Russia burns through 68 soldiers for every square kilometer around Pokrovsk. The math is starting to matter.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reached peak offensive operations as the Kremlin orders its armed forces to capture the rest of the Donbas region. With casualties climbing dramatically as Moscow attempts to capture their primary objectives in the four occupied regions, Kyiv is fortifying Pokrovsk—what’s becoming the largest battle of the war so far.
Russia has massed one of their largest troop gatherings since the beginning of the full-scale war, hoping to make a decisive push to break through Ukrainian lines in Pokrovsk and open the remaining stronghold cities to further offensives.
After a year of continuous offensive activity, Russian forces still don’t have a foothold in the city. Ukraine’s Armed Forces continue holding a concrete defense.
The Russian push toward Pokrovsk is seeing casualties and equipment losses that dwarf all other battles of the war so far.
With Vladimir Putin putting all chips on the table for this offensive, it’s becoming this war’s Stalingrad.
Why Russia bled out at Avdiivka
In February 2024, Russian forces captured the strategic city of Avdiivka, which sat on key terrain overlooking Donetsk City center.
The capture came at a heavy price—the Russian military suffered casualties ranging from 25,000 to 40,000, making the battle deadlier than Bakhmut. Regular forces, rather than Wagner mercenaries, took the brunt of the fighting.
Despite inflicting heavy attrition on the Russian military, Kyiv hadn’t fortified the defensive lines behind Avdiivka sufficiently. The Ukrainian high command—whether due to negligence, miscommunication, or poor leadership—left gaps that would prove costly.
The lack of defenses, which should have been installed in the first months of the invasion, became exposed as Russia steadily advanced, capturing the strategic city of Ocheretyne. This gave Russian forces a growing salient that ultimately put them within range of Pokrovsk.
During summer 2024, Ukraine pulled off a shock offensive into Russia proper with the Kursk offensive. One goal was drawing Russian forces away from frontlines under pressure, like Pokrovsk.
But the Russian Ministry of Defense regrouped units from Kherson and continued pressure on the Pokrovsk front.
The Kursk offensive took away potential reserves to reinforce the frontlines as Kyiv faced manpower shortages, and the offensive turned in Moscow’s favor.
From summer 2024 to winter, Russia captured the outlying villages of Krasnohorivka, Kurakhove, Novohrodivka, Selydove, and Ukraisnk—putting their forces only several kilometers from the city.
Since seizing Avdiivka in February 2024, Russia has edged towards Pokrovsk. Map by Euromaidan Press
Where Russian armor goes to die
For most of late winter to early spring 2025, the frontline situation was a stalemate as Ukrainian reserves came in, partially due to the Kursk offensive failing, and Ukrainian forces from the operation being allocated in the sector. Ukraine is also mass-producing various types of drones that help alleviate the artillery shortage by targeting Russian armor.
At the same time in 2025, Russia conducted various offensives in Toretsk, Chasiv Yar, Kupiansk, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia Oblast, which hampered major reinforcements entering the Pokrovsk sector, allowing Ukraine to build up fortifications and consolidate its defenses continuously.
A 155th Mechanized Brigade Leopard 2A4 in Pokrovsk. 155th Mechanized Brigade photo.
The Czech shell initiative also gathered artillery for the Ukrainian frontlines, giving Ukrainian forces more defense allocations to hold the lines against daily Russian assaults.
Despite being only a few kilometers from the outer city, waves of FPV drone attacks have littered the roads into Pokrovsk with Russian armor and corpses that are nearly unretrievable, turning the frontlines into a no-man’s land. According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces are suffering 68 casualties per square kilometer gained in the Pokrovsk direction.
The equipment losses during this offensive are staggering.
Independent open-source analysts have tracked and geolocated 602 destroyed tanks, with another 100 abandoned, along with 1,300 destroyed armored fighting vehicles as of September 2025.
To put this in perspective: according to the Oryx blog, Russia has lost 4,000 tanks total, making Pokrovsk the deadliest offensive for Russian forces to date.
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Russia saved armor all year for this moment—150,000 troops close in on Pokrovsk
When glide bombs meet drone swarms
Russia holds an advantage in the air with dozens of airstrikes from its deadly glide bombs that can take out fortifications, despite taking extremely heavy casualties. On the ground, Russia has a 4-to-1 or 5-to-1 manpower advantage.
Ukrainian units also face difficulties with recruitment, unit rotations, and morale due to poor leadership—weaknesses the Russians have exploited. One of Ukraine’s biggest challenges in the war today is fixing issues related to recruitment, negligence of commanders, and improving morale.
Kyiv was able to reorganize its defense and conduct localized counterattacks from late February to early March 2025, as the settlement of Kotlyne was liberated, which pushed back a potential Russian salient. Russia conducted its major summer offensive a month later, putting pressure on the strategic H-32 highway.
