Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,296

Here is how things stand on Friday, September 12:

Fighting

Anti-aircraft units downed seven Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow early on Friday, according to the Russian capital’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Sosnivka in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
A “massive” Ukrainian drone attack forced authorities in Russia’s Belgorod region to order children to stay at home while closing its schools and shopping centres, the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The Moscow-installed administration of the Russia-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station accused Ukraine of attacking a training centre at the plant with drones.

A resident looks at his destroyed home following a Russian air strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on August 30, 2025 [Kateryna Klochko/AP Photo]

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting to address Russia’s violation of Polish airspace earlier this week, Poland’s Foreign Ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed for a tougher response to the suspected Russian drone incursion into Poland from Kyiv’s allies, saying the move by Moscow was likely aimed at slowing supplies of air defences to Ukraine before winter.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki claimed the Russian drone incursion was an attempt to test Poland’s and NATO’s capability to react militarily.
The Russian drone incursion was a “kind of a prelude” to Russia’s upcoming “Zapad” military exercises in Belarus, Poland’s National Security Bureau chief said.
Russia will not make any further comments on the shooting down by Poland of what Warsaw said were Russian drones in its airspace, the Kremlin said.

Polish military representatives plan to visit Ukraine for training on shooting down drones, a source familiar with the matter said.
France will deploy three Rafale fighter jets to help Poland protect its airspace after this week’s drone incursions, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday on X.
NATO’s allied air command will provide Lithuania with better early warnings of aerial launches against Ukraine that could cross into Lithuania, NATO’s top military commander Alexus Grynkewich said.
Germany will strengthen its commitment to NATO’s eastern border, including expanding “air policing over Poland” in response to the incursion of Russian drones, a government spokesperson said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasised the need for Germany’s BND foreign intelligence service to heighten its operational levels in the wake of increased threats of hybrid attacks by Russia.

German arms giant Rheinmetall plans to manufacture artillery shells for Ukrainian forces at a future production plant in Ukraine, Kyiv’s defence minister said.
Sweden’s Defence Ministry announced plans for 70 billion Swedish krona ($7.5bn) in military support for Ukraine over the next two years.

President Zelenskyy said he had discussed joint weapons production with Washington and imposing further sanctions on Russia during talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday.
A representative of United States President Donald Trump told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that the US wanted to reopen its embassy in Minsk and normalise ties between the two countries, after Washington closed the embassy in 2022, the State-run Belta news agency reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has still not decided on attending the APEC summit in South Korea next month, the Kremlin said.

Several European Union members including the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Spain summoned their respective Russian ambassadors and charge d’affaires to express official condemnation of Russia violating Polish airspace earlier this week.
A timeline for the imposition of the EU’s 19th package of sanctions against Russia is still undetermined, after an EU delegation returned from Washington, according to a European Commission spokesperson.
The US will pressure G7 countries to impose higher tariffs on India and China for buying Russian oil, the Financial Times reported, as the US looks to ramp up sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Source: Aljazeera