Seven people required psychological assistance following the attack by Russian drones on Zaporizhzhia.

From January to September, Finnish authorities deported 104 Russian citizens who had applied for political asylum.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that 26 countries have agreed to participate in security guarantees for Ukraine, providing protection across land, air, sea, and cyberspace, along with military funding. He did not specify the countries involved.

Speaking in his evening address, Zelenskyy outlined what the guarantees actually mean: “substantive things on land, in the sky, at sea, also in cyberspace, also this is funding for our army.”

The Ukrainian president emphasized that the foundation remains “a sufficiently strong Ukrainian army to guarantee our independence and Ukraine’s sovereignty.” He emphasized that this includes weapons for the army and long-term financing, noting that many components have been agreed upon with partners as a foundation.

Zelenskyy highlighted ongoing work to expand the PURL program, through which Ukraine purchases American weapons. More than $2 billion has already flowed through this channel, with plans to increase funding further. The priority list includes greater sky protection against Russian drones and missiles—reflecting Ukraine’s daily reality of aerial bombardment.

US won’t send troops to Ukraine

Regarding US participation, Trump has ruled out American ground troops but offered alternative support. “We’re willing to help them with things, especially — probably you could talk about by air, because there’s nobody that has the kind of stuff we have,” Trump told Fox News.

The US role would focus on logistics, air support, intelligence sharing, border surveillance, and weapons provision through European partners.

Peacekeepers won’t be in combat zones

The European plan involves a two-stage approach. Initially, European troops would be stationed away from combat zones, focusing on training Ukrainian forces and providing reinforcements. The second stage would incorporate American intelligence sharing, border surveillance, weapons, and potentially air defense systems.

Russia considers peacekeepers legitimate targets

Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded with direct threats to the peacekeeping proposals. Putin declared that if any troops appear in Ukraine, “we proceed from the assumption that they will be legitimate targets for strikes.” This statement indicates that any potential mission would require significant protection from Russian attacks.

According to Zelenskyy, the Coalition shares the assessment that Russia is “doing everything possible to drag out the negotiation process and continue the war.”

European officials privately express skepticism about whether security guarantees will deter Putin or produce lasting peace. Many expect the peace talks to fail—exposing whether Russia genuinely wants to end the war or simply buy time to regroup.

In the Kharkiv region, as a result of shelling by the Russian Federation, about 7,000 customers in the city of Lozova remain without electricity, and the village of Domakha is completely without power.

The Russian authorities are systematically expanding their influence over the education and leisure of Russian schoolchildren, shaping a centralized model of ideological control.

The security guarantees offered to Ukraine by 26 countries include specific measures on land and at sea, in the air, and in cyberspace.

Almost 60% of the weapons used by Ukrainian defenders in the war against Russia are domestically produced.

Seven Iranian-designed Russian Shahed drones struck the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on 6 September evening, leaving fifteen people wounded and reducing a kindergarten to rubble.

The attack unfolded around 9 p.m. as residents heard the familiar buzz of approaching drones. Viktor watched from his second-floor window as one headed straight for his neighborhood.

“I saw the drone flying, I thought it would fly straight into the roof,” he told Suspilne Zaporizhzhia.

The blast wave threw his wife from their home. Viktor found her unconscious under the door and dragged her to safety before their children rushed her to the hospital. Windows and doors throughout his house were blown out, his barn burned down, and a massive crater now marks his garden.

“The blast wave threw her out of the house. I found her under the door and dragged her to the garage, and the children took her to the hospital,” he shared.

Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, reported that four people required hospitalization: three women and one man injured, all in moderate condition. But the kindergarten bore the worst damage—80% of the building destroyed.

Ukrainian air defenses managed to intercept some drones before they reached their targets. The ones that got through also damaged six apartment buildings, four private houses, and critical infrastructure.

The Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal investigation, confirming the weapons as Shahed-type strike drones—the same Iranian-designed aircraft Russia has used in hundreds of attacks across Ukraine.

Earlier on 5 September, Russian forces killed a 56-year-old woman with an FPV drone in the same region. Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces launched 476 strikes across 15 settlements in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, damaging homes and farm buildings.

Emergency services are preparing repair work including window boarding and roof restoration once the air raid alert is lifted.

Ukraine is working to increase funding for the PURL program.

Four people were injured in an enemy attack on Zaporizhzhia, and one person was rescued from the rubble by State Emergency Service personnel.

On September 6, the Kramatorsk community in Donetsk Oblast suffered its fourth hostile shelling in 24 hours.

A new report has found 55% were subjected to pro-Russian indoctrination and 10% subjected to torture and cruel treatment

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As a result of a Russian drone attack on Zaporizhzhia, 10 buildings were damaged, six of which were high-rise buildings.

Four Ukrainian soldiers walked free this week after hiding in a hospital on Russian-controlled territory for over three years.

The rescue by naval special forces unit “Angels” marks one of the longest documented cases of military personnel surviving in enemy territory.

The operation began when Presidential Commissioner for Military Personnel Rights Olha Reshetylova learned about a Marine Corps serviceman’s twin brother. The marine had been severely wounded during 2022 fighting in eastern Ukraine and ended up in a hospital, where doctors concealed him from Russian security forces.

But he wasn’t alone. Three National Guard soldiers had also been sheltering in the same facility since 2022, according to Naval Forces Commander Oleksiy Neizhpapa.

The multi-phase operation required careful planning due to several complicating factors.

• All personnel were in illegal status on occupied territory (didn’t accept Russian documents)
• active combat operations continued in the area
• Russian special services had intensified filtration procedures (systematic identity checks, interrogations, and searches used to identify people with pro-Ukrainian loyalties).

Neizhpapa said the primary goal was eliminating immediate threats to the servicemen’s lives. The hospital had provided cover for three years, but the situation couldn’t continue indefinitely.

The successful mission extracted the marine, three National Guard fighters, and one hospital medical worker who had assisted in concealing the military personnel. 

Neizhpapa did not provide any other specifics of how the operation was conducted to return these fighters home.

