Ukraine War News Today - Top Stories and Breaking Updates from Kyiv Post

Russia entered summer 2025 promising sweeping victories and decisive advances. Instead, Moscow’s offensive turned into one of its costliest disasters of the entire war.

Possessing all the technology, expertise and infrastructure needed to quickly develop nuclear weapons, without actually doing so, is known as “nuclear latency.” This might be Ukraine’s best option.

Thomas Schelling once argued that a tiny garrison in West Berlin could stop the Soviets: “They can die heroically… and in a manner that guarantees that the action cannot stop there.” The lesson seemed clear: symbolic courage could enforce credibility. History tells a different story. Small forces rarely deter determined aggressors – the British tripwire deterrence failed to prevent the Germans from overrunning Belgium in 1914, just as the US’s tripwire did not prevent North Korea from sweeping into South Korea in 1950. Deterrence depends on capability, not drama.

Ukraine faces the same problem. US President Donald Trump suggested the US could guarantee Kyiv security with air support. But low-capability tripwires rarely stop a militarily powerful adversary. Offshore, high-capability deployments are more credible – but costly and risky. A less conventional, but potentially more effective, path is nuclear latency: giving Ukraine the ability to assemble nuclear weapons quickly if needed, without fully deploying them.

Ukraine ramps up drone strikes, prepares partial arms exports, and eyes security guarantees during UN talks, as frontline counteroffensives continue.

Ukraine is preparing a new prisoner exchange with Russia that could see up to 1,000 Ukrainians return home, while Kyiv ramps up drone strikes against Russian infrastructure and seeks urgent security guarantees ahead of the UN General Assembly, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a conversation with journalists on Sept. 19.

New prisoner exchange with Russia could free 1,000 Ukrainians

Ukraine and Great Britain share an intertwined history dating as far back as Kyiv’s influence on the struggle for the throne in London a thousand years ago.

US President Donald Trump’s visit to London this week became a focal point for the world. On the surface, there was the lavish welcome, and all the pomp and ceremony that goes with such a high state occasion. Beneath that, there were layers of subtle messaging and Ukraine was directly mentioned in a speech by King Charles III.

Arriving on Marine One on Tuesday, the US president was met in the grounds of Windsor Castle by the heir to the throne, Prince William, and his wife Catherine, before traveling a short distance to meet King Charles III and Queen Camilla. On the eve of the visit, Donald Trump had called Windsor Castle a “special place” and the king his “longtime friend.”

This week was packed with major events across Ukraine, Europe, and beyond. From Prince Harry’s visit to Kyiv to US President Donald Trump’s second state visit to the UK.

Reporters face new Pentagon rules requiring them to pledge not to publish sensitive info, giving the Defense Department sweeping control over coverage.

The Pentagon announced Friday that journalists will be allowed into the building of the country’s largest federal agency only if they agree not to publish certain types of information.

According to Politico, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in an evening email that reporters must sign a note pledging not to publish classified material or even some unclassified documents that are not explicitly labeled as government secrets.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony believes Hungary must adopt an unambiguous policy opposing Russia and backing Ukraine, arguing that history demands such a position.

“My great-grandparents were taken away to forced labor camps by Russian soldiers, and they never returned alive. And there are many such stories engraved in the soul of Hungarians,” Karácsony told TVP World after speaking at the Budapest Forum for Building Sustainable Democracies conference, on Wednesday.

Karácsony’s comments are in sharp contrast to Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has positioned himself as one of Europe’s closest allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling Western support for Kyiv a mistake and even saying that “Russia has won the war and Ukraine has lost it.”

An Aug. 8 article in the Kremlin’s Rossiyskaya Gazeta website believed to be written by Putin, under a pseudonym, suggested the war in Ukraine would end without achieving its aims – why?

“The most acute period of our military conflict with the West in Ukraine is entering its final stage. We have decided against using our most terrifying weapons to save as many lives as we can among both the civilian population and our valiant military troops.  With that in mind, we have come to the realization that we might not achieve, at least for the time being, the same sort of victory in Ukraine that we did over Napoleon’s army.  That war secured four decades of peace for Europe.  We also don’t envision, for now, a defeat for the West along the lines of that dealt to Hitler’s army.”

This clumsy paragraph appeared on the official Rossiyskaya Gazeta Kremlin website on the morning of Aug. 8  and as yet has largely gone unnoticed both within Russia and throughout the world.

Ukrainian drones struck two major Russian refineries and a Urals oil hub, causing fires. The facilities supply fuel and lubricants to the Russian Armed Forces.

During a special operation, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) struck the Russian Saratov and Novokuybyshevsk oil refineries, as well as the Urals oil production station, the General Staff of Ukraine reported.

According to the statement on Telegram, in the early hours of Sept. 20, units of the Unmanned Systems Forces struck the Saratov oil refinery. Explosions and a large-scale fire were recorded at the site. Final damage assessments are underway.

Russia plans to ramp up its pressure on Ukraine’s energy targets as the cold weather sets in. Unable to break through the front lines, Moscow’s aim is to break Ukraine’s morale.

The Kremlin is once again weaponizing winter against Ukraine. Following the Ukrainian president’s recent warning that Moscow intended to step up targeting Ukraine’s energy system at the end of August, the Kremlin has conducted several coordinated strikes across Ukraine, targeting thermal plants, gas transport facilities, and regional distribution networks.

Recent spike in attacks

European media respond to Jimmy Kimmel’s show being taken off air.

US broadcaster ABC has cancelled the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live. On Monday’s program Kimmel commented on the killing of Charlie Kirk and suggested that Trump’s allies were trying to exploit the murder. The US president himself praised the move, which leading Democrats have criticized. Commentators take a look at how freedom of expression is faring in the land of liberty.

