Ukraine in September 2026: the most important developments in security
In September 2026 the war in Ukraine continued with daily strikes on both sides as winter approached. The most reported event came on September 13 and 14, when a Russian drone hit a train near the Ukraine-Poland border shortly after Boris Johnson had left the area. The train had carried Estonian leaders, Poland convened its security chiefs, and French official Jean-Noël Barrot said the strike was meant to intimidate Europeans. Poland and Romania scrambled aircraft during later attacks, NATO jets shot down a drone over Lithuania, a drone exploded in Moldova, and Poland evacuated border crossings and joined an anti-ballistic missile coalition with Ukraine.
Russian air attacks on Ukrainian cities formed the largest strand. Zelensky said Russia fired 2,100 drones and 78 missiles in the week to September 13 and 2,200 drones, 1,650 guided bombs and 38 missiles in the week to September 27. A drone hit the SBU headquarters in Kyiv on September 4, and Russia struck Kyiv again on September 8 after a three-day pause during the visit of US envoys. Later attacks killed seven people in Kyiv on September 23, at least eight on September 27 and at least 10 on September 28, and hit data centres, the largest mobile provider, Kyiv's Academy of Sciences and the power grid. On September 30 Zelensky described the largest attack since spring.
Ukraine struck Russian territory in return. Its drones hit refineries, oil ports and depots, and on September 20, the last day of Russian elections, it launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia, including at Moscow, which Russian officials called the largest such attack so far. Russia reported two deaths in the capital. Zelensky also warned airlines that Russian airspace was unsafe.
Air defence and weapons supplies were another theme. The EU approved €6.1 billion for arms including Patriot systems, the US approved a $2.7 billion air-defence sale on September 19, and on September 25 Zelensky said Trump had approved a licence for Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles. On September 22 a senior NATO commander said Putin was becoming more cavalier.
On the ground Russia reported gains in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions and the encirclement of Ukrainian units, while Ukraine reported advances in four sectors on September 24. Kyiv and Moscow reported a gunfight between the SBU and HUR agencies in Kyiv on September 2.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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