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

In a major reversal, the US president said that – thanks to Ukraine’s “Great Spirit” and NATO and EU support – Ukraine may now be in a position to regain control over its entire territory.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he now believes Ukraine is in a position to regain control of its entire territory and defeat Russia – with the European Union and NATO’s support.

In an abrupt volte-face, Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social that Ukraine could “fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”

Trump asked her fellow first ladies and gentlemen to help ensure that “every child can flourish in the digital era.”

US First Lady Melania Trump launched a global coalition of nations committed to promoting children’s wellbeing through education and technology on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

Hosting several of her fellow first ladies and first gentlemen at the Lotte New York Palace, Trump told them that the Fostering The Future Together coalition’s mission is “to ensure that every child can flourish in the digital era.”

Denmark’s Prime Minister said that Monday night’s drone sightings fit with other recent developments, including airspace violations, drone incursions and cyber attacks.

The Kremlin has denied involvement in two drone incidents that disrupted air traffic in Oslo and Copenhagen into the early hours of Tuesday morning.

During his daily press briefing on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that accusations of Russian involvement were baseless, as per The Moscow Times.

Kyiv Post was told Ukraine’s $65B financing gap for 2026-2029 had been identified whiles its Finance Ministry was said to be still reviewing Bloomberg’s numbers.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that a financing gap of $65 billion for 2026-2029, needed to be found by Ukraine’s partners, a well-placed source told Kyiv Post. 

“It’s the financing gap that needs to be closed for a new program,” the source told Kyiv Post. 

A joint statement from the three west African countries echoes Hungary’s claim that the Hague has lost its credibility.

Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali announced their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday – continuing on a trajectory of distancing themselves from international organizations in favour of closer alignment with Russia.

As per Reuters, the leaders of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali described the ICC as an “instrument of neo-colonial oppression” in a joint statement, adding that they intended to replace it with indigenous mechanisms for promoting peace and justice.

The US president used his UN address to excoriate European allies for their “embarrassing” hypocrisy over Russia, calling out major energy buyers like China, India, and Turkey for fueling the war.

NEW YORK – US President Donald Trump delivered a blistering, 56-minute speech on Tuesday, using his first UN address of his second term to place the war in Ukraine at the top of his “America First” agenda.

Eschewing his prepared remarks after a teleprompter malfunction, the US president used the address to launch a broadside against global institutions and issue a clear ultimatum to Russia.

Ukraine’s HUR intelligence agency has published a list of components found inside the Russian D-30SN guided bomb – many of which are of foreign origin.

Russia’s D-30SN aerial guided bombs contain foreign components from Ireland, Taiwan and Japan – among other countries – according to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR).

HUR, which maintains a database of components found in Russian weapons, released the latest findings on the aerial bomb on Monday.

Ukraine has struck Russian oil facilities in Bryansk and Samara and targeted aircraft in occupied Crimea, as Kyiv escalates attacks on Russia’s oil revenues and military assets on the peninsula.

Ukrainian forces struck two oil facilities in the Bryansk and Samara regions of Russia early on Tuesday, Sept. 23, according to the General Staff of Ukraine.

In a statement published on Telegram, the General Staff said the strikes aimed to “[reduce] the enemy’s offensive potential” and complicate the supply of fuel and ammunition to Russian forces.

Ukrainian forces also reportedly damaged barracks, a club, a training building and a canteen at the 31st Division’s base near Vitino village in occupied Crimea’s Saky district.

Ukrainian forces carried out missile and drone strikes on Russian military targets in occupied Crimea on the night of Sunday, Sept. 21, hitting air defense systems and military infrastructure amid Kyiv’s intensified aerial assaults on the peninsula.

Russian news outlet ASTRA, citing emergency service sources, said two attack drones targeted a convoy of the 31st Air Defense Division near Volochaivka village in the Razdolne district, destroying a radar of an unspecified model.

Air industry watchers say now that Belarus can buy US parts and planes legally, hundreds of Boeing jets in Russia will evade sanctions by getting parts and service from Minsk.

Key terms of a recent White House deal trading relief of American air industry sanctions on Belarus for the release of 52 political prisoners are being ignored by the former Soviet republic’s flagship airline Belavia, a Kyiv Post review of that company’s published data and air industry information platforms found.

A Sept. 11 decision by the US Department of Commerce to cancel bans on Belavia, which prohibit that airline from importing, re-exporting, or transferring US-made aircraft parts will, almost certainly, create an illegal but effective lifeline for Russian airlines still under American sanctions and operating hundreds of US-made aircraft, industry observers say.

Lithuania has eased rules to allow its defense minister or an authorized official to instantly order the military to shoot down drones violating its airspace.

Lithuania has streamlined its rules to make it easier to order the military to shoot down drones that violate its airspace, Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene said Tuesday.

“Even though we live de jure in peacetime, our laws ... were not adapted to current threats,” Sakaliene told parliament.

In an exclusive interview with Kyiv Post, Dmytro Ivanov, head of Dobrobat, shares how 50,000 volunteers from 28 countries are restoring homes, schools, and hospitals destroyed by Russian strikes.

