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

“Russia is by no means a tiger. Russia is traditionally seen as a bear,“ Kremlin says as US and Russian top diplomats meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

According to the White House, Rubio reiterated US President Donald Trump’s call for the killing to stop as well as “the need for Moscow to take meaningful steps toward a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war.”

Three senior EU officials reportedly gave Reuters this figure, but the exact value of the loan will be finalized after an IMF assessment of Ukraine’s economic need.

The EU’s proposed “reparation” loan to help Ukraine fund its war effort by drawing on  the value of frozen Russian assets could reportedly be as much as €130 billion euros ($153 billion). 

Three senior EU officials reportedly provided Reuters with this figure on Wednesday – days after EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said that member states see the plan as “a possible way forward.”

After a stark address to the UN General Assembly, Zelensky thanked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for his engagement with the Ukrainian peace process.

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in New York on Wednesday, after the leader of the BRICS member nation offered to host talks between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Their discussion followed Zelensky’s address to the UN General Assembly, in which he emphasized that international institutions alone are unable to protect countries from aggression. 

In a stark address to a half-empty UN General Assembly, the president told those present that international institutions alone cannot protect them from aggression.

President Volodymyr Zelensky made his address to the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday – emphasizing the inability of international institutions alone to protect peace and uphold international law.

Attendance of his speech looked sparse compared to US President Donald Trump’s address on Tuesday, with many of the seats in the UN assembly hall left empty.

The atrocity showing Russian troops shooting up a family in a civilian house before kidnapping a girl to cover their retreat was caught on drone footage.

Ukraine’s Third Army Corps has released drone footage that showed Russian troops using a young girl as a human shield to cover their retreat after shooting up her family.

A spokesperson said the incident took place in the village of Shandryholove in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, near the Lyman sector, although not when it happened.

Naftogaz has secured a $60 million advance from Ukreximbank to “support gas production needs,” alongside international support and LNG imports.

Ukraineʼs state-owned gas giant Naftogaz Group secured the first Hr 2.4 billion loan ($60 million) from Ukraine’s state-owned Ukreximbank, the company reported in a press release on Wednesday.

The funds will finance the production needs of Ukrgasvydobuvannya – a subsidiary of Naftogaz, responsible for exploring, extracting, and producing natural gas in Ukraine. 

Fire Point, the weapon’s manufacturer, said they currently use refurbished jet engines with plans to make new ones under license, with warheads made by another Ukrainian contractor.

Refurbished jet engines, bunker-busting warheads – the manufacturer of Ukraine’s new Flamingo long-range missile unveiled more details of the weapon during Poland’s MSPO 2025 military exhibition.

Fire Point, which manufactures the missile, has also shared the specifications and manufacturing process, according to defense outlet Militarnyi.

The daytime attack reportedly targeted the Honcharivske training ground in northern Ukraine’s border region of Chernihiv with two Iskander ballistic missiles.

Russian forces struck a Ukrainian Ground Forces training unit with two Iskander ballistic missiles on Wednesday, Sept. 24, killing some and wounding others.

According to a Ground Forces statement on Telegram, “Due to a precise hit on the shelter, despite the security measures taken, unfortunately, it was not possible to completely avoid losses among personnel.”

Novorossiysk mayor Andrei Kravchenko said several apartment buildings and a hotel were damaged. Emergency services are operating under a “state of emergency” mode, searching for possible drone debris.

Ukraine launched a major attack on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk on Wednesday, Sept. 24, targeting the Black Sea Fleet with unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and drones, Russian officials and media reported.

Krasnodar Regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said at least two people were killed and three others injured in strikes on the city center. Local media outlet Shot reported eight casualties, while emergency officials said six people were hospitalized, including one child. Three were reportedly in serious condition.

The very first time major Ukrainian combat units deployed abroad, anywhere, was in June 2024 when Ukraine invaded Russia. This new law is about training and air defense with NATO allies.

