Exclusives

In Ukraine’s Vivaldi offensive, nobody rides in the BTR-60s. Bulgaria’s old troop carriers go into Russian bunkers packed with mines. Too thinly armored for infantry, 110 Bulgarian-donated BTR-60s now go into Russian bunkers near Lyman packed with anti-tank mines and nobody inside.

Europe and Ukraine already have the force to stop Russia. What’s missing is the alliance.. The war may reach Europe by 2027; NATO won't be ready until 2035. The fastest deterrent already exists: a declared alliance with Ukraine's combat-proven force.

Ukraine’s tanks are fighting from kilometers back. A 1960s Soviet model does that nearly as well. Ukraine captured more than 40 T-62Ms from Russia, mostly during the 2022 counteroffensives, and has not registered a confirmed combat loss since.

For years Ukraine could jam or switch off Russia’s battlefield comms. Rassvet may be the first it can’t. Sanctioning the firm behind Russia's Starlink won't stop it. It can make every satellite slower and costlier to build—and the clock is short.

Military

Russia drained the Kakhovka Reservoir. Now it hides in the dry bed to creep toward Zaporizhzhia. A frontline commander expects small Russian groups to slip into the city by winter. A leading analyst calls that far too categorical—and says the front is moving the other way.

Vivaldi counteroffensive advanced after Ukraine took Russia’s drones out of the fight, ISW assesses. Armored vehicles reached heavy Russian fortifications in the Lyman sector without coming under drone attack, which the analysts read as a sign of Ukrainian drone overmatch.

Russia’s mass drone attacks on Ukraine have a goal—likely Ukraine’s capitulation by spring 2027, ISW says. Until his new theory of victory has played out, Putin is unlikely to soften his demands or enter serious ceasefire talks, according to ISW.

Russia’s pipeline into Kupiansk is now its escape route—with kidnapped civilians as human shields, Ukraine says. Ukrainian drones filmed the column on 27 September. Khartia warned Russia could pass the footage off as an "evacuation" or "rescue" of civilians.

Ukraine makes local gains on Pokrovsk front despite sustained Russian attacks. The marines cleared 5 square kilometers and captured two Russian soldiers.

A Ukrainian Hornet drone hit a Russian radar 120 km behind the front. It was likely a $100 million Nebo-M. The strike is part of a push to cut Russian logistics and strip Russian forces of radar and electronic warfare systems, a brigade officer says.

Ukraine hits railways of Bryansk, Russia’s launchpad for strikes on Kyiv: downed bridge and 28 derailed cars, region’s governor says. Ukraine's drones reportedly hit the region's railways.

Intelligence and technology

Mavic vs Slavic: Ukrainian developers adapt reconnaissance drones to the modern battlefield. “The drone was developed as a Ukrainian alternative to Chinese commercial quadcopters,” Vyriy Industries said.

A Ukrainian firm now rents out drone jammers by the day—but the deposit is the device’s full price. The daily fee comes off a deposit worth the whole device—rent long enough and the jammer becomes yours.

Ukraine just caught a Geran-5 at 425 km/h—the jet drone that has often outrun Ukrainian interceptor drones since January. Ukrainian crews now stop just over half of Russia's jet-powered drones, against more than 90% of the older Shaheds, even as Moscow builds them by the thousand.

Russia is stepping up fake Ukrainian government pages as bait for recruiting agents, Ukraine’s security service says. Russian intelligence uses the counterfeits to spread disinformation and to harvest data on the Ukrainians who subscribe.

Russia is launching a faster Geran-5 at Ukraine that satellite jamming may no longer knock off course, a monitoring channel says. The drone can steer by images of the terrain below, and its extra speed makes it harder for interceptors to catch, though Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the system.

International

Russia ordered arson attack on Estonian military robot-maker supplying Ukraine, Estonia confirms. Estonia says its intelligence service established that Russia’s special services ordered the August fire at Milrem Robotics, as Russian sabotage operations spreads across Europe.

Belgium rushes three F-16s to Ukraine as Russia expands its drone and missile assault. Zelenskyy says the aircraft will arrive by the end of 2026, strengthening Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russian air targets and conduct combat missions.

Russian jet-powered drone hits near Yahodyn, just 1.5 km from Poland, as Warsaw changes air defense rules. Poland plans to allow decisions to engage aerial targets based on radar data.

Lithuania gets its US tank battalion back while the Pentagon weighs pulling up to 40,000 troops from Europe. The Lithuanian leader calls the decision an encouragement and says fewer American soldiers will remain on the continent overall.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russian troops enter homes and threaten starving Oleshky residents for food and alcohol, officials say. Residents who escaped the occupied Kherson Oblast city describe threats and abuse by Russian troops amid severe shortages of food, water, and medicine.

Russian mercenaries blew off African prisoners’ legs to practice battlefield medicine, Wagner fighter says. A Russian mercenary captured by Ukraine describes alleged Wagner training sessions where prisoners were deliberately maimed and killed so recruits could practice battlefield medicine and killing techniques.

Russia hits a Kharkiv high-rise overnight, injuring 43 people, then kills four in daylight strikes on central Kyiv and Dnipro. A pre-dawn strike on Ukraine's second city gave way to drone attacks on a business center and then a national science institution during working hours.

“Reminiscent of 11 September at World Trade Center”: Russia strikes Ukraine’s century-old National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv, people are climbing onto windows not to be buried alive

Political and legal developments

Russia raises its war budget by 27% and expands the army again – both to new records – even as its budget deficit widens and oil revenues fall. Moscow plans to spend a record 17.1 trillion rubles on defense in 2027 as it raises taxes and borrowing to cover a widening deficit.

The Kremlin calls mobilization talk “nonsense”—Zelenskyy says it has already begun, with North Korean reinforcements. The claim comes from Ukraine's military intelligence, which has tracked Russian preparations for a larger call-up for months.

War is costing Ukraine $155 billion per year. With Western aid running late, Kyiv is freezing everything but army, pensions, and public wages. Kyiv froze parks, fountains, and road repairs to pay its army and pensioners first.

After Russia hits Kyiv’s Academy of Sciences with jet-powered drone, the Kremlin says Ukraine must “pay a price”. Peskov calls Russia's intensified strikes part of that price.

Read our previous daily review here.

Exclusive

Ukraine’s tanks are fighting from kilometers back. A 1960s Soviet model does that nearly as well. Ukraine captured more than 40 T-62Ms from Russia, mostly during the 2022 counteroffensives, and has not registered a confirmed combat loss since.

Six minutes in March, two hours by August.Russia’s new satellite network may be the first comms system Ukraine can’t switch off. Sanctioning the firm behind Russia's Starlink won't stop it. It can make every satellite slower and costlier to build—and the clock is short.

Military

Ukraine makes local gains on Pokrovsk front despite sustained Russian attacks. The marines cleared 5 square kilometers and captured two Russian soldiers.

Ukraine hits railways of Bryansk, Russia’s launchpad for strikes on Kyiv: downed bridge and 28 derailed cars, region’s governor says. Ukraine's drones reportedly hit the region's railways.

Ukraine outfoxes Russia near Donetsk’s fortress belt with Soviet BTR-60s rebuilt as kamikaze robots, storms a key hub and takes 250 Russian prisoners. Russia burned its reserves on a feint while the 3rd Army Corps took Nove, closing Vivaldi's decisive third season, its commander says.

Ukraine hits two fuel depots in Krasnodar Krai, southern Russia, in one night—both wholesale diesel and gasoline. Residents of Novotitarovskaya, 25 km from Krasnodar, reported at least six explosions near the railway before the fires started..

Intelligence and technology

A Ukrainian Hornet drone hit a Russian radar 120 km behind the front. It was likely a $100 million Nebo-M. The strike is part of a push to cut Russian logistics and strip Russian forces of radar and electronic warfare systems, a brigade officer says.

Russia is launching a faster Geran-5 at Ukraine that satellite jamming may no longer knock off course, a monitoring channel says. The drone can steer by images of the terrain below, and its extra speed makes it harder for interceptors to catch, though Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the system.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russia’s pipeline into Kupiansk is now its escape route—with kidnapped civilians as human shields, Ukraine says. Ukrainian drones filmed the column on 27 September. Khartia warned Russia could pass the footage off as an "evacuation" or "rescue" of civilians.

Russia hits a Kharkiv high-rise overnight, injuring 43 people, then kills four in daylight strikes on central Kyiv and Dnipro. A pre-dawn strike on Ukraine's second city gave way to drone attacks on a business center and then a national science institution during working hours.

“Reminiscent of 11 September at World Trade Center”: Russia strikes Ukraine’s century-old National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv, people are climbing onto windows not to be buried alive.

Ukraine’s disclosure of secret North Korean POW transfer sparks South Korea’s demand for an apology. Seoul says Kyiv broke a promise to keep the transfer of two North Korean soldiers quiet, and Kyiv says it never made one.

Political and legal developments

War is costing Ukraine $155 billion per year. With Western aid running late, Kyiv is freezing everything but army, pensions, and public wages. Kyiv froze parks, fountains, and road repairs to pay its army and pensioners first.

