The Russian invasion of Ukraine

[BouncerGuy]

Nato strengthens defences after Russian drones shot down over Poland

Several Nato members are sending troops, artillery, and air defence systems to secure its eastern flank after what Poland called an unprecedented Russian drone incursion into its airspace.

In the early hours of Wednesday, three Russian drones were shot down after crossing into Polish airspace.

Other drones crashed to the ground and were later found across eastern Poland.

Poland has requested a UN Security Council session about the incident, which will take place on Friday at 19:00 GMT.

In response to the drone incursion, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic said they would send defences to Poland, while Lithuania would receive a German brigade and greater warning of Russian attacks on Ukraine that could cross over.

Germany also said it would "intensify its engagement along Nato's eastern border" and extend and expand air policing over Poland.

Later France's Emmanuel Macron announced the country would send three Rafale fighter jets to help protect Poland's airspace.

"We will not yield to Russia's growing intimidation," Macron said.

US President Donald Trump, who has been trying unsuccessfully to broker a halt to the war in Ukraine, told reporters on Thursday that the alleged incursion might have happened by "mistake".

"I'm not happy about anything to do with the whole situation, but hopefully that's going to come to an end," Trump said.

Addressing parliament on Thursday, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz listed the offers of support from Poland's partners, saying the Dutch were going to deploy air defence systems, artillery and 300 troops, while the Czech would send helicopters and 100 soldiers.

He also said the French and the British could deploy aircraft to secure Nato's eastern flank.

"Poland has repeatedly heard words of solidarity and empty gestures throughout its history," Kosiniak-Kamysz said. "Today, we have concrete declarations."

Although Russian drones and missiles have trespassed into some Nato member countries before, this was the most serious incident of its kind since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Kremlin said it had no further comment to make on claims that Russia had deliberately sought to stoke tensions in Poland.

Yet many Polish and European leaders believe the incursion was deliberate.

"This Russian provocation...is nothing more than an attempt to test our capabilities," Poland's President Karol Nawrocki said, echoing comments by his German and French counterparts.

However, experts' opinions are split on whether Moscow intended to launch the drones into Poland.

On Thursday, Nato's top military commander Alexus Grynkewich acknowledged it was not yet known whether the act had been intentional and said even the precise number of drones which had crossed into Polish airspace was still to be determined.

But in the face of growing nervousness from the countries bordering Russia, neither Nato nor Poland are taking any chances.

Warsaw will set restrictions for drones and small air traffic along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine, and Latvia has announced its eastern airspace would be closed for a week.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky offered to provide guidance and training to Western military representatives on how to fend off Russian aerial attacks as Ukrainian defence forces do on a near-nightly basis.

Zelensky also called for a joint air defence system to act as an air shield over Europe as a response for Russia's "insolent" behaviour.

Adding to the anxiety felt in some quarters of eastern Europe are major joint military exercises between Belarus and Russia, dubbed Zapad 2025, due to start on Friday.

Poland is due to close its border on Thursday at 00:00 local time (22:00 BST) "for national security reasons... in connection with the Zapad manoeuvres," which it called "very aggressive".

Russia has urged Polish authorities to re-open its border with Belarus, warning its closure "will cause serious damage" to businesses and freedom of movement.

"We call on Warsaw to think about the consequences of such destructive steps and reconsider the decision as soon as possible", Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The previous Zapad drills were staged several months before the start of the war in Ukraine and involved about 200,000 troops in total.

This year's exercise will be smaller in scale, according to Lithuanian military intelligence chief Mindaugas Mazonas, and involve up to 30,000 troops in total.

The response by US President Donald Trump to the drone incursion has so far been muted. "What's with Russia violating Poland's airspace with drones? Here we go!", he wrote on social media on Wednesday without elaborating further.

Polish President Nawrocki said he and his US counterpart had spoken as "part of a series of consultations" with allies and said the talks "reaffirmed our unity".

BBC

 

[BouncerGuy]

Ukraine launches 221 drones on Russia, Moscow says

Russia says it downed 221 Ukrainian drones launched on its territory overnight, in one of the largest aerial assaults since May.

More than half of the drones were intercepted over the Bryansk and Smolensk regions, south-west of Moscow, where Lukoil facilities were reportedly targeted, the defence ministry said.

