents a crucial test case for Western allies. The transparent auctions demonstrate that democratic market mechanisms can function under extreme conditions. It is a model that could reshape post-war reconstruction planning worth hundreds of billions in international investment.

This signals institutional resilience that could survive the transition from wartime emergency measures to a peacetime market economy.

Market signals amid state expansion

The privatization achievements come as Ukraine’s public sector has expanded to its largest size since the 1990s. State-owned banks now control 53% of all banking assets and over 60% of retail deposits. State enterprises like PrivatBank generated 39% of all banking profits in 2024, contributing billions directly to war financing.

Yet Ukraine has simultaneously cleared the path to privatize profitable state banks, Sense Bank and Ukrgasbank, choosing long-term integration over immediate wartime revenue streams.

The tension reflects broader EU accession requirements that Ukraine become “a functioning market economy” capable of integrating into the single market.

While the European Commission imposes no direct privatization mandates, it has recommended that Ukraine “intensify its privatization efforts” and reduce the anticompetitive effects of state enterprises.

Flagship sales drive results

The reported results from the State Property Fund show that competitive bidding doubled or tripled initial prices for premium assets.

Hotel Ukraine in downtown Kyiv sold for 2.5 billion hryvnias ($61 million) after three bidders drove up the price from the 1 billion hryvnia starting point.

The United Mining and Chemical Company fetched over 3.9 billion hryvnias ($96 million), while sanctioned Russian assets, including the Aeroc gas concrete plant, brought 1.9 billion hryvnias ($46 million)—nearly double its reserve price as three participants competed for the facility.

The Vinnytsiapobuthim household chemical factory also doubled in value during bidding, reaching 608.1 million hryvnias ($14.8 million) with funds from sanctioned asset sales flowing to Ukraine’s Fund for Eliminating Consequences of Armed Aggression.

Transparent platform prevents oligarch capture

All sales used the Prozorro electronic platform, which was designed to ensure equal conditions for investors and prevent the oligarch capture that characterized corrupt 1990s privatizations.

Prozorro CEO Serhiy But noted that the system works effectively even under complex wartime conditions. Online auctions provide equal opportunities for investors while ensuring state assets sell at market prices.

Reform commitment amid challenges

Acting State Property Fund head Ivanna Smachylo emphasized that large privatization represents an effective mechanism for transforming state assets into financial resources. This ensures significant budget revenues and promotes enterprise development that benefits the economy.

The success builds on earlier achievements, with small-scale privatization bringing over 5 billion hryvnias to the state budget since resuming in September 2022, confirming the effectiveness of this investment attraction mechanism.

The Odesa Port Plant and sanctioned asset Motordetal-Konotop are open to any interested parties except those connected to the aggressor country.

Balancing act continues

The results contrast sharply with Russia’s command economy approach, yet also highlight Ukraine’s complex wartime balancing act—the country simultaneously expands state control in critical sectors while privatizing others to signal democratic market commitment.

The success of transparent auctions offers hope that Ukraine can balance immediate wartime needs with building an economy that benefits all participants, not just political and business insiders.

Russia, with support from Iran, is actively recruiting mercenaries from the Middle East to fight in Ukraine, Ukrainska Pravda reports, citing intelligence sources. 

Moscow has turned to foreign mercenaries to offset shortages in its regular forces, placing them in frontline roles where they are viewed as more expendable than regular soldiers.

Recruits are being drawn from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen and other countries in the region, the report said. Some of those targeted include former members of the militant group Islamic State (ISIS), raising security concerns.

Mercenaries are reportedly being offered payments of $3,000 to $8,000 and the prospect of Russian citizenship after six months of service.

According to the report, fighters are transferred through illegal migration and trade routes along four main directions: via Iran to Armenia and Georgia; via Iran to Azerbaijan; via Iran through Central Asia; and from Afghanistan through Central Asia.

Authorities in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Central Asian states have recently detained migrants attempting to cross borders illegally. Their communications indicated coordination with Russian contacts and specific promises related to military service, the report said.

One Iraqi national, identified as Amir Wisam Jwad, born in 2006, was detained during an attempted border crossing. Documents indicated he had signed a contract with Russia’s Defence Ministry to join a unit referred to as “Baghdad.” The agreement was said to have been arranged through a Russian official and included payment and citizenship guarantees.