After Russia hits Kyiv’s Academy of Sciences with jet-powered drone, the Kremlin says Ukraine must “pay a price”. Peskov calls Russia's intensified strikes part of that price.

New developments

Russia’s mass drone attacks on Ukraine have a goal—likely Ukraine’s capitulation by spring 2027, ISW says. Until his new theory of victory has played out, Putin is unlikely to soften his demands or enter serious ceasefire talks, according to ISW.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Military

Ukraine destroys record 76 Russian air-defense systems this month, losses analyst says Russia "will never be able to restore". The 76 systems destroyed this month beat a record from July 2023.

Russia's air defenses can't protect all its strategic sites once Ukraine's ballistic missiles are ready, expert says. Russia's best interceptors cluster around the capital.

Intelligence and technology

Combat shows speed alone can't catch Russia's jet-powered drones, despite eight Ukrainian makers' assurances. So why can't they stop them?. Eight makers said their interceptors were ready last winter. They weren't.

Pentagon brings in Ukrainian jamming maker to do to its candidate drones what Russia does to Ukraine's, and see which survives. Unwave brought four electronic-warfare systems to a US base to jam the drones the Pentagon is choosing to buy.

War's next tech leap: Former Ukraine's defense minister behind "Army of Drones" is now creating new "Army of Robots". The architect of Ukraine's "Army of Drones" wants robots to do the deadliest work.

International

Asked if Ukraine would send troops to defend NATO, Zelenskyy offered something else: know-how to stop drones now reaching its neighbors. Zelenskyy says Ukraine will share its drone-defense experience with partners facing Russian attacks, NATO or not, through the Drone Deal pacts.

Built by Ukrainian officers from real combat, DWAC course is now "NATO Selected". It has trained officers from over 10 countries.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Military

They say Dobropillia is encircled, but they are actually 10+ km away: ISW publishes map disproving Russia's claim. Russia is using this to divert attention from its setbacks north of Lyman, the think tank says.

Intelligence and technology

Ukraine's soldiers cracked problem US chased for 30 years. It went from idea to combat in 10 days.

A report says US intelligence warned France of Russian ship-launched drones. France denies it. The Spanish outlet El Mundo described explosive drones hidden on merchant ships. Italy called the alert unconfirmed. Spain and the CIA have not responded.

Seventeen makers head to Michigan to test bomber drones for the Pentagon, and Ukrainian firms are back in field, some under US partners. Seventeen companies, including Ukrainian firms and partners fielding their drones, will test bomber drones at Camp Grayling in October.

Ukraine's new military AI does more than watch the battlefield—it helps commanders plan what comes next. The Defense Ministry's AI center says its SPECTR system is already being tested by several combat units.

Ukraine is opening access to 5 million frames of real combat to 12 British weapons makers to train AI. Up to 12 British defense companies can train AI models on real battlefield data through Avengers Labs.

"Killing Ukraine's internet would take nuclear or chemical weapons"—MiroHost founder whose data center Russia just destroyed. Most critical Ukrainian data and systems are already in the cloud and abroad—destroying data centers in Kyiv cannot bring the country offline.

A bottle of flammable liquid in Poland, a nuclear option on a Russian wish-list—the hunt for Starlink widens. Strip Starlink from Ukraine and its army goes blind—the calculation driving a Russian proposal to knock the satellite network out by any means available.

Ukraine's Mirage had killed a cruise missile on its first combat sortie. France just sent more of the missiles that reach 80 km. France arms Ukraine's Mirages with MICA missiles and cannon ammo, tripling to quadrupling the jets' cruise missile engagement range.

Zelenskyy says Ukraine has agreed on a new Patriot interceptor package—won't say with whom. The president told the Ukrainian community in the US that a package of interceptor missiles for Patriot systems had been agreed, keeping the partner secret while calling it "an important decision."

International

ISW connects drone crashes in Moldova and Romania, a Starlink fire in Poland, and a Berlin airport shutdown into one Russian pattern. The institute connects drone crashes in Moldova and Romania, arson at a Polish Starlink station, and a Berlin airport shutdown into a single pattern of Russian pressure on European defense infrastructure.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russia strikes second civilian ship in Black Sea in six days, killing both captains to choke route that carries 90 percent of Ukraine's farm exports. The attack set the vessel on fire and triggered a rescue operation for its surviving crew.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Exclusives

Two plants make 70% of Ukraine’s steel. Russia hit both. Then ports closed, rail costs rose 30%, and the EU’s carbon tax kicked in. The head of Ukraine's largest steel plant says the government needs a single rescue document with deadlines and assigned agencies, because each problem stalls when handled alone.

Military

For the 17th or 18th time, Putin promised to take Donetsk "in a few months" – Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy says Russia has spent nearly five years trying to seize Donetsk, suffering nearly 249,000 troops killed or severely wounded this year for only slightly more than 1,000 square kilometers of territorial gains.

He started as a driver. Now he pilots Ukraine's heavy strike drones. He started on the Vampire, then taught himself three more airframes, so when Russian jamming grounds one, he keeps flying on the next.

Russia strikes Kyiv with ballistic and hypersonic missiles, damaging maternity hospital amid US-led push for energy truce. US-led efforts to secure a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure are underway.

He swore to defend Ukraine, then switched to Russia when it seized Crimea. Twelve years later, Ukrainian FPV drone found him commanding Russian regiment. Colonel Oleksandr Isaiev, a Mykolaiv native who switched to Russia during the seizure of Crimea, died in an FPV drone strike.

Ukraine's Vivaldi counteroffensive near Lyman just got help from behind Russian lines: partisans say they cut rail supply to three Russian regiments, no explosion needed. ATESH says it disabled four relay cabinets in Voronezh Oblast, which helped a Russian operation in Donetsk Oblast.

Vivaldi erased Russia's Lyman pincer. Now Moscow is pushing toward Sloviansk instead. DeepState says Ukraine stopped one Russian approach to its fortified Donetsk cities. Moscow is pressing another.

Intelligence and technology

Russia spreads false encirclement claims from Dobropillia to Kharkiv — ISW. Russian bloggers claimed they could target Dobropillia's supply roads. Ukraine said its troops have kept the routes open.

Russian-linked software sold to US government as CEO allegedly hid Russian control – two now arrested. US prosecutors accuse Oxygen Forensics' CEO and a Russian national of concealing Russian ownership and software development while selling digital forensics tools to federal agencies.

Ukraine put robots where its soldiers used to die clearing mines—and lost none. Sent into kill zones too deadly for people, the machines clear paths, mine enemy routes, and evacuate the wounded.

OpenAI hands Ukraine a free AI system to guard its hospitals and power plants from hackers. It runs on its own, spotting flaws in Kyiv's networks and sealing them before intruders slip in, and arrives as Russia keeps striking the same targets by air.

Russia's sanctioned propaganda network Rybar freely roamed Schengen zone to shoot manipulative content. Czech journalists caught Rybar operatives posing as documentary filmmakers in Prague, who fled when confronted by reporters from Seznam Zprávy.

Russia fabricates Dobropillia encirclement to strengthen its case for Kyiv's capitulation at UN – ISW. Ukrainian officers describe active fighting around the Donetsk Oblast transport hub.

Year ago, only 12 Ukrainian brigades could order weapons online. Now, 500 units participate in revolutionary program that has delivered 1.3 million drones to front. DOT-Chain Defense lets frontline units order their own drones and gear.

Russia is mapping everyday targets across Kyiv, from trolleybus depots to Zhuliany airport, top monitoring channel says, ahead of ballistic strike. Meanwhile, Ukraine is racing to defend Kyiv against jet drones before winter.

Ukraine's new drone ferries FPV drones deep behind Russian lines and releases them there. It costs about $9,900 and does three other jobs too. The KARA can drop bombs, relay signals, ferry FPV drones to the front, or strike, and it is on sale on Ukraine's state marketplace.

A former US nuclear-sub commander, a Ukrainian fund, and a plan to shield Odesa with drone swarms. Ukraine can't fully export its weapons yet, but its battle-tested tech is so in demand that two Ukrainian players just went to Denmark.

Old American armor, new Ukrainian brain: Skelya regiment nears completion of M1117 unmanned conversion. The regiment's Innovation Center is finishing a project to remotely control an armored vehicle based on a chassis originally designed during the Vietnam War era.

International

EU approves nearly €3 billion for Ukraine as Kyiv meets more reform targets. The latest payment brings EU support under the Ukraine Facility to more than €32 billion, while Norway adds €92 million in non-repayable funding.

Russian attack puts three countries on alert as drones enter Moldova and Romania. Moldovan police preliminarily identified the drone that exploded beside a farm as a camera-equipped Gerbera, the first of its type found in the country.

Russia could launch limited attacks on NATO in coming months, escalating hybrid warfare without being ready for full-scale conflict, Denmark warns. Russia could launch limited attacks on NATO to divert European resources away from Ukraine and exploit divisions within the alliance, Denmark's defense intelligence service warns.

