Theme: Eastern Europe

The multi-day truce between Russia and Ukraine, limited to the Kherson region, ended with no violations reported by either side and no sign of an extension. The ceasefire expired at midnight Moscow time (2100 GMT) and Ukraine pulled civilians out of parts of the region. The Institute for the Study of War assesses that the truce allowed up to 800 civilians to be evacuated and brought humanitarian aid to Oleshky and nearby settlements. Residents walked and shopped again at Tavriysky Market on the truce’s last day, November 1, 2026.

In the enlargement report published on November 4, 2026, the European Commission downgraded its assessment of Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms from “some progress” to “limited progress.” The document records that anti-corruption bodies increased the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions in high-level corruption cases, while some priority legislative reforms remain outstanding. The final version of Brussels’ communication removed a reference, present in the draft, to reforms slowing down, according to RFE/RL’s reporting.

In an interview with German television ZDF, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped Democratic gains in the midterm elections would generate more help for Kyiv in its 4-1/2-year-long war with Russia, according to Reuters, in a text published by the Jerusalem Post. Zelensky said he was grateful to Republicans but that Democrats speak “very clearly” about supporting Ukraine and renewing the connection between the United States and Europe. “I am also grateful to the Republicans, but the Democrats speak very clearly about supporting Ukraine and providing assistance to Ukraine,” he said in comments provided in German by ZDF before the interview was broadcast. “They speak about renewing the connection between the United States and Europe... Therefore, there is hope that a balance of power will emerge and that we will receive more support.” He also said that a Congress approving strong financial support or military assistance would have an impact on Putin.

The death toll from a Russian bombing of an aid distribution point in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region on Monday has risen to 37, with dozens missing, in one of the deadliest strikes on civilians this year, officials said in a Reuters report republished by The Straits Times. Ivan Fedorov, the co-head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Defense Council, wrote on Telegram that 59 people were missing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russian forces first dropped aerial bombs on the school building in Komyshuvakha as people arrived to collect aid, then struck the shelter with more bombs. Two members of a rescue crew and four police officers were among the dead, emergency services said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack targeted Ukrainian military units in Komyshuvakha and two other settlements, and that up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen were killed.

Russia’s Defense Ministry says, in a Reuters text republished by Investing.com, that two power stations in Ukraine’s regions of Kyiv and Zhytomyr were hit, in strikes that also targeted a cargo vessel at sea near Odesa and follow Tuesday’s missile and drone bombardments that knocked out power to swaths of Ukraine. US envoy Steve Witkoff announced that the US will bring together delegations from Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11 to discuss post-war security agreements, de-escalation and ending the war.

At least 31 people were killed after Russian bombs hit an aid distribution center in Zaporizhzhia, with at least nine 3,000 kg aerial bombs falling on the village of Komyshuvakha on Monday and the center collapsing after a direct hit, regional administration head Mykhailo Semikin said. At least 26 people were killed in two separate strikes, the second against a building, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The target was a military unit, Russia’s Defense Ministry maintains.

Russia bombarded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in waves on Tuesday, with dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones, knocking out power across swaths of the country. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 33 people were killed on Monday when Russia twice bombed a school used for aid distribution in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, and that about 50 people were still believed buried under the rubble. The Kyivvodokanal utility said that the capital’s water supply was suspended because the main water facilities were left without power after the attacks. Operator DTEK said the attacks knocked three of its thermal power plants completely offline. The U.S.-mediated tripartite talks in Abu Dhabi are set for November 10 and 11. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it was important that Russia seriously and effectively engage in ceasefire negotiations.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that Poland prevented what appeared to be an attempted provocation on its border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad overnight. According to him, “individuals with flashlights” were seen in the area and the border guard told him, just after midnight, of “disturbing movement” on the Polish-Russian border; the guards prevented any incident. Police, the military, border guards and intelligence services reinforced security along the borders with Russia and Belarus, including near Kaliningrad, and counter-terrorism units were sent to the northeast after “more precise” information that acts of sabotage, including a possible incursion by “armed people,” were possible in the first half of November. Tusk said it was not possible to confirm with full certainty that the episode was an attempted provocation and that Russia’s escalation would continue, not limited to that incident. In the Warmian-Masurian region, Polish services intervened near Sępopol, where no one crossed into Polish territory and those observed withdrew into Kaliningrad, according to an RMF24 account carried by United24 Media.

A Russian missile destroyed Dnipro’s hospice on Monday night, and nearly 50 terminally ill patients were transferred to other facilities; the oldest was 90 years old. In Kharkiv, a hospital was hit and 73 people were wounded, most of them elderly patients, according to Volodymyr Zelensky. Russian strikes on an aid center, a hospice and a hospital killed at least 38 civilians and injured scores of others in 24 hours. Kyiv’s water supply was entirely cut off “due to enemy attacks and damage to the capital’s energy infrastructure,” the supplier Kyivvodokanal said, and the entire metro network was suspended on Tuesday. Russia also struck energy infrastructure in nine regions, affecting water and heating. Zelensky said Russia launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles overnight across the country, and three thermal power plants of Ukraine’s largest private energy company were out of operation, according to the company. The UN human rights monitoring mission said the aid distribution at the school in Komyshuvakha had been highly publicized and that the attack “seems to have violated the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that Poland prevented what appeared to be an attempted provocation on its border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad overnight. Tusk gave few details but said that “individuals with flashlights” had been observed in the border area and that Polish guards prevented any incident from happening. According to the prime minister, additional police and other troops, including counterterrorism units, were directed to Poland’s northeastern border regions after authorities received “more precise” information that acts of sabotage, including a potential incursion by “armed people”, were possible in the first half of November. Members of Poland’s GROM special operations unit were deployed to the border with Kaliningrad to take part in a police operation aimed at preventing “planned acts of sabotage”, according to Russian state agency TASS; Tusk announced the deployment ahead of a cabinet meeting. Tusk said it was not possible to confirm with full certainty that the incident was an attempted provocation, and that Russia’s escalation would continue and was unlikely to be limited to that episode.

The death toll from a Russian attack on a site where people had gathered to receive humanitarian aid in Komyshuvakha, in southern Ukraine, rose to 29 on Tuesday, with 48 people still missing; in the same wave of overnight strikes, hospitals were damaged and scores of people wounded. The head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, Mykhailo Semikin, said the attack left 29 dead, 5 injured and 48 people whose whereabouts are unknown. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that after the first strike on the local school “used for humanitarian needs”, there was a second attack on the place where people were sheltering.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces struck facilities of Ukraine's energy complex in the Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions that supply military enterprises. The ministry said the strikes also hit port infrastructure in the Odesa region and naval vessels used for military purposes.

The so-called Coalition of the Willing holds on November 9, 2026 its first large-scale military exercise in Poland, in Nowa Deba in the southeast, with nearly 2,800 soldiers from 10 countries in the region bordering Ukraine. The Koalicja exercise runs until November 22. France and the United Kingdom are the main contributors, alongside Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Belgium. The alliance, led by France and the UK, has 36 nations and does not include the United States.

The United States, Russia and Ukraine will hold peace talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11, 2026, according to Axios. Discussions will focus on post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts and next steps toward peace. Kushner and Witkoff will lead the U.S. delegation. Lower-level U.S. officials will meet this week in Brussels with representatives from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that after the humanitarian operation in Oleshky there was a moment when the next steps could have shown that progress toward peace was possible, and that the strike on Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, showed Russia was “sending an entirely opposite signal” and “counting on more killings.” He called for “a strong and tough response” from the world. Zelenskyy wrote on X that after the first aerial strike there was a “double-tap strike” with nine more bombs aimed specifically at the shelter where people were taking cover. The death toll differed between sources: Ukraine's emergency services counted at least 24, and TRT World reported 26.

Ukraine's General Staff said on Monday that Russian forces had used last week's humanitarian ceasefire in the Russian-held southern town of Oleshky to strengthen their military positions. The six-day ceasefire, brokered through US first lady Melania Trump, was meant to allow aid deliveries and civilian evacuations from the frontline town. In total, nearly 800 people were evacuated, Melania Trump said on X.

Ukraine has hit three Russian refineries since Friday. The Novokuibyshevsk refinery, owned by Rosneft, was targeted in a drone attack on Friday, the first Ukrainian strike on a Russian refinery since October 15; over the weekend, drones hit a Rosneft refinery in Bashkortostan and Lukoil's Kstovo refinery in Nizhny Novgorod.

After the truce ended, Russia and Ukraine reported cyberattacks against their warning apps — with false information about drone strikes published on the Russian side and false radiation alerts on the Ukrainian side, according to TRT World. Russia reported its case on Monday, hours after the Ukrainian report, according to The Hindu.

The multi-day ceasefire in Oleshky, Ukraine, concluded without violations, TRT World reported. TASS also reported that both sides honored their commitments during the ceasefire in Alyoshki, the spelling used by the agency.