Moscow’s expanding global recruitment drive

This Middle East operation represents an escalation in Russia’s global recruitment drive, which now spans at least 21 countries according to intelligence sources. The BBC has confirmed over 523 foreign mercenaries killed fighting for Russia from 28 countries, with the highest numbers from Central Asian nations.

Recent intelligence indicates nearly 20,000 Cuban mercenaries are fighting alongside Russian forces, representing the second-largest foreign contingent after Russian recruits themselves.

Recruitment targeting vulnerable populations

The operation particularly targets economically desperate individuals in conflict-affected regions. Iraq, Syria, and other Middle Eastern countries ravaged by years of warfare provide ready pools of potential recruits, including former combatants with ISIS and other armed groups.

Russia’s recruitment strategy mirrors patterns seen elsewhere, where Moscow views mercenaries as “expendable” according to leaked audio recordings. Russian officials have described foreign fighters as “second-rate infantry” whose primary purpose is exhausting Ukrainian forces before regular Russian troops advance.

Ukraine has less than two years to master AI-powered drone warfare before autonomous weapons transform the battlefield into something “totally ruthless,” warns former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. By 2027, Zaluzhnyi predicts, “human involvement will be fully or partially removed not only from the process of control, but also from decision-making about target engagement.”

Whichever side masters autonomous warfare first may gain a decisive advantage that determines the war’s outcome.

The Russo-Ukrainian War has become a race for technological supremacy. Few expected Ukraine to mount such fierce resistance. Western intelligence agencies initially predicted that Kyiv would fall within days of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Yet, the war is in its fourth year and has evolved into a grinding war of attrition. Even Russia, a far larger power, now finds itself locked in a technological battle with Ukraine.

For Kyiv, staying ahead technologically wherever possible is essential to fighting back. Ukraine’s demographic and economic constraints make this technological edge a matter of survival, not preference.

As Zaluzhnyi bluntly stated, Ukraine “currently lacks the human and economic resources for a large-scale war” and must rely on technology to compensate for Russia’s numerical advantages.

But the technology isn’t ready yet.

“We are already working on the concept that in the near future there will be no connection between the pilot and UAV on the front line,” said Max Makarchuk, Head of AI at Brave1, Ukraine’s government defense technology accelerator.

But there’s a problem: Makarchuk says the percentage of UAVs hitting their targets is constantly decreasing.

From hobby shop to battlefield centerpiece

At the outset, Ukrainian soldiers relied on off-the-shelf drones. Civilian drone hobbyists began assisting with drone operations, while volunteers trained troops to stream drone footage via Google Meet to observe the battlefield in real time.

These first-person view (FPV) drones could be deployed virtually anywhere and gradually evolved into the centerpiece of battlefield operations. Fighting without drones became unthinkable, and every technical detail began to matter in improving their performance.

“We are attempting to create a killzone of 20 kilometers,” said Andrii, known as Murphy, from the 419th Battalion of Unmanned Systems.

As drone usage continued to scale, electronic warfare systems were increasingly deployed to counter drone effectiveness.

By 2024, Russia began fielding fiber optic drones to bypass jamming – eventually using them to retake most of the Ukrainian-occupied territory in Kursk Oblast after Ukraine’s August incursion.

Fiber optics allow the pilot to maintain a connection to the drone even in the presence of jamming.

Russia and Ukraine race to achieve drone AI breakthrough

Both Russia and Ukraine are rushing to deploy AI capabilities in warfare.

Ukraine benefits from sharing data with Western partners, which provides opportunities to train autonomous weapon systems slated for frontline use.

Both sides also gain an advantage from access to vast, unique datasets that can be used to train AI models.

Drone pilot Bohdan, known by the callsign Bandera and serving in the Unmanned Systems Battalion of Ukraine’s 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Marko Bezruchko, expects fiber-optic drones to become more prevalent in the coming year.

Bohdan’s unit has tested using AI targeting systems, but said “it’s still raw, unfinished tech.”

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“It doesn’t handle moving targets well, like a vehicle driving through uneven terrain,” said Bohdan.

Vitaliy Goncharuk, CEO of A19Lab and former Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Committee of Ukraine, offered a similar perspective from the industry side.

