Smoke rises from the oil refinery in Perm, Russia after strikes by Ukraine, September 25, 2026

Thursday’s Coverage: Zelensky to UN — “We Choose Not to Die, Not to Lose Our Country”

UPDATE 1446 GMT:

European Union member states have agreed the terms for releasing €6.6 billion ($8.74 billion) to Ukraine from the European Peace Facility.

EU foreign policy head Kaja Kallas summarized:

€900 million are for the EU’s Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine. €1 billion will fund new joint procurement of equipment. And €4.7 billion will reimburse Member States, with some already saying they will channel their share to Ukraine.

Moscow’s hybrid attacks try to intimidate Europe into scaling back its support for Ukraine. Europe is doing the opposite.

UPDATE 1420 GMT:

The toll has been revised to five civilians murdered, including a 14-year-old boy, and 39 injured by Russia’s early-morning attacks on Kyiv.

Fifteen victims were hospitalized, including two children.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted that targets including a warehouse used by McDonald’s.

The Russians are constantly expanding their escalation operation: American and other businesses, data centers, internet providers – for Russia, ordinary life in and of itself is simply a target. All of this undermines people’s ability to stay connected, study, and work.

UPDATE 1411 GMT:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the Trump Administration is hoping to convene a trilateral meeting at the technical level in the UAE between Ukraine, Russia, and the US.

The Administration has been pressing for a leaders’ summit involving Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump.

UPDATE 0932 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted about Russia’s latest attacks, following his visit to a maternity hospital damaged by strikes.

Each of you deserves to give birth to your child in peace, without sirens or explosions. And every newborn deserves to begin life in peace. We are doing everything to make this happen as soon as possible.

Zelensky also commented on this morning’s attacks which killed a 14-year-old boy and injured at least 14 people in Kyiv.

In recent days, during our meetings, Ukraine has openly informed our partners: Russia will only escalate as winter approaches unless there is pressure. For diplomacy to work, U.S. sanctions must be implemented and European sanctions must be strengthened. Our partners hold the keys to peace – through strength. The Russians must understand that they will not be able to simply wait this out and that the war must be brought to an end.

UPDATE 0932 GMT:

The Russian State news agency RIA Novosti published a column “Russia Faces Another Nuclear war. It Will Be Very Short”, threatening Lithuania with a nuclear strike.

The column, deleted a few hours after posting, is written by freelance agency writer Alexander Nosovich. It was in response to the Lithuanian Parliament’s decision to uphold the ban on nuclear weapons deployment in the country.

RIA Novosti said the text was removed as it “does not correspond with the editorial board’s opinion, editorial policy, or state policy of the Russian Federation”. However, a copy of the article remains in the web archive.

Nosovich claimed that European countries “continue to push the issue of moving non-conventional weapons to Russia’s borders” and have chosen a state that “is willing to become a nuclear depot”. He called Lithuania “a suicidal state with no brains at all,” a “useful idiot”, and a “small but proud kamikaze in Russia’s near abroad”.

We’re talking about what means could be used. And since our adversaries are the first to raise the nuclear threat, Russia can even afford to forego deploying ground troops. Only missiles with the appropriate warheads. The solution isn’t just quick, it’s lightning-fast. Don’t think too much about seconds.

Nosovich is a member of the non-governmental organization Council on Foreign and Defense Policy and editor-in-chief of the pro-Russian publication RuBaltic.Ru, based in Kaliningrad.

UPDATE 0852 GMT:

A 14-year-old boy has been murdered and at least 14 people injured by Russian strikes on Kyiv.

Authorities warned at 4:50 a.m. of an impending drone attack. One struck a 16-story residential building in the central Pecherskyi district, killing the boy and injuring seven people.

Yana, a real estate agent, said:

There was no alarm — just a muffled explosion. We were asleep and woke up immediately. I grabbed the dog, and we ran into the hallway.

We try to put it out of our minds and stay composed. But lately, our morale has taken a hit.

Ivan, a retiree, explained, “The attacks are nonstop right now. We see the missiles flying, we see the Shaheds flying, but they’ve never hit us. And now this tragedy has happened — it hit a place we never expected it to hit.”

A commercial building was damaged in the Podilskyi district as a result of being hit by a Russian drone, and another building in the Solomianskyi district was struck by drone debris.

There was another attack just after 9:30 a.m. A five-story non-residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district was hit, and there are casualties.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery around 1,500 km (932 miles) inside Russia overnight.

Eyewitnesses said the refinery in Perm was set ablaze.

Source: @osinttechnical on X

Footage of a Ukrainian attack drone slamming into Russia's Perm oil refinery this morning, sparking a major fire.

[image or embed]

— OSINT Mirror Feed (@osint-mirrors.bsky.social) September 25, 2026 at 6:07 AM

Ukraine also hit the Iskra electronics plant, which manufactures components for communications and radio technology, in the city of Ulyanovsk around 700 km (435 miles) east-southeast of Moscow.

A synthetic rubber manufacturing plant was damaged in the city of Voronezh, more than 500 km (310 miles) south of the Russian capital.

Russian authorities have not commented on the strikes.