Ukraine’s national legislature, the Verhovna Rada, has taken up a draft bill that would deploy Ukrainian combat units to Poland following a Warsaw call for assistance in air defense against Russia.

Submitted by the Office of President Volodymyr Zelensky and likely to be approved by the ruling majority controlled by Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party, bill number 14059, dated Sept. 22, authorizes the deployment outside Ukraine of combat units numbering 1,000 troops or less, with equipment, to the Republic of Poland.

NATO countries say multiple Russian fighter jets and drones have violated European member states’ airspace in recent weeks, accusing Moscow of testing the alliance’s boundaries.

Russia on Wednesday dismissed claims that it breached NATO’s airspace as “hysteria”, a day after US President Donald Trump said the allies should shoot down Russian jets if they violate their territory.

NATO countries say multiple Russian fighter jets and drones have violated European member states’ airspace in recent weeks, accusing Moscow of testing the alliance’s boundaries.

Russian social media released images of burned vehicles and storage buildings linked to Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile systems of Russia’s 1st Guards Missile Brigade.

Images released by the Russian milbloggers Досье Шпиона (Spy Dossier) and КіберБорошно (CyberBoroshno) on Tuesday showed the aftermath of what was said to be an Aug. 20 Ukrainian drone attack against the Molkino training area near the town of Goryachy Klyuch in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai region.

The location is adjacent to the base for Russia’s 1st Guards Missile Brigade which is known to operate the 9K720 Iskander-M (NATO: SS-26 Stone) short-range ballistic missile system that has been attacking Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities over the past several months.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the special military operation – Moscow’s term for the war – is aimed at securing Russia’s interests and achieving goals set by President Vladimir Putin

The Kremlin on Wednesday said it had no choice but to continue its military operation in Ukraine, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s recent claim that Russia is a “paper tiger.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the special military operation – Moscow’s term for the war – is aimed at securing Russia’s interests and achieving goals set by President Vladimir Putin.

The accessed files include official correspondence by the Russia-installed head of Crimea, as well as internal communications between ministries and agencies of the occupation government.

Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate (HUR) says its cyber specialists have successfully breached the servers of the Russian imposed authorities in Crimea for the second time in recent months, obtaining over 100 terabytes of sensitive data.

A HUR source told Kyiv Post that the hacked files include official correspondence by the Russia-installed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, as well as internal communications between ministries and agencies of the occupation government.

Ukraine’s SBU drones have hit Gazprom’s Bashkortostan refinery for a second time this week, while another strike shut down Astrakhan’s gas plant, placing yet more strain on Russia’s fuel supplies.

Drones from Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) have once again struck the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat refinery in Bashkortostan, one of Russia’s largest oil refining and petrochemical plants.  

“SBU Special Operations Center ‘A’ drones flew to Bashkortostan for the second time in seven days and hit Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat,” an SBU source told Kyiv Post.

Russia launched 152 drones against Ukraine overnight, targeting the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kramatorsk regions causing casualties, fires and damage despite 126 being shot down.

Ukraine faced a night of fire and destruction as Russia launched 152 drones in a single wave, striking the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kramatorsk regions, despte air defenses downing 126.

Late in the evening of Sept. 23, Russia began strikes against Kharkiv. According to Mayor Ihor Terekhov, the first explosion occurred at approximately 10:10 pm, with the attack lasting about an hour.

In an exclusive interview with US Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg, Lord Ashcroft asks the retired general how Trump should proceed in bringing peace to Ukraine.

The location for my meeting with Lt.-Gen. Keith Kellogg, highly decorated war hero turned skilled diplomat, felt more like a scene from a James Bond film than an interview room. Chosen by his security staff, the entrance was hidden beneath an unassuming city-center bar, accessible only by a password. On arrival, I was led to a dimly lit basement where I was ushered behind a dark curtain.