“When it comes to drones in Ukraine, the industry has largely focused on solving the ‘last mile targeting’ problem for FPV drones,” he said.

“At the same time, Russia took a simpler approach: they attached fiber optics to drones and scaled that solution. Fiber optics turned out to be far more effective than AI-based targeting, which often failed to handle edge cases,” said Goncharuk.

As Goncharuk observed, “I believe the impact of AI systems directly on the battlefield in the Ukraine-Russia war will unfortunately remain minimal for Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, is actively investing in this space, with the necessary budget and qualified personnel.”

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov recently said AI is currently most useful for processing massive data sets, helping analysts sift through “millions of gigabytes” of information that would otherwise be unmanageable.

He noted that while elements like target correction are appearing in drones, true AI-driven weapons remain limited, though he expects real combat robots within the next decade.

Meanwhile, both sides have been racing to develop autonomous drones that can resist jamming and enhance targeting.

The long-term goal is to deploy swarms of autonomous drones to overwhelm enemy positions, but building this technology has proven to be far more challenging than anticipated.

Still, Ukrainian forces have already conducted over a hundred swarm missions with Swarmer software, which allows groups of drones to decide which strikes first and adapt if one fails. Even small-scale autonomous teaming, experts note, is an impressive step forward on the battlefield.

The window for solving these problems is narrowing rapidly. Zaluzhnyi warns that whichever side achieves breakthrough AI capabilities first may gain an insurmountable advantage in the autonomous warfare era beginning around 2027.

“Artificial intelligence will gradually replace UAV operators with remote controls in many operations,” said Andriy Kovalenko, Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation.

Where AI actually works today

In Kyiv’s recent Spiderweb Operation in early June, AI-enabled drones were used. The AI used to support the drones were “mainly to stabilize the drone in flight and support the operator,” said Lyuba Shipovich, CEO of Dignitas, which leads the Victory Drones project.

“It ensures smooth navigation and precision over long distances. The AI isn’t making decisions about targets, it’s optimizing the flight path and maintaining control under difficult conditions.”

Shipovich explained that AI-enabled targeting is most effective for mid- to long-range strikes, typically 40-120 kilometers, where the targets are fixed and high-value, such as jamming stations, radar systems, or air defenses.

These deeper strikes carry less risk of friendly fire and don’t require the precision needed for frontline use, where AI is generally avoided.

Inside Ukraine’s AI development efforts

One company at the forefront of this push is Twist Robotics. Its CEO, Viktor Sakharchuk, stated in an interview,

“Ukraine was the first to widely use small FPV drones with guidance systems. Russia also seems to be developing similar technologies and is preparing to scale their use.”

Since 2022, Twist has developed AI training pipelines aimed at bringing autonomous drones to the front line. Sakharchuk noted that there are three main components of autonomous drones with AI:

1. visual navigation
2. visual detection and tracking,
3. trajectory planning.

Each component is trained separately.

The firm relies on a mix of real and synthetic data to train visual AI systems, starting with photorealistic simulation and refining in live trials. “The simulator developed by our company is also widely used for generating synthetic data,” he added.

“The training process for autonomous drones begins in simulation, where we use Obriy, our in-house developed software with a photorealistic environment. Once the models are trained in simulation, they are fine-tuned on real drones and customized for specific models.”

Rostyslav Olenchyn, executive director of Twist Robotics added that navigation is critical to ensure the drone reaches its target area. “We’re dealing with a triad: AI detection and targeting, AI navigation, and communication,” said Olenchyn.

The economics of AI targeting are becoming clearer. Makarchuk estimated that installing simple AI targeting systems costs about $150 per drone—a relatively modest investment if the technology actually works reliably.

Sakharchuk emphasized that no AI system can be successfully deployed on the battlefield without direct interaction with end users and frontline experience. “They all have limitations and application features that are not obvious without training,” he noted.

In March 2024, Sakharchuk highlighted that Ukraine saw the first large-scale use of AI-guided drones. But by June, interest sharply declined. A company had entered the market selling cheap, do-it-yourself kits and software, without offering any training.

While the low price appealed to some units, the systems underperformed due to poor configuration and lack of user understanding.

“When a large number of low-quality systems hit the market, the military saw that the guidance didn’t work. Therefore, interest disappeared,” Sakharchuk explained.