Residents of Kyiv received chemical and nuclear risk alerts on their phones this Sunday (the 1st). The Kyiv Military Administration said the notifications were issued after a probable hack of the system and denied any radiological threat, urging residents to stay calm.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had struck energy infrastructure in four regions overnight from Saturday into Sunday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power, according to the BBC. The humanitarian ceasefire in the Kherson region, which has allowed civilians to evacuate the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, is due to end on Sunday night.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Russian President Vladimir Putin would take a call from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said the Russian leader has never refused to talk, according to G1.

A woman who was in a car was injured when drone debris fell in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Governor Gleb Nikitin said on his Max channel. According to the governor, an industrial facility in the region sustained significant damage in a massive drone attack, and the target was not named. Authorities said they were taking measures to keep supplies flowing; the region is home to the NORSI oil refinery, one of Russia’s largest. There is no confirmation in the information released so far that the refinery was the facility hit, according to G1.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the first rounds of talks on Ukraine should take place in a trilateral format involving the US, Russia and Ukraine. According to him, European representatives may also be at the table, but the process must begin in the trilateral format, given working-level contacts with the Americans. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Europeans must be at the table, but not with their current approach, which he said demands Russia’s defeat and rules out dialogue. Ushakov also said Putin would take a call from Zelensky and has never refused to talk, according to Interfax, in a G1 report.

Russian attacks hit the energy infrastructure of four regions of Ukraine overnight and left hundreds of thousands of homes without electricity this Sunday, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a G1 report.

Bulgarians voted on Sunday in a presidential runoff marked by regional security threats and economic worries at home, according to the Associated Press, in a story published by ABC News. Yotova beat Gyurov by 2.8 percentage points in the first round on October 25, which drew record-low turnout.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Russia and Ukraine to stop targeting civilian ships in the Black Sea and agreed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to work on a new grain corridor through the sea, according to Al Jazeera. The two spoke at a joint news conference in Istanbul on Saturday. “It is clear that attacks against civilian vessels and actions that further escalate tensions in the Black Sea serve no one’s interests,” Erdogan said. He added that the attacks are unacceptable “regardless of who carries them out or what justification is offered.”

Russia and Ukraine agreed to organize regular humanitarian missions in Oleshky, a town in the Kherson region, following the completion of a joint humanitarian operation, according to Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova, in remarks carried by Xinhua. Lantratova said joint efforts would continue with Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, to provide assistance. Reuters reported the statement that the two sides agreed to carry out regular humanitarian missions, “a very important step”.

Residents evacuated from Russian-occupied Oleshky crossed into Ukrainian-held territory on Saturday and were reunited with their families. The operation began on Friday and was carried out under the most significant truce since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine four and a half years ago, according to The Guardian. An estimated 2,000 people remained in the city when the truce took hold and could choose evacuation to Ukrainian-held or Russian-held territory, or to stay with food and medical supplies replenished.

Drone attacks left about 200,000 families without electricity in Dnipro and the surrounding region and more than 80,000 families in the Kyiv region, according to Interfax-Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian Shahed drones struck a combined heat and power plant in Kyiv and four electrical substations in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to UNN.

The US approved the sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine, a critically needed munition for defense against escalating Russian aerial attacks, after Kyiv said deliveries had been delayed. The purchase, estimated at about $2.1 billion, will be covered with funds from Canada, Germany and Norway and with a loan from the European Union, CNN reported.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it struck a dry cargo ship at sea 18 kilometers south of Odessa that was delivering military cargo for the needs of the Ukrainian army, according to the state news agency TASS.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Friday called for a rapid ceasefire in the Black Sea that would allow safe passage for grain shipments from both Ukraine and Russia. “I spoke in favor of doing something quickly because the people of the Global South need this grain,” he told reporters during a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in Atlanta.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia has not changed its position during the talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine in the United Arab Emirates, according to TASS. In the same statement, Lavrov said a compromise cannot extend to fundamental principles upon which a state's existence depends, least of all when the lives of millions hang in the balance.

The United States Department of State approved the sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 missiles to Ukraine, in a deal estimated at $2.1 billion, according to TRT World. The purchase would be financed through contributions from Canada, Germany and Norway, channeled via the US JUMPSTART program, TRT World reported.

Ukraine has temporarily paused strikes on Russian oil refineries after weeks of pressure from US President Donald Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported, in an article published by Türkiye Today, citing people familiar with the operations. The unofficial pause reportedly began early last week and is expected to last until after the US midterm elections, potentially extending further into November, according to the report. “Our guys tried to be a little more careful during these days. But they do not have an order” not to hit refineries, Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv.

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told Vesti journalist Pavel Zarubin that Moscow and Washington have begun coordinating the exact date for trilateral talks between Russia, the United States (US) and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi and confirmed the meeting will take place in November, TASS reported. Only mid-November had been mentioned before, with no specific dates stated, he added.

A US-registered North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) reconnaissance aircraft spent more than seven hours flying over the Black Sea on Friday, according to a source in air traffic control services cited by TASS. The aircraft has since returned to its home base in Constanta, Romania, the source said.

The chief executive of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, said that employees of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant are being deliberately targeted by Ukrainian troops, according to TASS.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Türkiye for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Russia’s war against Ukraine and Black Sea security, according to TRT World. The Istanbul meeting will focus on strengthening bilateral ties and regional developments, the broadcaster said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that preparations for trilateral talks on Ukraine do not imply any commitment to limiting hostilities, according to Sputnik. Peskov told reporters that Russia is against a ceasefire that would give the Ukrainians a respite.

The evacuation of Oleshky, a Ukrainian city under Russian occupation, is under way, confirmed by Russian and Ukrainian authorities, with a convoy of 25 buses allowing up to 750 people to leave until 14:00 local time (12:00 GMT), along with ambulances for people with limited mobility. Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, traveled to the city together on Friday to follow the operation, the BBC reported. An aid convoy entered the Russian-held town, in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, after weeks of efforts to organize a relief operation for residents, Al Jazeera reported.

Ukraine resumed drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, and a refinery in Russia's Samara region was struck in the new wave, according to Al Jazeera. Russian authorities say they intercepted more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones over multiple regions overnight, the broadcaster reported.

Russian forces carried out a massive overnight strike on Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises and the power facilities sustaining them, also hitting port infrastructure in the Odessa region, as well as drone and missile plants in Kyiv, substations in Kyiv and Dnepropetrovsk and port targets in Odessa, Russia's Defense Ministry said, as cited by TASS. Ukraine's air defense forces say they neutralized three Russian missiles and 96 drones in the overnight attack, with impacts recorded at 17 locations, Ukrinform reported.

An aid convoy started moving overnight toward Oleshky, a Russian-held town in southern Ukraine, carrying food and medical supplies, according to the Russian newspaper Izvestia — Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, who heads Ukraine’s negotiating team, said Thursday that demining of the routes was completed and the humanitarian convoy was assembled and ready, according to the Associated Press (AP). The Kremlin said it hopes the aid reaches Oleshky on Thursday or Friday and that those who wish to leave will be able to do so, Interfax reported on Thursday.

Ukraine’s military has paused its strikes on Russian oil refineries after pressure from US President Donald Trump, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people with knowledge of the operations. The unofficial pause is expected to last until after the US midterm elections and potentially deeper into November, according to the Jerusalem Post, which also reported that long-range strike units were told in mid-October that the campaign against refineries was on hold once missions already in motion were completed.

A Russian drone slammed into a busy platform at the railway station in Dnipro, Ukraine, killing at least 14 people, according to ABC News. Ukraine’s Air Force said it had intercepted three jet-powered drones in the daytime attack, but a fourth evaded its defenses and hit the station, also according to ABC News.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Friday that Russian air defense forces destroyed 16 drones heading toward the capital and that emergency crews are working where debris fell, according to state agency TASS.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine halted attacks on Russian refineries for three days while Russia kept striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure during the energy truce. In an account to journalists at a closed-door briefing on Oct. 27, he said: “For three days we did not respond with strikes on Russian refineries while Russia was striking our energy sector,” and said he had proposed to respond calmly against other targets for at least 72 hours, without touching the refineries. The pace of Ukrainian attacks on refineries has fallen in recent weeks; the most recent were at Ryazan on Oct. 15 and in St. Petersburg on Oct. 18, according to the Kyiv Independent.

A Russian drone strike killed at least 14 people on a crowded platform at the Dnipro station in Ukraine on Thursday, where passengers waited to board a regional train to Zaporizhzhia, Reuters reported in a text republished by SRN News. Ukrainian state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia said a jet-powered drone struck the platform and that the air force intercepted three drones, but a fourth broke through the defenses. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack “horrific” and said it demands a response from Kyiv’s allies.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it hit a dry cargo ship at sea carrying military and dual-use cargo to the port of Odessa for the Ukrainian armed forces. “As a result of strikes at sea, a dry cargo ship delivering military and dual-use cargo to the port of Odessa for the Ukrainian armed forces was hit,” the ministry said in a statement, according to Sputnik.

Russia and Ukraine began a localized ceasefire on Tuesday to allow humanitarian aid into Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town on the left bank of the Dnipro in southern Ukraine, according to DW. Both sides confirmed the truce took effect at 3 a.m. local time (0100 GMT), after an agreement brokered by US first lady Melania Trump. Around 2,000 people, including up to 50 children, remain trapped in the town, according to Ukrainian and US estimates.

