Topic: War
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Ukraine strikes Russian Su-24 bomber at Saky airfield in occupied Crimea
Ukraine's Defence Forces struck a Russian Su-24 bomber at the Saky airfield in temporarily occupied Crimea during the night of 16 September, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the same operational period, Ukrainian forces reported strikes on Russian drone storage and launch sites, drone control points, ammunition and fuel depots, and reconnaissance posts across occupied Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. The extent of damage to the Su-24 is being clarified.
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Russian Major General Anton Grunis killed in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's drone forces claim strike
Russian Major General Anton Grunis, commander of the 4th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, was killed in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast. Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert "Madyar" Brovdi said the 427th Separate Unmanned Systems Battalion "Rarog" carried out the strike on September 12. Grunis had earlier briefed Vladimir Putin about the alleged capture of Kostiantynivka, a claim Ukraine denies.
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Von der Leyen announces EU–Ukraine joint missile defense, Patriot procurement and SAFE-funded program in State of the Union
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her 16 September State of the Union address to announce that the EU will jointly develop an affordable modular missile defense system with Ukraine based on the Freyja project, launch a new program for joint projects with Ukrainian defense companies using remaining SAFE funds, and urgently deliver American Patriot interceptor missiles newly procured for Ukraine. She framed the package as the EU's strongest-ever support for Ukraine ahead of what she described as the harshest winter of the war.
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Atesh partisans report sabotage of substation powering Russian missile-components plant in Voronezh
Ukraine-linked Atesh partisan movement says one of its agents infiltrated an electrical substation near the VZPP-Sborka plant in Voronezh and destroyed its main distribution cabinet. The plant produces components for Kh-101 missiles, Iskander-K systems, and Pantsir-S1 air defense complexes. Atesh reports the outage disrupted component deliveries and that full power restoration took weeks.
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Netherlands ratifies convention establishing International Compensation Commission for Ukraine
The Netherlands has completed ratification of the Council of Europe convention that creates an International Compensation Commission for damages caused by Russia's war against Ukraine. The Dutch Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe submitted the ratification instrument in Strasbourg on Tuesday, 15 September 2026. With this step, nine countries plus the EU have now completed ratification; 25 are required for the convention to enter into force.
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Russian drone strikes passenger train Kyiv–Mykolaiv; all evacuated, no casualties
Russian forces struck Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) passenger train No. 122 on the Kyiv–Mykolaiv route on the morning of 16 September, using a drone. All passengers, the locomotive crew and train crew had been evacuated in advance after a warning from Ukrzaliznytsia's monitoring team, and no one was injured. Ukrzaliznytsia, together with the Mykolaiv Oblast Military Administration, organized bus transfers to bring 168 passengers to Mykolaiv.
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US indicts five alleged Russian intelligence operatives for murder-for-hire and sabotage plots targeting Ukraine's allies
The US Department of Justice has charged five people it says are linked to Russian intelligence services with conspiracy to finance terrorism and, in three cases, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York allege the network recruited US-based individuals to surveil and kill Russian opposition figures in Washington and Lithuania, and coordinated sabotage attacks in European countries that support Ukraine. All five defendants remain at large; the Kremlin has rejected the allegations.
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Ukraine's government submits 2027 draft budget to parliament: defense at 44% of GDP, $52.6 billion external financing required
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved and submitted the draft State Budget for 2027 to the Verkhovna Rada on September 15, 2026. The bill, registered as No. 16000, allocates 4 trillion 885 billion hryvnias (about 43.8–44% of GDP) to defense and security, projects total expenditures of 7 trillion 272 billion hryvnias, and identifies an external financing requirement of $52.6 billion, of which only $20 billion has been confirmed by partners.
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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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Half of Russia's largest diesel refineries cut or halt output after Ukrainian drone strikes
Three of Russia's six largest diesel-producing refineries have been forced to significantly cut or halt production in September following Ukrainian drone attacks, disrupting output from facilities that together account for roughly half of Russian diesel. The Kirishi (Kinef) refinery fully halted operations, while Volgograd and NORSI are running at about a quarter of normal capacity. U.S. President Donald Trump on 13 September urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop the strikes, attributing global diesel shortages and price increases to the Russia–Ukraine war rather than the U.S.–Iran conflict; Ukraine responded that it is ready for a ceasefire only if Russia also stops strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
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Zelensky's Staff meeting focuses on protecting rail and energy infrastructure from Russian strikes
President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff centered on contracts for protection systems for critical infrastructure and logistics. The meeting addressed the needs of Ukrzaliznytsia, gas station networks, and other priority targets for Russian strikes, approved a significant strengthening of electronic warfare capabilities, and tasked the Ministry of Finance with securing additional resources for logistics.