Battlefield performance challenges

Although the race for AI dominance has slowed, battlefield realities dictate priorities.

For Ukraine, AI is only one element of a broader strategy. With fiber-optic networks now spread across the front, ground robots are increasingly taking over frontline roles.

To expand their functions, AI will be crucial, enabling robots to act not only as combat systems but also as “mechanical medics,” reducing casualties while giving Ukraine a tactical edge.

Both sides are pressing ahead with AI development, and some progress is already visible on the battlefield. As one Twist Robotics engineer remarked in 2023, AI-enabled FPV drones are “a poor man’s Javelin.”

Meanwhile, Russia is also evolving its capabilities. Russia is now deploying loitering kamikaze drones equipped with AI and machine learning, allowing them to identify military vehicles on highways and evade interceptor drones.

Recently observed flying in a group of six with distinct wing markings, these drones may be testing swarm coordination, and each carries a large amount of onboard computing power and a 4G modem.

International companies are also jumping into Ukraine’s AI drone market. Czech company LPP Holding has delivered hundreds of AI-powered drones that operate without satellite connection.

“They say we are the first to prove that something like visual navigation can work,” said company co-owner Radim Petrash.

However, cheap tech won’t always be the only solution; more sophisticated technologies will need to be developed. Maria Berlinska, head of the Air Intelligence Support Center, issued a clear warning,

“We’re trying to keep up with low-tech solutions, but cheap, simple technologies are only part of the answer. We need to leap to a qualitatively new level.”

Machine vision is no game changer—yet

Despite early hopes, machine vision has not yet become a game-changing feature on Ukraine’s battlefield FPV drones.

While the technology allows drones to identify and strike targets autonomously, even without pilot contact, its real-world performance has been mixed due to challenges like poor camera quality, difficulty hitting moving targets, and inconsistent software performance.

Heorhii Volkov, commander of the drone unit Yasni Ochi (“Clear Eyes”) of the 13th Khartiia Brigade, noted that AI-assisted targeting often fails in environments like forests, where trees can confuse the AI, and puddles reflecting metallic colors can be misidentified as vehicles.

In one recent operation in Kharkiv Oblast, his team spotted Russian soldiers briefly emerging from a treeline and deployed long-range drones equipped with AI targeting to strike a concealed vehicle. However, the AI was only activated after the initial hit.

In practice, Volkov noted, these systems are most useful when a target is already burning and clearly visible.

“It’s still learning, the technology isn’t ready yet,” he added.

Ukrainian developers continue refining these systems, but military operators often prefer more reliable alternatives like fiber-optic drones, which are better suited to handle jamming and terrain obstacles.

The scalability challenge

In the future, battlefield capabilities will scale dramatically once AI swarms are deployed.

Deploying 700 autonomous interceptors offers far greater scalability than coordinating 700 human pilots. For Ukraine, confronting a larger opponent, leveraging asymmetrical warfare through technologies like AI is essential to offset Russia’s conventional superiority.

“We don’t have as many human resources as Russia, they fight, they die, they send more people, they don’t care, but that’s not how we see war,” said Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister of digital transformation. “I see this as the future of conflict.”

The 2027 deadline approaches

The race against time is intensifying. As Zaluzhnyi warned, Ukraine faces a critical window: perfect AI warfare capabilities before 2027, or potentially face “totally ruthless” autonomous weapons controlled by adversaries who solved the technological puzzle first.

Kyiv’s technological edge is being driven by volunteer groups that function more like agile software teams than traditional defense contractors. Organizations like Dignitas treat development as a rapid feedback loop, constantly communicating with frontline soldiers to refine and iterate on new tools.

But while volunteers can innovate quickly, staying ahead in the technology race will eventually require greater state support and sustained investment.

The era of autonomous drones may not be fully here yet – but its time will come, especially as Ukraine embraces a “robots first” military strategy.

Whether Ukraine can master these technologies before the 2027 autonomous warfare deadline may determine not only its tactical edge but also set the next stage of the war.

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has presented the EU’s proposed 19th package of sanctions against Russia, focusing on energy, finance, and military-linked technology. The measures must still be adopted unanimously by EU member states.

Energy: “It is time to turn off the tap”

According to the European Commission, von der Leyen announced a full ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports.