Hundreds of Ukrainian defense firms are focused on winning the war, not profits – but after Russia’s defeat, will reduced numbers and export limits make them leave the country or vanish?

Ukraine will always face the threat of Russian attacks and cannot rely on the “kindness of strangers” for protection. Therefore the government must open the gates for exports to continue to nurture the defense industry, MITS Capital co-founder Perry Boyle told Kyiv Post. 

Over the last three and a half years since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, 2,100 weapons manufacturers have registered with Ukraine’s defense cluster Brave1 alone, according to Forbes Ukraine. 

It’s time for the Ukrainian president to act as the leader and champion of other countries seeking to free themselves from Russian imperialistic pressure.

Both Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and the exiled leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya are currently in New York for the meetings of the UN General Assembly.

Zelensky will speak from the podium and will use the occasion to garner international support for Ukraine’s now long-standing heroic war against the Russian imperialist aggressor.

The UN’s human rights office released a report on Tuesday that accuses Russia of subjecting detainees to “widespread and systematic” torture and sexual violence.

The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released its latest report on the treatment of Ukrainian civilians by Russian occupation forces. The 27-page document covers the period from the February 2022 full-scale invasion until August 2025.

The accompanying press release said there is not only evidence of the large-scale illegal deprivation of liberty of both Ukrainian civilians and military personnel but there is evidence of “widespread and systematic” ill-treatment of detainees that includes torture and sexual violence that is in direct contravention of international humanitarian law (IHL).

A Defense Express report warns Russia’s Shahed drones, now have a range of up to 2,500 kilometers, could strike nearly all of Europe - from Scandinavia to Madrid.

Russia could potentially reach nearly all of Europe with its latest Shahed (Geran-2) drones that now have a range of around 2,500 kilometers (1,600 miles).

“Following Russia’s drone attack on Poland with so-called ‘foam Gerbera’ drones and the appearance of unidentified UAVs over airports in the capitals of Norway and Denmark, a simple question arises: how far can Russia’s long-range drones fly?” Defense Express writes in its report.

Georgia’s protests against the pro-Russian government hit the 300-day mark as Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze claims the rallies are funded by foreign intelligence.

Mass demonstrations in Georgia have continued for more than 300 days, with protesters blocking central Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue and rallying in over eight cities nationwide. The movement is now approaching its one-year mark.

The protests began after the disputed October 2024 parliamentary elections, which the opposition and international observers denounced as fraudulent. Discontent intensified when the ruling Georgian Dream party said it would delay talks on joining the European Union until 2028.

Soldiers of Ukraine’s 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade captured 36-year-old Evans Kibet, near Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region. The Kenyan said he was tricked into enlisting in Moscow’s forces.

The African edition of Business Insider reported on Monday that the Kenyan government was investigating reports that some of its citizens had been forced to serve in Russia’s war against Ukraine after a 36-year-old athlete was captured by Ukrainian forces near Vovchansk.

The report says that Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Korir Sing-Oei said that Foreign Ministry personnel were working through its embassy in Moscow and Ukraine’s ministry to investigate Kibet’s claims. He said Nairobi was “Closely monitoring information regarding three or four Kenyans allegedly transferred to Russia and currently held by Ukraine as prisoners of war.”

Two unlikely men can influence the outcome of the war. And their influence is largely due to the fact that they are perceived as honorable men, committed to what’s right.

The more that I travel to Ukraine to report on its brutal war with Russia, the more convinced I become that the future security of this troubled country lies increasingly in the hands of two astute, high-powered men.

No, I am not talking about President Volodymyr Zelensky. Tough and resilient though he has been in leading his nation, his powers on the international stage are severely limited, especially with the current incumbent of the White House in situ for another three years.

Putin has approved giving Russian citizenship to Tara Reade, the former Biden aide who accused the former president of a sexual assault, after she moved to Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted citizenship to Tara Reade, a former aide to Joe Biden while he served as a Senator who accused him of sexual misconduct during the 2020 US presidential race. The decree granting approval was published by Russia’s RBC news agency on Monday. Sept. 22.

Reade worked in Biden’s Senate office in the early 1990s. During Biden’s campaign for the White House, she alleged that he sexually assaulted her while working there. According to her account he put his hand under her skirt and committed sexual acts in the hallway of the US Senate.

Three Russian fighter jets reportedly violated Estonian airspace on Friday. According to the Estonian Foreign Ministry, the MIG-31 aircraft spent twelve minutes in the area.

Three Russian fighter jets reportedly violated Estonian airspace on Friday. According to the Estonian Foreign Ministry, the MIG-31 aircraft spent twelve minutes in the area. Tallinn has requested consultations under Article 4 of the Nato treaty, while Russia has denied the incursion. Commentators debate motives and consequences.

Testing Nato’s eastern flank

Extract from Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski’s statement at The UN Security Council meeting on Sept. 22 regarding Russia’s violation of Estonian and Polish airspace

To the representatives of Russia, I have this to say: we know you don’t care for the international law and you’re incapable of living in peace with your neighbors. Your insane nationalism contains a lust for domination that will not cease until you realize that the age of empires is over, and that your empire will not be rebuilt.