Estonia plans to build around 150 bunkers in its northeastern Ida-Virumaa region bordering Russia to strengthen its defensive readiness, Defense Minister Martin Herem said Wednesday, according to TRT World.

Trilateral talks on Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, with representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the United States, will take place after November 4, and the exact date has yet to be determined, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters, according to the TASS news agency. The Kremlin is ready to resume the format after November 4, when Russia celebrates National Unity Day, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Volodymyr Zelensky called the ceasefire in force since Tuesday morning in Oleshky, in Kherson Oblast an “immense success,” according to Le Monde, and called for a meeting between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in November. The local ceasefire has passed 30 hours without a single incident, according to The Guardian.

A Romanian court extended the pre-trial detention of Calin Georgescu by 30 days, in an investigation into an alleged 1.1-million-euro fraud case. The ruling by the Bucharest Court of Appeal overturned an October 13 decision by a lower court that ordered the pro-Russian former frontrunner in Romania's canceled 2024 presidential election to be moved from police custody to house arrest for 30 days. The court kept Georgescu and Ionel Rusen in detention until November 27, 2026, in a decision that is final.

A localized truce in the devastated city of Oleshky, in southern Ukraine, held for its first 30 hours without violations, Russia’s ombudsperson Yana Lantratova and Ukraine’s human rights ombudsperson Dmytro Lubinets said on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press (AP), in a text republished by The Hill. The truce began on Tuesday and is due to last through Sunday, in a humanitarian operation racing to get about 2,000 remaining residents food and medicine and to evacuate those who want to leave.

Romania’s Intelligence Service said on Monday it had identified a sabotage network coordinated by Russia, which it believes was responsible for a fire in September at an industrial site in central Romania near a state-owned weapons company, the Jerusalem Post reported. Romanian President Nicusor Dan accused Russia of having significantly escalated attacks on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) eastern flank this month. Russia’s embassy in Bucharest could not be reached for comment outside business hours, but Moscow has repeatedly denied such accusations.

Ukraine lost about 500 locomotives from January 2025 through September 2026, about 14% of its total, according to calculations by the Russian agency TASS based on information from the Ukrainian government. Since February 2022, Ukraine has lost approximately 600 locomotives, roughly 17% of its total, according to the same calculations.

Bulgarians vote this Sunday, October 25, in a presidential election held amid the spread of Russia's war on Ukraine to the waters off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, according to Al Jazeera. Polls place acting President Iliana Iotova, 61, and ex-caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, 50, as leaders in a race of 27 candidates, according to The Hindu. The vote has taken on added significance after a series of drone attacks on merchant ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast that likely killed some two-dozen international seafarers, according to The Hindu.

The center of Belgorod in western Russia came under a massive Ukrainian drone strike with significant damage and casualties, according to the city's mayor, Valentin Demidov. In a post on his Max channel, he said the strike hit residential neighborhoods in the city center, damaging residential buildings, cars and social and commercial facilities, and that preliminary reports indicated there were casualties.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Russian forces damaged at sea a cargo vessel carrying supplies for Ukraine's armed forces to the port of Odessa, according to a statement cited by Sputnik. Overnight, the ministry added, Russian forces also struck a workshop producing uncrewed boats at the port of Chernomorsk.

The White House said US First Lady Melania Trump “successfully secured” a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, the BBC reported. According to the statement, the truce in the “front-line war city on the brink of disaster” would begin on October 29, though Ukraine and Russia have so far not commented. Oleshky, in the Kherson region, was seized by Russian forces in the first days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to hold a trilateral meeting with the United States and Russia next month in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, according to Xinhua, citing the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. The meeting at the negotiating-team level is planned for the first half of November and depends on the Russian side, he said in an online address to the Hudson Institute. The Kyiv Independent reported that negotiation teams from the three countries will meet in Abu Dhabi in November to begin peace talks.

Estonia is overhauling its military strategy, moving troops closer to the border and investing in long-range arms, amid what the newspaper describes as Russian grey-zone tactics on NATO’s eastern flank, according to The Hindu. The country’s defence spending is set to rise 42% in 2026, to €2.4 billion, or around 5.4% of gross domestic product (GDP).

Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said in Minsk on Thursday that NATO’s military buildup will require a timely response from the armies of Russia and Belarus, according to TASS. He spoke at a joint meeting of the boards of the two countries’ defense ministries.

Moscow’s mayor said that 630 drones flew toward the Russian capital between 8:30 p.m. on October 21 and 4:00 a.m. on Thursday, according to TASS. Russia and Ukraine traded major attacks overnight, shortly after a US envoy held talks with the Russian president in St. Petersburg, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Lviv’s regional council decided on Tuesday to organize “cultural, memorial, scientific, and mass media events”, exhibitions and national-patriotic rallies to mark the 120th anniversary of Roman Shukhevych’s birth and 85 years since the creation of the militant group that, according to RT, perpetrated mass killings of ethnic Poles, Jews and Russians. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk branded the move a “suicidal tactic” on Ukraine’s part, Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz called it “unacceptable”, and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski called for the resolution’s key sponsor, Lviv regional lawmaker Svyatoslav Sheremet, to be placed on Poland’s travel ban list, according to RT.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Wednesday for freezing the front line in the war against Russia as a first step toward ceasefire talks, according to France 24. “Right now we have to freeze, and I think this is the real way to end this war,” he said. Zelensky said any peace talks must include Ukraine. “I always said that we are open to negotiate in any format, any topics. But don’t speak about us without us, please.”

NATO will send maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones to the Black Sea, after a series of deadly drone attacks on shipping in the region apparently linked to Russia's war in Ukraine, according to Reuters, in a text republished by US News. A US P-8 Poseidon has begun patrolling the Black Sea to conduct reconnaissance missions and detect any activity that could pose a risk, Radev said, according to Arab News. Last week, seven sailors were reported missing after drones struck two chemical tankers near Romania's Black Sea coast, setting them ablaze.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will send additional assets to the Black Sea, including support for surveillance, reconnaissance and forensics, according to The Guardian. According to TRT World, the deployment includes more maritime patrol aircraft, radar systems and drones, following a series of deadly attacks on shipping. Russia's military said it struck three cargo vessels at Ukraine's port of Reni and two others en route to Odesa on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will fly to Oslo on Tuesday to meet US special envoy Steve Witkoff, trying to repair ties with Washington that have deteriorated sharply over the past two weeks, Reuters reported in a text republished by The Straits Times. On Monday, US President Donald Trump said “Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine” and “Zelensky is not helping matters much”, and called on Kyiv to find “somebody else to negotiate”.

A Russian drone strike on a park in Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region killed six people, including three children, according to Al Jazeera.

The Ukrainian military released footage of what it says is the world’s first drone airlift of a wounded soldier from the front line, according to the BBC. The 92nd Assault Brigade said a ground rescue mission was not possible because the wounded serviceman was surrounded by landmines and there was high Russian drone activity in the area; according to the brigade, a “heavy” hexacopter, piloted by a remote operator, maintained stability during the “very difficult” operation. BBC Verify confirmed the identity of the army personnel involved in the video and found no signs of AI generation or manipulation.

The international airport in Rzeszow, Poland, near the border with Ukraine, was closed to arriving and departing flights at the military’s request, a source in the air traffic control service of the Warsaw Flight Information Region told TASS. The source said the closure was “due to unscheduled military aviation operations aimed at ensuring the country’s security”, and gave no further details.

An adviser in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office told the BBC that Ukrainians had died because there was no time to warn citizens about ballistic missile strikes. “It’s dangerous… People already died,” Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov said. Zelensky said frontline units had reported that Starshield equipment stops functioning at speeds of 130-160 kilometres per hour, slowing down the response. The White House said there had been no changes to intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attributed a recent episode to a “software problem” in the alert system.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States has resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine after suspending it for “some period of time”, in an interview on Meet the Press reported by Bloomberg. The temporary suspension of intelligence flows occurred amid sharp disagreements between Washington and Kyiv over battlefield targeting rules, according to the Kyiv Post.

Six ships were attacked in 10 days in the Black Sea by drones suspected of being Russian (among them the Able and Chelsea-3), an escalation in a maritime conflict that is pressing on the borders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), according to The Guardian. By Thursday, the attacks had encroached on Romania’s airspace and territorial waters; the Turkish-owned Alfa Watan, bound for the Romanian port of Sulina, had been struck by suspected Russian air and naval drones. Two chemical tankers, Wine Trader and Yara J, were attacked and left burning, and seven more sailors were missing.

Ukrainian forces launched a massive drone attack on St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, and Russian air defense forces downed 126 of them over the region, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said. Pulkovo Airport suspended all arrivals and departures, according to the Russian agency Rosaviatsia, and drones hit the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and civilian infrastructure in four city districts, causing no casualties, Governor Alexander Beglov said. VK confirmed a drone attack on its data center in the Leningrad Region and said its services remain available to users as usual.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had taken control of eight more Ukrainian settlements, including the town of Dobropillia in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Interfax news agency. Ukraine’s General Staff said Ukrainian forces remained in control of Dobropillia and described Russia’s claim to have captured it as untrue. Ukraine also rejected Russia’s claim that its forces had captured more than 1,800 square km (695 square miles) and 92 settlements since September 1.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 332 drones and missiles overnight, of which 293 were intercepted or neutralized. At least eight people were killed and nearly 60 injured in the latest wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine, according to Al Jazeera. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia attacked more than 15 Ukrainian energy facilities in western and central regions overnight.