A local resident suffered a shrapnel wound to the head as a result of enemy shelling in Zaporizhzhia.

The enemy attacked Zaporizhzhia with drones. There are hits. A fire broke out.

Russian troops attacked a number of communities in the Dnipropetrovsk region several times during the day with artillery and drones.

The Russian army struck Primorsk with a drone. A woman was killed.

Operators of the 14th Regiment of Unmanned Systems Forces, in cooperation with other Ukrainian Defense Forces, successfully carried out 11 Deep Strike operations targeting Russian oil refining infrastructure in August. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced further strengthening of transatlantic cooperation, which will put real pressure on Russia.

A former member of parliament from a party banned for Russian ties has been arrested and remanded in custody on charges of high treason, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Prosecutor General’s Office.

While the agencies did not identify the suspect by name, Hromadske news agency confirmed through law enforcement sources that the individual is Fedor Khrystenko.

According to ZN.UA, Khrystenko was not extradited but was handed over to the SBU from the United Arab Emirates through what the outlet describes as a rare occurrence made possible by intervention at the highest political level.

ZN.UA reports that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov worked on Khrystenko’s return on orders from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with SBU Deputy Chief and Counterintelligence Department Head Oleksandr Poklad traveling to retrieve him, after which Khrystenko “voluntarily” decided to return to Ukraine.

Suspect began working for Russian before full-scale invasion

Khrystenko was a member of the “Opposition Platform — For Life” party, which Ukraine banned in 2022 for its pro-Russian stance and alleged ties to Moscow.

The party was formed by politicians associated with Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after the 2014 Euromaidan protests that toppled his government following his decision to abandon European integration in favor of closer ties with Moscow.

According to the investigation, Russian intelligence service FSB recruited Khrystenko well before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The SBU alleges he “actively carried out tasks for the Russian intelligence service” during this period.

The charges stem from what investigators describe as an extensive network of connections to Russian operatives and Ukrainian collaborators. The SBU previously linked Khrystenko to Yuriy Ivanushchenko, known as Yura Yenakievsky, whom they identify as an FSB resident and overseer for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

Investigators also describe Khrystenko as a liaison for Armen Sarkisyan, known as Armen Horlivsky, a collaborator who was assassinated in an explosion at a Moscow residential complex in early 2025.

According to the SBU, Sarkisyan was part of fugitive ex-president Viktor Yanukovych’s inner circle and founded the Russian military battalion “Arbat” after the full-scale invasion began that fought against Ukrainian troops in Donetsk Oblast and later in Russia’s Kursk. 

Russian spy had ties in Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency

The case materials reveal what prosecutors call “an effective mechanism for influencing the leadership” of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).

Established in 2014, NABU is empowered to investigate corruption cases involving Ukraine’s highest government officials, including the president, prime minister, and cabinet ministers, making Russian influence over the agency strategically significant for Moscow’s intelligence operations.

The SBU alleges Khrystenko maintained close relationships with several NABU officials, including previously detained Ruslan Magamedrasulov and detective unit head Oleksandr Skomarov.

As evidence of Khrystenko’s NABU connections, the SBU cites a 2022 incident when Skomarov’s wife allegedly traveled abroad using a vehicle belonging to Khrystenko’s wife.

Magamedrasulov was among the NABU investigators targeted during a controversial July 2025 security operation that led to dramatic claims of Russian infiltration within Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies. The operation resulted in parliament temporarily placing NABU under prosecutorial control before mass protests forced a reversal.

In July 2025, prosecutors filed charges against Khrystenko under two sections of Ukraine’s Criminal Code: high treason committed by a group under martial law, and abuse of influence. Following his detention, a court ordered Khrystenko held in custody until 21 October.

Since the beginning of the year, Russian occupiers have transported more than 36,000 tons of stolen Ukrainian grain through the seaport of Mariupol.

On September 6, an enemy drone struck a car in the Krasnopilia community in Sumy region, injuring a civilian.

A federal trial begins next week for a man charged with trying to assassinate President Donald Trump as he played golf in Florida

© ASSOCIATED PRESS

In Donetsk region, Russian troops carried out two massive air strikes on Kostiantynivka, resulting in two civilians being wounded and damage to infrastructure.

A ceremony to re-bury the remains of 42 people discovered during exhumation work in the former village of Puzhnyky has commenced in Ternopil Oblast, with Ukrainian and Polish officials and approximately 40 descendants of former village residents participating, reports Ukrinform correspondent from the scene.

The Ukrainian delegation includes acting Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Tetyana Berezhna, Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Olena Kondratiuk, Deputy Foreign Minister Oleksandr Mishchenko, and Ukrainian Institute of National Memory head Oleksandr Alfyorov.

Poland’s delegation is led by Senate Marshal Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska and includes Culture and National Heritage Minister Marta Cenkowska, Acting Charge d’Affaires Piotr Lukasevich, and Consul General in Lutsk Anna Nowakowska.

“Today we are not talking about history, not about politics – today we are talking about humanity and that we are taking a step towards each other in an extremely complex historical topic. Ukraine ensures dignified commemoration of all war victims – regardless of nationality or the antiquity of the tragedy,”  UINM head Oleksandr Alfyorov said.

The ceremony included a Roman Catholic holy mass. Memorial markers will remain unnamed for now as DNA research continues, according to Professor Andrzej Ossowski, a geneticist from the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin who leads the Polish scientific team.

“We should receive the first identification results by the end of this year. We have DNA profiles of all remains, we are still examining individual ones, and we also have DNA from their family members living in Poland. Given that there are close relatives among the victims, personal identification of remains requires very complex mathematical calculations,” Ossowski explained.

The geneticist noted that while they know they have remains from specific families, personal identification requires time.

“Further identification results will depend on whether we find their relatives (meaning living ones), because without them there will be no way to identify everyone. We don’t have relatives of all victims and are currently searching for their families,” he added.

The discovered remains will be re-buried at the original burial site where exhumation work was conducted – at the old cemetery in the former village of Puzhnyky.