Waiting for me was the three-star Army general, a Vietnam and Gulf War veteran who, as a key adviser to US President Donald Trump, has been tasked with trying to bring peace to war-torn Ukraine. Here in Kyiv, Gen. Kellogg is feted by most Ukrainians, so much so that there are a host of cartoons and memes portraying him as a great protector because Russia has, so far at least, not bombed the city while he has been visiting.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Zelensky said he had a “good conversation” with Trump and believes the US president’s position has shifted.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said US President Donald Trump now understands that Ukraine cannot exchange territory with Russia.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Zelensky said he had a “good conversation” with Trump and believes the US president’s position has shifted.

The parliamentary elections on Sunday are seen as crucial in deciding whether the EU candidate country will deepen its ties with the bloc or drift back towards Moscow.

Ahead of Moldova’s parliamentary elections on Sunday, deepfake videos and unsubstantiated accusations targeting pro-EU President Maia Sandu are spreading online, with analysts warning the country has become Moscow’s “testing ground” for information warfare in Europe.

The vote is seen as crucial in deciding whether the EU candidate country of some 2.5 million people will deepen its ties with the bloc or drift back towards Moscow, from which it gained independence in 1991.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has suggested that Zelensky travel to Moscow for direct talks, but Zelensky dismissed the offer as a tactic to stall real negotiations.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine and several allied nations have repeatedly proposed holding talks with Russia at the head of state level in neutral countries such as Kazakhstan, while Putin rejects talks on even ground.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Zelensky said proposals for a summit meeting had been made not only by his administration but also by US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and other European leaders.

Some Russian regions have suffered fuel shortages, though not severe, but the Petersburg Exchange has tightened diesel and petrol trading rules to avoid price hikes.

Russia is seeing Ai 92 and Ai 95 fuel shortages in some regions after Ukrainian drone attacks triggered supply chain shortages and prices increased.

The problem is acutely felt among Russian private filing stations since they do not belong to “vertically integrated oil firms.” The share of independent filling stations in Russia is around 40% by volume, Reuters wrote.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• US President Donald Trump expressed confidence in Ukraine’s ability to fully liberate all of its internationally recognized territory that Russia currently occupies, following a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
• The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) publicly acknowledged Russia’s intent to advance further into Kharkiv Oblast should Russian forces seize Kupyansk, supporting ISW’s assessment of Russia’s operational intent.
• The Russian MoD’s September 23 statement undermines repeated Russian claims that Russia’s main military objective and territorial demands in Ukraine are limited to Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts.
• The Russian MoD may be issuing this statement about Russian operational intent to justify ongoing Russian operations to seize Kupyansk to Russian society and frontline forces.
• Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Borova, Novopavlivka and in the Dobropillya tactical area and western Zaporizhia Oblast. Russian forces recently advanced in northern Kharkiv Oblast and in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area and near Siversk.

President Zelensky, top European diplomats, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio unite at a high-level UN Security Council meeting to call for collective pressure on Moscow to pursue peace.

NEW YORK – Top US diplomat Marco Rubio delivered a direct and uncompromising message to Russia at a high-level UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, warning that the Trump administration’s “patience is not infinite” regarding the war in Ukraine.

His remarks, made just hours before a scheduled meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, underscored a growing sense of urgency among world leaders to find a path to peace.

On a day when he was trapped in New York traffic due to a Trump motorcade, French president worries about “the risk of seeing the selfishness of a few prevail”.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Tuesday against allowing an approach of “survival of the fittest” to take hold in international relations as he addressed the UN General Assembly.

Macron also mounted a defense of the current international order after President Donald Trump savaged the United Nations in a speech to the organization’s General Assembly.

“Poland will always react adequately, and it stands ready to defend its territory,” Karol Nawrocki told the General Assembly on Tuesday after Russian incursions into Eastern European airspace.

Poland’s president said Tuesday that his country was ready to “defend its territory” after an incident that saw Warsaw accuse Russia of violating its airspace with unmanned drones.

His intervention came after the drone incident as well as an incursion by Russian military jets into Estonia’s airspace that prompted a furious response from the NATO alliance, of which Poland is a member.