Russian forces said they had taken Palamarevka and Kovalevka, in the Kharkov region, and Malokaterinovka, in Zaporozhye, according to the Russian agency Sputnik.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defense forces repelled an attack by 75 Ukrainian drones heading for the capital, according to the Russian agency TASS. There were no preliminary reports of casualties or damage, and the drone raids disrupted air traffic at airports across western Russia, including Moscow’s Domodedovo and Zhukovsky.

Russian attacks in Ukraine killed at least eight people and injured 60 on Friday, struck nine regions and two shopping centers and cut power to more than a million people, Ukrainian officials said. In Kharkiv, a 71-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man died and 12 were wounded in strikes on three districts, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said, in a Reuters text republished by Internazionale. The Hindu reported three people killed in strikes across several regions, and Al Jazeera said about 370,000 households lost power in Volyn.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia’s stance a “parody” of the peace negotiations and criticized US President Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Russia, while welcoming the prospect of European allies stepping up their role in the talks, according to the Daily Star. In a speech at the European Union (EU) summit in Brussels, he warned the deal directs funds straight into Putin’s pocket, according to The Independent.

Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Ryazan region, Russian officials said, hours after Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would resume attacks on Russian energy facilities, according to OilPrice. Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov said in a post on Telegram that “our region came under a massive drone attack” and that “a fire broke out at the oil refinery.” In Brussels, reacting to criticism from Donald Trump, Zelensky said he is “just defending Ukraine’s interests”, according to Opera Mundi.

The order to limit Starlink, the satellite system Ukraine uses for battlefield communications and drone operations, came from inside the White House, according to two US officials and one Western official cited by Reuters, in a text republished by G1. A person at Ukraine’s defense ministry said on Thursday that the receivers resumed working while moving, but only at speeds of up to 160 km/h. The Guardian reported that the change to Starlink happened without warning at about 1 a.m., when Ukrainian soldiers reported that terminals on drones stopped working at speeds above 100 mph, rendering communications inoperable. The British defense minister acknowledged “the challenges of recent days,” a reference to the US government’s sudden decision on Monday to limit Ukraine’s military use of Starlink.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said Slovakia will not take part in a new financing package for Ukraine, speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, according to RT. “By all means, give money to Ukraine, but the Slovak Republic will not participate in this mechanism,” he said. “These are not loans; they are gifts. Ukraine will never pay back any of this money.” Fico also said the existing €90 billion EU loan package had already proved insufficient.

Ukraine’s in-motion Starshield functionality has been restored, a source said, The Jerusalem Post reported. Ukraine’s defense ministry said it would continue to seek clarification on the reasons for Wednesday’s disruption of the military-grade version of SpaceX’s internet service.

Ukraine resumed attacks on Russian refineries after Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the withdrawal of US intelligence, according to The Jerusalem Post, citing Reuters. Since US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement on Sunday of an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Kyiv had refrained from attacking Russian refineries.

A commercial ship anchored in Romanian territorial waters caught fire late on Wednesday, October 14 and had its crew evacuated, according to Romanian authorities cited by The Hindu; the authorities confirmed the fire and the evacuation, according to Al Jazeera.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he feels personally betrayed by Donald Trump after it emerged that Ukraine’s military had its access to Starlink restricted. Overnight, Ukraine’s military reported that the Starlink satellite communications system, produced by Elon Musk’s SpaceX but managed by the US government, was no longer working at speeds greater than 100 Mbps, without explanation. The restriction comes as no surprise, according to an analyst quoted by France24: the service had been throttled after the SpaceX boss called the targeting of data services in Russia by Ukrainian drones “a step too far”.

Russia said Kiev attacked ships in the Azov-Black Sea region 214 times in 2026, out of 228 since the start of what Moscow calls a special military operation, according to TASS. The same agency reported that Yulia Zhdanova advocated collective international pressure on Kiev as the best way to ensure the safety of commercial shipping in the Black Sea.

At least 600,000 people were left without power in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions after overnight Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Zelensky said there was significant damage to 26 facilities of the power system and four in the oil and gas sector, and highlighted a targeted ballistic missile strike against infrastructure that he said should have been covered by the energy ceasefire announced on Sunday by US President Donald Trump.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet British Prime Minister Andy Burnham in London on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, as Britain looks to reaffirm its support for Ukraine, including with the promise of a new package of surface-to-air missiles, according to Reuters, in a text published by The Hindu. The announced package is £45 million (US$59.60 million) of surface-to-air missiles used to target jet-powered Russian drones, with £10 million of that package fast-tracked to meet an urgent need in Ukraine. Britain has said it does not support the US-Russia diesel deal and called on allies to keep up the economic pressure on Moscow.

Germany put a Ukrainian on trial, accused of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, according to BBC News. The defendant is a 50-year-old Ukrainian identified as Serhii K. by the German federal prosecutor’s office and suspected of being one of the main organizers of the operation, according to Le Monde. His full name, Serhii Kuznietsov, was revealed during his extradition from Italy.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Kiev regime, under the formal pretext of concern for global food security, wants a protected maritime channel to send weapons to Ukraine’s armed forces and to create yet another mechanism of political and economic pressure on Russia, according to TASS. Zakharova also said the Black Sea artery supplying Volodymyr Zelensky’s government is “very important for its sponsors”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that the country received no early warning from its partners about the Russian strike with five ballistic missiles that hit civilian infrastructure in Kyiv. He also said Ukrainian forces did not strike Russian oil refineries or energy facilities in the two days following Donald Trump’s announcement on Sunday, according to The Guardian.

US President Donald Trump denied having suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine and said the Russian diesel deal is destined for the global market, not for the United States, according to the Jerusalem Post. Asked directly whether the United States had suspended intelligence sharing, he replied: “No, we haven’t. We help them, but we’re really helping them get to a final answer.” On diesel, he said: “That’s a diesel deal, not for us. That’s being released into the world. That’s not being released to us.”

Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev summoned the Russian ambassador after two merchant ships were struck by drones off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast and one of them sank, according to the BBC. Eleven sailors from the sunken ship were missing at sea on Tuesday, according to Reuters. The other ship, the Ukrainian-owned Chelsea 3, sailing under the Maltese flag, was hit 18 nautical miles from the town of Byala, and all 15 crew were rescued, according to the BBC.

For the first time since US President Donald Trump’s weekend announcement of an “energy ceasefire”, Russia hit no Ukrainian energy targets on Tuesday and pounded cities’ transport and logistics overnight, according to France 24. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had not hit Russian refineries for two days, since Trump’s announcement, but that Russia kept up attacks on energy and critical infrastructure during that period. Four people were killed in Russian strikes in Kharkiv and at least a dozen were injured across the country, according to Ukrainian officials.

US President Donald Trump defended allowing Russian diesel exports and insisted an energy ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow is in place despite a lack of confirmation from either side, according to OilPrice. The deal lifted US sanctions on Russian diesel exports to allow Russia to supply almost 2 million metric tons of the fuel, a bid to lower US fuel prices, according to France 24. According to France 24, which cites Reuters and other outlets, US officials have reportedly threatened to cut off intelligence sharing and weapons sales to Ukraine unless it halts its strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Ukraine halted strikes on Russian oil refineries and on its other energy infrastructure for two days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday (13). The pause followed US President Donald Trump's announcement of an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, according to Reuters, in a text published by Al Arabiya. Zelensky said that during this time Russia attacked both Ukraine's energy facilities and its critical infrastructure, sending absolutely clear signals that it has no intention of refraining from strikes on Ukraine.

A Russian drone attack on a residential building in Kyiv killed two people on Monday evening, according to the Ukrainian capital’s prosecutor’s office: a 59-year-old woman and a person who was in a car near the building. According to Reuters, the strike on a high-rise residential building in a Kyiv suburb killed two people and injured at least nine, while attacks in other Ukrainian regions killed at least six, Ukrainian officials said.

The Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US General Alexus Grynkewich, will elaborate his theory of victory over any potential attack at a security conference in Warsaw, according to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials, cited by AFP, in a text republished by France24. The intervention is intended to send a signal to Moscow and reassure members, without divulging many new details on the allianceʼs strategy.

At least 15 people, including three children, were killed in Zaporizhzhia after Russia hit the city with five glide bombs. At least 16 others were injured and people are missing under the rubble, according to the BBC. Russian forces struck a five-story residential building in the city with guided aerial bombs early on October 10, according to the Kyiv Independent, which reported four dead and four injured in that strike. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attributed the attack to Russia expressing “its thanks” for a deal announced by US President Donald Trump easing sanctions on Moscow to import Russian diesel, according to the BBC.