Exhumation operations in the territory of former Puzhnyky village lasted from 23 April to 5 May 2025. The joint Ukrainian-Polish expedition worked under professional and security supervision of the Ukrainian side. DNA research on the remains was conducted in Poland.

Negotiations between Ukraine and Poland regarding the exhumation work continued from the previous year. In late November 2024, during a joint press conference by Polish and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers Radoslaw Sikorski and Andrii Sybiha, the lifting of the moratorium on searching for and exhuming remains of Polish citizens buried on Ukrainian territory was announced. The moratorium had been in effect since 2017.

In January 2025, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications granted permission for the Puzhnyky exhumation.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has once again declared that Budapest will not support Ukraine’s EU membership, emphasizing that the state is not interested in Moscow’s opinion on this matter. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called for dialogue.

Szijjarto outlined Hungary’s position following a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Council President António Costa on 5 September.

The politicians’ meeting included discussions about EU accession. During a briefing, Zelenskyy said: “If even Putin does not object [to Ukraine’s EU membership], then the positions of some countries, especially Hungary, really look strange.”

According to the Hungarian diplomat, the Ukrainian president was presenting his own reasoning. “Unlike him, our position is not determined from abroad. We are not interested in what they think in Moscow about Ukraine’s EU membership,” he declared.

The minister added that Budapest is interested in what Hungarians think. Szijjarto referenced a referendum by the Hungarian government, in which the country’s citizens allegedly opposed Ukraine’s membership in the bloc due to supposed threats to farmers, the labor market, and security.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha responded to this statement. He emphasized that Ukraine’s EU accession poses no threat to Hungary.

According to him, the Hungarian farmers mentioned by Szijjarto have never blocked the Ukrainian-Hungarian border, and this year they are actively purchasing Ukrainian corn.

EU accession also does not threaten the Hungarian labor market, since before the full-scale invasion by Russia, Hungary’s government actively invited Ukrainians to work to compensate for the shortage of skilled labor.

Furthermore, the Hungarian community of Zakarpattia also supports joining the bloc.

“Instead of quarrels on Twitter, let’s meet and have a meaningful discussion. I am confident that we can reach pragmatic solutions in good faith — for the sake of our peoples’ common interests of peace and security in a united Europe,” Sybiha emphasized.

Ukraine’s EU accession

All 27 EU member states have already given the “green light” to begin negotiations with Ukraine on joining the bloc, however, Hungary is blocking them.

Last year, Budapest presented Ukraine with a list of 11 demands to unblock the path to the European Union. All of them are aimed at strengthening protection of national minority rights in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian side traveled to Budapest with additional proposals for resolving the entire complex of issues. Ukraine and Hungary then agreed from 12 May to organize regular consultations to work on the stated demands. However, Budapest postponed such consultations due to the detention of Hungarian spies by Ukraine’s Security Service in early May.

Hungarian authorities conducted a so-called consultative referendum in their country regarding Ukraine’s EU membership, following which they announced that 95% of votes were against. Orbán himself claimed that Ukraine’s EU membership would cause “the destruction of the European Union” and war with Russia on EU territory.

Lithuania proposed starting negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on the first chapter of EU membership without Hungary’s consent. It is proposed that after approval by 26 member states, negotiations would take place at a technical level, de facto, and later an official agreement would be reached legally when all 27 EU states approve it, if Viktor Orbán’s position or that of the entire Hungarian government changes.

Polish protesters have ended their blockade of truck traffic at the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing, according to State Border Guard Service spokesman Colonel Andriy Demchenko.

“The Polish side reported the cessation of truck traffic blockade by protesters and the resumption of truck processing at their checkpoint at 15:30,” Demchenko told Ukrainska Pravda.

The blockade began Saturday at 12:50 Kyiv time when Polish demonstrators launched an action blocking traffic before the Medyka checkpoint, opposite Ukraine’s Shehyni crossing point.

Restrictions will reportedly last at least 6 hours with possible extension.

The protest site was located approximately one kilometer from the Polish Medyka checkpoint. Movement restrictions applied only to freight vehicles – passenger cars and buses continued crossing in normal mode.

At the time of the blockade, 681 freight vehicles were registered in the electronic queue for departure from Ukraine. Around 100 trucks waiting to enter Ukraine were already stationed at a specially equipped parking area, with their processing unaffected by the protest.

Border guards promised to provide additional updates on any changes or complications to traffic flow. The blockade lasted approximately 2.5 hours before Polish authorities announced its termination.

In Donetsk region, the Russian army launched several drone strikes on Kramatorsk, resulting in injuries to a local resident and damage to houses.

The decision of the EU Court, which confirmed that European sanctions apply to all Russian ships, including historical replicas, is a victory in the more than three-year struggle of pro-Ukrainian activists in France. However, Russia will continue to promote its “cultural” projects for propaganda purposes in Europe.

A second sanctioned tanker from Russia’s shadow fleet carrying liquefied natural gas from the Russian Arctic LNG 2 project has docked at a Chinese port.

In the temporarily occupied territory of the Luhansk region, partisans struck the invaders' military logistics, destroying a relay cabinet on the Luhansk-Stanytsia Luhansk railway section.

More than 2,200 people died in an earthquake that hit Afghanistan’s mountainous east

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Polish protesters blocked traffic in front of the Medyka border crossing opposite the Ukrainian Shehyni crossing.

In the Chernihiv region, Russians launched drones at civilians: a 70-year-old woman was killed, and a 45-year-old woman was wounded.

British intelligence has analyzed Russia’s systematic propaganda campaign targeting Ukrainian youth in temporarily occupied territories, according to a September 6 analysis reported by European Truth.

“The forcible political education of Ukrainian youth by the Russian authorities in the illegally occupied territories of Ukraine continues,” the intelligence assessment states. “The Russian Ministry of Defence youth organisation Yunarmiya and the Kremlin youth organisation Movement of the Firsts are amongst those organisations teaching Ukrainian children military skills, and indoctrinating them with pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian propaganda.”

