Devastation from Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv, Ukraine, September 28, 2025 (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

Monday’s Coverage: Zelensky on Russia’s “Treacherous Strikes”

UPDATE 0713 GMT:

The European Union is preparing to start technical work on Ukraine and Moldova joining the 27-country bloc despite Hungary’s blockade.

On Sunday, Moldova’s Sandu Government won a majority in Parliamentary elections, seen as a referendum on accession to the EU rather than alignment with Russia.

President Maia Sandu said after the vote, I’m glad that our path to the EU is guaranteed. I really wanted Moldovans to decide for Moldova. I want Moldova to be a free and democratic country.”

The European Commission has proposed an adjustment of rules to circumvent the veto of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ally of Vladimir Putin, by starting the technical work in several “clusters”.

EU leaders will discuss the issue at a meeting in Copenhagen on Wednesday. They will be joined on Thursday by countries including Ukraine and Moldova.

Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European integration, said Kyiv is hoping to persuade Budapest to allow negotiations to proceed. He noted that the final decision on accession requires unanimity and is a “deep political question”.

“But meanwhile we have and we really appreciate that we have, an offer from EU institutions and other member states to go with technical work on clusters,” Kachka told the Financial Times.

The process would allow Ukraine and Moldova to advance on reforms, regulatory alignment, and institutional preparation.

UPDATE 0639 GMT:

Marking the third anniversary of his “annexation” of four regions of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said in a video address on Monday:

Today, defending this choice, our soldiers and commanders are rising to the attack; the entire country, all of Russia, is waging a righteous battle and working. Together, we defend our love for our homeland and the unity of our historical destiny.

In September 2022, Putin proclaimed that the regions — Donetsk and Luhansk in the east and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south — as well as Crimea are part of Russia.

Weeks later, a Ukrainian counter-offensive liberated parts of Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

Putin acknowledged yesterday that residents in Russian-occupied areas are facing “difficult times.” “There are many truly pressing, urgent problems. These include the most urgent, vital issues for every person, such as reliable water supply, access to quality healthcare, and so on.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia has murdered an entire family of four in the Sumy region in northeast Ukraine.

The couple and their two sons, ages 6 and 4, were killed by a drone strike near the Ukraine-Russia border in the village of Chernechchyna. Rescue workers pulled their bodies from the rubble of their destroyed home.

Sumy Governor Oleh Hryhorov denounced “a targeted strike”.

This is a terrible and irreparable loss for the entire community and region.

I express my sincere condolences to the family and loved ones. The death of the family in Chernechchyna is a tragedy that we will never forget or forgive.

Russia tried to overrun a “buffer zone” in Sumy in the spring, seizing several villages in May and June and coming within 20 km (12.5 miles) of Sumy city. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on September 12 that Ukrainian forces had regained the territory and “completely thwarted” the offensive.

In the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine, a strike on Bobrovytsia damaged an energy facility, leaving more than 26,000 residents without power.

Zelensky Calls for Joint Defense and Sanctions v. Russia

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelensky summarized:

Earlier in the day, he warned the Warsaw Security Forum of Russia’s “hybrid warfare” across Europe. Russian drone and fighter jet incursions into Poland and Estonia are “a test not only for Poland, but for all of NATO”.

Russia has used tanker ships in the Baltic Sea to “launch drones that caused major disruption in northern Europe”, the President said.

All these are definite risks: all these are violations of airspace, borders, and international law. Responses to these risks should not focus solely on the country under attack; they must consider that all of Europe is under Russia’s potential aggressive actions. Therefore, everyone must be protected. A united voice must respond – Europe, NATO, together with the United States.