US President Donald Trump said it is time for Ukraine to get a new president, responding to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s criticism of the US diesel deal with Russia, according to the BBC. Trump told reporters on Saturday that he suggests they get a new leader who can make a deal, and that it is time for Ukraine to get a new president, according to Axios. Zelensky called the diesel deal not fair and not honest, a sign of weakness by Trump and a birthday gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Axios.

NATO’s military command has drawn up a new defense plan for the alliance’s eastern flank, focusing on drones and artificial intelligence, to be presented on October 12 to NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich, according to TASS. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of the NATO Military Committee, said the plan, dubbed “Theory of Victory”, is meant to ensure that war never begins, because those who threaten the alliance are convinced not to start it, and is not directed against Russia, according to TASS, citing an interview with La Repubblica.

The death toll from the Russian bombardment in Zaporizhzhia rose to 12, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The bombardment took place on Saturday and Zelensky said five glide bombs hit residential buildings in the city.

A Russian attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed seven people and wounded ten others on the morning of October 10, regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said, as rescuers searched for more people under the rubble. The attack hit several locations at once in the early hours of that day, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said a dry cargo ship carrying military cargo to the port of Odesa was struck at sea, according to Sputnik.

The Aframax Rio tanker was towed to a safe location after an attack by unmanned surface vessels, and specialists from the Marine Rescue Service are assessing its technical condition, according to TASS. The Liberian-flagged vessel was set alight after coming under fire from unmanned boats on Tuesday evening off the coast of Sochi, and its crew of 23 people, all Indian citizens, was rescued, with preliminary information indicating no casualties, according to ABC News.

Residents of Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, are being forced to flee the city as drone strikes intensify, according to France 24. On the evening of 8 October, two people were killed in a Russian drone strike on a civilian car in the centre of Kramatorsk, bringing the number of people killed in the city over the course of the day to 32, according to the city council cited by Ukrainska Pravda.

The United Kingdom has chosen Audere Group as its partner to set up a dedicated business centre in Kyiv, giving British businesses a permanent base, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. The centre will give direct access to battlefield data and targets defence industrial partnerships, under the 100-Year Partnership. It builds on more than 40 major UK-Ukraine industrial partnerships already established.

Envoys of US President Donald Trump will meet Ukrainian negotiators and European officials in Miami on Friday to discuss new peace proposals, two US sources told AFP. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the Ukrainian team is due to meet Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in the US, in a two-day meeting, and is counting on European participation. The American negotiators also invited national security advisers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, as well as officials from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union, to discuss security guarantees and a post-war prosperity plan.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Zelensky’s confrontational statements demonstrate Ukraine’s unwillingness to pursue peace, according to TASS. Peskov said Zelensky’s earlier threats of a 40-day operation against Russia are now backfiring on Ukraine itself.

The Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on October 8 left most of Kyiv without power, with the metro shut down due to a lack of electricity and water scarce, according to the Kyiv Independent. Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal confirmed the attack on an energy facility important for Kyiv and said crews are trying to restore power. Drone strikes on October 8 killed four people and injured at least 19 in Kyiv, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. According to Le Monde, 78 people were killed and 215 wounded on October 7 and 8 alone.

Syria has called for an “independent and transparent” investigation into the sinking of the Alfa Watan cargo ship, demanding answers over the fate of its 10 crew members — nine Syrians and an Egyptian —, who remain unaccounted for, Al Jazeera reported. The Togolese-flagged vessel went down in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone early on Tuesday.

A Russian attack on two passenger buses in Kramatorsk, near the frontline in eastern Ukraine, killed 30 people and wounded 18, according to local authorities. The Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office and the governor’s office gave the same toll of 30 dead and 18 wounded. Ukrainian authorities said 30 people were killed and at least 18 injured in Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine that included the attack on a public bus, The Associated Press reported.

22 people were killed in Pryluky in a missile attack the previous day, including five children, and 54 others were injured, including seven children, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service, RBC-Ukraine reported.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had carried out a massive strike with precision weapons and drones on military-industrial facilities in Ukraine, in Kyiv and other regions. The ministry confirmed the overnight strike and did not mention civilian casualties. In the Chernihiv region, a missile hit a five-storey residential building in Pryluky, killing nine people, including three children, and wounding 34, according to Ukraine’s Interior Minister, Ihor Vyhivskyi.

Lithuania’s Interior Ministry plans to deploy army units to reinforce security along the border with Russia’s Kaliningrad Region, according to Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas, in a Facebook post cited by TASS. Katelynas said he had asked Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas to deploy the armed forces to help border guards, and described the move as preventive, with the situation at the border calm. Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT reports that the country will deploy troops to help guard the border with Kaliningrad.

The 23 crew members, all Indian citizens, were rescued from the Liberian-flagged tanker attacked by naval drones, while crude oil is burning openly in the Black Sea waters and firefighters could not tackle the blaze due to its intensity, according to The Hindu, citing Russia’s transport ministry for the attack and the burning oil.

Two people died in a fire in the Darnytskyi neighbourhood in Kyiv as a result of Wednesday’s attack, according to France24, with information from the Agence France-Presse (AFP). On the eve, Volodymyr Zelensky said there was updated intelligence indicating Russian preparation of a massive attack and that Ukraine’s position depended largely on what weaponry the allies could provide, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu.

Russian troops advancing near Golubkovo, a settlement Russia says it has liberated in the Zaporozhye region, approached Novoukrainka, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS. After liberating Golubkovo on October 6, Russian servicemen were establishing a foothold for an offensive in two directions, north and northwest of the settlement, according to TASS.

A Liberian-flagged oil tanker caught fire off Russia's Black Sea coast, near Sochi, after being attacked by unmanned boats, according to Russia's Transport Ministry. All 23 crew members, Indian nationals, were rescued with no injuries, the ministry said. The ship was identified as the Aframax Rio and was hit by “naval drones” on Tuesday, in a Times of India report citing Reuters.

Sweden will deploy Patriot missile defence systems to eastern Poland to help protect the NATO logistics hub that supplies weapons to Ukraine, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Two commercial vessels were struck by drones on Tuesday, October 6, in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea — the first attack on shipping in the exclusive economic zone of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member, according to CBC News. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan suffered critical structural damage and sank, and the crew’s fate remains unknown. The second ship, registered in Palau, caught fire and its Turkish and Indian crew members were rescued, according to RFI. Bulgaria’s prime minister said, according to CBC News, that the situation is seriously disrupting shipping in the Black Sea, driving up insurance costs even further and making shipping extremely difficult.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is not currently being discussed, because Washington is focused on resolving the Ukrainian conflict. Asked by a journalist whether Ukraine should be a NATO member, Rubio said “there's no yes or no answer”, according to TASS.

Russia said it intercepted nearly 900 Ukrainian drones overnight on Tuesday over multiple regions of the country, as well as the occupied Crimean peninsula and the Sea of Azov, according to the Defence Ministry in Moscow. Unconfirmed media reports said a major fuel depot in the Moscow region was on fire after the attack, which killed two people. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 650 drones flew towards the Moscow region between Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

A merchant ship has sunk and its crew is missing after a drone attack in the Black Sea, Bulgarian officials say. A second vessel carrying grain was hit within Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said. Its crew of 18 were rescued. The attacks took place at about 03:00 (23:00 GMT), some 70 miles (112 km) off the coastal town of Byala in eastern Bulgaria, and involved air and sea drones, Radev said. The sunken ship was flying the flag of Togo.

Of the 521 locomotives hit in Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, almost 60% have been this year, according to statistics released by the state-owned operator.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the country is closely monitoring the case of the technician who died at a plague research centre in Siberia, with a risk of pneumonic plague, but no cause for alarm, according to the BBC. Irkutsk’s governor announced the cause of death as “pneumonia of undetermined etiology” and said no microorganisms linked to her work had been found in her biological samples. Rospotrebnadzor inspected the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East and found no emergency situation there.

Russian bombs struck a residential area of Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, killing at least five people and injuring more than 50, according to officials cited by Reuters, in a text republished by Yahoo. The toll later rose to six dead and 59 injured, according to Ukrainska Pravda. The attack used guided aerial bombs in the Slobidskyi district, with hits on civilian businesses and near a residential building.

Russia again struck Kyiv with drones, hitting the North Bridge over the Dnieper during German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's surprise visit, according to the BBC. Merz arrived in Kyiv unannounced with the economy minister and defense and energy executives, pledging long-range weapons and 1,000 specialized interceptors, according to the Kyiv Post. He warned that Russia's war machine will turn against NATO if it is not stopped. The Ukrainian capital is under increasing missile and drone attacks on infrastructure, including the energy sector vital for electricity and heating before winter, according to France24.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country will double down on attacking Russian oil refineries in response to a new policy of airstrikes by Moscow, according to CNBC. Zelensky said intelligence documents show an order from Vladimir Putin to expand attacks on infrastructure, logistics, roads, schools and hospitals to pressure civilians into leaving cities, according to ABC News. According to him, Ukraine's response will target Russian energy, especially refineries, without indiscriminately attacking civilian objects, according to The Independent.

