Daily Briefing

Key Takeaways

• Russia launched a major overnight salvo — ~28–30 missiles plus Shahed drones — hitting Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Pavlohrad, Zaporizhzhia, and Kyiv, killing at least 2 and wounding 10+ in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast alone, with search-and-rescue ongoing at a collapsed industrial site in Dnipro.
• Ukraine simultaneously struck the Kuibyshev Oil Refinery (KNPZ) in Samara Oblast — a Rosneft asset — setting off a major fire, days after halting all crude processing at the Gazprom Neft Moscow refinery; Ukrainian military claims cumulative strikes have cut Russian refining capacity by 45%.
• Zelensky arrived in New York for the UN General Assembly with a packed agenda: a high-stakes Trump meeting on Sept. 22, a drone deal ready to sign, and a declared readiness for an unconditional ceasefire — while Trump is simultaneously pressing Kyiv to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries.
• EU ambassadors agreed in principle to extend Russia sanctions for three years but as part of a compromise will delist oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman — a significant political concession that drew criticism; formal confirmation expected Sept. 22.
• European intelligence chiefs, including Czech spy chief Michal Koudelka, warned (6 sources corroborated) that Russia could test NATO 'within months' via provocations or a limited incursion, raising the threat level on the eastern flank.