Authorities in the Leningrad region said 28 drones were brought down and that a fire had broken out on a vessel in the Baltic port of Primorsk, Russia's largest oil terminal. They added that the blaze was extinguished without casualties or leaks.

Meanwhile, officials said two civilians were killed in Ukraine's Sumy region when a Russian glide bomb struck a village near the border.

Interceptions were reported across at least nine other regions of Russia, including Kaluga, Novgorod and the Moscow area, where nine drones were said to have been destroyed. Debris was recorded across several areas, though Russian officials insisted there had been no casualties.

Seven people, including five civilians and two military personnel, were injured when a drone struck a bus in Bryansk, the region's Governor Alexander Bogomaz said.

Moscow's figures, which the BBC has been unable to independently verify, suggest Thursday night's attack constituted one of the largest Ukrainian aerial bombardments in over four months.

Russia said it destroyed a record 524 drones on 7 May. By comparison, Ukrainian officials said Russia had deployed 818 drones against their territory in recent weeks.

The aerial assault is being described as one of the most significant for the Leningrad region since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine three-and-a-half years ago. The attack saw operations at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport temporarily suspended.

Cross-border drone raids have become an increasingly prominent feature of the war. In July, a sustained Ukrainian drone attack forced the temporary closure of all of Moscow's airports.

In recent months Ukrainian strikes have reached deeper into Russian territory, hitting refineries, fuel depots and logistics hubs hundreds of miles from the frontlines.

Moscow has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy facilities over the summer as US-led efforts to reach a peace agreement stalled.

The attacks came ahead of the start of a major joint military exercise between Russia and ally Belarus on Friday, which is staged every four years.

But this time it is taking place just days after a number of Russian drones were shot down or fell on Poland, in what Warsaw called an unprecedented incursion into its airspace.

BBC

 

[BouncerGuy]

Kyiv can win all of Ukraine back from Russia, Trump says

US President Donald Trump has said Kyiv can "win all of Ukraine back in its original form", marking a major shift in his position on the war with Russia.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said Ukraine could get back "the original borders from where this war started" with the support of Europe and Nato, due to pressures on Russia's economy.

His comments came after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, held after Trump had addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to end the war, but has previously warned that process would likely involve Ukraine giving up some territory, an outcome Zelensky has consistently rejected.

In his post, Trump added Ukraine could "maybe even go further than that", but did not specify what he was referring to.

He also made no reference to Crimea, which was invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Trump said his position had changed "after getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia military and economic situation".

"Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act," he added, labelling Russia as a "paper tiger".

Zelensky hailed the "big shift" in Trump's position, and speaking to reporters in the UN building, said he understood the US was willing to give Ukraine security guarantees "after the war is finished".

Pressed on what this would look like, he added: "I don't want to lie, we don't have specific details," but broached the possibility of more weapons, air defences and drones.

Speaking later on Fox News, Zelensky said that Trump's Truth Social post about Ukraine's positioning surprised him but he took it as a "positive signal" that Trump and the US "will be with us to the end of the war".

"I think the fact that Putin was lying to President Trump so many times also made a difference between us," he told Fox host Bret Baier.

Earlier on Tuesday, following his speech to the UN, Trump also said Nato nations should shoot down Russian planes breaching their airspace, following a series of recent incursions by Russian fighter jets and drones.

Last week, Estonia and Poland requested a consultation with other Nato members after Russia violated its airspace in separate incidents. Romania, another Nato member, also said Russian drones breached its airspace.

After meeting on Tuesday, Nato issued a statement condemning Russia's actions and warned that it would use "all necessary military and non-military tools" to defend itself.

"Russia bears full responsibility for these actions, which are escalatory, risk miscalculation and endanger lives. They must stop," it said.

The alliance added that Moscow's actions were part of a "pattern of increasingly irresponsible" behaviour.

Nato's secretary general Mark Rutte said: "We are a defensive alliance, yes, but we are not naive, so we see what is happening."

Speaking at the UN, Poland's president Karol Nawrocki echoed those comments, saying his country was prepared to "defend its territory" and "react adequately".

"Polish people, as well as countries of Central and Eastern Europe, will not be scared of Russian drones," he said.

Russia denied violating Estonia's airspace, while it insisted the Polish incursion was not deliberate and did not comment on the Romania incident.

Asked if the US would support its Nato allies if they shot down Russian aircraft, Trump said it "depends on the circumstance" and praised the military alliance for increasing defence spending.