Russia's draft budget for 2027 proposes 17.1 trillion roubles (US$ 202.58 billion) for defence, about 27% higher than the 13.5 trillion originally allocated, according to Reuters, in a text republished by the Times of India. The document cuts social policy by 7%, education by 6%, healthcare by 6.8% and the national economy by 7.4%.

The governor of Russia's Belgorod region, Alexander Shuvayev, said 17 municipalities came under 141 Ukrainian attacks over the past day, with 182 drones downed or suppressed, according to TASS. One civilian was killed in Grayvoronsky district and two more died in hospitals after injuries in Belgorod and Krasnoyaruzhsky. Russia's Defense Ministry said Russian forces used Geran drones to strike a data center in Odessa and a Nova Poshta logistics center in Chernomorsk, as well as a ship carrying military supplies.

Ukraine’s 2027 military spending is set at $108.3 billion, compared with $71.7 billion in its own revenues, and the draft leaves the country needing an additional $25.4 billion from Western sponsors to cover military spending alone, according to the Russian state agency TASS.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Vivaldi operation has de-occupied about 125 to 140 square kilometres so far and is not yet finished, in an interview with Reuters published by Ukrainska Pravda. He also said that Russian casualties rose to 42,000 a month in the recent period, up from 30,000 to 32,000 a month since the start of the year, according to Ukrainska Pravda, citing the Reuters interview.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine is ready to consider India’s proposal for a ceasefire in energy and the Black Sea, but only in that combination, and that it is the broadest of the four proposals received. The initiatives came from India, Turkiye, Egypt and the United States, Sybiha said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Indian Prime Minister Modi has “very good ideas” aimed at finding mutually acceptable solutions.

Russia proposed that Moldova conduct a joint investigation into drone incidents, rather than levelling baseless accusations, according to TASS. Russia’s ambassador-designate to Chișinău, Oleg Ozerov, said Moldova blames Russia for all its troubles, following the European Union’s lead, without providing any evidence. Moldova handed a note of protest to Ozerov after three drones violated the country’s airspace on September 30, two of them exploding on Moldovan territory, according to Radio Moldova.

At least five people were killed in the long-range strikes exchanged by Kyiv and Moscow, Al Jazeera reported, and Russia again urged diplomats and foreigners to leave the Ukrainian capital. Russia said its drones had hit the two bridges used to transfer Ukrainian troops and military cargo, the BBC reported.

Talks between the United States and Russia to end the war in Ukraine have expanded to include a proposed multibillion-dollar deal for Lukoil’s international oil assets, according to the New York Times, in a text republished by the Times of India. Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the proposed transaction when he met Witkoff and Kushner at the Kremlin, on September 5, according to people familiar with the meeting. A group led by US investor Todd Boehly has emerged as the leading bidder, alongside Middle Eastern investors and the US government.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow will continue large-scale retaliatory strikes against military targets in Ukraine, in response to what it calls Kiev’s terror against Russians, according to Sputnik. The ministry reiterated its warning to foreign nationals, including diplomatic mission staff, against staying in Ukraine or travelling to its territory.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces took control of the settlement of Novaya Kazachya in northern Kharkov region, according to Sputnik. The village lies a few kilometers from Russia’s Belgorod region and close to Kazachya Lopan, a road and rail hub.

A strike on Saturday morning damaged the road surface and trolleybus overhead wires on the Northern Bridge in Kiev and blocked traffic, according to the BBC. It was the second major bridge hit in the city in days: the Southern Bridge was targeted several times by Russian drones on Thursday and Friday, the BBC also reported. Russia's Defense Ministry said that overnight drone strikes hit the Severny road bridge over the Dnieper, used to move troops and deliver military cargo, according to TASS.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday attended the active phase of the Center-2026 strategic exercise at the Chebarkul training ground in the Urals, held from September 28 to October 3, involving more than 47,000 military personnel and contingents from seven foreign states, according to the Kremlin. Troops from China are taking part in the drills, according to the Washington Post.

The secretary general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Taalatbek Masadykov, said that the military-political situation in the organization’s area of responsibility is increasingly deteriorating and that conflict potential is rising in its border regions, according to TASS.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is open to dialogue on ensuring security in the Black Sea for all countries, but that no specific negotiations on bilateral agreements are currently underway, according to Sputnik Globe.

Russian drones hit a major bridge in Kyiv on Thursday for the first time since the start of the conflict with Ukraine, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). The Southern Bridge in central Kyiv was again hit by a Russian drone on Oct. 1 and into the early hours of Oct. 2, with damage reported, according to the Kyiv Independent.

South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung threatened to take unspecified further action if Ukraine does not issue a public apology for revealing that two North Korean prisoners of war had been sent to the South, according to the BBC. The South Korean president expressed anger at Ukraine over comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a speech at the UN that appeared to reveal a secret deal, according to Al Jazeera. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the situation as a “diplomatic misunderstanding” and said Kyiv was working to resolve it, according to the BBC.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the country had used its FP-7 tactical ballistic missile in combat for the first time, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Straits Times. In a Telegram message, Zelensky wrote that it was the missile’s “first combat use”. He did not say where the missile had been used or against what target.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out a ceasefire on long-range strikes with Ukraine, as Moscow steps up its campaign of aerial attacks on Kyiv, Al Jazeera reported. Putin said Ukraine had “partially achieved its objectives” with those strikes and that attacks on Russian oil refineries had cost the country 1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). He added that Russia would prefer to end the conflict through talks and wanted Ukraine to be a neutral country after the end of hostilities.

Russia plans to spend 17.1 trillion roubles ($202.58 billion) on defence in 2027, around 27% more than the 13.5 trillion roubles originally budgeted and the highest figure since the start of the war in Ukraine, in 2022, according to Reuters. The government raised its estimate for its 2026 budget deficit to 3.2% of gross domestic product (GDP), from 1.6% previously, the agency reported. The explanatory note for the 2027–2029 budget draft projects the 2026 federal deficit at 3.2% of GDP, or 7.335 trillion roubles, according to TASS.

Belarus is prepared to restore verification and early warning mechanisms, as well as other military transparency measures, provided North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries show a reciprocal willingness to do so, Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov told TASS.

A Russian drone hit a school in Kyiv on Thursday while children and staff were hiding in shelters, and there were no immediate reports of casualties, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Two other Russian drones hit an important bridge connecting eastern and western Kyiv, forcing the suspension of metro services and ground public transport. Ukraine’s nuclear safety watchdog said a Russian drone hit the grounds of a nuclear research facility in Kyiv on Wednesday, causing a fire but leaving the facility’s test reactor undamaged. The United Kingdom announced a new package of 31 sanctions on Russia, aimed at stemming funding to the “Kremlin war chest, propagandists and torturers”.

Russia launched the heaviest combined attack on Ukraine's energy sites in months, hitting power facilities and infrastructure around Kyiv and other regions, according to France24. Seven people were killed in the strikes, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukraine's state power grid operator Ukrenergo said it had imposed emergency power cuts in Kyiv and three surrounding regions.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said there is no real proof that Russia is preparing an attack on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) territory, according to RT, following a meeting with the alliance’s chief, Mark Rutte, in Brussels — Sinkevicius said he asked Rutte whether there was any real proof from intelligence services and that the answer was that there is none, also according to RT.

Russian forces took more than 50 settlements in September, according to TASS calculations. In the breakdown by battlegroup published by the agency, Battlegroup North took 30 settlements, Center nine, South four, West one and East six.

Papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi discussed humanitarian issues in the Ukraine war in talks with Russian officials and visited Ukrainian prisoners of war, Russia's Foreign Ministry said, according to Reuters, in a text republished by KFGO. Zuppi met Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov and addressed prospects for a settlement, prisoner exchanges and displaced children. This was his third visit to Moscow since 2023, and he told TASS his primary mission is to help find solutions to humanitarian issues.

The Russian Embassy in Ireland said in a statement on Wednesday that Moscow would be ready to use its entire arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend Kaliningrad if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) tries to isolate the territory, according to the Kyiv Independent. The embassy said NATO is preparing an air and naval blockade of the region, without providing evidence or identifying the source of the claim. A Russian document sent to the alliance and obtained by Reuters says Moscow would use “its entire arsenal” to defend Kaliningrad, according to G1. NATO confirmed it had received an “informal document” from the Russian Embassy in Belgium with the warning about Kaliningrad, according to RTE.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi said Russia launched the largest attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since the spring, primarily targeting Kyiv and the surrounding region, according to the BBC. At least six people were killed and 33 injured in the overnight attacks across the country, including a child in the Kyiv region, according to local authorities cited by the BBC. DTEK, a major private Ukrainian energy company, said crews had restored electricity to about 8,000 households after the attacks, according to Al Jazeera. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had struck power infrastructure in the Kyiv region, according to Al Jazeera.

Russian airstrikes killed a child and injured five people in Kyiv and the surrounding region early on Wednesday, according to officials cited by Reuters. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said fires hit houses, a store and a warehouse in the capital, leaving two people injured. Ballistic missiles struck Kyiv overnight and disrupted electricity in parts of the city, according to the Kyiv Independent.