Russians guard Madagascar's parliament speaker as Moscow builds Indian Ocean foothold – RFE/RL. Russia also trains Madagascar's troops and may recruit workers for drones used against Ukraine.

Zelenskyy asks Japan for air-defense technology and offers Ukraine's drones in return, while courting Chile to expand Ukraine's reach in Latin America. Once dependent on donated weapons, Ukraine now trades its battle-tested drone expertise for the protection and partners it still can't supply itself.

Russia may target southern Europe with drones launched from merchant ships—El Mundo. The drones' small explosive payloads could temporarily close airports or ports without causing widespread destruction, the outlet says.

A fresh $42 million, new sanctions, and a seat in the coalition rebuilding Ukraine's Navy. Australia just signed its long-term security pact with Ukraine. The pact bundles weapons, energy, and humanitarian aid, widens sanctions to nearly 1,900 measures, and brings Canberra's total support to nearly $1.3 billion.

“Food must never be used as a weapon”: EU calls for Black Sea attack moratorium. The push comes as attacks have made the route increasingly dangerous and costly for commercial shipping, threatening a key trade lifeline for Ukraine and a major source of food for global markets.

Humanitarian and social impact

Eight months of 2026 brought more Ukrainian civilian casualties than all of last year, UN says. A senior UN official told the Security Council the toll is worsening as strikes reach cities far from the front, with a dark winter ahead.

Political and legal developments

Croatia approves Ukrainian Nord Stream suspect's extradition to Germany despite Polish refusal. The diver's lawyers plan to appeal in Croatia and international courts, while Zhuravliov plans to announce an indefinite hunger strike.

Read our previous daily review here.

Exclusive

Two plants make 70% of Ukraine's steel. Russia hit both. Then ports closed, rail costs rose 30%, and the EU's carbon tax kicked in. The head of Ukraine's largest steel plant says the government needs a single rescue document with deadlines and assigned agencies, because each problem stalls when handled alone.

Vivaldi's secret weapon was the targeting, not the robots: Third Corps reconnaissance mapped Russian command nodes, then hit them to cause panic. The officer said disrupting command and communications was one of the tasks set directly by the corps commander, with brigade and corps intelligence identifying the areas to strike.

Ukraine's chief prosecutor fled. Politicians still choose the man who can prosecute them.. He is only the latest prosecutor general to leave the office in disgrace, and the office is the reason.

Military

Russia fabricates Dobropillia encirclement to strengthen its case for Kyiv's capitulation at UN – ISW. Ukrainian officers describe active fighting around the Donetsk Oblast transport hub.

Russia is mapping everyday targets across Kyiv, from trolleybus depots to Zhuliany airport, top monitoring channel says, ahead of next ballistic strike. Meanwhile, Ukraine is racing to defend Kyiv against jet drones before winter.

He swore to defend Ukraine, then switched to Russia when it seized Crimea. Twelve years later, Ukrainian FPV drone found him commanding Russian regiment. Colonel Oleksandr Isaiev, a Mykolaiv native who switched to Russia during the seizure of Crimea, died in an FPV drone strike.

Ukraine's Vivaldi counteroffensive near Lyman just got help from behind Russian lines: partisans say they cut rail supply to three Russian regiments, no explosion needed. ATESH says it disabled four relay cabinets in Voronezh Oblast, which helped a Russian operation in Donetsk Oblast.

Vivaldi erased Russia's Lyman pincer. Now Moscow is pushing toward Sloviansk instead. DeepState says Ukraine stopped one Russian approach to its fortified Donetsk cities. Moscow is pressing another.

Foreign volunteers retrain as drone operators as Ukraine's battlefield changes. Some of the Western volunteers who came to Ukraine to fight on the ground are now learning to operate FPV drones as unmanned systems take on a growing role in combat.

Intelligence and technology

Year ago, only 12 Ukrainian brigades could order weapons online. Now, 500 units participate in revolutionary program that has delivered 1.3 million drones to front. DOT-Chain Defense lets frontline units order their own drones and gear.

Ukraine's new drone ferries FPV drones deep behind Russian lines and releases them there. It costs about $9,900 and does three other jobs too. The KARA can drop bombs, relay signals, ferry FPV drones to the front, or strike, and it is on sale on Ukraine's state marketplace.

A former US nuclear-sub commander, a Ukrainian fund, and a plan to shield Odesa with drone swarms. Ukraine can't fully export its weapons yet — but its battle-tested tech is so in demand that two Ukrainian players just went to Denmark.

Old American armor, new Ukrainian brain: Skelya regiment nears completion of M1117 unmanned conversion. The regiment's Innovation Center is finishing a project to remotely control an armored vehicle based on a chassis originally designed during the Vietnam War era.

Strike copters lead Ukraine's 650 new military drone approvals—jam-proof and interceptor models close behind. By July, Ukraine's drone approval tally was running more than 30% ahead of last year, with the count reaching 650 by September.

International

Europe is overreacting to Russian threats, Finland's president says—his intelligence sees no imminent danger. Stubb says the main goal of Russian sabotage abroad is to spread panic so that partners provide less support to Ukraine.

Humanitarian and social impact

"Food must never be used as a weapon": EU calls for Black Sea attack moratorium. The push comes as attacks have made the route increasingly dangerous and costly for commercial shipping, threatening a key trade lifeline for Ukraine and a major source of food for global markets.

Russia is spending jet-powered drones on Ukraine's toilet-paper factory. It's same campaign that has destroyed 2.1 million square meters of Ukraine's warehouses. Snow Panda, a maker of toilet paper and wipes, lost its warehouse to a second Russian strike, months after a missile hit its main hub and injured workers.

Political and legal developments

$16 bn or lives of Ukrainians: Kyiv is furious after EU took two of Russia's richest men off its sanctions list. Usmanov and Fridman were dropped over a prisoner deal and a $16bn lawsuit.

New developments

Russia's sanctioned propaganda network Rybar freely roamed Schengen zone to shoot manipulative content. Czech journalists caught Rybar operatives posing as documentary filmmakers in Prague—they fled when confronted by reporters from Seznam Zprávy.

Explosives found meters from the drone that crashed near a Bundeswehr air base—investigators say it matches the GRU's Leipzig attack devices. The federal prosecutor and Germany's criminal police have taken over the case, and the drone may have been near the A400M transport fleet hub for up to two years.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Exclusives

Ukraine's chief prosecutor fled. Politicians still choose the man who can prosecute them.. He is only the latest prosecutor general to leave the office in disgrace, and the office is the reason.

Military

Ukraine's Donetsk counteroffensive wins not by force but by stealth: it gathers troops under Russian nose and seizes two villages before they react. A 60th Brigade captain says a concealed buildup near Derylove and Drobysheve, and precisely timed strikes, let his units move in before Russia responded.

Ukraine shoots down Russian drones by hundred thousand: 350,000 this year, filmed and verified hit by hit in DELTA. The tally dwarfs what NATO manages against a handful of Russian drones.

300 Russian shadow fleet ships disabled in 11 weeks—the Azov Sea is at a standstill, Ukrainian drone force commander says. The milestone marks a jump from the 201 reported in late July, though the pace has slowed as shipping traffic in the strike zone thinned out.

Russia is holding Ukraine's south with convicts: 69 percent have records. And they're fighting where civilians live. A third enlisted to escape prosecution, most are over 30, Ukraine's South grouping says.

Ukraine shut down this Samara refinery in June—now its drones are back, and both distillation units are burning again. The Kuibyshev plant had barely restarted when FP-1 drones struck its AVT-4 and AVT-5 installations overnight, and by morning smoke covered the oblast.

Intelligence and technology

Arms makers in Ukraine sign first 26 deals in program that lets them lease equipment for 5% of cost, with state paying other 95%. The state covers all but 5% of the cost, and the first 26 deals have been signed to help producers buy equipment and expand quickly.

Ukraine's new interceptor drone moves toward mass production after first kills against jet-powered Russian drones that fly like cruise missiles. The push comes as faster Russian drones can cut Ukrainian mobile fire groups' reaction time from about a minute to as little as six seconds.

Danish defense startup guarding undersea cables runs on 15 Ukrainian suppliers. Ukrainian fund is putting in €2 million in it. BlueShadow, run by a former US Navy sub commander but engineered in Ukraine, is building drone defenses for coasts and undersea cables.

International

Ukraine offers Russia deal: stop hitting our power, and we stop hitting yours. US will pass it to Moscow. The US will pass Ukraine's mutual energy-truce offer to Russia and has made no unilateral demands of Kyiv to stop striking Russia.

NATO's top generals meet in Copenhagen with Ukraine at top of agenda, as warnings grow that Russia may strike Alliance next. The Alliance's Military Committee reaffirmed support for Kyiv and named Germany's Carsten Breuer its next chair, as its chief warned of Russia's "reckless behaviour."

Germany cut Russian gas after 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Now, its far-right AfD party is in talks with Gazprom to bring it back, and Kremlin welcomes decision. Its foreign-policy speaker met Gazprom's chief in Moscow to discuss resuming supplies.