"Nato has stepped up," he said, referring to an agreement by leaders to ramp up defence spending to 5% of their countries' economic output by 2035.

In his speech hours earlier, Trump criticised some Nato members for not ceasing the purchase of Russian energy, saying they were "funding a war against themselves".

Tuesday's Truth Social post represents an about-face after Trump spent most of the year insisting that Ukraine's situation was dire.

In February, Trump told Zelensky during their fiery Oval Office exchange that he did "not have the cards right now" to prevail against a larger, more populous nation in a war of attrition.

Before talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August, Trump said he would try to get some territory back for Ukraine but warned there would be "some swapping, changes in land".

There were reports he was planning to press Zelensky to surrender the entirety of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in return for Russia freezing the rest of the front line - a proposal put forward by Putin in Alaska.

Trump has also repeatedly threatened to impose tougher measures on Russia, but has so far failed to take any action when the Kremlin ignored his deadlines and threats of sanctions.

Unpredictability has long been one of the US president's foreign policy trademarks, and perhaps this latest move is an attempt to shake up peace negotiations that have been stagnant for more than a month after Trump hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska.

The most notable portion of Trump's post may be the way it ended - with an assurance the US would continue to sell arms to Nato that it could then pass along to Ukraine.

It is not the seemingly near open-ended commitment to the war effort that the Biden administration provided, but it is more than Trump seemed interested in offering at times this year.

BBC

 

[BouncerGuy]

Russia will expand aggression beyond Ukraine if not stopped, Zelensky warns

Vladimir Putin "will keep driving the war forward wider and deeper" if he is not stopped, Ukraine's President Zelensky has warned.

Speaking at the UN's General Assembly in New York, Zelensky said more countries would be met with Russian aggression unless allies displayed a united front and ramped up support.

He said all nations were threatened by a global arms race, as military technology advances, adding that "weapons decide who survives" and calling for global rules on AI.

His comments come after US President Donald Trump shifted his position on the Russia-Ukraine war, saying for the first time that Ukraine could win back all of its land.

Zelensky criticised international institutions, suggesting they are "too weak" to offer Ukraine safety guarantees, adding - in apparent reference to Nato - that being part of a long-standing military alliance "doesn't automatically mean you are safe".

"We are now living through the most destructive arms race in human history," he said.

He argued that "stopping Russia now" was cheaper than "wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead".

Zelensky called for international rules around AI and its role in weaponry, and said the development of autonomous drones and unmanned planes represented a far greater risk than traditional warfare.

The Ukrainian leader also warned that Europe cannot afford to lose Moldova - which lies between Ukraine and EU-member Romania - to Russian influence. He said the West had missed a chance to save Georgia and Belarus from Putin's orbit.

On Thursday the pro-EU president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, accused the Kremlin of "pouring hundreds of millions of euros" into Moldova in an attempt to instigate violence and spread fear.

Voters in the former Soviet republic go to the polls on Sunday, amid what a BBC investigation found to be a barrage of disinformation spread by a network with ties to Moscow.

Last week, Estonia and Poland requested a consultation with other Nato members after Russia violated its airspace in separate incidents. Romania, another Nato member, also said Russian drones breached its airspace.

Earlier on Tuesday, following his speech to the UN, Trump said Nato nations should shoot down Russian planes breaching their airspace, following the recent incursions by Russian fighter jets and drones.

Zelensky praised Donald Trump and said he had a "good meeting" with the US president.

On Tuesday, he told reporters he understood the US was willing to give Ukraine security guarantees after the war is finished.

Pressed on what this would look like, he said he did not have specific details but broached the possibility of more weapons, air defences and drones.

Trump's suggestion on Tuesday that Kyiv could win, with support from the EU and Nato, marked an apparent U-turn after his previous comments that Ukraine would have to accept "land swaps" as a condition of peace.

The US president also described Russia as a "paper tiger" that had been "fighting aimlessly in Ukraine."

Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov responded: "Russia is in no way a tiger. It's more associated with a bear. And there is no such thing as a paper bear."

Peskov told reporters the US president had made the comments "apparently under the influence of the vision put forward by Zelensky".

"This vision is in absolute contrast with our understanding of the current state of affairs."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday, marking the highest-level US encounter with Russia since Trump invited Putin to Alaska last month.

