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Estonia summons Russian envoy after MiG-31 incursion; Poland reports low passes over Petrobaltic Baltic platform
Estonia summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires in Tallinn on Friday, 19 September, after three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland and remained for around 12 minutes. The Estonian Foreign Ministry issued a formal note of…
Trump withholds Taiwan security aid as White House pursues talks with Beijing
President Donald Trump declined to approve a US$400 million–plus military aid package for Taiwan over the summer, as his administration seeks a trade agreement and a possible autumn summit with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, according to multiple reports. The move…
Ukraine targets Russian energy sites in Bashkortostan and Volgograd
Ukrainian forces struck two major energy facilities deep inside Russia overnight on 17–18 September, hitting the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat petrochemical complex in Bashkortostan and the Lukoil-operated Volgograd oil refinery. Regional authorities in Bashkortostan reported a fire at the Salavat site…
India sends 65 troops to Russian–Belarusian ‘Zapad-2025’ drills as tariffs row with Washington reshapes regional alignments
India has deployed a 65-strong contingent to Russia’s Mulino training ground for the multilateral military exercise “Zapad-2025”, marking New Delhi’s first participation in the Russian–Belarusian war games and signalling continued defence ties with Moscow amid heightened trade tensions with the…
Chinese and Philippine vessels collide near Scarborough Shoal as Beijing cites ‘control measures’
China and the Philippines have reported a collision between their vessels near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, with Beijing accusing a Philippine ship of “deliberately” ramming a China Coast Guard craft and Manila flatly denying the claim. China…
Trump’s Belarus overture risks confusing NATO at a fraught moment
U.S. military officers’ surprise appearance at Zapad-2025 in Belarus has jarred allies already managing drone incursions and a large Russian–Belarusian drill on NATO’s doorstep. The visit may have been designed as observation under OSCE rules, but its timing and optics…
Ukraine’s forces strike Kirishi oil refinery in Leningrad Oblast
Ukrainian Special Operations Forces and the Armed Forces’ Unmanned Systems Forces say they struck the Kirishinefteorgsintez (KINEF) oil refinery in Russia’s Leningrad Oblast overnight on 13–14 September, describing the site as one of the largest refineries in the Russian Federation.…
Eastern Sentry Looks Reactive as Russian Drones Test NATO’s Eastern Flank
Repeated air alerts in Poland and Romania this week, coupled with NATO’s launch of the Eastern Sentry mission, underscore an alliance still reacting to events rather than shaping them. On 9–10 September, Poland became the first NATO member state to…
Poland’s Sikorski questions value of “security guarantees” for Ukraine, urges focus on funding and arms
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, has questioned the usefulness of proposed “security guarantees” for Ukraine, arguing that such pledges would lack credibility without states willing to fight Russia if deterrence failed. Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) annual meeting…
Zelenskyy: Russian drone operated in Romanian airspace for 50 minutes; Romania scrambles F-16s, Poland shuts Lublin airport amid UAV threat
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said a Russian unmanned aerial vehicle penetrated roughly 10 kilometres into Romania and remained in NATO airspace for about 50 minutes. Romania’s defence ministry reported scrambling two F-16s after detecting a drone during Russian strikes…