Last September, Poland downed four of 19 Russian drones. This September, drone reached NATO's missile shield in Redzikowo, and troops guarding it called 112. The military did not shoot it down near Redzikowo, and the ministry won't say whether it tried, reviving doubts about Poland's drone defenses.

Trump announced a "massive" potash deal with Belarus—Lukashenka said the same day there is no spare potash to sell. The US President touted cheaper Belarusian fertilizer as a win for American farmers, but Minsk said every ton is already spoken for.

Moldova counted 39 Russian drone incursions in eight months, against 17 in all of 2025. Its president says three decades without air defense cannot be undone in five years.

Trump demanded Zelenskyy stop hitting Russian refineries—for the second time in a week. Two months ago Trump called the same strikes an escalation that could end the war—now he wants them stopped because of diesel prices.

Humanitarian and social impact

Egypt shifts wheat purchases away from Russia and Ukraine as Black Sea trade costs rise. Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on each other's commercial shipping since July, raising war-risk costs and disrupting key grain routes across the Black Sea.

Russia militarizes children from kindergarten to drone training in occupied Ukraine, monitor says. The pipeline starts in kindergarten and runs through military games, cadet classes, and drone training—and the numbers dwarf what Yunarmia alone shows, a new monitor series reveals.

Born in the USSR, claimed stateless in Finland, fighting for Ukraine—now jailed in Russia. Burkina Faso's Russia-backed junta seized him in Ouagadougou and handed him secretly to Russia, where Moscow's Basmanny Court—the tribunal used for politically sensitive cases—sealed his verdict.

New developments

Russia's mercenaries brought a Ukraine-war drone to Mali. It came down near al-Qaeda's fighters. Cornered for over a week near Dioura, the Africa Corps fired the Russian drone at al-Qaeda-linked fighters as it broke out—then the fighters downed it, a monitoring account says.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Exclusive

Europe gave Russia years to perfect its aerial killing. Ukraine is paying the price. Europe may be next.. Russia has spent four years adapting its drones, missiles and tactics against Ukraine. As Russian attacks become harder to stop, Ukrainian civilians are paying the price – while Europe is increasingly worried about a threat it has had years to prepare for.

"A warning to companies that remain": Russia takes control of Nestlé and Auchan's assets – companies that stayed in Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The companies had been warned that remaining in Russia could expose their investments to seizure as the Kremlin increasingly uses foreign-owned businesses as leverage. B4Ukraine says companies should leave while they still can.

Military

Russia has warned its cities about every strike for years. During the heaviest raid yet, on election day, it left the sirens silent. The backlash came even from Russia's own pro-war bloggers, as a major Moscow refinery burned on the final day of voting.

Ukraine is saving Donetsk Oblast with world's first-of-its-kind operation: Vivaldi counteroffensive drops robots directly from heavy bombers 10 kilometers behind Russian lines. Heavy drones delivered the robots more than 10 kilometers into the Russian rear during Operation Vivaldi near Lyman.

Intelligence and technology

Russia's threat isn't better missile, it's 14,000 cheap ones. Its new deadly weapon was built in early 1990s, experts say. The cheap, air-launched Dan-T is built to be fired by the thousand, piling onto the drones and missiles already straining Ukraine's air defense.

Ukraine spent year ignoring one Russian drone-control tech, and now Geran-5 flies on it. President's adviser warns next one, from space, is worse. A Ukrainian adviser calls it a coming "small catastrophe"

Ukraine builds app to cut soldiers' paperwork. It has just saved them $40 million, mostly on fuel. The Pluses program in Army+ just added M-Tac as its 40th partner.

Russia's secret drone math: one Tatarstan plant could yield 28,000 more drone bodies a year. Leaked Rosatom documents describe a Tatarstan carbon fiber plant that could lift Russia's Shahed-type drone output 78% by 2029.

International

NATO would strike back if Russia attacks, Polish FM says he warned Moscow. The Polish foreign minister said the warning was intended to deter Russia from taking action that could trigger a wider conflict.

Warning sirens are going west: Russian jet-powered drones bring strikes closer to NATO country. Poland is expanding its warning-siren network as officials prepare for more Russian attacks near the border.

Political and legal developments

Ukraine says foreign defense suppliers owe country about $10.58 billion, including $1.7 billion already paid for goods delivered late or never at all. A $22,400 legal bill stands between Ukraine and $403 million owed by foreign arms suppliers.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Exclusives

Europe gave Russia years to perfect its aerial killing. Ukraine is paying the price. Europe may be next.. Russia has spent four years adapting its drones, missiles and tactics against Ukraine. As Russian attacks become harder to stop, Ukrainian civilians are paying the price – while Europe is increasingly worried about a threat it has had years to prepare for.

“A warning to companies that remain”: Russia takes control of Nestlé and Auchan’s assets – companies that stayed in Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The companies had been warned that remaining in Russia could expose their investments to seizure as the Kremlin increasingly uses foreign-owned businesses as leverage. B4Ukraine says companies should leave while they still can.

Military

Ukraine retakes ground in a region Russia has fought for years to capture. “Vivaldi” is only getting started but is already “one of the most important victories for Ukraine in 2026” Ukraine’s Third Army Corps says its counteroffensive has retaken three settlements and 50 square kilometers of occupied territory in northern Donetsk, potentially delaying Russia’s planned offensive in the northern Donbas.

Ukraine’s long-range strikes reach Moscow’s fuel supply as Russia votes in State Duma elections A Ukrainian strike damaged the Moscow Oil Refinery, a major fuel supplier for the capital and surrounding region, as Russia held the second day of its State Duma elections.

Ukraine’s Vivaldi operation cleared 85 square kilometers near Lyman. A soldier who fought it says one thing was hardest of all Well-sited Russian defenders spot an assault group crossing open ground and fight it at a distance, he says.

Ukraine’s most effective units, Azov among them, need reinforcements. So National Guard is opening recruitment center aimed only at foreigners The center will send foreign volunteers into contract service as Ukraine leans on outside recruits to fill a manpower gap.

One machine handles 52% of a Russian oil plant—Ukrainian drones just hit it Satellite images show Ukrainian FP-1 drones hit the crude unit that handles 52% of Russia’s TANECO refinery, 1,200 km from Ukraine.

Drones hit Rostov-on-Don for the second straight night—OSINT monitors say the military airbase was likely the target again The local authorities confirmed more than 50 drones downed overnight but said nothing about the airfield where Ukraine reportedly destroyed three aircraft and three helicopters the previous night.

Ukraine’s snipers didn’t vanish in the drone war—their job changed beyond recognition Up to 154 pounds on their backs, weeks at one position, a thermal scope always running—modern sniping is far more watching than shooting.

Russia was sure the terrain made this village impossible to take—Ukraine walked in anyway Days of reconnaissance, drone strikes, and artillery went into the 66th Brigade’s push on Serednie. When the village fell, Russian channels called the liberation footage an AI fake.

Intelligence and technology

North Korea has fired around 150 ballistic missiles at Ukraine, learning from each one. Same missiles threaten Japan, and Kyiv just shows its speaker what is inside them The components come from a missile Russia fired at Ukraine, and Kyiv’s spies argue the same North Korean weapons threaten Japan too.

What are “S-300 Clone” and GAM-67 in America’s new $2.68 billion package for Ukraine? Experts think they have answer Labeled “S-300 Clone,” the new US missiles would reportedly let Ukraine keep its Soviet launchers firing.

Defender Media: Ukraine’s battle-tested drone makers reach no top slot in Pentagon’s $1.1 billion Drone Dominance program, but some Ukrainian technology wins anyway American firms took every top slot, but some Ukrainian tech won quietly under Western partners.

Russia is using inaccurate missiles that can miss by hundreds of meters to attack Ukrainian cities – and plans to scale them up Russia is increasingly using RM48U missiles originally designed as air-defense training targets to attack Ukraine. Their large margin of error makes them especially dangerous when fired at Ukrainian cities, where they can strike civilian areas far from any intended targets.

International

Ukraine and Hungary have a rare moment of cooperation, agreeing to build fuel storage beyond Russia’s reach The planned storage facilities in Hungary near the Ukrainian border will help Ukraine diversify fuel supplies as Russia continues attacking energy infrastructure.

At camp Norway built in Polish forest, NATO trainers admit Ukraine’s army now moves faster than their own Ukraine’s wartime tempo outpaces NATO armies, whose slow procurement Western trainers in Poland say Ukraine’s experience is exposing.

Russia plans ”accidental” drone strikes on NATO countries, Tusk says Tusk said the tactic could be used to test whether NATO would act if an attack on one of its members could be presented as a mistake.

EU pledges €3.3 billion for Ukraine, von der Leyen says “more is coming” as Russia’s escalating air war makes life in Ukrainian cities increasingly difficult The new funding comes as Ukraine appeals for more air defense to counter increasingly complex Russian attacks, including advanced missile and drone strikes on Kyiv.