According to a brief statement from the US State Department, Rubio reiterated Trump's "call for the killing to stop and the need for Moscow to take meaningful steps toward a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war".

The Kremlin did not immediately comment on the meeting.

BBC

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Russia will give ‘decisive response’ if provoked by the West, says Lavrov​

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned NATO and the EU that “any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response”.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Saturday, Lavrov insisted that Moscow had no plans to attack the West, but that it was prepared to act if provoked.

His comments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia for recent drone and plane incursions in Europe.

“Russia is testing their ability to defend themselves and trying to influence societies so people begin to ask: ‘If we can’t protect ourselves, why should we keep supporting Ukraine?’. This is intended to reduce assistance to Ukraine, especially ahead of winter,” he wrote on X.

Moscow continues to deny violating Polish airspace with drones and Estonian airspace with fighter jets this month. It also says it played no role in the rogue drones spotted near airports in Denmark this week, which forced several of them to shut temporarily.

‘Some hopes’ for US-brokered peace
In his UN speech, Lavrov hit out at accusations from the West, blaming it for scaremongering about the possibility of a “Third World War”.

“Russia is being accused of almost planning to attack NATO and EU countries. President Putin has repeatedly debunked these provocations,” he said.

But Lavrov also insisted that his country still has “some hopes” for ceasefire talks with the United States over its war in Ukraine, just days after US President Donald Trump appeared to align himself more closely with Kyiv by saying it could recapture all the territory seized by Moscow.

Trump’s comments, which were made after he met Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UNGA, marked a significant change in tone. Previously, the US president had said Kyiv needed to make concessions, arguing that it would never reclaim occupied territory seized by Russia since 2014.

Despite Trump’s statement on Tuesday, Lavrov still expressed a belief in the role of the US as a potential mediator.

“We have some hopes for the continuation of the Russian-American dialogue, especially after the summit in Alaska,” he told delegates at the UN headquarters on Saturday.

Source: Al Jazeera

 

[BouncerGuy]

Poland says jets scrambled over Russian attack on Ukraine

Poland and Nato scrambled jets early on Sunday as Russia carried out strikes on western Ukraine, the Polish armed forces said.

With the whole of Ukraine under air raid alerts, the airspace near Poland's southeastern cities of Lublin and Rzeszow was closed until at least 0400 GMT due to "unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security", flight tracking site Flightradar24 said.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city came under a "massive attack", with a five-storey building partially destroyed due to debris from a drone. At least three people were taken to hospital, he added.

Tensions have escalated after repeated Russian violations of Nato countries' airspace this month.

"In connection with the activity of the Russian Federation's long-range aviation carrying out strikes on the territory of Ukraine, Polish and allied aircraft have begun operating in our airspace," the Polish military said in a post on X.

"Allied" military assets refer to Nato ones, in military terms.

The Polish military further described the actions as preventive and aimed at securing airspace and protecting citizens.

Moscow has denied responsibility after Denmark said drones were flown over its airports. Denmark itself has said the incidents appeared to be the work of a "professional actor" but that there was no evidence of Russian involvement.

Meanwhile, Estonia has accused Russia of violating its airspace with warplanes, while a Nato air defence mission was recently carried out over Poland as part of an allied response to Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace.

Polish and Nato aircraft shot down three Russian drones in Poland's airspace on 10 September.

US President Donald Trump has gone as far as to say that Nato nations should shoot down Russian planes in their airspace, while Nato itself has warned it would use "all necessary military and non-military tools" to defend itself following the recent military incursions.

Trump also shifted his position on the Russia-Ukraine war, saying for the first time last week that Ukraine could win all of its land back from Moscow.

In a speech delivered at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said his country had no intention of attacking EU or Nato member states but warned of a "decisive response" to any "aggression" directed towards Moscow.

BBC

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Russia says it has taken control of two villages in Ukraine's Donetsk region

Russian forces have taken control of two more frontline settlements in key areas of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday.

Ukrainian officials did not address the Russian announcement concerning the two villages, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv's counter-offensive operation near the town of Dobropillia, also in Donetsk region, made progress.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces were now in control of Shandryholove and Zarichne, both northeast of the city of Sloviansk - one of the centres Moscow hopes eventually to capture in its drive westward through Donetsk region.

It then issued a second statement saying Defence Minister Andrei Belousov had congratulated the unit for the "bold and decisive" actions that led to the capture of Zarichne, identified by its Soviet-era name, Kirovsk.