With tank and armor losses littering the highways, Russia adopted tactics of sending unsupported infantry assaults, known as sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
The Kremlin sends these groups toward weak points in Ukrainian positions, some of which suffer from slow unit rotations or a lack of infantry due to manpower issues.
If the groups exploit those positions, Russia gradually sends more forces to reinforce that point—which they did during the summer, as there were fears of infiltration into Pokrovsk city in July.
How Azov crushed Russia’s breakthrough
Near Dobropillia, Russia sent several hundred reconnaissance groups, which managed to break through Ukrainian lines in mid-August, causing enough panic for Kyiv to send major reinforcements.
One reason Russia pushed its groups rapidly into the city was the timing of the Alaska Summit between President Trump and Putin—Moscow wanted a psychological victory to convince Washington that there was a “breakthrough.”
The 1st Azov Corps, one of the most battle-hardened units, was redeployed to Dobropillia, ended the breach, and stabilized the frontlines alongside the 1st Assault Battalion, Rubizh Brigade, and 93rd Mechanized Brigade. Localized counterattacks pushed the Russians back with various reports of either complete or operational encirclement in three different pockets outside Dobropillia.
Ukraine successfully counterattacked and exposed the groups to encirclement because Russian forces overextended their front lines, pushing forward without consolidating their positions. As the war drags on and Russia suffers catastrophic losses with minimal gains, their general staff and the Kremlin grow desperate to capture Pokrovsk before the end of the fighting season.
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Russia lost a brigade near Dobropillya—more brigades are coming
Why this city decides everything
The Pokrovsk offensive is becoming the pinnacle of warfare during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As both countries have exhausted their militaries, the fate of the city during the next few months could determine how the war concludes.
But here’s what’s at stake globally: occupying Pokrovsk could give Russia strategic topography to press onto the rest of the Donetsk fortress cities. Ukrainian forces continue buying valuable time to prepare defenses for the rest of the oblast.
What makes Donetsk crucial to Ukrainian defense is strategic terrain and over a decade of fortifications, with Pokrovsk being no exception.
Ukraine’s goals in the sector should be continuing attrition against the Russian military alongside other sectors of the frontlines, and continuing to build fortifications while addressing manpower gaps.
The longer Pokrovsk stays in Ukrainian hands, the less time Russia has to achieve one of its primary war goals of capturing the rest of Donbas, as the wartime economy shows signs of exhaustion.
Outside of Pokrovsk, Russian forces will still need to capture Druzhkivka, Kostiantynivka, and the fortress cities of Lyman, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk.
This effort will require more manpower than Russia can currently muster, and without a rapid capture of Pokrovsk, those war aims become even more difficult for the Kremlin to achieve.
A major reason Putin is demanding that Trump force Ukraine to cede the rest of the Donbas is due to the decimation of his military’s force projection capabilities, which can no longer take key objectives without catastrophic manpower and equipment losses.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, it would take Russia another two million men and perhaps four years even to capture the rest of Donbas—time Putin can’t afford. Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Lieutenant General Budanov, stated Russia looks to end the full-scale war sometime in 2026 before the economy cracks, and to do that, Pokrovsk will need to be captured to open up the rest of the fortified cities of Donetsk.
Right now, the longer Ukraine holds Pokrovsk, inflicts catastrophic losses, and buys time for greater fortifications to be completed in the fortress cities, the better it is for Kyiv. Without capturing Pokrovsk, particularly by the end of winter 2026, Russia—with its economy already reeling from Ukrainian strikes on refineries—could finally be forced to negotiate fairly.
If Russia doesn’t want to negotiate and presses beyond its current economic and military capabilities after exhausting its forces, Moscow could face a homegrown collapse akin to the Soviet-Afghan War, and the Battle of Pokrovsk could be the catalyst for it.
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Frontline report: Russia’s Pokrovsk offensive collapses into chaos — Ukrainian forces seize the moment and liberate Udachne
Julian McBride is a former US Marine, forensic anthropologist, defense analyst, and independent journalist born in New York. His bylines can be found in the National Security Journal, Byline Times, 19FortyFive, Heritage Daily, The Defense Post, Journal of Forensic Psychology, Modern Warfare Institute, Manara Mag, The Strategist, Pacific Forum, E-International Relations, NKInsider, Cipher Brief, Mosern Diplomacy, and UK Defence Journal.
An investigation by RFE/RL has uncovered details about the highly secretive elite Russian drone formation: the Rubicon Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies.
Rubicon has become one of Russia’s most formidable forces on the battlefield since the battle for Russia’s Kursk Oblast in mid 2024.
Throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, drones have increasingly become critical to the conflict, reshaping both battlefield tactics and long-range operations. Both Moscow and Kyiv are constantly adapting, deploying new drone technologies and countermeasures to strike supply lines, observe enemy movements, and target key infrastructure.
Russia’s Rubicon has proven especially effective at challenging Ukraine’s previously-superior drone capabilities on the battlefield.
Key findings from the RFE/RL report:
Commander: Colonel Sergei Budnikov, 37, former artillery and marine officer.
