Smoke rises from fires set by Ukrainian strikes on Taganrog in southwest Russia, September 12, 2026 (Exilenova Plus)
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UPDATE 0646 GMT:
Russian troops executed two Ukrainian prisoners of war near the city of Dobropillia in eastern Ukraine on September 2, report prosecutors.
The two National Guard soldiers were con a combat mission at a position in a forest belt when they were captured. The Russians shot them with automatic weapons.
Ukraine has documented the execution of at least 337 POWs as of the end of 2025.
UPDATE 0637 GMT:
Canada has sanctioned eight individuals involved in Russia’s deportation, indoctrination, and militarization of Ukrainian children.
The sanctioned individuals include Russian and occupation officials and youth movement leaders. Among those blacklisted are Grigory Gurov, head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Youth Affairs; Artur Orlov, chairman of the board of the Russia State-led youth organization Movement of the First; and Denis Chornobay, head of the movement’s regional branch in occupied Donetsk.
“These are the people responsible for programs of indoctrination and militarization — for ensuring that Ukrainian children cease to identify as Ukrainians and ultimately end up in the Russian army,” said Maksym Maksymov, head of Bring Kids Back UA.
Ukraine’s Justice Ministry has officially confirmed the abduction and deportation of 20,610 children to Russia.
UPDATE 0629 GMT: Anthropic says Russia has been using the firm’s Claude AI in cyber-attacks against Ukraine and Europe in recent months, targeting government ministries and the WhatsApp accounts of high-level officials.
“The most commonly recurring targets were members of the Ukrainian government, military and diplomatic staff. The actor scanned email services and remote access systems across more than two dozen Ukrainian government organizations,” the report summarized.
The AI helped Russia circumvent defenses against cyber-attacks. The cost would have been far higher and the process much longer for hackers without the tool.
The attacks pointed to Russia-based Midnight Blizzard, which the US Government has linked to Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service.
UPDATE 0621 GMT:
UK intelligence assesses that 500,000 Russian troops have been killed so far in Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The head of UK military intelligence, Rich Knighton, said the majority of Russian losses occurred since January 2023. In that time, Russia gained only 2% of Ukrainian territory.
The figures match the assessment of Ukraine’s General Staff. Russia’s total loss of personnel now exceeds the combined toll suffered by Russian and Soviet forces in all wars and armed conflicts since 1945.
Knighton noted that the casualties have “resulted in slowing growth in Russia, weakening consumer demand and stubbornly high inflation. The cost of Russia’s economy and its people’s prosperity and prospects are enormous.”
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukrainian forces struck industrial sites inside Russia overnight.
Long-range drones hit a chemical and rubber manufacturing plant in Tolyatti in the Samara region. The city, around 900 km from the Ukrainian border, is home to Russia’s largest State-owned car manufacturer AvtoVAZ.
Footage from residents showed drones flying over the city and a building on fire, billowing smoke. Other videos were of damage to a residential building caused by a downed drone.
Ukrainian drones also struck a car manufacturing plant in Taganrog in the Rostov region in southwest Russia. The port city on the Sea of Azov is around 40 km (25 miles) east of the border.
Footage showed large fires, reportedly from an airfield and military housing near the city. NASA’s imagery confirmed multiple blazes.