The British intelligence noted that Russian education authorities aim at countering purported extremism, a term defined broadly by Russian authorities. “A 2022 Russian Ministry of Education manual titled ‘Preventing conflicts, manifestations of extremism and terrorism in a poly-cultural educational environment’ claimed the expression ‘Slava Ukraine’ (Glory to Ukraine) to be an indicator of extremism,” according to the analysis.

Since 2022, Russian authorities have implemented what they call “University Sessions” programme, transporting children from occupied Ukrainian regions to Russian universities for so-called patriotic education. “This aims to inculcate the children with an anti-Ukrainian outlook, as well as glorifying Russian military exploits. Since 2022, around 50,000 Ukrainian children have attended these sessions at 116 Russian universities,” the intelligence report reveals.

British intelligence recently reported that Russia conscripts young Ukrainians into the Russian army upon reaching age 18, with many having been abducted from occupied Ukrainian territories during childhood.

In related developments, the British government imposed sanctions on September 3 against individuals involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia.

Russia has reached monthly production capacity of 2,700 Shahed-type drones, according to Andriy Yusov, representative of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, in an interview with Novyny.LIVE.

The intelligence official specified that Russia manufactures “Geran-2” drones, which are modified versions of standard Shaheds equipped with warheads. Most production takes place at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone in Yelabuga, Republic of Tatarstan, Yusov reported.

Despite this production volume, Russia cannot deploy thousands of drones daily. “They cannot physically launch such quantities toward the country every day. But we see these hundreds of Shaheds and combined missile-drone strikes they carry out – these are truly massive attacks. This is a serious challenge for our air defense and anti-missile defense forces,” Yusov said.

The intelligence representative addressed claims by military radio technology specialist Serhiy Flesh that Russian forces launch Shaheds equipped with cameras and radio control systems. According to Yusov, such modifications remain experimental.

“They can modify something, but going from such limited quantities to mass production is also a certain path. Therefore, they try different means. How much they will be able to put them into full mass production depends, among other things, on access to foreign components and many other factors,” he explained.

Previous intelligence reports indicate Russia’s broader drone ambitions. In September, Ukrainian intelligence disclosed Russia’s current stockpile of “Grom-1” hybrid missiles and annual production plans. On 21 August, LIGA.net reported that Russia plans to manufacture 4,000 turbojet drones by the end of 2025, according to intelligence sources.

Russian forces scattered leaflets disguised as 100-hryvnia banknotes ($2.42) across a Chernihiv district on the morning of 6 September, urging residents to share coordinates and assist in directing artillery fire at Ukrainian Armed Forces positions in exchange for money, according to Chernihiv region police.

“These leaflets were dropped by Russians using a drone,” police reported. The fake currency contained calls for locals to collaborate with Russian forces by providing intelligence on Ukrainian military movements and positions.

Law enforcement dispatched an investigative team to the scene immediately after discovering the propaganda materials. Police have registered the incident and are determining appropriate legal charges for the case.

The Chernihiv police issued warnings about criminal liability for collaborating with Russian forces, specifically highlighting penalties for “spreading information about the location and movement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” Authorities instructed residents to destroy any Russian leaflets they encounter.

The incident represents another attempt by Russian forces to recruit local informants through monetary incentives, using deceptive materials designed to resemble legitimate Ukrainian currency. Police emphasized that cooperation with occupying forces carries severe legal consequences under Ukrainian law.

In Chernihiv, Russians dropped leaflets in the form of 100-hryvnia bills from a drone, urging citizens to share coordinates and help fire on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Russian troops fired artillery at the village of Bilozerka in the Kherson region, injuring a 41-year-old and a 51-year-old woman.

Russia can produce up to 2,700 strike drones per month.

© BBC

US President Donald Trump clashed with Polish journalist Marek Wałkuski during a press conference, suggesting he “find a new job” after the reporter questioned why no concrete actions had been taken to end the war in Ukraine despite repeated promises, reports Polsat News.

Wałkuski asked why Trump had repeatedly said he would quickly end the war in Ukraine but had not taken measures to do so. Trump responded by citing sanctions against India, “the largest buyer [of Russian products] after China,” which he said cost Moscow “hundreds of billions of dollars.”

“Is this a lack of action? We have not yet moved to the second and third phases, but if you say there are no actions, then you should probably find a new job,” Trump said.

The journalist told The Hill he appreciated the president’s advice, but Trump’s reaction justified his career choice. “I got an answer from the US president to my question that is worthy of media attention, and that’s my job as a journalist. But I’m grateful for his advice,” Wałkuski said.

Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski defended the journalist, saying his question to Trump was one “that we all ask ourselves.”

“I would not fire you from your job,” Sikorski added during a press conference in Washington.

Wałkuski is the author of four books about the White House and the United States. He previously served as president of the White House Foreign Press Group from 2024 to 2025 and has been a member of the White House press corps since 2018.

In February, Wałkuski asked a question that provoked a dispute between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump, and US Vice President JD Vance. The journalist asked Trump to comment on being “too closely associated with Putin.” Trump replied that he was not associating with anyone and wanted to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table.

Vance then intervened, praising Trump’s diplomatic efforts. When the Ukrainian leader said that diplomacy with Putin was pointless, the situation escalated into an argument.

Sikorski commented on Karol Nawrocki’s visit to the White House, saying he would have an argument the next day at the Pentagon. “I will tell [Under Secretary of Defense] Colby: Listen, your president has already decided,” the foreign minister said, referring to Trump’s assurance that US troops would remain in Poland.

During Wednesday’s meeting between Nawrocki and Trump, the American leader assured that the United States would not withdraw troops from Poland and was ready to increase its presence if Poland expressed such a desire.

On 30 August, a Ukrainian politician Andriy Parubiy was shot eight times in the back while walking in Lviv in broad daylight. He died from his injuries.

The detained suspect claims he acted out of “revenge against Ukrainian authorities” after his son went missing in action near Bakhmut. But investigators haven’t ruled out Russian involvement.