Headquarters: Facilities include Patriot Park near Moscow, used for training and testing drones.
Formation: Established mid-2024, shortly after Andrei Belousov became Russia’s defense minister.
Structure: At least seven detachments, 130–150 personnel each, specializing in drone attacks, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare.
Recruitment: Offers bonuses up to 3 million rubles ($36,000) to attract skilled personnel.
The RFE/RL reporting identifies Colonel Sergei Budnikov, a 37-year-old career artillery and marine officer, as the unit’s commander – the first public confirmation of his leadership.
One of the unit’s main facilities appears to be at the Patriot Park Exhibition and Congress Center near Moscow, which hosts training and testing activities.
Analysts say Rubicon represents a new level of organization and systematic planning within the Russian military, narrowing Ukraine’s previously decisive advantage in drone warfare.
Rubicon was created in mid-2024, shortly after Andrei Belousov became Russia’s defense minister. It operates as a hybrid organization, combining drone development, operator training, and electronic warfare, with at least seven detachments of 130-150 personnel each, each specializing in different aspects of unmanned operations.
Rubicon in Kursk Oblast
The unit first made its mark countering Ukraine’s operations in Kursk Oblast. Working alongside Russian regular troops and North Korean reinforcements, Rubicon employed highly coordinated drone strikes on short sections of roads supplying Ukrainian positions, often striking vehicles from multiple angles to overwhelm defenses.
These efforts ultimately forced Kyiv to retreat from the region and allow Russia to regain almost all of Kursk Oblast.
Previous reporting has shown that Rubicon’s drones use rapid frequency shifts and electronic countermeasures to bypass Ukrainian jamming, targeting both frontline convoys and operators stationed far behind the lines.
Rubicon units now systematically target Ukrainian drone operators who fly drones from distant positions away from the front lines.
One brigade reportedly lost 70% of their drone operators in a single week due to Rubicon’s precision strikes.
Experts warn that unless Kyiv develops more advanced counter measures, Russia’s elite drone force will remain a persistent threat across multiple sectors of the front.
Ukraine and Poland have agreed to establish a joint operational group on unmanned aerial systems, with representatives from both countries’ armed forces, Interfax-Ukraine reported on 18 September.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal announced the agreement during a press conference in Kyiv with his Polish counterpart Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who arrived on an unannounced visit.
“Today we agreed on a number of important steps. First – the creation of a joint operational group on unmanned aerial systems, which will include representatives of Ukrainian and Polish armed forces,” Shmyhal said.
The group will serve as a platform for coordination and development of joint initiatives, according to the Ukrainian minister. “We will integrate the latest defense technologies and initiate new projects that should strengthen the protection of our people and our critical infrastructure,” he stated.
Joint training programs will form the central element of this operational group. “…Which, I am confident, will strengthen our ability to resist a common enemy,” Shmyhal added.
Polish Defense Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz announced the signing of an agreement on acquiring drone operation skills during his Kyiv visit. “Discussions will focus on developing joint industrial initiatives. I think Poles are looking forward to this after such large-scale efforts aimed at helping the population,” the Polish minister said.
Kosiniak-Kamysz emphasized that implementing lessons learned from the Ukrainian battlefield is crucial for transforming Poland’s Armed Forces and NATO as a whole. He noted “obvious openness and readiness for cooperation” from the Ukrainian side.
The Polish minister addressed bilateral tensions directly: “I realize the emotions that sometimes arise between us, between Poland and Ukraine, but they should not overshadow our strategic goal. The enemy is elsewhere. It should not be sought within ourselves, among ourselves.”
The agreement represents a step toward deeper defense cooperation between the two countries, with focus on drone technology and joint military training programs.
Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s Salavat refinery in Bashkortostan on 18 September, about 1,300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The attack targeted the heart of the facility — a crude distillation unit, essential for the refinery’s operations.
The long-range assault came amid the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, as Kyiv targets Russia’s oil infrastructure to undermine military logistics and oil export profits sustaining the invasion of Ukraine.
Strike hits Gazprom’s Salavat refinery
Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ published video clips and photos showing flames at the Gazprom Nefetkhim Salavat refinery, located in the city of Salavat in Russia’s Bashkortostan.
The channel wrote that the drone which flew through the night and was tracked in the morning eventually hit its target during the day-time.
Exilenova+ reported the strike occurred around 10:00 and damaged the ELOU-AVT-4 distillation unit. The channel commented that Russian refineries are vulnerable even at a distance of 1,300 kilometers, praising the successful hit.
Another post from Exilenova+ shared coordinates of the damaged site and noted that the ELOU-AVT-4 unit is a key facility.
Local reports of explosions
Russian news Telegram channel Astra said residents of Salavat reported explosions and then heavy smoke after the strike. The channel noted that confirmation of details was limited at the time, but eyewitness videos showed the burning facility.
