National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
The RNBO (National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine) is a coordinating body under the President of Ukraine that shapes state policy on national security and defence. It is chaired by the president and includes the prime minister, the chair of the Verkhovna Rada, the heads of the security and defence agencies, and senior ministers. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the council has regularly adopted decisions on sanctions, martial law, and other strategic defence matters.
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Zelenskyy says Ukraine holds more territory than Russia has taken since autumn, pushes back on Gerasimov's Zaporizhzhia claims
In his evening address on October 18, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces have liberated more territory since the start of autumn than Russia has captured, and that the same trend has held in other periods of 2025. He pushed back on claims by Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, asserting that Russian forces are being engaged about 20 km from Zaporizhzhia, not 5 km as Russia claims, and that several named settlements remain under Ukrainian control.
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Syrskyi in first major interview since dismissal: Ukraine's war outcome uncertain, Kursk operation a success
Former Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, dismissed by President Zelenskyy in July, gave his first major interview to the BBC in which he said it is impossible to say with certainty whether Ukraine is winning or losing the war, defended the 2024 Kursk operation as a successful and necessary maneuver, and detailed his procurement-related disagreements with former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. He denied issuing any ultimatum to Fedorov and said the decision to remove him rested solely with the president. The interview was published on 13 October 2026.
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Ukrainian strikes disabled three Yandex data centers in Russia, sharply cutting bot traffic
Between October 8 and 11, 2026, Ukrainian strikes hit three large Yandex data centers in Russia — at Sasovo in Ryazan Oblast, near Kaluga, and at Vladimir — disabling supercomputers and forcing Yandex Cloud into emergency mode. The strikes disrupted a wide range of Russian consumer, logistics and financial services, and monitoring data showed automated bot traffic from the Yandex network collapsing from near its two-week maximum to a fraction of a percent before partially recovering.
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Montenegro detains and expels founder of Russian propaganda network 'Rybar' and four associates
On 9 October, Montenegrin police, working with the country's National Security Agency, detained Mykhailo Zvinchuk, the founder of the Russian propaganda network "Rybar," along with his wife Valeriia Zvinchuk and three other Russian citizens in the town of Risan. All five have been ordered expelled on national-security grounds and had their residence permits revoked. The operation comes as "Rybar" is already under EU, UK and US sanctions, with the US State Department offering up to $10 million for information on its associates.
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Zelensky publicly rebukes Kyiv authorities over resilience plan as Russian strikes damage energy grid
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on 9 October that Kyiv's city authorities had "almost completely" failed to carry out the required steps of the national resilience plan, setting separate tasks for the capital. The rebuke came amid a third consecutive day of scheduled and emergency power outages in Kyiv and several oblasts following Russian strikes on energy infrastructure, and after Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents able to leave the city to do so temporarily.
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Ukrainian drone strike hits Yandex data center at Russian machine-tool plant, triggering large-scale outages
On the night of October 8, a Ukrainian drone strike caused a fire at the Sasta machine-building plant in Sasovo, Ryazan Oblast, where a major Yandex data center is co-located. The data center was fully suspended, knocking out 38 of more than 70 Yandex Cloud services and disrupting Russian banks, marketplaces, telecoms and media. President Zelensky confirmed the strike and called it a "mirror response" to Russian attacks on Ukrainian data centers.
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Ukraine's top commander submits first "war plan" to security council, transfers dozens of generals to reserve
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi has prepared a so-called "war plan" and submitted it for review to the National Security and Defense Council (RNBO), according to Ukrainska Pravda. The document, reportedly the first of its kind for Ukraine, has been under consideration by the RNBO for several weeks. Separately, Drapatyi has moved dozens of colonels, brigadier generals, and other senior officers into the reserve battalion over the past six weeks.
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Russian drones hit Kyiv's Pivdennyi Bridge for fourth time in a day, paralysing cross-river traffic
Russian forces struck the Pivdennyi (Southern) Bridge in Kyiv with drones around 5:00 a.m. on 2 October 2026, the fourth hit on the bridge in roughly 24 hours and part of a wave of attacks that fully closed the bridge and restricted traffic on the Paton and Metro bridges. The overnight strike also hit a 25-storey residential building in the Darnytskyi district, killing one person and injuring two. The closures caused a major transport collapse across the city, with large traffic jams, rerouted buses and trolleybuses, and a Kyiv Defense Council decision to tighten bridge rules during air-raid alerts.
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Russian drones hit Kyiv's Pivdennyi Bridge three times in one day, halting metro and bus traffic
On 1 October 2026, Russian drones struck the Pivdennyi (Southern) Bridge in Kyiv twice during the day near its support structure and a third time in the evening on the roadway, suspending metro and surface public transport across the crossing. A metro train was crossing the bridge during one of the daytime strikes; no one was injured, though dust entered the carriage via the ventilation system.
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Berlin march demands humanitarian access for occupied Oleshky
The Ukrainian civic movement Vitsche Berlin organized a march through central Berlin on 28 September under the slogan "Stop the Russian occupation of Oleshky," calling for humanitarian aid and safe evacuation of residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged a "critical situation" in the city but blamed Ukraine, while Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation accused Russia of obstructing aid and shifting responsibility.