Parubiy was hardly welcome in Moscow. The 52-year-old former parliament speaker had spent decades promoting Ukraine’s break from Russian dominance and participating in the key democratic revolutions that threatened Kremlin’s influence.

Ukraine’s parliament responded swiftly to his death. On 4 September, 296 lawmakers voted to appeal to European parliaments, condemning Parubiy’s murder as “an act of political terror by Russia.” They demanded international investigations and stronger sanctions.

Reshat Ametov: First victim of Crimean occupation

Crimean Tatar activist

Reshat Ametov, a 39-year-old Crimean Tatar and father of three, became a symbol of resistance to Russian occupation back in 2014.

He worked as a welder in Simferopol and maintained active political views. On social media, he frequently criticized Russian policies in Chechnya, Tatarstan, and Bashkortostan, and strongly supported the pro-democracy Euromaidan protests in Kyiv.

The year 2014 marked a turning point in Ukraine’s modern history. Following months of the Euromaidan protests that demanded closer ties with the EU and democratic reforms, pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych ordered security forces to open fire on demonstrators in February, killing over 100 protesters. Faced with massive public outrage as even more people flooded the streets demanding changes, Yanukovych fled the country. 

Russia exploited this chaotic political situation in Ukraine and sent troops to Crimea, while simultaneously supporting separatist movements in eastern Ukraine. This Russian intervention would eventually escalate into the full-scale war that began in 2022.

One man against the Russian oppressive machine

On 28 February 2014, Ametov announced his intention to protest Russia’s seizure of Crimean government buildings.

“Approximately on Monday I’ll go to the Council of Ministers. Standing protest. Do you also dare?” he wrote on Facebook.

Three days later, Ametov stood alone outside the seized building holding a Ukrainian flag. Surveillance cameras captured what happened next: three men in camouflage uniforms from the illegal “Crimean Self-Defense” formation forced him into a car at gunpoint. That was the last time he was seen alive.

This occurred in broad daylight as Russian forces consolidated control over the peninsula.

Tortured and killed for resisting Russian occupation in Ukraine

March 16, 2014 was supposed to be Russia’s moment of triumph—the day Crimeans would vote in a sham referendum to “legitimize” the peninsula’s annexation. The official results showed overwhelming support for joining Russia, but the referendum was conducted under military presence and is regarded illegal by the majority of international community.

However, the day before the staged vote, farmers made a horrific discovery in Zemlyanichnoye village, 60 kilometers from Simferopol.

A body lay partially buried in the earth, bearing signs of torture. The victim’s head was wrapped in tape, stab wounds marked the left eye socket, and hands remained cuffed. When authorities identified the corpse, the timing became clear: this was Reshat Ametov, the lone protester who had disappeared twelve days earlier.

Russian occupation authorities opened a criminal case in April 2014 but closed it after one year, claiming they could not identify the perpetrators. Ukrainian investigators later identified two “Crimean Self-Defense” members and a former Russian Armed Forces serviceman as suspects in 2019, while the case went to court in November 2023.

In May 2017, President Petro Poroshenko posthumously awarded Ametov the title Hero of Ukraine.

Ametov became Crimea’s first occupation victim, but not the last, according to Yevhenyi Yaroshenko of the KrimSOS organization. Human rights groups documented 59 enforced disappearances during the first decade of Russian rule. Seventeen people remain missing.

Amina Okuyeva: The Ukrainian-Chechen with two homelands, but one enemy

Studying medicine in Ukraine

Three years later and hundreds of kilometers away, another story of resistance was taking shape. Amina Okuyeva would become the woman who carried two nations’ struggles against the same Russian enemy, fighting with both medical skills and military weapons until assassins silenced her forever.

Born in Odesa, Okuyeva carried both Ukrainian and Chechen heritage. She lived in Moscow and Grozny before returning to Ukraine in 2003 due to the Chechen war.

During the Second Chechen War (started in 1999), she actively supported the resistance, but Chechen fighters convinced her to return to Ukraine and study medicine—they desperately needed trained medics as too many fighters were dying from treatable wounds.

After completing medical education in Odesa, she worked as a surgeon while maintaining connections to Chechen resistance movements.

In 2009, she met Adam Osmayev, a Chechen exile accused by Russia of plotting to kill Ramzan Kadyrov, Putin’s puppet in Chechnya, and Vladimir Putin himself. Though they never legally married, they became life partners united by their shared opposition to Russian oppression.

Medic-turned-sniper in fighting Russia since 2014

When Russia launched its aggression in eastern Ukraine in 2014, just months after seizing Crimea, Okuyeva saw her chance to fight the same enemy that had devastated Chechnya.

She joined the Kyiv-2 volunteer battalion as a paramedic. Despite her official medical role, she participated in combat operations in Debaltsevo and Chornukhivo and served as a sniper in her final months of military service.

Okuyeva later became spokesperson for the Chechen Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion, comprised mainly of Chechens opposing Kadyrov’s regime.

In 2015, Ukraine awarded her the “People’s Hero of Ukraine” order for defending the country.

Okuyeva frequently criticized Kadyrov as a “national traitor” and Russian collaborator. His family had switched from fighting Russia in the First Chechen War to serving as Moscow’s puppet rulers after 1999.

Chechen exiles widely despise him for his brutal suppression of independence movements and human rights abuses.

“Kadyrovites are national traitors. There is no worse form of betrayal than national betrayal and collaboration with occupiers,” Okuyeva stated.

For Moscow, Chechens fighting alongside Ukrainian forces represented a double threat: not only were they effective fighters, but their presence contradicted Russian propaganda about protecting ethnic minorities from Ukrainian “fascists.”

Okuyeva’s vocal criticism of Kadyrov while serving in Ukrainian ranks made her elimination a priority for both Russian intelligence and Chechen loyalists.

Previous assassination attempts

Russian bloggers called her a “Chechen terrorist.” Kadyrov supporters sent death messages through social media. On 1 June 2017, a fake French journalist shot her husband Adam Osmayev during a staged interview. The assassin, Arthur Denisultanov-Kurmakaev, was captured, but the couple knew more attempts would follow.