Bashkortostan’s head Radyi Khabirov later confirmed the attack. He called it a “terrorist attack” on Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat, claiming two aircraft-type drones were used.
“Two aircraft-type drones attacked the facility. There are no dead or injured. Passive and active defenses were triggered, and the plant’s security opened fire to destroy them. We are determining the extent of the damage. The fire is now being extinguished, and all services are on site,” Khabirov stated.
Strategic importance of the refinery
Gazprom Neftkhim Salavat is one of the largest petrochemical and oil-processing factories in southern Bashkortostan. Astra reported it produces more than 150 types of products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, bitumen, and polyethylene. In 2024 the company reported revenue of 303 billion rubles and net profit of 4.4 billion.
The refinery processes up to 10 million tons of crude annually, Militarnyi wrote. The defense outlet stressed that the ELOU-AVT-4 unit handles primary crude purification, making it crucial for the plant’s entire production cycle. Militarnyi added that disruption of the unit would have serious consequences for the enterprise.
Previous strikes in Bashkortostan
Salavat was previously targeted in May 2024, when a drone hit the pumping station of the same oil facility. Earlier this month on 13 September, drones also struck two Bashneft refineries in Ufa, damaging installations and pipelines. On 16 September, Khabirov signed an order banning publication of information about drone strikes in Bashkortostan.
The Verkhovna Rada has passed a law establishing a Unified Information System for the Social Sphere, aimed at automating social support processes and strengthening the protection of citizens’ personal data.
Tanks from Ukraine’s 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade completely destroyed a building occupied by Russian infantry in a close-range engagement, the Third Army Corps press service reported on 18 September.
Russian forces had fortified themselves in an abandoned residential building in one of the settlements within the corps’ area of responsibility.
“For the defeat of enemy forces, a tank from one of the battalions was deployed: the combat vehicle approached point-blank to the structure and opened aimed fire,” the press service said.
The precise shots completely destroyed the building along with the Russian assault troops positioned inside, according to the military report.
The engagement highlights the operational methods of the Third Army Corps, which incorporates the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade as its core unit. The formation also includes the 53rd, 60th, and 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
As of early August, the corps has taken up a section of the front in Luhansk Oblast, where it simultaneously confronts three Russian armies – the 1st Tank Army and the 20th and 25th Combined Arms Armies of the Russian Federation, the press service reports.
The tank engagement demonstrates the tactical approach employed by Ukrainian armored units in urban combat situations where Russian forces attempt to establish defensive positions in civilian infrastructure.
Ukraine and the European Commission wrapped up final agricultural screening meetings in Brussels on 15 September, completing a multi-year process that marks a historic milestone in the country’s EU accession journey.
This breakthrough has profound implications for global food security and European integration.
Ukraine’s agricultural sector—which supplied 50% of the UN World Food Programme’s grain before the war and remains a critical supplier to food-stressed regions—is moving closer to EU Common Agricultural Policy integration.
Yet, the milestone also exposes a fundamental disconnect that threatens Ukraine’s European future and the EU’s strategic coherence. While Brussels debates abstract concerns about Ukrainian “mega farms,” the reality on the ground reveals a far more complex agricultural landscape fighting for survival under Russian bombardment.
Screening completion sets the stage for integration challenges
The three-day Brussels meetings represented years of preparation culminating in Ukraine presenting 28 thematic blocks covering agricultural reforms, digitalization, state support, and market regulation.
Officials reported that the European Commission positively assessed Ukraine’s readiness to integrate into the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.
The screening completes Cluster 5, “Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion Policy,” the final piece in Ukraine’s six-cluster accession negotiations. According to EU officials, the bilateral screening process will be finalized by autumn 2025, with Ukraine aiming to meet opening benchmarks by the end of 2026.
But agriculture remains the most politically sensitive chapter. Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka called it one of the “most sensitive” negotiation topics, reflecting concerns that have triggered farmer protests across Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, forcing the EU to pay €156 million in compensation to affected farmers.
War damage meets policy misconceptions
Let us consider the context. As Ukrainian agriculture faces its most challenging period since independence—with an estimated $80 billion in war damages and farmers operating under daily missile and drone attacks—European policy debates continue to focus on abstract threats.
The European Parliament’s research briefing, published in April 2024, confirmed that Ukrainian agriculture has been “a primary military target of Russia’s aggression,” with Ukraine now controlling an estimated 26.5 million hectares of arable land, down from 32.7 million before the war.
Yet as Ukrainian farmers die defending their fields, European discourse remains fixated on what Politico describes as “farm giants and oligarch-owned holdings” that have become “the face of the country’s agriculture in Europe, looming as an existential threat at the border.”
The human reality tells a different story. Oleksandr Hordiienko, a 58-year-old farmer from Kherson, was killed by a Russian drone in early September while driving across his war-scarred fields.
At his funeral, mourners called him “the farmer with a shotgun”—he had cleared thousands of mines from the 1,000 hectares his cooperative shared with a dozen other farmers and patrolled the skies with a Turkish shotgun to protect his workers from drones.