Video released by Russia's Ministry of Defence purports to show Russian troops moving from building to building and holding aloft a Russian flag as they take control of Shandryholove.

Russia says it has taken control of two villages in Ukraine's Donetsk region

Russian forces have taken control of two more frontline settlements in key areas of eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday.

www.reuters.com

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Russia advances in Ukraine as Zelenskyy touts ‘mega’ US weapons deal​

As tensions between Russia and Europe continue to grow, Moscow has tried to present its ground war in Ukraine as unstoppable.

The Kremlin claimed last week to be in control of two-thirds of the buildings in Kupiansk, a city in Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv region.

“Russian troops have blocked a large group of the enemy from the northern and western sides, taking it in a half-ring,” said the Ministry of Defence in Moscow.

Russia has been trying to capture Kupiansk for most of this year, believing it will unlock a northern gateway for its forces to descend to the eastern region of Donetsk, whose complete capture Moscow has prioritised.

“Taking control over Kupiansk will allow the Russian troops to advance towards the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration,” said the Defence Ministry, referring to Ukraine’s best-fortified towns in Donetsk.

People walk next to a damaged building and vehicles in a residential neighbourhood hit during a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, September 28, 2025.

Russian officials have been saying they are on the cusp of seizing Kupiansk since March. Ukrainian military observer Konstantyn Mashovets estimated Russia needed another one to two more divisions to do so.

Russia advances in Ukraine as Zelenskyy touts ‘mega’ US weapons deal

Trump gets closer to Ukraine as top European official warns 'we are no longer at peace' amid airspace rows with Russia.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Ball Blazer]

French photojournalist killed in drone strike in Ukraine​

French photojournalist Antoni Lallican has been killed in a Russian drone strike in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military has said.

Grigoriy Ivanchenko, a Ukrainian photojournalist working alongside Mr Lallican, was injured in the same attack on the outskirts of Komyshuvakha, a village in the Donetsk region.

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) said this was the first instance of a journalist being killed by a drone in Ukraine.

Mr Lallican, a Paris-based photojournalist, had been documenting the war since March 2022 - a month after Russia launched its full-scale invasion - earning him the prestigious Victor Hugo Prize for photography in 2024.

The two journalists had been embedded with the 4th Mechanised Brigade near Komyshuvakha, around 15km (12 miles) from the frontline, at the time of the attack.

According to a statement from the Hans Lucas photo agency, both journalists were wearing personal protective equipment, and their bulletproof vests had identification marks with the word "PRESS" on them.

A witness told the BBC that the noise of chainsaws - being used to build defensive positions - may have prevented them from hearing the drone overhead.

The brigade's press officer, Anastasia Haletska - who was also wounded in the attack - said she managed to apply tourniquets to Mr Ivanchenko, before both of them were taken to a hospital in nearby Kramatorsk.

Mr Lallican was killed instantly, she said. Mr Ivanchenko is in a stable condition, but had to have his leg amputated.

French President Emmanuel Macron shared a tribute to Mr Lallican and said he had been a victim of a Russian drone attack.

"I express my sincere condolences to his family, loved ones, and all his colleagues who, risking their lives, inform us and bear witness to the reality of war," he wrote on X.

Mr Lallican's work has been published by numerous outlets, including French newspapers Le Monde and Le Figaro.

His work in Ukraine, which traces the "consequences of the war", has taken him across the country, from Odesa, in the south-west, to Kharkiv, in the north-east, according to his website.

Families fleeing in the early days of the invasion, elderly men and women refusing to leave their homes under Russian bombardment, and soldiers fighting and living on the frontline populate his photographs, among many others whose lives have been upended by the war.

According to the EFJ and IFJ, 17 journalists have been killed since the invasion began.

In a joint statement, they said: "We pay tribute to the courage of Antoni Lallican and all the journalists who continue to cover the war. We demand that the perpetrators of his crime be brought to justice.

Sergiy Tomilenko, president of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), accused Russia of "deliberately hunting those trying to document war crimes".

"For journalists, every trip to the frontline zone is a deadly risk. Antoni Lallican took this risk again and again, coming to Ukraine, traveling to Donbas, documenting what many prefer not to see," he said in a statement.

"He built a visual bridge between the world and Ukrainian reality. Now he himself has become part of this tragic story".

The Kremlin has not commented on the attack.

Source: BBC