“Russia’s war economy is sustained by revenues from fossil fuels,” she said.

Rosneft and Gazpromneft would face full transaction bans, and 118 new vessels from Russia’s shadow fleet would be blacklisted.

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The package also includes penalties on oil buyers in third countries, including China.

“We are now going after those who fuel Russia’s war by purchasing oil in breach of the sanctions,” she stated.

Finance: crypto and banks under new restrictions

The EU would impose a transaction ban on more Russian banks and banks in third countries. For the first time, crypto platforms would be sanctioned. Transactions in cryptocurrencies and with entities in special economic zones would be restricted.

Military tech and indoctrination networks targeted

The proposal includes new export bans on items used on the battlefield, and sanctions on 45 companies supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex. Individuals involved in the indoctrination of abducted Ukrainian children would also be sanctioned.

Economy under pressure

“Our economic analysis is clear – our sanctions are severely affecting Russia’s economy,” von der Leyen said. She pointed to a 17% interest rate and high inflation. “Among the first Russian requests is, sanctions relief.”

Using frozen assets to fund Ukraine

Von der Leyen said the EU is preparing a plan to use cash tied to immobilized Russian assets to fund a Reparations Loan for Ukraine.

“Ukraine will only pay back the loan once Russia pays reparations,” she said.

Coordination and call to action

The sanctions will align with G7 measures under Canada’s presidency.

“We want Russia to leave the battlefield and come to the negotiating table,” von der Leyen said. “This is the way to give peace a real chance.”

An astonishing thing happened in Ukraine in September 2025: a Russian advanced half-million-dollar missile was shot down by a hundred-year-old weapon.

A Kyiv air defense volunteer operator stopped the Kh-69 cruise missile with a “Maksim” machine gun used by the Russian Empire and Soviet troops during World War II, UkrInform reports. 

Normally, Kh-69 missiles are intercepted in Ukraine with air-defense missile systems (SAMs) such as the Patriot and other MANPADS and AD systems. Shooting down a Kh-69 is an outstanding result because these missiles are designed to penetrate even high-capacity air-defense systems.

The hero with the call-sign “Hrek” and a weapon from the past

During the morning attack on 7 September, one of the Russian missiles hit the governmental building, and another was heading toward residential areas. Its flight was intercepted by a volunteer with the call-sign “Hrek,” who opened fire with a Maksim machine gun.

“The missile was flying very low, and large air-defense systems find it hard to spot. We requested permission to open fire and acted instantly. Hitting such a target with a ‘Maksim’ is a one-in-a-thousand chance, but we managed it,” the fighter said.

The Maksim machine gun is a heavy-mounted weapon with a liquid-cooled barrel developed in the early 20th century. It has a firing range of about 1,000 metres and an effective range of 2.5–3 km. 

During World War II, the Maksim was used to engage open group targets, support infantry in defense and attack, and be mounted on armoured trains, combat vehicles, and trucks.

Why was this shoot-down unique? 

The Kh-69 was flying at about 50 metres altitude at over 550 km per hour. Equipped with counter-jamming and interception-avoidance systems, it can penetrate even powerful air-defense arrays. In April 2024, a similar missile obliterated the Trypillia thermal power plant in Kyiv Oblast, causing widespread blackouts.

This time, after a series of shots, the missile began to smoke and fell several hundred metres from the positions. There were no casualties; only some cars were damaged.

“If it had hit a densely populated area the consequences would have been serious. Such a missile breaks into tens of sub-munitions,” the volunteer emphasized.

Half a million dollars versus $11

The missile costs about $500,000, while the expenditure on ammunition amounted to only $11.15.

“We spent $11 on rounds,” said Hrek. “But most importantly, he adds, “no one died, children and women remained alive.”

The volunteer serves in the “Legion D” formation of the separate “Center” company, where more than a hundred fighters defend Ukraine.

“When we go on duty, we stand as long as needed. We are here because we can defend and do something for victory,” the machine-gunner concluded.

Earlier, Russia launched a drone attack on Poland from the territory of Ukraine and Belarus. While deploying most modern NATO aircraft, including F-16 and F-35, which Ukraine does not have, the country only managed to down 4 out of 19 drones.

At the same time, Kyiv is capable of intercepting 500-600 Russian targets per night. Still, the country is not a member of the Alliance.