Current agricultural statistics underscore the wartime challenges. Ukrainian exports dropped 33% in the first two months of the 2025/26 marketing year compared to the previous season, with wheat exports totaling just 3.1 million tons through early September—over 1 million tons less than last year.
Ukrainian farmers increasingly challenge the aforementioned European misconceptions about the country’s agriculture being dominated solely by oligarch-held farm giants.
“Ukrainian farmers must start now: To explain who we are: not oligarchs, but independent producers. To show what we need: not handouts, but clarity and fairness,” argues Andrii Dykun, Chairman of the Ukrainian Agri Council.
The reality indeed is quite diverse, with medium-sized and family businesses accounting for about 80% of agricultural enterprises, while only 20% operate companies with more than 10,000 hectares. Nearly 4 million households work the land, producing 95% of Ukraine’s potatoes, 85% of vegetables, 80% of fruit and berries, and 75% of milk.
These small-scale operations, invisible in European debates, are keeping Ukrainian families fed throughout the war.
The 8,600 medium-sized farms of 200-2,000 hectares—not the massive holdings that dominate headlines—produced over 50% of cereal output before the war. Even EU analysis acknowledges that 58% of production comes from structures under 1,000 hectares.
The picture is quite far from the “oligarch” stereotype, also when looking at operations that would be considered massive by European standards.
Politico recently profiled Akhmil Alkhadzhi, whose Syrian father helped build a family company cultivating 3,500 hectares—“middling” in Ukraine but enormous by European standards. When Russia invaded, wheat prices collapsed from $250-300 per ton to $70. To keep the business alive and support 60 employees representing “300 or 400 lives depending on us,” Alkhadzhi sold his apartment abroad. “We stayed without an apartment, but with a business,” he said.
Markets diversify as political tensions persist
Russia’s systematic targeting of Ukrainian food systems has evolved beyond direct agricultural attacks toward economic warfare. Moscow inflates costs across food production sectors by attacking energy infrastructure while maintaining plausible deniability.
Despite these pressures, Ukrainian agriculture demonstrates remarkable adaptability.
While the EU became increasingly important during the war, now taking 51% of Ukraine’s wheat exports compared to 30% in 2021, Ukraine maintains global diversification. In the first months of 2025/26, key destinations included Egypt (18% of grain exports), Indonesia (13%), China (10%), Vietnam (8%), and Türkiye (8%). India takes 17% of vegetable oils, with Iraq, Türkiye, and China following.
This diversification proves Ukrainian farmers’ core argument: they seek “regulatory access” to EU markets rather than dependency. As Dykun notes: “Once it became clear that Ukrainian producers were not looking for shortcuts, but rather fair treatment under EU rules, the tone softened.”
Political tensions nonetheless persist. Trade preferences expired in June 2025, quotas were reinstated, and emergency brake mechanisms now cover multiple Ukrainian agricultural products.
The legacy of previous restrictions by Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia continues to shadow EU-Ukraine agricultural relations, with tensions persisting into 2024 despite political changes in some countries.
These ongoing disputes underscore the challenges ahead as Ukraine moves from completing technical screenings to implementing actual integration. The 15 September screening completion was easy, demonstrating regulatory alignment on paper. The harder test comes with the political acceptance of Ukrainian competition in European markets.
Integration challenges and strategic stakes
Chapter 11 on Agriculture and Rural Development encompasses substantial EU law governing direct payments, rural development measures, and market interventions. Most rules apply immediately upon accession, making proper implementation critical.
Yet historically, agriculture has proven contentious in most enlargement negotiations, and integrating Ukraine’s sizeable agricultural sector poses unique challenges, especially without prior Common Agricultural Policy reform.
The screening completion demonstrates Ukraine’s institutional capacity for European integration amid active warfare.
For Western policymakers, understanding Ukrainian agriculture’s complexity becomes essential for supporting Ukraine’s EU aspirations and broader democratic resilience.
As Deputy Prime Minister Kachka noted, “This screening session is not a starting point but a culmination of years of cooperation with the EU. We know our strengths, we understand the challenges and today we have the opportunity to lay the foundation for further integration of Ukraine’s agricultural sector into the EU’s common policy.”
While Russian forces steal grain from occupied territories and systematically target food infrastructure, Ukrainian farmers continue producing crops that feed both domestic and global markets.
This agricultural persistence represents more than economic necessity—it demonstrates the resilience and institutional capacity that make Ukraine’s European integration both possible and strategically vital—if Brussels can move beyond its misconceptions to recognize the complex reality of Ukrainian agriculture fighting for survival and a European future.
Ukrainian drones struck a Russian Sopka-2 radar complex in Voronezh Oblast on September 16, damaging the antenna of the long-range surveillance system located more than 170 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, according to ASTRA media outlet.
