Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky with troops defending the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, September 18, 2025

Thursday’s Coverage: Zelensky — What “Security Guarantees” Mean

UPDATE 0645 GMT:

At least five civilians have been murdered and at least seven injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 71 of 86 drones. The other 15 drones struck six locations.

The fatalities were from a Russian airstrike on the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Casualties were also recorded in the Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared an “important success” in a counter-offensive in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Zelensky said on Thursday night that forces liberated 160 square km (62 square miles), with seven settlements have been retaken in the Dobropillia and Pokrovsk sectors.

Last month, Russian troops made an incursion of 15 to 20 km (9 to 12.5 miles) toward the strategic Dobropillia–Kramatorsk highway, near the embattled city of Pokrovsk.

Those gains have evaporated since late August. Zelensky said Russia lost 2,500 soldiers just in the Pokrovsk direction, with more than 1,300 killed. Almost 100 Russian soldiers have been captured.

Earlier in the day, Zelensky met troops in the region.

Russia has tried since February 2024 to overrun the logistics hub of Pokrovsk. Dobropillia, a coal-mining town, is almost 30 km (18 miles) to the north.

Elsewhere in the region, five civilians have been murdered by a Russian airstrike on Kostiantynivka on Thursday morning.

The victims were two women, aged 62 and 65, and three men, aged 65, 67, and 74. Four apartment buildings were damaged.