Russia has threatened the safety of Ukrainian, American and European officials travelling to and from Kyiv using drones.
asserted
Russia → threaten → drones
These attacks have come as Russia’s ground war stumbles.
asserted
war → come → ?
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asserted
Russia → injure → elections
Details emerged this week of its latest setback when an attempt to seize the city of Lyman resulted in the loss of 85 square kilometres (33 square miles) of territory Russia had previously occupied in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
asserted
Russia → emerge → region
On September 13, Russian drones struck a Ukrainian train locomotive 5km (3 miles) from the border with Poland, endangering European officials travelling to Warsaw after they attended the Yalta European Strategy conference, an annual gathering of global political, business and civil society leaders in Kyiv.
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they → strike → Kyiv
Ukraine’s railway company, Ukraliznytsia, said the locomotive of the passenger train had been struck.
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locomotive → say → train
A Russian drone also struck a petrol station 2km (1.2 miles) from the Polish border, destroying or damaging a number of trucks.
asserted
drone → strike → trucks
Polish premier Donald Tusk said he expects a period of “very intensified actions by Russia”, possibly including an “escalation will also affect our territory”.
uncertain
period → say → territory
“This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on social media.
asserted
Sybiha → knock → media
In another incident on September 8, a Russian drone entered Moldovan airspace as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane prepared to depart Chisinau, delaying the flight.
asserted
plane → enter → flight
Norway’s prime minister said it nearly struck the aircraft, though Moldova has not confirmed the claim.
uncertain
Moldova → say → claim
On September 6, US diplomatic envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff flew to Poland before taking a train to Kyiv after Russian strikes disrupted flights to the Ukrainian capital.
asserted
strikes → fly → capital
Russian drones and missiles have also struck four Ukrainian border crossings to Moldova in recent weeks.
asserted
drones → strike → weeks
Kremlin Ambassador-at-large Rodion Miroshnik said the strikes were justified as part of Russia’s effort to stop Western military aid from reaching Kyiv.
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strikes → say → Kyiv
Ukraine has turned its ports, border crossings and logistics centres into “military targets”, he wrote on social media, boasting that Kyiv was “reaping the inevitable consequences”.
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Kyiv → turn → consequences
Five people were killed on Wednesday when a drone struck their intercity minibus near Nikopol in the northern Kharkiv region in what Zelenskyy called “another act of brutality”.
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Zelenskyy → kill → brutality
Three more were killed on Saturday.
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Three → kill → Saturday
“Just this week, Russia has launched approximately 2,100 drones at Ukraine,” along with 78 missiles, Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
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Zelenskyy → launch → Sunday
Hope for more aid came on Thursday, when both houses of the US Congress passed a bill sponsored by Senators Darline Graham and Richard Blumenthal imposing secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian oil and gas.
asserted
houses → come → oil
If implemented, the bill could deprive Russia of export revenues it needs to replenish its budget, one-third of which goes to defence.
uncertain
third → implement → defence
Russia has ‘no grand illusions’ on peace
Ukraine has struck 26 Russian refineries this year.
asserted
Ukraine → have → refineries
In the past week it struck eight, aiming for their desalination and vacuum distillation units that take months to repair.
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that → strike → months
Numerous reports estimate that Ukraine has deprived Russia of at least 30 percent of its actual refining capacity.
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Ukraine → estimate → capacity
Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina recently said inflation over the summer was “primarily driven by the situation in the fuel market”.
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inflation → say → market
“We continue to assess inflationary risks as predominant and believe they have increased,” she said.
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she → continue → risks
Ukraine has proposed a ceasefire on strikes to energy infrastructure since 2025, but Russia has signalled that it is ready for talks only on its terms.
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it → propose → terms
These include surrendering the remaining one-fifth of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region it does not control and a broad demilitarised buffer zone beyond that.
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it → include → that
“We have no grand illusions here,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
asserted
Lavrov → have → illusions
Kushner told the Yalta European Strategy conference this week that an agreement between the US and Russia was largely prepared, claiming Ukraine’s refusal to surrender the remainder of Donetsk was the main obstacle.
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refusal → tell → Donetsk
Over the past week, Ukrainian drones also set fire to the Tolyattikauchuk synthetic rubber factory in Samara near the border with Kazakhstan.
asserted
drones → set → Kazakhstan
The rubber is used in the production of solid rocket fuel for tactical and ballistic missiles.
asserted
rubber → use → missiles
Ukraine also struck the Atlant Aero factory in Taganrog, which builds Molnya reconnaissance and attack drones and makes parts for Orion drones.
asserted
which → strike → drones
On September 17, Ukraine struck an Antonov-12 and two Antonov-26 military transport aircraft on the tarmac at Rostov air base near the southern Ukrainian border and also destroyed three helicopters.
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Ukraine → strike → helicopters
Russia has been repeatedly frustrated in its efforts to seize the “fortress belt” of cities in Donetsk – Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhivka.
asserted
Russia → frustrate → Donetsk
Putin’s December 31 deadline for achieving this is his 15th of the war.
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deadline → achieve → war
Russian forces have tried to outflank the fortress belt from the north by seizing the cities of Lyman and Svyatohirsk to its northeast, said brigadier-general Andriy Biletskyi, commander of the Third Army Corps defending the area.
asserted
Biletskyi → try → area
A separate offensive was from the south, he said.
asserted
he → say → south
The southern flanking movement was defeated in August this year, taking back 745 sq km (290 sq miles) of territory around Dobropillya.
asserted
movement → flank → Dobropillya
Ukraine also pushed back in Lyman and retook 85 sq km (53 square miles) of territory, its Third Army Corps revealed this week.
asserted
Corps → push → territory
“The northern pincer has effectively been defeated and destroyed,” Biletskyi said.
asserted
Biletskyi → defeat → ?
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