The attack targeted the tracking radar complex near Garmashevka village in the Kantemirovka district, with one drone detonating and causing damage to the Sopka-2 antenna system, ASTRA reports. Voronezh Oblast Governor Pavel Gusev confirmed the attack occurred but claimed “the drone was destroyed.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported shooting down one drone over the region, following its standard practice of announcing successful intercepts.
The Sopka-2 represents a three-coordinate radar system capable of surveillance within a 450-kilometer radius, designed to detect aircraft and determine their range and altitude. The complex operates in all weather conditions, including winds up to 40 meters per second and temperatures as low as -40°C, according to technical specifications.
The strike follows a pattern of Ukrainian forces targeting Russian radar installations. Days earlier, Ukrainian drones destroyed a Russian RLK-1 “Navigation of the South” radar complex in Rostov Oblast, deployed at a former air defense military unit.
Ukrainian Defense Forces have intensified strikes against Russian radar stations in recent months, seeking to degrade radar coverage in specific areas, particularly around temporarily occupied Crimea. On September 5, Ukrainian drone operators struck Russian air defense radars “Podlyot” and “Nebo-M” on the peninsula.
The Sopka-2 operates as an S-band ground-based air surveillance radar with a range of approximately 450 kilometers, according to manufacturer specifications. The system serves to collect, consolidate and analyze data on air situation awareness for Russian military operations.
The attack demonstrates the expanding reach of Ukrainian drone capabilities, with the strike occurring at significant distance from the border and targeting critical radar infrastructure used for early warning and air defense coordination.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared Tuesday that territorial exchanges will not “stop” Russia’s war in Ukraine, directly contradicting recent statements by US President Donald Trump that peace would require “land swaps” between the warring nations, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Speaking on 17 September, Lavrov dismissed proposals to restore US-Russian trade as an incentive for peace, stating such attempts to “entice” President Vladimir Putin would not end the war, ISW reports. The foreign minister reiterated Moscow’s position that any settlement must eliminate what the Kremlin calls the “root causes” of the war.
These root causes, as defined by Kremlin officials, include Ukraine’s alleged discrimination against Russian-speakers and NATO expansion, ISW notes. The think tank reports that Moscow has repeatedly used this “root causes” framework to demand the replacement of Ukraine’s current government with a Russian puppet regime, Ukraine’s commitment to neutrality, and the revocation of NATO’s Open Door Policy.
Despite the hardline stance from Lavrov, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov maintained on the same day that Russia remains open to negotiations, claiming Moscow’s “preferred solution” is a political and diplomatic settlement, according to ISW.
The Institute for the Study of War assessed that Russia shows no interest in good-faith negotiations requiring Russian concessions and remains willing to protract the war to achieve its original maximalist war demands through military means rather than diplomacy.
King Charles III delivered a pointed warning about European security during a joint dinner with US President Donald Trump, calling on allies to maintain unified support for Ukraine against what he termed renewed tyranny on the continent.
“Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace,” the British monarch said during Trump’s state visit to the UK.
Trump was observed nodding in response to the king’s remarks but offered no public comment afterward.
The dinner exchange highlighted diplomatic efforts to maintain US commitment to Ukraine. Politico reported that Ukraine’s allies are mobilizing all available resources—including enlisting the King of England—to keep Trump aligned with their position.
Charles drew historical parallels in his address, noting that Britain and the United States had “fought together to defeat the forces of tyranny in two world wars.” He also expressed optimism about expanding economic cooperation beyond the trade agreement signed earlier this year between the two nations.
The royal intervention comes as Trump pursues efforts to end Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, despite Moscow’s continued rejection of ceasefire proposals and ongoing attacks on Ukrainian territory. Russian officials recently announced that peace talks with Kyiv are on “pause.”
Trump has maintained his position that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “is going to have to make a deal” with Russia, reiterating this stance before his UK visit. The US president has not imposed additional sanctions on Russia during his current term.
Zelenskyy conducted his own diplomatic outreach to Britain on 23 June, meeting with King Charles III alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and parliamentary speakers Lindsay Hoyle and Lord John McFall. The Ukrainian leader has met with the British monarch multiple times, including after tensions with Trump earlier this year.
Following his royal engagements, Trump is scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Starmer, who is also participating in peace mediation efforts. The royal family has maintained consistent support for Ukraine throughout the war, which experts characterize as an exercise in soft power diplomacy.
Lithuanian prosecutors and the Criminal Police Bureau have uncovered a group that organized and planned to carry out four terrorist attacks across European countries, with explosives hidden in massage pillows and delivered through DHL and DPD shipping services.
The investigation revealed that on 19 July 2024, Lithuanian citizen AS (born 1973), working with accomplices, used international delivery services to send homemade incendiary explosive devices. Two packages were addressed to the United Kingdom and sent on DHL cargo planes, while two others were sent to Poland via DPD cargo trucks.