Okuyeva killed in car near Kyiv

Four months later, driving near Kyiv on 30 October, automatic gunfire erupted from roadside bushes. Her partner Osmayev hit the accelerator.

“The shooting came from the right side,” he recalled. “It lasted literally a few seconds until I got out of the shooting zone. But in those few seconds, unfortunately, she was hit.”

Okuyeva died instantly from head wounds. She was 34. Osmayev survived with a leg injury.

In January 2020, authorities arrested Igor Redkin, a 56-year-old from Dagestan, after his DNA was found on an abandoned Czech automatic rifle near the crime scene. Investigators identified seven members of the criminal group responsible for Okuyeva’s murder and connected them to other contract killings.

The prosecution alleged the assassination was ordered from Chechnya as revenge against Osmayev’s anti-Kadyrov activities.

Mamikhan Umarov, a Chechen political emigrant who had warned Ukrainian intelligence about the assassination contract, was himself killed near Vienna in July 2020, eliminating a key witness in the case.

Iryna Farion: Fighter for Ukrainian language

Academic and political career

As Ukraine’s resistance proved stronger than Moscow expected and Western support solidified after the full-scale invasion in 2022, assassinations on Ukrainian soil became more frequent and brazen as the next cases will demonstrate.

Iryna Farion built her career defending Ukrainian language and identity. After working as a librarian, she obtained philological education and became a professor at Lviv Polytechnic National University. In 2005, she joined the Svoboda party and was elected to parliament in 2012, where she headed a higher education subcommittee.

Following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and launch of war in eastern Ukraine, questions of language and identity became increasingly urgent for many Ukrainians, especially as Moscow consistently used “protection of Russian speakers” as justification for military intervention.

Farion turned language defense into political warfare, targeting anyone who dared speak Russian in official settings.

Controversial statements about soldiers

Farion’s advocacy for Ukrainian language often generated controversy due to her uncompromising positions.

She publicly challenged officials who spoke Russian, including then-Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, asking whether his poor Ukrainian reflected political bias or mental limitations.

In 2018, she described Russian-speaking citizens as “mentally backward traitors and Ukraine’s biggest problem.”

The rhetoric intensified after Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022. Farion criticized Russian-speaking Ukrainian soldiers, arguing they should call themselves “Russians” rather than Ukrainians.

“Russian-speaking warriors disgrace Ukraine’s Armed Forces,” she stated, adding that fighting internal “Moscow-speaking savages” was more important than battles on the frontline.

Her November 2023 comments triggered a firestorm. She described Russian-speaking “Azov” fighters as “crazed” and suggested Ukrainian soldiers speaking Russian had no right to be considered Ukrainian.

Security services (SBU) opened criminal investigations against her. Students demanded her dismissal from Lviv Polytechnic. Death threats flooded her social media.

At the moment of her assassination, the SBU investigation into her inflammatory statements about Russian-speaking soldiers remained active, with prosecutors considering charges for insulting military honor and dignity.

Assassin allegedly killed her due to personal hatred

On 19 July 2024, an unknown gunman approached Farion near her Lviv apartment building and shot her in the head. She died in the hospital that evening.

For weeks, surveillance cameras had captured the same figure watching her building, studying her routines, learning her patterns.

Six days later, police tracked down her killer 300 kilometers away in Dnipro. Vyacheslav Zinchenko was just 19 years old when they arrested him. Investigators later discovered his digital footprint told a story of radicalization: he had joined neo-Nazi Telegram groups in 2022, that promoted violence and national intolerance.

The prosecution alleged that Zinchenko developed strong personal hatred for Farion due to her Ukrainian language activism.

In August 2024, Zinchenko reportedly confessed to a cellmate that he killed Farion out of personal animosity, though he later claimed this confession was made under pressure. He faces life imprisonment on charges of premeditated murder motivated by national intolerance.

Some hated her, some were inspired

Despite the controversy surrounding her radical positions, Farion retained support among some Ukrainians who viewed her uncompromising stance as necessary resistance to Russian cultural influence.

Critics argued she promoted “ethnonarcissism” that prevented coexistence with different identities. But supporters countered that her provocative language was strategically necessary—dry academic discourse would never have reached millions or conveyed the urgency of her message.

The polarization became evident after her death.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion made the Russian imperial threat undeniable, many who had previously criticized her positions began seeing her as prophetic rather than extreme.

Social media tributes after her death wrote that “no one defended the Ukrainian language as selflessly and passionately as she did.”

Demian Hanul: Ukrainian activist declared terrorist in Russia

Ukrainian activism in a city with large pro-Russian sentiment

Demian Hanul was a Ukrainian patriot in a city where such views made him a target. Odesa, with its historically large Russian-speaking population and pro-Russian sentiment, was hardly friendly territory for activists pushing Ukrainian identity. But Hanul didn’t back down.

Both he and his father Vadym participated in the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity that ousted Yanukovych, continuing a family tradition of resistance.

When Russia responded by seizing Crimea and backing separatists in eastern Ukraine, Hanul took part in the traumatic confrontations at Odesa’s Trade Unions House on 2 May 2014, where 48 people died in fires during clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces. Russian media branded him a co-organizer of the tragedy and declared him a terrorist.

His activism also focused on removing Soviet monuments in Odesa, viewing each Lenin statue and Chekist memorial as a Russian imperial foothold in Ukrainian territory.

Moscow frequently invoked protection of these Soviet monuments to justify intervention since 2014, treating shared historical experiences as evidence that Ukraine belonged within Russia’s control rather than as an independent state free to determine its own commemorative landscape.

Hanul’s consistent opposition to Russian influence and imperialism made him a marked man. His activities challenging Moscow’s historical narrative and symbols led Russia to issue an arrest warrant against him in April 2024, accusing him of damaging military memorials.