The Russian Embassy in Ireland said, according to the TASS news agency, that Russia is ready to use its entire arsenal, including nuclear weapons, to defend its territory if countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) try to isolate the Kaliningrad Region from the rest of the country. The diplomatic mission said there has been information that NATO is preparing an air and naval blockade of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad Region.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired ballistic missiles and dozens of jet-powered drones at Kyiv on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, according to The Associated Press (AP), in a text republished by The Hindu. Ukrainian authorities said the barrage hit apartment buildings, houses and public transportation in Kyiv, wounding one person, according to AP, in a text published by U.S. News & World Report. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces hit data processing centres in Kyiv that Moscow says are used by the Ukrainian military.

Georgia’s Defense Ministry said the multinational exercise SHARP LYNX 2026 began in Georgia, with military personnel from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia, at the Georgia–NATO Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC), according to TASS. The stated goal, the ministry said, is to further improve interoperability, staff organization procedures, coordination, and command and control skills in a multinational environment, as part of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package (SNGP).

Russia hit port facilities in overnight strikes on the Odesa region, according to the Guardian. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it struck the Bimobail and Parkovy data processing centres in Kiev — which handled data for the Ukrainian army, according to Sputnik Globe. Moscow also listed two dry cargo vessels among the night’s targets — one in port, one at sea, according to the same source.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree setting the authorized strength of the Russian armed forces at more than 2.44 million people, including 1.55 million service members. The ceiling is 15,500 people above the previous decree. According to the Kyiv Post, the document, No. 700, was published on Russia’s official legal information portal and is the fourth such decree signed this year, according to Russian state-owned media TASS.

Waves of jet-powered Russian drones hit central Kyiv, striking the National Academy of Sciences and a large, state-of-the-art medical center, according to The Washington Post. The newspaper describes the attacks as part of a campaign that is turning the Ukrainian capital into a daytime war zone.

Russia’s uninterrupted bombardment killed at least seven people and wounded more than 80 in Ukraine on Monday, according to The Associated Press. On Sunday, September 27, Russia hit the headquarters of Kyivstar, the country’s largest mobile provider, causing no casualties, and Russia’s Defence Ministry said it struck a data center belonging to Vodafone Ukraine, the country’s second-largest cell network operator, according to Reuters. In Kyiv, the National Academy of Sciences building was hit in the Shevchenkivskyi district and a woman died, according to the city military administration.

Russian strikes killed three people in Kyiv, including one in an attack on a building housing the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. A jet-powered drone strike hit the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in the capital, killing one person and wounding four, according to local authorities. The State Language Protection Commissioner said two academicians were killed in the strike on the Academy building, with contact lost with others. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine struck two defence plants in the Tula and Voronezh regions, as well as oil facilities in the Krasnodar region, in a post on X.

The Kremlin said on Monday that arms control negotiations between Russia and the US are far behind and that, once resumed, they will require lengthy and careful talks, according to Reuters, in a text republished by G1. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such negotiations should have resumed “yesterday” and that China has repeatedly made clear that it would not take part in the trilateral arms control negotiations proposed by US President Donald Trump, a position that, as far as Moscow knows, has not changed.

Russian strikes killed eight people across Ukraine on Sunday, according to France24, with AFP, a day after Moscow vowed to pursue the war. Three people, including a 16-year-old girl, were killed in a strike on a children’s centre in the northern city of Sumy, according to Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi. France24 also reports that three people were killed in night-time strikes on the southern Zaporizhzhia region and a Russian drone strike killed one man in Kyiv, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky said Russia launched more than 2,200 attack drones, around 1,650 aerial bombs and 38 missiles over the past week.

Strikes exchanged between Russia and Ukraine overnight and on Sunday killed at least six people in Ukraine and one in Russia, according to officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia struck twice at a data centre in Kyiv on Sunday morning, wounding two children and an adult. On the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov brushed off on Saturday what is believed to have been the first face-to-face meeting with his German counterpart since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia hit the headquarters of Kyivstar, Ukraine's largest mobile service provider, on Sunday; the company told Interfax Ukraine that its head office in Kyiv had been hit, but there were no casualties, according to Reuters. Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces continued strikes on communication and logistics centers, as well as maritime vessels used in support of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to Sputnik Globe. The ministry also said a logistics center of the Novaya Pochta company in Odessa, which was used to store military cargo, was struck.

Vladimir Putin said Russia is not preparing for any kind of hostilities with Europe and that Moscow has no real motive to escalate tensions with European countries, according to the Hindustan Times. According to him, proposals to resume negotiations with Ukraine are on the table, but the steps to take in response to the Ukrainian attacks will be given careful thought.

Four Italian soldiers of the 11th Bersaglieri Regiment were wounded in a shooting exercise in Ādaži, Latvia, on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Forward Land Forces mission, according to Italy’s Ministry of Defense. Shots fired from a weapon mounted on an Italian military vehicle hit another Italian vehicle carrying the four soldiers. They were taken to a hospital in Riga; one is in more serious condition and none is in life-threatening danger at the moment.

The parliament of Moldova approved a nationwide state of emergency in the energy and hydrological sectors for 60 days, according to the official Moldpres news agency. The 101-seat legislature approved the measure in a 54-20 vote, and it takes effect on Saturday, September 26, according to the Associated Press (AP), in a text republished by WTOP. The government cites falling water levels in the Dniester River and global conflicts driving up energy costs, according to The Independent.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claims to have encircled Dobropolye, a Ukrainian defensive hub in the Donbas, with units of its Center group advancing toward Aleksandrovka, according to a report by Europe Sun. Moscow argues that holding the town allows it to cut the lateral supply route to Ukraine’s remaining strongholds in the region, in an analysis by Sputnik Globe.

Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda said on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that a new rotation of US troops is “already on its way” to the country, resolving part of the uncertainty over the military presence in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally bordering Russia, as reported by Reuters, Stars and Stripes and Mezha. Nausėda thanked Donald Trump and said the “US military presence in Lithuania is an indispensable part of our deterrence and collective defence”; Lithuanian foreign minister Kęstutis Budrys said “US boots on the ground are essential for deterrence, defence, and security on NATO’s eastern flank”. The United States has kept rotations in Lithuania since 2019, with battalions of about 1,000 troops. Stars and Stripes reported that the contingent is normally drawn from the Poland-based brigade, that the number and origin of the troops have not been disclosed and that the Pentagon had not publicly confirmed the deployment: in May 2026 defence secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a rebalancing of forces in Europe, withdrawing up to 5,000 troops from Germany and cancelling the move to Poland of the armoured brigade based at Fort Hood, Texas, which left the troops in Lithuania without a replacement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, called on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to expel Spain, a day after Madrid said it would not take part in security for the event where he was to speak. Spain has had an arms embargo on Israel since 2023 and recognised the Palestinian state in May 2024. Sources: The Times of Israel and Middle East Eye.

Lithuania’s Parliament voted on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, to lift the ban on stationing nuclear weapons on the country’s territory, with 99 votes in favour, five abstentions and 13 against. The amendment to Article 137 of the Constitution still needs two votes three months apart, on 6 October and 12 January, each requiring at least 94 of the 141 lawmakers.

Latvia is the last-minute block on the package that would renew European Union (EU) sanctions on nearly 3,000 people and companies accused of sustaining Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to The Guardian. Latvian prime minister Andris Kulbergs wrote on Monday, 22 September 2026, that “extending sanctions for 36 months would be the right step”, but that he cannot accept the price being the removal of billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list. Without a deal, the sanctions lapse at the end of this Tuesday, 22 September 2026; a short one-week extension, already used once, looks like the likely outcome. France and Slovakia are pushing the delistings, and Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, called the plan “unacceptable”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said all western sanctions are illegal and should be revoked.

Lithuanian prime minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius told BBC Newsnight that the country has evacuation plans ready and that the population is affected by overnight drone alerts in Lithuanian airspace, according to The Guardian. Sinkevičius said the elderly and people with disabilities would be priority groups, and that the government is working on several scenarios. On the same day, the head of the Czech Republic’s security service, Michal Koudelka, told the newspaper that a limited Russian incursion into North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) territory is possible, along with false-flag provocations and a massive influence campaign, on a horizon of “months, not years”. Separately, Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda said a new rotation of United States troops is on its way to the country and will be no smaller than previous ones: up to 1,000 US troops have been stationed in Lithuania on rotation since 2019.