The attacks unfolded over three days in July 2024. The first package exploded and ignited at Leipzig Airport in Germany at 05:45 on 20 July, just before loading onto a DHL cargo plane flying the Vilnius-Leipzig-United Kingdom route. A second package detonated at 02:15 on 21 July in a DPD truck traveling through Poland. The third exploded at 03:36 on 22 July at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The fourth package, transported by DPD ground transport through Poland, failed to detonate due to a malfunction in the detonation mechanism.
Investigators determined that the devices were controlled by electronic timers hidden inside massage pillows. Additional flammable mixtures were concealed in hygiene and cosmetic tubes to enhance the incendiary effect. The devices used thermite, an industrial and military substance with extremely high combustion temperatures.
Given the case’s significance and the goal of committing terrorist attacks across multiple countries, Eurojust established a joint investigation team. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies from Lithuania, Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Latvia, Estonia, the United States, and Canada are cooperating closely in the investigation.
The investigation established that Russian Federation citizens organized and coordinated these crimes, with connections to Russian military intelligence. Several coordinators were directly linked to an attempted terrorist attack on 9 May 2024, in Vilnius, when the IKEA shopping center was set on fire.
Two key suspects were identified: Ukrainian citizen Danylo Hromov (born 1988), who also uses personal data of Russian citizen Yaroslav Mikhailov (born 1988), and Tomas Dovgan Stabachinskas (born 1971), who holds both Lithuanian and Russian citizenships.
The investigation revealed that other citizens of Lithuania, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, and Ukraine were recruited for specific tasks during the attack preparation. They were found through acquaintances, recruited and maintained contact through the Telegram app, with payment offered in cryptocurrency.
The group operated with strict conspiracy protocols, fragmenting tasks among different executors who were typically unconnected to each other. Tasks included transporting packages and flammable substances, transferring them to other participants, hiding them in caches, and activating devices.
More than 30 searches were conducted in Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia. During the comprehensive investigative actions, authorities seized explosive substances hidden in tin cans and detonators from illegal circulation. Some devices were manufactured to produce a directed explosion effect using RDX explosive. The total power of the seized devices exceeded 6 kilograms in TNT equivalent. According to the data, these devices could have been intended for other terrorist attacks.
At this stage of the pre-trial investigation, suspicions for organizing and preparing the specified crimes have been presented to a total of 15 suspects – citizens of the Russian Federation, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Ukraine.
An interactive exhibition of rare early printed works by European thinkers, scholars, and political figures that reference Ukraine will open at Kyiv’s Central Railway Station.
The Australian government is lowering the price cap on Russian oil to USD 47.60 and imposing targeted sanctions on a further 95 vessels belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet.”
After a day filled with royal pomp and pageantry, President Donald Trump will meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the final day of the U.S. leader’s state visit to Britain
Germany is throwing its support behind the use of frozen Russian state assets to support Ukraine, marking a significant shift in Berlin’s position, Bloomberg reports.
The move adds momentum to European discussions on how to leverage the roughly $300 billion frozen after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
European governments and G7 allies have been weighing options to channel additional revenue from these funds to bolster Kyiv’s defense. So far, the EU and partners have agreed to direct interest income from the assets to Ukraine, but pressure has been growing to go further.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this month urged the bloc to create a “reparations loan” for Ukraine, funded by cash balances linked to the frozen Russian assets.
Germany’s support is seen as crucial, as it had previously been wary of measures that might threaten Europe’s financial hub or breach principles of state immunity.
The shift in Berlin reflects fears that declining US support under President Donald Trump could leave Europe shouldering a larger share of the aid for Ukraine. There are concerns this economic burden could also fuel the rise of the country’s far-right.
The issue will be raised at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Copenhagen this week and again at the October 23-24 EU leaders’ summit, where officials aim to reach a decision.
European Union member states have unanimously agreed to open negotiations with Canada and the United Kingdom on accessing the bloc’s €150 billion defense investment fund, the Danish EU presidency announced.
The decision to begin talks on the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program was reached without opposition. If agreements are finalized, British and Canadian companies could participate in joint procurement funded through SAFE, supplementing recently signed security and defense partnerships between the EU and both countries.
The move comes as other non-EU nations seek entry into the program. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose country aspires to EU membership, told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on 17 September that he wanted to discuss how Albania could gain SAFE access, Bloomberg reports. Türkiye and South Korea have also requested access to the credit fund.
On 9 September, the EU allocated the €150 billion in SAFE defense credits among 19 countries, with Poland receiving nearly one-third of the funding. Interested countries must submit official applications with investment plans by 30 November 2025. The first credits are expected in early 2026.
The SAFE program was created in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine and the need to strengthen European defense. It provides member states with long-term, low-interest loans for defense equipment purchases.
Currently, funds are primarily available to companies from EU member countries, while Ukraine holds special status — it cannot receive direct credits but can participate in joint procurement.
Ukraine hopes the EU rearmament program will cover shortfalls in domestic financing for Ukrainian manufacturers starting in early 2026.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law ratifying the One Hundred Year Partnership Agreement with Great Britain and thanked King Charles III of the United Kingdom for his support.