Belarus holds military drills around the Suwalki Gap, NATO’s only land link to the Baltics Minsk says troops are guarding infrastructure, manning checkpoints, and practicing against saboteurs and drones. It has not disclosed the total number of personnel involved.

“What Ukraine needs right now”: Poland to provide Ukraine with scarce F-16 missiles to shoot down jet-powered drones The aid package will also include aviation equipment, Poland’s deputy defense minister says.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russia has already destroyed more than two-fifths of Ukraine’s modern warehouse space as it escalates attacks on economic infrastructure – FT 2.1 million square meters of warehouse capacity have been destroyed as Russian strikes increasingly target the infrastructure Ukraine needs to store and move goods.

Russian e-commerce will lose $4.8 billion to the drone campaign against its warehouses, analysts estimate Analysts cut a whole year’s growth forecast for Russian online retail by a fifth, and blamed the strikes alone.

Thousands are starving in occupied Oleshky. People have no food, no way out, and Russian forces bomb incoming aid More than 6,000 people, including around 200 children, may remain trapped in the Russian-occupied city, where civilians lack food, water and medicine and some are risking mined fields to escape.

Russia’s war has devastated Donetsk Oblast, with losses already exceeding $26 billion The preliminary estimate covers destroyed industry, energy infrastructure, agriculture, transport, and other sectors, while much of the damage remains impossible to assess.

Russia kills captain of Tanzanian-flagged ship in latest attack on civilian shipping in Black Sea Russia has repeatedly attacked civilian shipping around Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, putting international crews and maritime trade at risk.

Political and legal developments

Russia paid a recruit to vandalize London mosques and make it look like a homegrown hate crime A Ukrainian man has pleaded guilty to the attacks. Direct Action UK, a fake British far-right group, then circulated images of the graffiti.

Stop arming Ukraine or we shut down your defense firms, pro-Kremlin group tells Latvia, Poland, and Portugal Latvia’s security service has opened a terrorism case and jailed one suspect, with the group’s deadline set for 7 October.

Read our previous daily review here.

Exclusives

“A warning to companies that remain”: Russia takes control of Nestlé and Auchan’s assets – companies that stayed in Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The companies had been warned that remaining in Russia could expose their investments to seizure as the Kremlin increasingly uses foreign-owned businesses as leverage. B4Ukraine says companies should leave while they still can.

“I can travel back to Finland and be safe. That is a luxury”: Sanna Marin on the Russian strike that stopped her train from Kyiv. The former Finnish prime minister has visited Ukraine around ten times since the full-scale invasion. This trip, she says, had more air-raid alarms than any of them, and a Russian drone hit the train travelling beside hers to the Polish border.

Military

Russia is using inaccurate missiles that can miss by hundreds of meters to attack Ukrainian cities — and plans to scale them up. Russia is increasingly using RM48U missiles originally designed as air-defense training targets to attack Ukraine. Their large margin of error makes them especially dangerous when fired at Ukrainian cities, where they can strike civilian areas far from any intended targets.

One machine handles 52% of a Russian oil plant—Ukrainian drones just hit it. Satellite images show Ukrainian FP-1 drones hit the crude unit that handles 52% of Russia's TANECO refinery, 1,200 km from Ukraine.

Drones hit Rostov-on-Don for the second straight night—OSINT monitors say the military airbase was likely the target again. The local authorities confirmed more than 50 drones downed overnight but said nothing about the airfield where Ukraine reportedly destroyed three aircraft and three helicopters the previous night.

Ukraine's snipers didn't vanish in the drone war—their job changed beyond recognition. Up to 154 pounds on their backs, weeks at one position, a thermal scope always running—modern sniping is far more watching than shooting.

Russia was sure the terrain made this village impossible to take—Ukraine walked in anyway. Days of reconnaissance, drone strikes, and artillery went into the 66th Brigade's push on Serednie. When the village fell, Russian channels called the liberation footage an AI fake.

Russian e-commerce will lose $4.8 billion to the drone campaign against its warehouses, analysts estimate. Analysts cut a whole year's growth forecast for Russian online retail by a fifth, and blamed the strikes alone.

Russia kills captain of Tanzanian-flagged ship in latest attack on civilian shipping in Black Sea. Russia has repeatedly attacked civilian shipping around Ukraine's Black Sea ports, putting international crews and maritime trade at risk.

No missiles intercepted again: Russia strikes Kyiv water infrastructure amid warnings of harsher winter attacks. Russia also struck residential areas in Odesa and Zaporizhzhia, injuring civilians and damaging homes and other civilian infrastructure.

Ukraine strikes two Russian S-400 launchers in Bryansk. The same systems were used to attack Kyiv overnight. Ukraine is increasingly targeting systems Russia uses to launch missiles at its cities as Kyiv faces shortages of high-end interceptors.

A fifth of Russian refining sits idle, and the sector's earnings still grew. The money is being made on prices and state compensation rather than on the volumes the front line actually needs.

One pincer stalled a year ago, the other has just been broken near Kostiantynivka—Russia's ring will not close, Ukrainian commander says. Frontal assaults on fortified cities cost far more men and time than closing a ring behind them would have.

Intelligence and technology

Russia paid a recruit to vandalize London mosques and make it look like a homegrown hate crime. A Ukrainian man has pleaded guilty to the attacks. Direct Action UK, a fake British far-right group, then circulated images of the graffiti.

Stop arming Ukraine or we shut down your defense firms, pro-Kremlin group tells Latvia, Poland, and Portugal. Latvia's security service has opened a terrorism case and jailed one suspect, with the group's deadline set for 7 October.

Ukraine kept this strike drone secret for two years—its maker says it has destroyed more than 350 Russian systems. Ukraine's RAM-2X had been hunting Russian air defense systems and ballistic missile launchers, and the silence ended only when wrecked drones reached Russian hands.

International

Russia plans "accidental" drone strikes on NATO countries, Tusk says. Tusk said the tactic could be used to test whether NATO would act if an attack on one of its members could be presented as a mistake.

EU pledges €3.3 billion for Ukraine, von der Leyen says "more is coming" as Russia's escalating air war makes life in Ukrainian cities increasingly difficult. The new funding comes as Ukraine appeals for more air defense to counter increasingly complex Russian attacks, including advanced missile and drone strikes on Kyiv.

Belarus holds military drills around the Suwalki Gap, NATO's only land link to the Baltics. Minsk says troops are guarding infrastructure, manning checkpoints, and practicing against saboteurs and drones. It has not disclosed the total number of personnel involved.

Poland to provide Ukraine with scarce F-16 missiles to shoot down jet-powered drones — "What Ukraine needs right now." The aid package will also include aviation equipment, Poland's deputy defense minister says.

Fire temporarily shuts part of Slovak ammunition plant amid plans to triple capacity. The company operating the factory plans to triple its annual capacity of roughly 100,000 shell bodies and holds a seven-year agreement to supply EU states.

The EU has billions in unspent defense funds. It wants to use them for projects with Ukraine. The plan could bring more Ukrainian defense companies into Europe's growing defense industry.

Humanitarian and social impact

Thousands are starving in occupied Oleshky. People have no food, no way out, and Russian forces bomb incoming aid. More than 6,000 people, including around 200 children, may remain trapped in the Russian-occupied city, where civilians lack food, water and medicine and some are risking mined fields to escape.

Russia's war has devastated Donetsk Oblast, with losses already exceeding $26 billion. The preliminary estimate covers destroyed industry, energy infrastructure, agriculture, transport, and other sectors, while much of the damage remains impossible to assess.

Ukraine receives 252 bodies as repatriation remains one of the few functioning channels with Russia. The repatriation of bodies gives families of missing Ukrainians a chance to identify their loved ones and finally bury them.

From the frontline to a rehab center: a rescued dog from Pokrovsk now helps wounded Ukrainians on the other side of the country. A rescued puppy from Pokrovsk now has an unusual volunteer role: visiting wounded Ukrainians at a rehabilitation center in Lviv.

Political and legal developments

Kyiv's arms industry wants to kill the export fee. Parliament just refused to route that money to the army. Ukraine's arms makers want the 20-30% export fee scrapped as Europe's defense market opens—while parliament won't route the cash to the army.

The US House just passed the first major Russia oil sanctions in two years—one signature stands between them and law. Named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham, it clears the way for tariffs of up to 100% on China, India, and the other top buyers of Russian energy.

Read our previous daily review here.

Exclusives

“I can travel back to Finland and be safe. That is a luxury”: Sanna Marin on the Russian strike that stopped her train from Kyiv. The former Finnish prime minister has visited Ukraine around ten times since the full-scale invasion. This trip, she says, had more air-raid alarms than any of them, and a Russian drone hit the train travelling beside hers to the Polish border.

Military

No missiles intercepted again: Russia strikes Kyiv water infrastructure amid warnings of harsher winter attacks. Russia also struck residential areas in Odesa and Zaporizhzhia, injuring civilians and damaging homes and other civilian infrastructure.

Ukraine strikes two Russian S-400 launchers in Bryansk. The same systems were used to attack Kyiv overnight.. Ukraine is increasingly targeting systems Russia uses to launch missiles at its cities as Kyiv faces shortages of high-end interceptors.