Lithuania’s prime minister, Mindaugas Sinkevičius, told BBC News that the country has evacuation plans in the face of Russian threats and that, if attacked, “we will fight back”. In an interview with the Newsnight programme, he said Lithuanians feel “constantly threatened”, partly because of drones entering the country’s airspace, and that the government is working on “a variety of scenarios”, not all of them discussed publicly, citing as an example moving elderly residents out of cities without traffic jams. Lithuania’s Interior Ministry approved a population evacuation plan on 14 July, and details released on 16 September set out three main routes out of the capital, one of them using Poland’s Podlaskie province as a transit corridor, according to Newsweek. The interview comes a week after North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace from the direction of Belarus, according to BBC News. Lithuania shares a land border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, that units of its “Centre” group of forces completed the encirclement of Ukraine’s main defence centre in Dobropillya, in the Donbas, claiming that two Ukrainian National Guard brigades — the 4th and the 15th — and the 425th Assault Regiment “Skala” were surrounded, in the ministry’s daily briefing carried by Sputnik. Ukraine’s General Staff did not confirm the encirclement: in the update released on Tuesday covering 21 September it recorded 248 combat clashes along the front, the highest number in the Pokrovsk sector, and listed Russian assaults in the Dobropillya, Novyi Donbas, Myrne and Bilytske directions. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based analysis centre, assessed on 21 September that Russia is maintaining the highest tempo of attacks on the front there, averaging 32 a day since 1 August, without establishing footholds.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, meets Donald Trump on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, carrying a proposal for an energy truce that would halt strikes by both sides on power facilities before winter, according to Reuters. Arriving in the city a day earlier, Zelensky said “concrete security proposals and de-escalation measures” are on the table and that a new drone deal is ready to be signed, with around 20 meetings planned during the visit, according to the Kyiv Independent. Trump has voiced concern about the damage to Russian refineries hit by Ukrainian drones, and Russia, which has more missile firepower, has not signalled it seeks to pause the air war, Reuters reported.

United Russia, the party of President Vladimir Putin, won 355 of the 450 seats in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, according to preliminary results with more than 95% of ballots counted, announced on Monday, September 21, by Central Election Commission (CEC) chair Ella Pamfilova. The tally includes single-mandate districts, exceeds the party’s previous record of 343 seats in 2016 and preserves its constitutional majority of 301 seats, enough to amend the constitution without support from other parties, according to Reuters. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) came second with 40 seats, the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) took 25 and New People 20. Voting ran from September 18 to 20 and was the first Duma election since Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine; on the final day, Russia’s Defence Ministry said it downed 1,110 Ukrainian drones across 19 Russian regions and Crimea. The anti-war Yabloko party won no federal seats but cleared the 5% threshold in the Novgorod regional parliament, Reuters reported.

German leaders are preparing to deny the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) access to the country’s secret war plan, The New York Times reported on Tuesday, September 22. The roughly 1,000-page document, known as OPLAN Deutschland, was drafted in 2024 to set out how the German military would respond to another Russian attack in Eastern Europe, and the full version is held by the heads of Germany’s 16 states. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius raised on September 8, in a closed-door meeting with defence policy experts from the governing coalition’s parliamentary groups, the option of withdrawing the OPLAN from the Saxony-Anhalt state chancellery if the AfD takes power there, to prevent the plan from reaching Moscow, according to the German network RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) and Bloomberg. The AfD won Saxony-Anhalt’s state election on September 6 with 43.8% of the vote, and Germany’s domestic intelligence service classifies the party’s branches in Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony as confirmed right-wing extremist organizations.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday, September 21, that his meeting with Donald Trump in New York was “very constructive,” and that he pressed the US president to speed up deliveries of missile interceptors to Ukraine, which he described as a defensive measure. The two met at Trump Tower a day before the opening of the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly, and Macron said they held a long discussion about Ukraine and Russia as well as the situation in the Red Sea, which he called important for global prices. According to the French president, Trump was “very receptive.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also due to meet Trump in New York this week, according to the Kyiv Post.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, met the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), John Ratcliffe, at Shannon Airport in Ireland, according to Reuters, which cited two people familiar with the matter. One source said the meeting took place on Monday; the other said the two spoke while their planes were being refuelled, without specifying a date. Neither disclosed what was discussed, and neither the Ukrainian government nor the US agency confirmed the meeting, which comes on the eve of the high-level week of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York.

European Union (EU) ambassadors agreed on Monday to lift sanctions on businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman as long as no EU government objects within the next few hours, diplomats told Reuters. In exchange, sanctions on some 3,000 other Russia-linked individuals and entities would be renewed for 36 months — far longer than the usual 6 or 12 months — Euronews reported. France pushed for Usmanov, who holds Russian and Uzbek citizenship, to be removed, and Luxembourg conditioned its support on the same treatment for Fridman, who is seeking $16 billion from the grand duchy in arbitration. Both men were sanctioned in 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine. Lithuania and the Baltic states opposed the move: “It would send a lot of signals, and all of them are bad signals,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told Reuters. Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi called the decision “immoral and self-destructive.” The EU’s Russia sanctions regime expires at midnight on Tuesday (22).

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the General Assembly’s high-level week, with the bilateral pencilled in for Thursday evening, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said, adding that he was recalling the timing from memory. Lavrov travels to New York on Tuesday and addresses the General Assembly on Saturday, 26 September. Dujarric said Guterres remains in regular contact with representatives of both Russia and Ukraine, and that he had no information on whether a trilateral meeting on the Ukraine war would take place during the week.

United Russia elected 49 deputies who took part in the war against Ukraine, the party’s general secretary, Vladimir Yakushev, said on Monday. He first said 86 veterans of the “special military operation” would be elected and later revised the figure to 49. The former combatants will hold about 11% of the 450 seats in the Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, where Vladimir Putin’s party won 355 seats, its highest tally ever and above its 2016 record of 343. The Communist Party took 40 seats, the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) 25, and New People 20 — all of them support the military campaign in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the figures point to “the highest level of consolidation” of Russian society around the head of state. Yabloko, the only registered party that opposed the war, was barred from the election by Russia’s Supreme Court, and the European Union called the vote a setback for democracy. The results come from a count with 95% of ballots processed, when United Russia had 57.83%, according to the election commission chief, Ella Pamfilova, up from 49.8% in 2021.

Poland wants about 15,000 US troops on its territory by 2039, both permanently stationed and rotational, Deputy Defence Minister Stanisław Wziątek told broadcaster RMF FM. According to him, the target includes about 10,000 troops on a rotational basis and between 3,500 and 5,000 stationed permanently; Wziątek said the base should be in western Poland and that the final decision on its location rests with the Americans. Poland currently hosts between 6,500 and 7,000 US troops, according to Euractiv, and formally proposed a permanent base in June, after Washington announced the withdrawal of 5,000 soldiers from Germany.

Russia’s Central Election Commission said Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party won the State Duma election with 57.83% of the vote and 355 of the 450 seats, beating the party’s previous record of 343, according to Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP). Turnout was above 59%, and the Communist Party finished second with 40 seats, followed by the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) with 25 and New People with 20. The three-day vote was held without parties critical of the Kremlin or of the war in Ukraine — the only one calling for an end to the fighting was barred from the ballot. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the figures pointed to “the highest level of consolidation within Russian society around the head of state”, while European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas dismissed the “so-called” election and said “the veneer of democracy is all that remains in Russia”. It was the first parliamentary election since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022.

Ukraine launched more than 1,600 drones at Russia in the early hours of Sunday, about 450 of them towards Moscow, on the last day of Russia’s parliamentary election, according to Russian officials in reports by Reuters and Times Now; Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, called it “the most massive” attack on the capital and said one of the drones shot down on approach hit the Kapotnya refinery, run by Gazprom Neft, as well as a residential building. Russia’s Defense Ministry says it downed 1,100 drones nationwide, including over Crimea and the Black Sea, and Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said 249 were brought down over the region and that two people were killed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the operation hit an oil facility and a logistics site; Vnukovo airport suspended all operations and Sheremetyevo imposed “temporary restrictions”.

Russia’s Central Election Commission said that, with 95% of ballots counted, United Russia took 57.83% of the party-list vote and is set to win around 355 of the State Duma’s 450 seats, according to The Moscow Times and Meduza. Commission chief Ella Pamfilova said the result surpasses the party’s previous record of 343 seats in 2016 and preserves its constitutional supermajority, which requires 301. Turnout was close to 60%, the highest since 2003, according to Kommersant. The European Union dismissed the vote as “sham elections,” RFE/RL reports, and independent analysts described it as the least competitive in modern Russian history. The commission said final results will be released by Friday at the earliest.

Călin Georgescu, a former Romanian presidential candidate, was taken in for questioning on Monday by the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), which carried out five searches in a probe into an organised criminal group and a fraud of more than €1.1 million, according to DIICOT, the Kyiv Post and HotNews. DIICOT has not announced a formal arrest, and Georgescu is already a defendant in another case over an alleged attempt to undermine the constitutional order.

Russia’s Defence Ministry says its units have taken the settlements of Polnaya and Novoaleksandrovka in the Kharkiv region, according to Sputnik; TASS reports an expert assessment that the North battlegroup advanced 100 sq km in the region over the past week. Both claims are Russian and have no independent confirmation.

Europe has injected 45 billion cubic metres of gas into storage for the winter and is rushing to build up stocks, according to TASS.

United Russia leads the State Duma count with 57.85% of the vote as 87.91% of ballots were processed, according to Sputnik; TASS put the share of processed ballots at 90.43%. The vote was marked by cyberattacks and drones, The Hindu reports.

Chisinau summons ambassador after power cut

Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery in Moscow and killed two people on election day in Russia, according to Reuters, G1, the Hindustan Times and Mehr News; the mayor confirmed damage to the refinery. Moscow alleges election interference, the Hindustan Times reports, and Russia’s defence ministry said it downed every missile heading for the region, according to TASS.