Russian forces targeted railway infrastructure and civilian facilities across Ukraine during overnight strikes on 17 September, leaving six people injured at a gas station in Poltava Oblast and disrupting train schedules nationwide.
The attack on a gas station in Poltava district injured “five drivers and a female employee,” according to the Poltava Oblast Prosecutor’s Office. The female worker remains in critical condition, while all victims were hospitalized following the strike.
Railway operations faced significant disruption after Russian forces “attacked railway infrastructure in the Myrhorod district of Poltava Oblast,” reported regional administration head Kohut. The strikes caused power outages across several sections, forcing Ukrzaliznytsia to deploy backup diesel locomotives.
Four passenger trains experienced delays of up to three hours:
“As of 07:00, damage has been localized and power has been restored – trains (including suburban electric trains) will continue to operate normally,” Ukrzaliznytsia announced.
The railway attack sparked fires that were “localized by emergency services units,” with one person injured in the incident, Kohut confirmed.
Russian strike drones also hit Poltava district directly, damaging “the building of a gas station,” according to the prosecutor’s office. Authorities opened criminal proceedings under Article 438 Part 1 of the Criminal Code for war crimes, carrying penalties of 8-12 years imprisonment.
The overnight assault extended to Kyiv Oblast, where regional head Mykola Kalashnyk reported fires in two districts. “In Boryspil district, warehouse facilities caught fire. In Bucha district, a fire broke out in a private house,” he said. Emergency services contained both blazes with no preliminary casualties reported.
The large-scale attack began at 9 pm on 17 September, with Russia launching “75 strike drones of Shahed, Gerbera and other types from the directions: Kursk, Orel, Millerovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk,” according to Ukraine’s Air Force. Over 40 of the attacking drones were Shaheds.
“Ukrainian Defense Forces’ aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units, unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups” repelled the air attack, the Air Force reported.
By 9 am on 18 September, air defenses had “shot down/suppressed 48 Russian drones of Shahed, Gerbera and other types in the north, east and center of the country.” One Russian drone remained airborne at the time of the morning report.
Between the morning of September 17 and the morning of September 18, Russian troops struck 29 settlements in 13 communities in the Sumy region 68 times.
The total combat losses of Russian troops since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, from February 24, 2022, to September 18, 2025, amount to about 1,098,380 people, including 930 yesterday.
As a result of night shelling of the Poltava region and temporary power outages in several sections of the region, reserve diesel locomotives were brought in. One person was injured.
Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola visited a school in the Kyiv region to see the cafeteria and kitchen facilities that were refurbished with funding from the Ukraine Facility program.
Fighters of the 15th Mobile Detachment "Steel Border" of Ukraine's State Border Guard Service used drones to destroy a Russian shelter and antenna in the Kursk sector.
A Ukrainian Armed Forces major has been convicted of high treason and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with property confiscation for collaborating with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
The Lviv Railway Court verdict doesn’t name the convicted officer, but Zaxid.net identified him as Major Yuriy Lavryk. His case matches the July announcement from Ukraine’s Security Service and Prosecutor General’s Office about capturing an FSB operative embedded in the Ukrainian Air Force.
Lavryk filmed Ukrainian military positions from inside his own base in western Lviv and handed the videos to Russian intelligence, according to the court documents. This information could further be used for drone or missile strikes on Ukraine.
Recruited through his wife who sided with occupiers
The recruitment came through family. Lavryk’s ex-wife lived in Melitopol, southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, when Russia invaded in February 2022. She sided with the occupiers and agreed to work with them. Russian FSB operatives used her as their bridge to Lavryk.
From his position at the Lviv military unit, Lavryk recorded personnel locations and equipment deployments. Each video went to his former spouse, who passed the intelligence to her Russian handlers.
Buys phone cards to build Russian spy communication inside Ukraine
But Lavryk’s work extended beyond gathering military secrets. He purchased multiple Ukrainian mobile phone starter packs, activated them in Lviv, then provided the numbers to FSB operatives through his ex-wife. The phones gave Russian intelligence a communication network inside Ukraine.
Investigators found more than espionage equipment when they searched Lavryk’s Lviv residence. He had stored a Kalashnikov AKS-74U assault rifle and 30 rounds of ammunition—illegal weapons that added another charge to his conviction.
Lavryk admitted his guilt under three articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code:
high treason
conspiracy
illegal weapons possession.
The 15-year sentence includes complete property confiscation.
It’s another blow to Rudy Giuliani’s withered wallet: A judge has ordered the former New York City mayor to pay $1.36 million in legal fees he racked up during investigations into his efforts to overturn President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss
On the sidelines of the 69th International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference, Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk met with the permanent representatives of EU countries to the IAEA.
The Defense Procurement Agency of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, at the request of the military, has made its first major procurement of 1,000 tactical mobility vehicles through the Prozorro system.
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