One pincer stalled a year ago, the other has just been broken near Kostiantynivka—Russia’s ring will not close, Ukrainian commander says. Frontal assaults on fortified cities cost far more men and time than closing a ring behind them would have.

Intelligence and technology

Ukraine kept this strike drone secret for two years—its maker says it has destroyed more than 350 Russian systems. Ukraine's RAM-2X had been hunting Russian air defense systems and ballistic missile launchers, and the silence ended only when wrecked drones reached Russian hands.

Ukraine put an Italian-Swiss Skyguard into combat duty. The missile inside is a Cold War design derived from the American Sparrow. Spain and Italy delivered Skyguard/Aspide starting in 2022. The 38th Regiment just showed it on combat duty for the first time.

Ukrainian border unit’s HIMERA B1 relay took 10 strikes from Russia’s FPV drones and guided bombs. Last one leveled building and tower, and relay kept working. Border guards dug the HIMERA B1 out of the rubble because it was still transmitting.

US charges five as alleged Kremlin assassination network reaches American soil. Prosecutors say the network expanded from targeting Russian dissidents and defectors to arranging attacks against European countries supporting Ukraine.

In April, 24 Ukrainian companies ran their own air defense. By mid-September, 81 do — about one new firm per day. They've already downed 20-plus Russian drones.

Ukrainian partisans claim sabotage at Russian plant supplying missiles Moscow uses to bomb Ukrainian cities. ATESH says its agent disabled the power supply at the Voronezh facility, disrupting production of components used in Russian weapons.

International

EU pledges €3.3 billion for Ukraine, von der Leyen says “more is coming” as Russia’s escalating air war makes life in Ukrainian cities increasingly difficult. The new funding comes as Ukraine appeals for more air defense to counter increasingly complex Russian attacks, including advanced missile and drone strikes on Kyiv.

Belarus holds military drills around the Suwalki Gap, NATO’s only land link to the Baltics. Minsk says troops are guarding infrastructure, manning checkpoints, and practicing against saboteurs and drones. It has not disclosed the total number of personnel involved.

Russia kills captain of Tanzanian-flagged ship in latest attack on civilian shipping in Black Sea. Russia has repeatedly attacked civilian shipping around Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, putting international crews and maritime trade at risk.

“What Ukraine needs right now”: Poland to provide Ukraine with scarce F-16 missiles to shoot down jet-powered drones. The aid package will also include aviation equipment, Poland’s deputy defense minister says.

Fire temporarily shuts part of Slovak ammunition plant amid plans to triple capacity. The company operating the factory plans to triple its annual capacity of roughly 100,000 shell bodies and holds a seven-year agreement to supply EU states.

A fifth of Russian refining sits idle, and the sector’s earnings still grew. The money is being made on prices and state compensation rather than on the volumes the front line actually needs.

The EU has billions in unspent defense funds. It wants to use them for projects with Ukraine. The plan could bring more Ukrainian defense companies into Europe's growing defense industry.

Russia ships armor to Libya despite mounting vehicle losses in Ukraine. Two sanctioned cargo vessels crossed the Mediterranean without broadcasting location data. Russian and Libyan authorities have not disclosed who was to receive their cargo.

A drone came down beside a Bundeswehr air base, weeks after Berlin blamed Moscow for the Leipzig airport attack. The drone's owner and origin are still unknown, and investigators are collecting further parts before saying anything about how it came down.

For first time, foreign government is funding Ukrainian drone school: Canada picks foundation that has already bought Ukraine nearly $50M in drones. Canada, once behind on drones, gets Ukraine's combat experience in return.

Humanitarian and social impact

Thousands are starving in occupied Oleshky. People have no food, no way out, and Russian forces bomb incoming aid. More than 6,000 people, including around 200 children, may remain trapped in the Russian-occupied city, where civilians lack food, water and medicine and some are risking mined fields to escape.

Russia’s war has devastated Donetsk Oblast, with losses already exceeding $26 billion. The preliminary estimate covers destroyed industry, energy infrastructure, agriculture, transport, and other sectors, while much of the damage remains impossible to assess.

Ukraine receives 252 bodies as repatriation remains one of the few functioning channels with Russia. The repatriation of bodies gives families of missing Ukrainians a chance to identify their loved ones and finally bury them.

From the frontline to a rehab center: a rescued dog from Pokrovsk now helps wounded Ukrainians on the other side of the country. A rescued puppy from Pokrovsk now has an unusual volunteer role: visiting wounded Ukrainians at a rehabilitation center in Lviv.

Political and legal developments

Kyiv’s arms industry wants to kill the export fee. Parliament just refused to route that money to the army. Ukraine's arms makers want the 20-30% export fee scrapped as Europe's defense market opens—while parliament won't route the cash to the army.

The US House just passed the first major Russia oil sanctions in two years—one signature stands between them and law. Named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham, it clears the way for tariffs of up to 100% on China, India, and the other top buyers of Russian energy.

Ukraine’s Build with Ukraine has 200-plus foreign cooperation bids pending decision. Its arms industry, representing 400-plus firms, wants to help fix mechanism. The Council of Defence Industry wants a costly new export-permit fee scrapped.

He thought Ukrainian army uniform would hide what he did under occupation. It didn’t. Man who guarded Kherson’s Russian-run prison drew eight years. He guarded cells holding captured Ukrainian resistance members, then hid inside the army before the SBU caught him at a training center.

Read our previous daily review here.

Exclusives

The West has tried everything except ending the war. Diplomacy, sanctions, 200 rounds of talks—Russia used all of it to buy time. Diesel prices in America are just the tsunami's latest wave.

Military

Ukrainian partisans claim sabotage at Russian plant supplying missiles Moscow uses to bomb Ukrainian cities. ATESH says its agent disabled the power supply at the Voronezh facility, disrupting production of components used in Russian weapons.

Ukraine's Vivaldi counteroffensive disrupts Russia's plan to encircle Donetsk Fortress Belt – ISW. Ukrainian forces have likely advanced beyond the territory publicly disclosed by Kyiv, while Russian sources increasingly acknowledge setbacks around Lyman.

Russian general killed in Ukraine weeks after telling Putin Kostiantynivka was captured. Major General Anton Grunis was killed in occupied Donetsk Oblast after leading Russian forces on the Kostiantynivka front.

Intelligence and technology

Ukraine put an Italian-Swiss Skyguard into combat duty. The missile inside is a Cold War design derived from the American Sparrow. Spain and Italy delivered Skyguard/Aspide starting in 2022. The 38th Regiment just showed it on combat duty for the first time.

Ukrainian border unit's HIMERA B1 relay took 10 strikes from Russia's FPV drones and guided bombs. Last one leveled building and tower, and relay kept working. Border guards dug the HIMERA B1 out of the rubble because it was still transmitting.

Russia ships armor to Libya despite mounting vehicle losses in Ukraine. Two sanctioned cargo vessels crossed the Mediterranean without broadcasting location data. Russian and Libyan authorities have not disclosed who was to receive their cargo.

Ukraine's Build with Ukraine has 200-plus foreign cooperation bids pending decision. Its arms industry, representing 400-plus firms, wants to help fix mechanism. The Council of Defence Industry wants a costly new export-permit fee scrapped.

In April, 24 Ukrainian companies ran their own air defense. By mid-September, 81 do — about one new firm per day. They've already downed 20-plus Russian drones.

International

A drone came down beside a Bundeswehr air base, weeks after Berlin blamed Moscow for the Leipzig airport attack. The drone's owner and origin are still unknown, and investigators are collecting further parts before saying anything about how it came down.

For first time, foreign government is funding Ukrainian drone school: Canada picks foundation that has already bought Ukraine nearly $50M in drones. Canada, once behind on drones, gets Ukraine's combat experience in return.

Humanitarian and social impact

Strikes on UN warehouses push aid money from delivery to protection. The UN is weighing underground storage for Ukraine aid supplies after Russia hit 10 of its facilities this year.

Russian drone killed five people on a scheduled minibus in southeastern Ukraine. The vehicle was running an intercity route through a district that sits across the river from Russian-held ground when the strike caught it.

Political and legal developments

US charges five as alleged Kremlin assassination network reaches American soil. Prosecutors say the network expanded from targeting Russian dissidents and defectors to arranging attacks against European countries supporting Ukraine.

He thought Ukrainian army uniform would hide what he did under occupation. It didn't. Man who guarded Kherson's Russian-run prison drew eight years. He guarded cells holding captured Ukrainian resistance members, then hid inside the army before the SBU caught him at a training center.

Kushner's "win-win" peace deal is impossible when Putin wants all of Ukraine — Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian president said he knew Putin would never change his goal, and that the deal formula was built on a misreading of what Russia wanted.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Exclusives

Russian spies ran a campaign against Kyiv on Anthropic’s Claude, and the AI chatbot’s maker caught them at it. The operators automated phishing, intrusion, and data theft, leaving the human to refine the workflows.