Despite having a disability (he was wearing a prosthetic eye) Hanul repeatedly tried to enlist for military service but was refused. Instead, he channeled his patriotism into volunteer work, traveling to deoccupied territories in southern Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts to provide aid and support reconstruction efforts.

Escalating attacks and Russian bounties for his death

Hanul faced multiple attacks before his eventual killing. In 2020, unknown persons set fire to his BMW X5 and later shot at his vehicle near Vizyrka village. His car was also damaged with bats. In May 2023, a group in military uniforms physically attacked him in Odesa, leading to criminal proceedings.

In July 2024, Hanul reported threats on his Telegram channel:

“A whole psychological attack on my family has begun. Various Russian information resources announced a reward for attacking me of $5,000-$10,000.”

He requested protection from the SBU and police, who opened a criminal case for death threats. However, they did not manage to protect him.

Activist killed in broad daylight in Odesa

On 14 March 2025, a gunman shot Hanul at 10:30 a.m. in central Odesa and fled. Police detained the suspect within hours—46-year-old Serhiy Shalaev, a military serviceman and former mechanized platoon commander who had deserted from the army.

In court, Shalaev confessed to the killing. Investigators charged him with premeditated contract murder and illegal weapons possession.

Police are examining several motives: a contract killing related to Hanul’s pro-Ukrainian activism, personal animosity, or Russian involvement due to his public positions.

Ivan Voronych: Spymaster who hunted Russian commanders

His unit played key role in Kursk operation

Ivan Voronych spent decades in the shadows, building Ukraine’s most lethal capabilities against Russian targets. He worked for Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and served in the elite Alpha Special Operations Center, running what the New York Times described as “a unit that received technical support from the CIA.”

His operations included high-profile assassinations that shattered Russian proxy morale in occupied territories.

In 2016, his teams eliminated Arsen Pavlov (“Motorola”), a beloved Russian commander in occupied Donetsk, and Mikhaylo Tolstikh (“Givi”), another famous separatist leader. These targeted killings demonstrated Ukraine’s ability to reach enemy commanders deep in occupied areas, earning Voronych respected status within Ukrainian intelligence.

The colonel’s final mission involved Ukraine’s August 2024 offensive into Russia’s Kursk Oblast. His unit played a key role in the cross-border operation that seized Russian territory and held it for eight months, exposing Putin’s vulnerabilities and destroying a myth of Russian border’s inviolability.

Voronych’s high-profile successes made him a prime target for retaliation by Russian security services (FSB).

Russia wanted him dead as revenge

On 10 July 2025, Voronych left his apartment in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district around 8 a.m. A gunman approached in the parking lot and fired five shots from a silenced pistol. Voronych died instantly from multiple wounds. The killer fled in an SUV.

The targeting appeared to involve significant intelligence penetration, as the assassins knew Voronych’s exact address and daily routine. Former SBU officer Ivan Stupak assessed the killing as 99% likely to be a Russian special services operation, citing the professional nature of the attack.

Russians foreign recruits come to Ukraine to kill

Three days later, SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk announced the elimination of the Russia’s security service (FSB) hit team responsible for Voronych’s murder.

According to the investigation, the FSB had sent two foreign nationals – identified as Azerbaijani passport holders Gulalizade Khagani and Narmin Guliyeva – to Ukraine specifically to kill Voronych.

The handlers instructed the duo to surveil Voronych’s movements and provided coordinates for a weapons cache containing a pistol with suppressor.

When law enforcement attempted to arrest them in Kyiv Oblast, the suspects resisted and were killed in the firefight. The FSB had used them as disposable assets, with no intention of extraction or exchange.

Ukrainian officials revealed that the vulnerability was that Voronych had been living at his registered address, which was listed in publicly accessible databases, allowing the assassins to establish surveillance and plan the killing.

Andriy Parubiy: Lawmaker who called for destruction of “Russian empire”

Now back to the assassination of Andriy Parubiy, whose suspected killer was detained and the investigation continues currently. Why was he targeted? What did the suspect mean by “revenge on Ukrainian authorities”? What kind of politician was Parubiy?

Parubiy’s party declared Russia “the cause of all troubles in Ukraine”

In 1991, the 25-year-old co-founded the Social-National Party, declaring Russia “the cause of all troubles in Ukraine”—a statement so radical that Ukraine’s Justice Ministry delayed registration for four years. However, history proved him right.

He played central roles in both the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity, serving as commandant of key protest sites.

“From that megaphone I started the rally,” he recalled of Euromaidan’s first hours. “In the first minutes there were 70-80 of us, there were more police around us than us.”

Over three months, he transformed those initial 80 protesters into a sustained movement. He organized tent cities, built barricades, and created “Maidan Self-Defense”—a structured civilian militia that grew to 12,000 trained members by February 2014 and eventually toppled Viktor Yanukovych’s pro-Russian government.

Government service

After the Revolution of Dignity, Parubiy served as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, helping establish Ukraine’s National Guard by incorporating Maidan self-defense forces.

As Russia’s hybrid war intensified through 2014-2016 with cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns, and continued fighting in the east, Parubiy’s anti-Russian stance proved increasingly justified.

He served as Ukraine’s Parliament Speaker from 2016 to 2019, working to counter what he described as Russian attacks on Ukrainian language and culture.

Parubiy joined territorial defense in 2022

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, the 58-year-old Parubiy joined territorial defense forces and served at checkpoints around Kyiv. He consistently advocated for complete destruction of what he termed the “Russian empire,” arguing that Russia would remain a perpetual threat if not decisively defeated.

“This is today a chance for the Ukrainian army and people to destroy this empire. If it doesn’t die today, it will continue to remain a threat to us, to our children,” he declared.

Personal grief or Russian manipulation?

The suspect Mikhaylo Stselnnikov, a 52-year-old from Lviv, had lost his son Mikhaylo-Viktor “Lemberg” during fighting in Bakhmut in May 2023. The young soldier, fighting with the elite 93rd Mechanized Brigade, went missing and was never recovered.

