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MiG-31s over Estonia expose a NATO posture Moscow now expects
Estonia’s report that three Russian MiG-31s penetrated its airspace near Vaindloo Island on 19 September is the fourth such violation this year and the most serious to date: the jets reportedly remained inside for around 12 minutes, with transponders off,…
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…
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…
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…
Drone Strike Forces Suspension at Russia’s Primorsk Oil Terminal
A Ukrainian drone attack has, for the first time, halted loading operations at Russia’s key western oil terminal at Primorsk, according to industry sources and Ukraine’s security service. The strike, carried out overnight into Friday, marked the first reported attack…