Military

"Only the first season" – Ukraine unveils secret counteroffensive in a region Russia has been trying to seize for 12 years. Ukraine says its forces have cleared Russian infiltrators and retaken territory in northern Donetsk, while the broader scope of "Operation Vivaldi" remains undisclosed.

"Huge increase" in Russian assault groups trying to break through to Dobropillia, but they are using familiar tactics, staff sergeant says. But the Ukrainian military has already mined the main routes Russian forces could use to reach the city, according to the soldier.

Ukraine's drone campaign is changing where Putin goes – now his flagship forum is being moved out of Sochi. Ukraine has sharply intensified its deep-strike drone campaign since Putin last visited Sochi, and now his security service is moving his flagship forum out of the resort.

Ukraine keeps hitting the fuel that Russia's war runs on. Its latest target is the Slavyansk-EKO refinery, with an annual processing capacity of at least 3 million tonnes. The Ukrainian military struck it as part of a deep-strike operation, according to military intelligence.

Ukraine hit the radar that guards Sochi, the Russian resort city it struck ten days ago. Drones burned two fuel depots there ten days ago, and the Ukrainian military says the system meant to stop them is now the target.

No NATO army has fought modern war: Ukrainian officers set their battlefield practice against NATO doctrine and exposed where its assumptions no longer fit. Ukrainian and NATO officers spent three weeks together in Poland.

He had survived Mariupol, Russian captivity and took over Ukraine's Azov grouping in Donetsk. Now Brigadier General Prokopenko warns Russia may mobilize up to 600,000 for its next offensive. Prokopenko, the Mariupol-defense commander now leading the Azov grouping in Donetsk, says the aim is to seize all of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Intelligence and technology

Chinese drones over German bases, paid saboteurs lighting fires for Russia—Germany's military spells out the new normal. First mandated annual report from Germany's MAD puts a Kremlin sabotage pattern on the statutory record—plus Chinese drones over Bundeswehr bases.

Poland can't arrest its way out of Russia's spy pipeline—107 espionage cases in 20 months, and the tempo is holding. 67 cases in 2025, at least 40 more in the first eight months of 2026—and those are only the top-tier investigations Poland's national prosecutors handle.

Ukraine successfully tests interceptor against faster Gerans as Russia floods its skies with drones. Russia is increasingly deploying upgraded drones capable of striking deeper and faster, intensifying attacks that cause mass destruction and civilian casualties across Ukraine.

For first time, Ukraine's drone makers and Europe's arms firms have joined one body: EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance. Eighteen companies aim to build drones and counter-drone systems together, folding Ukraine's combat-tested industry into Europe's.

Modern war that the US is not ready for: For the price of one American cruise missile, Russia builds 20 "poor-man" drones and missiles. Russia is fielding cheap jet drones and missiles built with Chinese parts—slipping past defenses Ukraine and the West spent years building.

International

Russian warship fires flares at Danish military helicopter as Moscow's provocations escalate. One flare passed close to the aircraft during a routine mission off Denmark, as NATO called the incident another "irresponsible Russian action" intended to intimidate allies.

Finland approves second-largest defense package for Ukraine as Russia's next brutal winter campaign looms. The €290 million package contains military equipment urgently requested by Ukraine as Kyiv braces for another winter of Russian attacks on cities and critical infrastructure.

19 Russian defense companies remain outside international sanctions, helping sustain Russia's war machine. The companies are part of KRET, a major Russian defense holding, and produce navigation systems, gyroscopes, and motors used in missiles and drones.

A century ago, bright red trousers made soldiers easy targets. Ukraine's ex-army chief says the West is wearing them again. Ukraine's ex-army chief Zaluzhnyi: the war has surrendered itself to marketers and wheeler-dealers chasing quick profit, and the West's old security guarantees are the red trousers all over again.

Italian jets destroyed a drone over Lithuania in the first such shootdown in the country. Lithuania says there is a high probability it carried explosives, and its origin has not been established.

Lithuania launches military exercises across 12 municipalities as Russia keeps probing NATO's eastern border. A larger multinational exercise is running at the same time on the Belarusian border, with about 2,500 troops from eight countries.

Belarus trains troops to fight saboteurs as Minsk puts its military on a war footing. Warnings that Russia could use Belarusian territory against Ukraine or a NATO state give the drills their edge.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russia brings children from Moldova's Transnistria to occupied Crimea for "patriotic education". Schools in the Russia-backed enclave now begin each week with separatist flag ceremonies. Rights activists say children as young as 11 train with weapons and drones.

Russia has damaged 500+ Ukrainian locomotives as attacks on railways reach Polish border. Ukraine is urgently asking partners for replacement locomotives as more than half of the fleet's wartime losses have occurred this year.

Russia keeps hitting Kyiv's gas stations. Now they get military air-threat tracking. Authorities are giving fuel-station workers real-time information on aerial threats after a series of strikes on stations across the capital.

Russian drones started 17 fires in Chernihiv Oblast, adding forest to the list of things the war destroys without aiming. Falling wreckage sparked blazes across nine oblasts in a single week, with nearly three-quarters of all forest fires linked to military activity.

Russian drones killed a man and injured eight in Kyiv, hitting two gas stations. The overnight wave sent 200 drones at Ukraine, and the capital's filling stations have become a recurring target this month.

Russian strikes will cost Ukraine's economy up to $10 billion this year, ministry says. Kyiv is answering with compensation and cheap credit, aimed at the companies losing warehouses fastest.

Political and legal developments

"We expect specifics from our partners": Zelenskyy says Ukraine will accept energy truce with Russia only if West guarantees Moscow won't break it after its elections. Zelenskyy says any potential truce needs Western guarantees.

Zelenskyy suspends prosecutor general who charged the bureau probing his own office. The agencies he accused are the ones whose independence Brussels treats as a condition of Ukraine's EU accession.

Read our previous daily review here.

Exclusive

Russian spies ran a campaign against Kyiv on Anthropic's Claude, and the AI chatbot's maker caught them at it. The operators automated phishing, intrusion, and data theft, leaving the human to refine the workflows.

Military

Ukraine keeps hitting the fuel that Russia's war runs on. Its latest target is the Slavyansk-EKO refinery, with an annual processing capacity of at least 3 million tonnes. The Ukrainian military struck it as part of a deep-strike operation, according to military intelligence.

Ukraine hit the radar that guards Sochi, the Russian resort city it struck ten days ago. Drones burned two fuel depots there ten days ago, and the Ukrainian military says the system meant to stop them is now the target.

He had survived Mariupol, Russian captivity and took over Ukraine's Azov grouping in Donetsk. Now Brigadier General Prokopenko warns Russia may mobilize up to 600,000 for its next offensive. Prokopenko, the Mariupol-defense commander now leading the Azov grouping in Donetsk, says the aim is to seize all of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Intelligence and technology

Modern war that the US is not ready for: For the price of one American cruise missile, Russia builds 20 "poor-man" drones and missiles. Russia is fielding cheap jet drones and missiles built with Chinese parts—slipping past defenses Ukraine and the West spent years building.

Iran armed Russia with Shaheds. Now it wants the jet-powered Geran-5 remake back to fight Israel and the US. Russia turned Iran's imported Shahed into a jet that flies at up to 600 km/h, with a new airframe closer to a cruise missile than to the propeller drone Tehran sent it.

Ukraine's FLYCAT strike drone is built to fly without satellite signals. Its bigger new sibling is designed to reach 200 km behind the front. Everything on the combat-proven FLYCAT but the engines is made in Ukraine, and Octava Defence says the new long-range version can stay airborne for more than two and a half hours.

Russia built five more halls for the drones it assembles using Chinese parts to hit Ukrainian cities. The nightly waves that reach Kyiv and the western border regions mostly begin on the assembly lines inside this zone.

International

"We expect specifics from our partners": Zelenskyy says Ukraine will accept energy truce with Russia only if West guarantees Moscow won't break it after its elections. Zelenskyy says any potential truce needs Western guarantees.

No NATO army has fought modern war: Ukrainian officers set their battlefield practice against NATO doctrine and exposed where its assumptions no longer fit. Ukrainian and NATO officers spent three weeks together in Poland.

Lithuania launches military exercises across 12 municipalities as Russia keeps probing NATO's eastern border. A larger multinational exercise is running at the same time on the Belarusian border, with about 2,500 troops from eight countries.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russian strikes will cost Ukraine's economy up to $10 billion this year, ministry says. Kyiv is answering with compensation and cheap credit, aimed at the companies losing warehouses fastest.

A fourth Ukrainian pharmaceutical warehouse has burned in a Russian strike since the start of the month. Russian forces damaged the newest one in Odesa, where the buildings belong to a wholesaler supplying drugstores across Ukraine.

Political and legal developments

Zelenskyy suspends prosecutor general who charged the bureau probing his own office. The agencies he accused are the ones whose independence Brussels treats as a condition of Ukraine's EU accession.

New developments

Belarus trains troops to fight saboteurs as Minsk puts its military on a war footing. Warnings that Russia could use Belarusian territory against Ukraine or a NATO state give the drills their edge.