Every drone strike by the heroes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - may God bless them - brings this day closer. Your “three-day Special Military Operation” can’t even conquer Donbas for ten years now.

UN condemns Russian barbarism in Ukraine accusing it of continuing to subject Ukrainians to torture and ill-treatment.

Russian authorities have subjected civilian detainees in Ukrainian areas it occupies to torture, including sexual violence, in a “widespread and systematic manner”, the United Nations said Tuesday.

In a fresh report, the UN rights office concluded that Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 “has subjected Ukrainian civilian detainees to consistent patterns of serious violations” of international law.

Kyiv is preparing for a possible surge in returns from Poland, with officials stressing the urgent need for a social support system at home

WARSAW – Ukraine cannot ignore Poland’s gradual tightening of residency rules for its citizens, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Iryna Vereshchuk warned on Monday, stressing that Kyiv must prepare a social support system for those who decide to return.

Her comments follow Polish President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of legislation that would have prolonged special protection for Ukrainians who fled after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Moscow came under a major drone attack overnight, with Mayor Sobyanin claiming 32 Ukrainian UAVs downed near the capital, as Russia claims over 180 total nationwide.

Moscow came under drone attack overnight as Russia reported one of the largest waves of UAV strikes in months.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said more than 30 drones were shot down by air defense systems near the capital between Monday evening, Sept. 22, and Tuesday morning, Sept. 23. 

In Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said six bombs hit the city, destroying a private home and killing a man whose body was recovered from the rubble.

Russia launched a new wave of overnight attacks across southern and central Ukraine, striking Zaporizhzhia with air-dropped bombs for a second night in a row and hitting several other regions with drones and artillery, officials said Tuesday. At least two people were killed and several others injured.

In Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said six bombs hit the city, destroying a private home and killing a man whose body was recovered from the rubble. Fires broke out in residential areas and at industrial sites.

Every year, pilgrims from Israel and other countries travel to Uman, the birthplace of the Orthodox Hasidic movement, to celebrate the holiday that marks the Jewish New Year.

Thousands of Orthodox Jews flocked to the Ukrainian city of Uman on Monday for the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, despite warnings from Kyiv not to travel due to the Russian invasion.

It is the second year running when the pilgrimage is taking place amid the war in Gaza, with large numbers coming from Israel.

In an interview for German newspaper Tagesspiegel, Andreas Umland reflects on the consequences of Russia’s probing aerial forays into Poland and Estonia.

What is Putin’s goal with such actions? What is his calculation behind them?

These actions fulfill various functions for Moscow. They serve reconnaissance and diversionary purposes, are test runs, and are intended to sow discord within NATO. Since NATO’s response is ambiguous, these provocations cast doubt on the seriousness of the alliance’s mutual aid promise. Ideally, such actions should lead to the erosion or even collapse of the Western defense coalition.

Moscow has had this aim since NATO was formed in 1949. With the new team in the White House, this goal now seems within reach. There are doubts in the US itself, in Europe, and in Russia about whether Washington, under the slogan “America First,” still stands by the East-Central European NATO countries. The border violations rub salt into this open wound of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Diplomatic hopes fade after Trump’s “failed” peace efforts, as Kyiv calls for long-range weapons to cripple Russia and new provocations threaten to embroil NATO.

NEW YORK – US President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky are set to meet today on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, as the organization’s Security Council prepares to convene a critical gathering on maintaining peace and security in Ukraine.

The highly anticipated meeting comes as diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war have hit an impasse, and concerns are mounting that the conflict could spill over into NATO territory.

Tyc, a former Polish soldier who left the army in 1989 after communism’s collapse, later founded an association to restore Red Army monuments and graves in Poland.

A Polish citizen dubbed a “traitor” by domestic media for his pro-Moscow propaganda activities has been killed fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

The local authority of Russia’s southwestern Kursk region confirmed the death of Jerzy Tyc on Sept. 21, though he had been listed as missing since around June 2023.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on September 22 that Russia will adhere to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for one year following its expiration in February 2026 and used threats to urge the United States to do the same.
• Putin blamed the West for undermining Russian-US arms cooperation and violating bilateral arms agreements—ignoring how Russia has violated numerous multilateral and bilateral treaties in the past decades.
• Putin is attempting to pressure the Trump administration to engage in arms control talks to facilitate US-Russian rapprochement and extract concessions from the United States about the war in Ukraine, as ISW forecasted Russia would in August 2025.
• Some Russian defense industrial enterprises are reportedly struggling to expand their production and workforces due to economic constraints, while the Kremlin is prioritizing funding for high-priority enterprises such as drone and missile manufacturers.
• The United Nations (UN) reported that the number of casualties from Russian drone strikes targeting Ukrainian civilians has increased by 40 percent so far in 2025 as compared to 2024.
• Ukrainian forces may have targeted high ranking Russian officials in a reported strike against occupied Crimea on the night of September 21 to 22.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Dobropillya tactical area. Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman and Pokrovsk and in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area.

See the original here.