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Kyiv endured over 10 continuous days of air raid alerts in one month, Ukraine's security council says
Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Ihor Klymenko reported on September 29 that Kyiv recorded 235 air raid alerts between August 27 and the time of reporting, totaling 261 hours — more than 10 continuous days under threat. He said the capital has been under almost continuous attack by Russian jet-powered drones for about a month and described the situation as a new challenge for Ukrainian air defense requiring rapid technological solutions and mass production of interception means.
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Russian drone strikes Kyiv's National Academy of Sciences building, killing at least two
On 28 September 2026, a Russian jet-powered drone struck the Presidium building of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU) in central Kyiv around 13:30, causing a large fire and partially destroying the second and third floors of the historic structure. At least two people were killed — including the personal assistant of NASU Vice-President Volodymyr Horbulin — and multiple others were injured; some NASU staff remained unreachable after the strike. President Zelensky promised a Ukrainian response, Foreign Minister Sybiha called on UNESCO to strip Russia of voting rights, and the strike drew condemnation from European leaders and institutions.
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Ukrainian strikes hit Azov optical-mechanical plant, Ilysky refinery, and Russian air-defense assets overnight
On the night of 25–26 September 2026, Ukrainian Defense Forces struck the Azov Optical-Mechanical Plant in Rostov Oblast — a facility linked by open-source analysts to several Russian missile programs — along with the Ilysky oil refinery in Krasnodar Krai, a Pantsir-S2 air-defense system, an ammunition depot in Sievierodonetsk, and a P-18 Terek radar in Donetsk Oblast. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said the Azov strike was carried out by its Alpha Special Operations Center together with the Ukrainian Navy, using Neptune cruise missiles and Ruta, Palyanytsya, and Bars jet drone-missiles. President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly confirmed the strikes.
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Bloomberg: Russia may be stockpiling ballistic missiles for winter strikes on Ukraine's energy sector
Bloomberg reported on September 21 that Russia has significantly reduced its use of ballistic missiles against Ukraine since August, instead relying more on jet drones, and may be stockpiling ballistic missiles for renewed strikes on energy and heating infrastructure during the winter cold season. Ballistic missiles have historically caused some of the heaviest damage to Ukrainian energy facilities, and a shortage of Patriot interceptors remains a key vulnerability heading into winter.
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Zelensky formally appoints Kovalenko as commander of Ukraine's Communications and Cyber Security Forces
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed decree №931/2026 on 15 September appointing Brigadier General Oleksiy Kovalenko as commander of the Communications and Cyber Security Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The decree formalizes a role Kovalenko had held in an acting capacity since 2023.
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Russian drones strike Kyiv-Warsaw train and infrastructure near Polish border, prompting Polish emergency meeting
On the morning of September 13, 2026, Russian drones struck infrastructure near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk international border crossing on the Ukraine-Poland border in Volyn Oblast, damaging a gas station, hitting a truck on the Polish side, and striking the locomotive of a Kyiv-Warsaw passenger train about two kilometers from the Polish border. Poland scrambled fighter jets, issued air alerts in Lublin and Podkarpackie voivodeships, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk convened an emergency meeting at the Government Centre for Security, warning that Russian escalation could reach Polish territory in the coming weeks. No passengers or railway workers were injured in the locomotive strike after a Ukrzaliznytsia monitoring group warned the crew in advance and gave an evacuation signal roughly 15 minutes before impact.
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Zelensky signs sanctions against former press secretary Mendel and Russian propagandists
President Volodymyr Zelensky on 13 September 2026 enacted personal sanctions imposed by the National Security and Defense Council against his former press secretary Yulia Mendel, the only Ukrainian citizen among 10 individuals in the package. On the same day he signed two further decrees targeting 29 Russian citizens and 29 companies linked to the state corporation Rostec, and 20 vessels of the Russian shadow fleet. The move follows a May 2026 interview in which Mendel repeated Russian-aligned claims to U.S. podcaster Tucker Carlson.
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Ukraine better prepared for winter energy strikes than last year, PM tells YES forum
Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky told the YES 2026 conference in Kyiv that Ukraine is significantly better prepared for Russian attacks on energy infrastructure than last winter, while warning that full protection is impossible and the coming months will be difficult. He outlined contingency planning and decentralized support for regions and said the government must prepare for a prolonged war, even if a ceasefire is reached.
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Ukrainian drones strike Azot chemical plant deep inside Russia
Ukrainian drones attacked the Azot branch of Uralchem in Berezniki, Perm Krai, on the morning of September 11, causing explosions, smoke and a full halt of production at Russia's largest nitrogen fertilizer facility, roughly 1,500 km from the Ukrainian border. Plant workers reported multiple blasts; the Russian Defense Ministry said drones were shot down and the Perm governor reported no casualties.
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Ukrainian lawmaker registers bill on state protection for wartime Stavka and RNBO members
A bill has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada providing state protection for members of the Commander-in-Chief's Staff and the National Security and Defense Council who exercised their powers during wartime. The initiative, authored by Roman Kostenko, also proposes lifetime protection for the wartime president and would expand the State Protection Directorate's authorized headcount.