Stselnnikov’s former wife revealed they hadn’t spoken in 27 years. Neither she nor their deceased son maintained contact with the accused. Yet somehow grief transformed into political violence.

The suspect disguised himself as a delivery courier and approached Parubiy from behind on 30 August 2025. He fired at least eight shots to the Parubiy’s back and fled.

In court, Stselnnikov called his actions “revenge on Ukrainian authorities” and rejected suggestions of Russian manipulation. He claimed he wanted quick sentencing so he can be exchanged for prisoners of war to get to Russia and recover his son’s body as the Russians had promised him.

However, investigative sources suggest the killing followed a pattern of Russian intelligence exploiting personal tragedies to recruit assassins. This method allows Russia to eliminate targets while maintaining plausible deniability—the perpetrator genuinely believes they’re acting from personal grief rather than foreign manipulation.

Whether Stselnnikov was directly recruited or simply influenced by Russian information campaigns promising body recovery remains under investigation.

The price of fighting for Ukrainian identity and independence

Across eleven years, six figures who exposed Russian lies, defended Ukrainian identity, and resisted Kremlin control were murdered in Ukraine. This pattern reveals a systematic campaign to eliminate the voices that challenge Russian narratives.

While fierce battles continue on the front line, Russia also targets the voices that expose imperial lies and strengthen national sovereignty. The aim is to create fear, silence opposition, and fracture the national unity that sustains resistance.

Direct FSB involvement appears evident in cases like SBU colonel’s assassination, but other killings show how Russian intelligence can exploit personal tragedies and ideological divisions to achieve similar results.

The continued targeting of pro-Ukrainian figures in Ukraine indicates that the struggle for independence encompasses not only territorial liberation of occupied territories but also protection of those who defend Ukraine’s sovereignty against Russian attempts at control in Ukraine that have persisted for centuries.

Ukraine’s new Flamingo cruise missile appears to include older, cheaper and easy-to-acquire components. Leftover Soviet-made free-fall bombs as warheads. And, for propulsion, a simple jet engine borrowed from a military training plane.

The inclusion of off-the-shelf components that are readily available from manufacturers in Ukraine or allied countries is good news as the Flamingo’s builder, Fire Point, aims to ramp up production to as many as seven missiles a day by next month.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about the Flamingo, including its cost. Fire Point is under official investigation in Kyiv for possibly inflating the missile’s capability and price.

Regardless of the outcome of that probe, photos and videos of the massive, seven-ton missile hint at a reliable and affordable design. A close look at the fiberglass missile’s nose seems to indicate the warhead is actually two warheads: a pair of repurposed gravity bombs packed end to end.

The Flamingo seems to be based on the FP-5 missile design from U.K. firm Milanion. The firm claims the FP-5 ranges 3,000 km with a 1,000-kg payload. There isn’t a 1,000-kg Soviet-style gravity bomb in widespread use, according to missile expert Fabian Hoffmann. So “the payload could consist of two stacked FAB-500 unguided bombs,” each weighing 500 kg, Hoffmann wrote.

The evidence points to the FAB-500 M62, one of the most ubiquitous Soviet-era unguided dumb bombs. The Soviet air force left behind potentially thousands of the bombs when it left Ukraine in 1991. Many munitions companies continue to build new FAB-500s, including Bulcomers KS in Bulgaria.

Seems Flamingo's warhead is a modified FAB-1000 general purpose bomb. Ukraine likely has 10,000s leftover from Soviet aviation depots

The airframe appears to be carbon composite. A somewhat crude missile but it should be very impactful if manufactured at the claimed scale. https://t.co/HdTlUoG2sR pic.twitter.com/qoFbDy1r8x

— John Ridge (@John_A_Ridge) August 21, 2025

Abundant bombs

It’s not for no reason that, when the Ukrainian air force recently developed a simple precision glide-bomb similar to the Russian UMPK, it used old FAB-500 M62s as the basis—and added pop-out wings and satellite guidance.

With end-to-end FAB-500s, a Flamingo should be able to strike with the equivalent of 550 kg of TNT, Hoffmann estimated. That “is substantially more than the long-range drones and mini-cruise missiles Ukraine currently employs.”

Satellite imagery from the aftermath of the first confirmed Flamingo raid, targeting a Russian intelligence and hovercraft base in occupied Crimea on Aug. 30, depicts a large crater and other damage that may confirm Hoffmann’s assessment.

The ramp-launched Flamingo depends on a simple rocket booster to get it off the ground—and, it seems, an Ivchenko AI-25TL turbofan engine to propel the giant missile as fast as 950 km/hr. The AI-25TL, which powers Aero L-39 jet trainers and other aircraft, produces 1,850 kg of thrust.

An L-39 weighs five tons, which is two tons less than a Flamingo weighs. But the L-39 must be maneuverable, where the Flamingo is expected to fly a simple course at steady speed under inertial and satellite guidance. The AI-25TL is more than adequate—and, more importantly, it’s in production in Ukraine with firm Motor Sich. It’s priced to move at around $40,000 per engine.

With a low-cost warhead and equally affordable engine, a Flamingo might cost less than $1 million. That’s quite low for a long-range heavy cruise missile. A Russian Kh-101 or American Tomahawk both cost several times as much.

The Flamingo could change the deep-strike math for Ukraine. The new missile “has so much range and such a big warhead that that’s one of the important ones that could really make a difference,” Finnish analyst Joni Askola said.

And if the missile really is as cheap as it appears to be, Fire Point may actually be able to ramp up production to seven missiles a day.

Martin Jaeger, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany, who is leaving office, addressed Ukrainians, expressing his support and gratitude.

Since the beginning of September, Russia has used more than 1,300 strike drones, nearly 900 guided aerial bombs, and up to 50 missiles of various types against Ukraine.

Soldiers of the Bratstvo unit of the Timur Special Forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine destroyed in the Donetsk region a shelter and a group of Russian troops who intended to break through to the administrative borders of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Over the past 24 hours, on September 5, Russian troops shelled the Chernihiv region 60 times, targeting 22 settlements.