Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,305

On Sunday, September 21, 2018, this is how things are going.

Fighting

• According to Ukrainian officials, at least three people were killed and dozens more were hurt when Russian forces launched a massive missile and drone attack on Ukrainian towns.
• According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, 580 drones and 40 missiles were launched from Russia and spread throughout nine regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhia, Poltava, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Kharkiv.
• At least four people were killed when Ukrainian forces launched drone attacks on the country’s southwest Samara region, according to Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev’s social media announcement. The area in Ukraine is 800 kilometers (497 miles) away from the front line.
• Ukrainian drones targeted Russian oil pumping stations, which are connected to the Kuibyshev-Tikhoretsk oil pipeline, in the Volgograd and Samara regions, according to the Reuters news agency, citing Ukraine’s SBU security agency. According to the report, the targets’ facilities were involved in Novorossiysk, Russia’s port, which handles oil exports from the Black Sea.
• 383 Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian forces over the course of the day, according to the Ministry of Defense.
• The ministry also asserted control over the village of Berezove in the southeast of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.

Regional security

• Following Russia’s initial attacks on western Ukraine, Poland and its allies scrambled aircraft to ensure the safety of Polish airspace, according to the country’s armed forces.
• Estonia claimed three Russian military jets flew over its airspace for 12 minutes on Friday after Poland shot down suspected Russian drones earlier this month.
• As part of the alliance’s Eastern Sentry mission, the UK also reportedly sent two fighter jets over Poland on their first NATO air defense sortie, according to its government.
• Dovile Sakaliene, the minister of defense in Lithuania, has urged NATO to immediately deploy air defense capabilities to front-line states, citing the threat they face “almost daily”

diplomacy and politics

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City next week, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy announced that he would meet with US President Donald Trump to discuss sanctions against Russia and security guarantees.
• The US will likely impose a new round of severe sanctions against Russia, Zelenskyy said the day after the European Union announced its 19th round of sanctions against Moscow.
• According to Mariana Katzarova, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in Russia, Russia has increased its use of criminal prosecution, long-term imprisonment, intimidation, torture, and maltreatment to silence the opposition since its invasion of Ukraine. The Human Rights Council will receive a report on Monday that details a “seismic decline” in the Russian human rights situation.