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Ukraine's General Staff reports strikes on Russian drone launch site, EW stations, radar and fuel depot
Ukraine's General Staff said that on 14 September and overnight into 15 September, Ukrainian forces struck a series of Russian military targets. Hits were reported on a strike-drone storage and launch site in the Donetsk area, three electronic warfare stations in Russia's Bryansk Oblast, two radar stations, a MESH-network communications relay in Zlyntsi, and a fuel and lubricants warehouse in Luhansk Oblast. The extent of the damage is still being clarified.
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Ukrainian strikes hit Russian military, drone and fuel targets across seven oblasts and Black Sea
On 14 September and during the night of 15 September 2026, Ukraine's Defense Forces carried out strikes on multiple Russian military targets spanning Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, Russia's Bryansk, Oryol, Samara, Krasnodar and Rostov oblasts, and targets in the Black Sea. Hits were reported on fuel and lubricant storage, drone storage and launch sites, electronic warfare and radar stations, an S-400 radar in Sochi, and an oil refinery in Syzran. The extent of damage is still being clarified.
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Ukraine tests new interceptor against Russian jet-powered Shahed drones, Zelensky says
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on September 15 that Ukraine had successfully tested a new interceptor drone designed to shoot down Russian jet-powered Shahed-type drones, following a briefing from Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Mykhailo Drapatyi. During the test the interceptor hit a Russian Shahed, though Zelensky said some aspects of the interceptor's control still need refinement. The announcement came alongside discussions of long-range strikes on Russia's oil infrastructure and Ukrainian de-escalation conditions.
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Russia hits Poland-Ukraine border crossing with drone strike
Russia launched a drone strike on an international road checkpoint on the Poland-Ukraine border, according to reported information. The attack targeted a border crossing with a NATO and EU member state, raising escalation concerns.
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Valdai Discussion Club moved from Sochi to Moscow Oblast over Ukrainian drone threat
The annual Valdai Discussion Club meeting, traditionally held in Sochi each autumn, has been relocated to Moscow Oblast because of security concerns linked to intensified Ukrainian drone attacks, the Financial Times reported, citing four sources. About 120 invited participants learned in August that the venue had changed, after initially receiving invitations to Sochi; the forum is scheduled for 28 September to 1 October.
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Ukraine's Third Army Corps confirms "Vivaldi" offensive near Lyman
Ukraine's Third Army Corps publicly confirmed on September 15 that it has been running an offensive operation codenamed "Vivaldi" in the northern part of Donetsk Oblast, east and northeast of Lyman. The corps revealed details of the first phase, which targeted Russian troop infiltration and logistics, and reported Russian losses in personnel, drones and equipment. The announcement broke months of operational secrecy around the fighting.
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Russian drone attack on Kyiv hits gas stations and warehouses, killing one and wounding eleven
Russia struck Kyiv with drones overnight and throughout the day on 15 September, hitting two Ukrnafta gas stations in the Darnytskyi and Holosiivskyi districts, warehouse premises in Obolonskyi, and garage cooperatives in Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko and the Kyiv City Military Administration (KMVA) reported one person killed and eleven injured across the day, with air defence active and Kyiv City Express service temporarily suspended.
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Kim Jong Un pledges to deepen cooperation with Russia, backs 'sacred war' against Ukraine
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent Vladimir Putin a message pledging to expand and deepen cooperation with Russia across all areas and expressing confidence in Russia's victory in what he called a "sacred war." The message, sent on Monday via the state news agency KCNA, was a response to Putin's congratulatory letter on North Korea's 78th founding anniversary.
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US imposes new sanctions on Russia's VTB Bank over Iran sanctions evasion
The US Treasury announced new sanctions on Russia's second-largest bank, VTB, accusing it of helping Iran circumvent existing restrictions. The measures are framed as part of a US pressure campaign on Tehran and supplement sanctions imposed on VTB in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.