Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,304

On Saturday, September 20, 2018, this is how things are going.

Regional security

Officials in Estonia called for talks with NATO over the “unprecedented and brazen intrusion” after three Russian MiG-31 fighters flew into Estonia’s airspace “over the Gulf of Finland” for a total of 12 minutes on Friday.
• Moscow and the Russian Air Force both claimed that as they flew from northwestern Russia to the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, their aircraft flew over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea.
• More than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace a week prior, prompting immediate condemnation from NATO and other European nations.
• Allison Hart, a spokesperson for NATO, accused Moscow of “reckless behavior” and claimed that the alliance had deployed aircraft to intercept Russian jets.
• The third recent violation of NATO airspace by Russia, according to British Defense Secretary John Healey, was “the third violation of NATO airspace in recent days.”
• The French military ministry responded, saying, “This incursion into Estonia is unprecedented for more than 20 years.”
• Donald Trump, the president of the United States, said he didn’t know about the incident but that he didn’t like it when it occurs. He continued, “could be significant trouble.”

Fighting

• According to an official and the Russian state-run TASS news agency, a 55-year-old man was killed in the village of Amon in the Kursk region and a truck driver in the village of Otradovka in the Belgorod region when Ukrainian forces launched a string of drone attacks on Russia.
• Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov posted a Telegram of more than 100 drones and more than 15 munitions during their 24-hour assault on the Belgorod region.
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, claimed that two people were hurt in a Russian attack in the Dnipro region.
• Additionally, Zelenskyy claimed on X that Russian forces targeted Ukraine’s Donetsk, Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions along with Dnipro, and that they flew close to 90 drones at Ukraine overnight. Zelenskyy said, “Our warriors were able to neutralize most of them.”
• A crew of Ukrainian journalists from Channel Five and their driver were also hurt by a landmine in the Donetsk region on Saturday, according to Ukrinform.
• TASS reports that Russian forces have taken control of the villages of Muravka and Novoivanovka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

diplomacy and politics

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, urged members of the EU to impose new restrictions on Russia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. She presented a 19th package of sanctions against Russia.
• Zelenskyy applauded the measures, calling them “an important step that will put pressure on the Russian war machine and have a tangible impact.”
• Trump claimed on Friday that he and Xi Jinping had a conversation about Russia’s war with Ukraine. After the call, Trump said, “I believe he would like to see it ended.” He later addressed reporters in the Oval Office of Xi’s opinion of the conflict.