The truth is no longer free

Weekly EU Roundup from Brussels

“Sanctions” were the word of the week in Brussels, as the European Commission took a substantial step in pressuring Israel to desist from its brutal tactics in Gaza and, separately, unveiled its 19th round of sanctions against Russia.

Though the trade and diplomatic measures are distinct, in both cases, doubts about the efficacy of the proposals were widespread.

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• The declared phase of Russia’s annual Joint Strategic Exercise, Zapad-2025, was conducted alongside Belarus from 12 September 2025 until 16 September 2025, although Russian and Belarusian troops had been training together at exercise locations since at least August 2025.
• Fewer land troops and armoured vehicles were likely involved than in previous Russian annual exercises because of Russia’s heavy commitment to its illegal invasion of Ukraine. Zapad-2025 involved a significant maritime component, including both the Russian Baltic and Northern Fleets, with Russia reporting that the Northern Fleet frigate Admiral Golovko conducted a test launch of a Zircon hypersonic missile in the Barents Sea. The Barents Sea was a core focus for the maritime component. The exercise also involved airborne and amphibious landings.
• Russian President Putin’s statement that over 100,000 service personnel participated probably misrepresents the effective scale of the exercise. It is likely that no more than 10,000 Russian land forces troops took part in Russia in Moscow and Leningrad Military Districts, including Kaliningrad. In Belarus about 6,000 troops took part, about 5,000 Belarusian and 1,000 Russian, reduced from its earlier announced 13,000 troops.

Russia launched a massive missile and drone barrage overnight, hitting a Dnipro high-rise and sparking fires in Mykolaiv, with one dead, dozens injured and widespread damage.

Russian forces launched a massive combined missile and drone strike against Dnipro, Mykolaiv, and other Ukrainian cities early Saturday, Sept. 20, causing widespread destruction.

Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov reported that a residential high-rise was struck by a rocket in the morning.

Ukraine’s exports took a hit from the loss of preferential trade with the EU, a late harvest, and unfavorable weather conditions.

Ukraine’s trade deficit reached $22.6 billion in the first seven months of 2025, which is $7.5 billion higher than in the same period last year, Ukraineʼs State Statistics data shows.

Exports fell slightly, down 3.5% to $23.3 billion, while imports rose 16.9% to $45.9 billion.

HUR fighters landed on the Tendrivska Spit in the Black Sea, planted landmines, and destroyed a Russian DT-10 Vityaz military logistic and troop carrying vehicle.

Ukrainian scouts from the Viking Maritime Operations Center of the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) carried out a successful landing on the Tendrivska Spit in the northern part of the Black Sea, setting a trap for Russian military equipment.

According to HUR’s Telegram report: “[During} a successful raid on the Tendrivska Spit – fighters from the Viking Maritime Operations Center carried out another night landing and installed minefields on the spit.”

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian MiG-31 interceptor jets violated Estonian airspace on September 19.
• European officials continue to discuss the creation of a defensive “drone wall” and provide military support for Ukraine following Russia’s violation of Polish airspace on September 9 to 10.
• The Kremlin continues to reject blame for the Russian drone incursion into Poland’s airspace.
• Russia is reportedly using joint energy ventures to sell military equipment to Vietnam and evade Western sanctions.
• Russian forces continue to commit war crimes in Ukraine, including executions of civilians.
• Russia continues to censor critics of its war in Ukraine, including critics of Russia’s handling of the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast.
• Russian forces advanced in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area and in eastern Zaporizhia Oblast, and near Lyman and Novopavlivka.

Mike Waltz’s appointment fills key diplomatic role days before global summit, following a controversial nomination process.

WASHINGTON DC — In a vote that was months in the making, the US Senate has confirmed Mike Waltz as the United States ambassador to the United Nations. The 47-43 vote on Friday fills a crucial diplomatic post just days before the annual UN General Assembly begins in New York.

The confirmation brings to an end a nomination process that was delayed due to significant pushback from some Senate Democrats.

The US State Department’s annual report praises Kyiv’s fiscal progress and audit independence, even as it warns of a transparency gap in spending.

WASHINGTON DC – A new report from the US State Department highlights notable progress in Ukraine’s fiscal transparency, even as the country navigates the extraordinary pressures of a full-scale war.

The findings from the latest Fiscal Transparency Report, released on Friday, suggest that despite remaining under martial law and facing ongoing occupation, Kyiv has taken a crucial step by ensuring its supreme audit institution operates with an independence that aligns with international standards.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tells Kyiv Post correspondent that new visas will deter illicit funds, ensuring the US only attracts the “very top” tier of global talent.

WASHINGTON DC - In a striking move to reshape the US immigration system, US President Donald Trump has unveiled a new, revenue-focused approach to welcoming foreigners. On Friday, he signed executive orders that dramatically increase the cost of entry for both high-skilled workers and the world’s wealthy, a policy shift that critics say prioritizes financial contribution over all else.

The actions are framed by the administration as a way to secure the country’s borders, protect American jobs, and generate billions of dollars for the US Treasury.

Veteran Republican senator Chuck Grassley highlights how Moscow is using religious institutions to support its war campaign to re-establish the Soviet empire.

WASHINGTON DC – Veteran US Republican Senator Chuck Grassley on Friday accused the Russian Orthodox Church of acting as an agent of the state and supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through propaganda and espionage.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Grassley, who holds the title of President pro tempore, said Vladimir Putin’s goal is to “re-establish the Soviet empire” and that the Russian Orthodox Church is a “leading perpetrator of persecution” against other Christian denominations.