Read our earlier daily review here.

Exclusives

Ukraine is working down the short list of ships that shell its cities with cruise missiles. A Neptune reached one of them tied up at its own pier. Drones went in with the missile, and the general staff counts three more vessels and the port's fuel-oil storage hit the same night.

Military

Russia strikes passenger train near Polish border as drone swarms reach deeper into western Ukraine. Russia's attacks on railways and border crossings are putting civilian travel at growing risk. Poland's Donald Tusk warned days earlier that Moscow could target Ukraine's crossings with Poland.

Watch first naval battle in history fought entirely by drones: Ukrainian uncrewed boat spots, fires on, and sinks Russian one in Black Sea. A gun-armed Sargan-3000 spotted and sank a Russian naval drone in the Black Sea.

Ukraine is closing Russia's skies without hitting single airliner: Russia shut its airports 993 times in August, worst month for civil aviation since war began. The closures are triggered by Russia's own emergency protocol every time a drone nears.

Ukraine retook 240 square km north of Lyman and nobody reported it for three months. The 3rd Army Corps attacked on 22 May and nobody outside the army reported it until late August. Whether it changes the war is the one thing the analysts do not agree on.

Future wars will be won not only by those who have the best technological systems, Ukraine's former top general says in London. Valerii Zaluzhnyi says an expensive Cold War missile has become a cheap weapon fired in bulk.

Russia has fired its Oreshnik with six warheads at Ukraine three times. State Duma defense committee member says "hour is not far" before fourth one. He cast it as revenge for a naval drone strike on Sochi.

Intelligence and technology

Fast kill but also long game: Russia is using AI-generated women and long conversations to lure Ukrainian soldiers to their deaths. The fake profiles are one of three versions of a honey-trap scheme that has killed six soldiers, the SBU says.

Russia is working to modernize its weapons on every front. This month, its drones are expected to carry 20-element anti-jam antennas to outpace Ukraine's jamming. Russia's new drones and cruise weapons navigate rather than fly, so Ukraine has to jam GPS, not the operator link.

A Russian intelligence operative and a Belarusian petty criminal: Germany names the Leipzig bomb-drone suspects. The files show one of them handled preparation and logistics, and the other left a scrap of glove on the equipment that flew the drone.

Second fire in a month hits the Bulgarian plant that ships ammunition to Ukraine, and sabotage is on the table. The country's interior minister has ordered every ammunition depot in the country inspected and says outside interference cannot be excluded.

"Its task is not cargo. Its task is people": After Russian FPV drone hit their house, K-2 brigade sent ground robot to carry casualties out.

"Credit to the Russians, they know how to scale," Ukrainian military spokesperson says. Ukraine's jet-drone interceptors show early promise, but harder job ahead. Scaling them up to match Ukraine's success against slower drones is the real test.

Money, not engineering, is what stands between Ukraine and Russia's fastest drones, Zelenskyy says. Dozens of firms are chasing the problem, but nobody has funded production at the scale the nightly waves demand.

International

Ukraine's fight against Russia reaches Africa as Ukrainian drone specialists support forces battling Moscow. Ukrainian drone specialists are supporting forces fighting Russian troops in Mali, training personnel from other Sahel countries and operating in Sudan as Kyiv expands its military activity far beyond Ukraine.

From Russian classrooms to Iran's defense industry: how Moscow trains Iranian specialists. Almost 10,000 Iranians studied at Russian universities in 2025, 42% more than two years earlier, by the Russian science ministry's count, with medicine still the most popular field.

The EU just released $7 billion for Ukraine to buy Patriot missiles and drones. The money comes from Europe's existing loan to Kyiv, and the decision finally lets Ukraine place orders for the American interceptors it cannot build itself.

A drone beside a Ukrainian cargo plane is costing Russia its last consulate in Germany. Four others closed in 2023, leaving Moscow with an embassy and, from this month, no consular presence outside it.

Ukraine shows its drones in Canada as Ottawa pledges a third of its future output. The presentation followed a declaration on defense cooperation that Kyiv calls the first step toward a drone deal still to be signed.

Humanitarian and social impact

"There is real hunger there": Oleshky, occupied town in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast, turned 942 this week. Behind Russian blockade, its people eat roadside grass. The 942-year-old Kherson city has spent months cut off, its aid convoys shelled.

Ukraine's Third Army Corps won't just hold Donetsk fortress cities. It's building mission to pull civilians out of them. A dedicated fund is opening to pay for more trips, more often.

"Sometimes I forget I don't have a leg": how two Ukrainian infantry soldiers returned to war behind screens. Two Ukrainian soldiers who lost limbs to mines have returned to Khartiia, their National Guard unit, working the drone screens, instead of walking into positions on the ground.

Political and legal developments

EU has never sanctioned Russia's nuclear sector. Activists say that gap just let Rosatom into German plant, and they're suing to close it. BUND says letting Russia's Rosatom help make fuel at the Lingen plant, amid the war and sabotage in Germany, hands Moscow critical infrastructure.

Ukraine's parliament changes how military budget is cleared, and freezes money behind one of war's cleverest supply schemes, defense-industry council says. The program lets Ukrainian units turn confirmed kills into new weapons, but a parliamentary rule change has frozen the payments.

EU sanctions rollover stalls over Russian oligarch Usmanov as Paris backs Bratislava's demand to delist him. Ambassadors broke up with no agreement on renewing the measures, and they have one sitting left before every restriction on the list runs out on its own.

Canada sanctions eight Russians over deported Ukrainian children as only about 2,500 of more than 20,000 have come home. Ottawa's listing bars anyone in Canada from handling the property of the eight, and it took effect a week before Ukraine's leader arrived for talks.

Read our previous daily review here.

Exclusives

Ukraine is working down the short list of ships that shell its cities with cruise missiles. A Neptune reached one of them tied up at its own pier. Drones went in with the missile, and the general staff counts three more vessels and the port's fuel-oil storage hit the same night.

Military

Watch first naval battle in history fought entirely by drones: Ukrainian uncrewed boat spots, fires on, and sinks Russian one in Black Sea. A gun-armed Sargan-3000 spotted and sank a Russian naval drone in the Black Sea.

Ukraine is closing Russia's skies without hitting single airliner: Russia shut its airports 993 times in August, worst month for civil aviation since war began. The closures are triggered by Russia's own emergency protocol every time a drone nears.

Ukraine retook 240 square km north of Lyman and nobody reported it for three months. The 3rd Army Corps attacked on 22 May and nobody outside the army reported it until late August. Whether it changes the war is the one thing the analysts do not agree on.

Intelligence and technology

Fast kill but also long game: Russia is using AI-generated women and long conversations to lure Ukrainian soldiers to their deaths. The fake profiles are one of three versions of a honey-trap scheme that has killed six soldiers, the SBU says.

Russia is working to modernize its weapons on every front. This month, its drones are expected to carry 20-element anti-jam antennas to outpace Ukraine's jamming. Russia's new drones and cruise weapons navigate rather than fly, so Ukraine has to jam GPS, not the operator link.

Second fire in a month hits the Bulgarian plant that ships ammunition to Ukraine, and sabotage is on the table. The country's interior minister has ordered every ammunition depot in the country inspected and says outside interference cannot be excluded.

From Russian classrooms to Iran's defense industry: how Moscow trains Iranian specialists. Almost 10,000 Iranians studied at Russian universities in 2025, 42% more than two years earlier, by the Russian science ministry's count, with medicine still the most popular field.

International

EU sanctions rollover stalls over Russian oligarch Usmanov as Paris backs Bratislava's demand to delist him. Ambassadors broke up with no agreement on renewing the measures, and they have one sitting left before every restriction on the list runs out on its own.

The EU just released $7 billion for Ukraine to buy Patriot missiles and drones. The money comes from Europe's existing loan to Kyiv, and the decision finally lets Ukraine place orders for the American interceptors it cannot build itself.

Humanitarian and social impact

"There is real hunger there": Oleshky, occupied town in Ukraine's Kherson Oblast, turned 942 this week. Behind Russian blockade, its people eat roadside grass. The 942-year-old Kherson city has spent months cut off, its aid convoys shelled.

Ukraine's Third Army Corps won't just hold Donetsk fortress cities. It's building mission to pull civilians out of them. A dedicated fund is opening to pay for more trips, more often.

Political and legal developments

EU has never sanctioned Russia's nuclear sector. Activists say that gap just let Rosatom into German plant, and they're suing to close it. BUND says letting Russia's Rosatom help make fuel at the Lingen plant, amid the war and sabotage in Germany, hands Moscow critical infrastructure.

A Russian intelligence operative and a Belarusian petty criminal: Germany names the Leipzig bomb-drone suspects. The files show one of them handled preparation and logistics, and the other left a scrap of glove on the equipment that flew the drone.

Ukraine's parliament changes how military budget is cleared, and freezes money behind one of war's cleverest supply schemes, defense-industry council says. The program lets Ukrainian units turn confirmed kills into new weapons, but a parliamentary rule change has frozen the payments.

Read our earlier daily review here.