Key developments on Sept. 20-21:
- Estonia asks NATO to activate Article 4 after Russian fighter jets violate airspace
- Russian drones strike oil, transport infrastructure in Chernihiv Oblast
- Professional-Ukrainian partisans sabotage railway resulting in Russian aerospace plant, Atesh group claims
- Ukraine strikes oil refineries in Russia’s Saratov and Samara oblasts, army confirms
- 3 Russian Mi-8 helicopters, radar station destroyed in occupied Crimea, Ukraine’s HUR says
- Ukraine has a large new sea drone, may threaten Russia’s Crimean Bridge
Estonia is requesting consultations underneath Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty following a Russian airspace violation on Sept. 19, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal introduced.
Earlier within the day, Estonia’s International Ministry and army reported that three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered the nation’s airspace for 12 minutes earlier than being intercepted and turned again by NATO plane.
“Such violation is completely unacceptable. The Authorities of Estonia has decided to request NATO Article 4 consultations,” Michal wrote on X following the incursion.
Article 4 permits member states to name for discussions with allies in the event that they imagine their safety is threatened with out triggering an automated army response. It was just lately invoked by Poland following a Russian drone incursion on Sept. 10.
The Russian MiG-31 breached Estonian airspace on Sept. 19 with out permission over the Gulf of Finland, close to Vaindloo Island, in response to the Estonian army. The plane reportedly had no flight plans and their transponders have been turned off.
Italian Air Drive F-35 fighter jets, a part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission, intercepted the Russian jets.
Russian plane usually fly with out utilizing transponders, failing to file flight plans, and don’t set up contact with regional air visitors management — a sample that NATO officers have lengthy described as high-risk conduct.
In line with International Minister Margus Tsahkna, Russia had beforehand violated Estonian airspace thrice in 2025 earlier than the fighter jet incursion. Earlier this month, a Russian MI-8 helicopter violated Estonian airspace over the Baltic Sea.
Tallinn has handed Moscow a proper protest notice over the most recent violation. Russia has not but commented on the incursion.
NATO and EU representatives have condemned the incursion, which comes on the heels of reported Russian airspace violations in Poland and Romania.
When requested for a response on the airspace violation, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed frustration with the scenario.
“I do not like it when that occurs. It may very well be massive hassle. I am going to let you realize later, they will temporary me in about an hour,” Trump told reporters within the Oval Workplace.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated the incident represents “a scientific Russian marketing campaign” in opposition to Europe, NATO, and the West.
“Russian destabilization is spreading to new nations and areas,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
“They’re utilizing all means at their disposal, from interfering in political processes, as in Romania and Moldova, to violating airspace, as in Poland, Romania, and now Estonia. … Robust motion is required — each collectively and by every particular person nation.”
NATO has pledged to bolster defenses alongside the alliance’s jap flank in response to current airspace violations and Russia’s more and more aggressive use of drones within the area. The operation Eastern Sentry was launched on Sept. 13, days after Poland, a NATO nation, shot down Russian drones for the primary time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Polish authorities discover what could be 19th downed Russian drone
Polish authorities on Sept. 20 discovered what may be the remnants of the last of 19 drones downed over Polish territory following a Russian violation of Warsaw’s airspace over a week prior.
Russian drones strike oil, transport infrastructure in Chernihiv Oblast
Russian drones reportedly struck a Ukrainian oil depot at a army facility in Bakhmach, Chernihiv Oblast on Sept. 20, Russian Telegram channels reported.
Professional-Russian Telegram media channel Shot posted a video of the reported attack, displaying a fireplace emanating from the depot.
Shot reported that Russian-made Gerans, that are direct copies of Shaheds, drones struck the depot, which is used to ship gasoline to motorized models in Sumy Oblast.
The Kyiv Impartial can’t instantly confirm the studies.
Ukraine’s army has not but commented on the strike, and no data was out there as to the extent of the harm precipitated.
The top of the Chernihiv Metropolis Navy Administration, Dmytro Bryzynsky, warned earlier of an assault on the area.
Bryzynsky added that unspecified transport infrastructure was broken within the strike, making no point out of a blaze on the oil depot. Bryzynsky stated that no casualties have been initially reported within the assault.
Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s railway authority, stated that quite a few trains are delayed because of the assault.
The assault comes simply in the future after Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukrainian cities, which killed 2 folks and injured 36.
In line with Ukraine’s Air Drive, Russia launched 579 drones, 8 ballistic missiles, and 32 cruise missiles, with direct strikes reported in 10 areas throughout a number of areas.
Ukraine and Russia have continued to commerce blows to every others oil and power infrastructure in current months, with Kyiv warning of renewed attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in anticipation of the upcoming winter.
Kyiv has additionally continued to escalate its marketing campaign in opposition to Russian oil and gasoline infrastructure, a key supply of Moscow’s revenues serving to to gasoline its all-out invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine’s Normal Employees stated that it had struck two oil refineries in Russia’s Saratov and Samara oblasts in a single day.
Trump reiterates call for European allies to stop buying Russian oil
U.S. President Donald Trump again urged European countries to stop importing oil from Russia, during a dinner in Mount Vernon, Virginia, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 21.
Professional-Ukrainian partisans sabotage railway resulting in Russian aerospace plant, Atesh group claims
Professional-Ukrainian partisans sabotaged a railway resulting in an aerospace manufacturing unit within the Russian metropolis of Smolensk, the Atesh group claimed on Sept. 21.
“Brokers of our motion blew up the railway tracks in Smolensk, resulting in an aerospace manufacturing unit. This plant produces Kh-59 missiles for the Russian Ministry of Protection,” the group said in a Telegram publish.
The Atesh group commonly conducts sabotage operations on army infrastructure in occupied Ukrainian territory and deep inside Russia.
“Our comrades from the Group of Ukrainians on the manufacturing unit confirmed that missile logistics have been disrupted,” the group claimed.
The act of sabotage was performed by the Atesh group with assist from the so-called Secret Group of Ukrainians.
“The manufacturing unit produces missiles, drones, and different gear. It’s a strategic goal, and we’ll proceed to strike such services. Navy-industrial complicated services are unprotected, and manufacturing disruptions will escalate,” Atesh stated.
The group’s claims couldn’t be independently verified by the Kyiv Impartial.
0:00/0:041×Purported footage of a sabotage operation by the Atesh group at railway tracks resulting in an aerospace plant in Smolensk, Russia. (Atesh/Telegram)
The western Russian metropolis of Smolensk is positioned about 276 kilometers (172 miles) from Ukraine’s northern border with Russia.
On Sept. 17, Atesh partisans sabotaged railway infrastructure within the Russian metropolis of Yekaterinburg, disrupting Moscow’s army logistics “in all strategic instructions,” the group claimed.
Days prior, a communications tower was destroyed at an air defense factory within the Russian metropolis of Tula, the Atesh partisan group claimed on Sept. 11.
18 Russian officers killed in sabotage attack in Ukraine’s south, Kyiv claims
Unknown individuals set fire to dry grass near the Russian army’s command post near the village of Voskresenka on Aug. 30, the Ukrainian project “I Want to Live” said. The fire reportedly quickly spread to buildings and dugouts at the site.
Ukraine strikes oil refineries in Russia's Saratov and Samara oblasts, army confirms
Ukraine’s Normal Employees stated that it had struck two oil refineries in a single day on Sept. 20 in Russia’s Saratov and Samara oblasts, confirming earlier studies on social media from Russian residents.
The Normal Employees additionally added in its announcement that it had broken the principle transport infrastructure facility in Samara. It stated that explosions and fires had been recorded, whereas the ultimate outcomes of those strikes are nonetheless being decided.
“All affected services are concerned in supplying the Russian Armed Forces,” the Normal Employees wrote.
“The Protection Forces of Ukraine are systematically implementing measures geared toward decreasing the military-economic potential of the aggressor state. Specifically, that is the undermining of the Russian Federation’s logistical capabilities within the oil refining sector and the disruption of the programs for offering the Russian Federation’s armed forces with gasoline and lubricants.”
The information comes as Kyiv continues to escalate its marketing campaign in opposition to Russian oil and gasoline infrastructure, a key supply of Moscow’s revenues serving to to gasoline its all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Within the Russian metropolis of Saratov, drones struck an oil refinery within the outskirts of the town.
Movies posted on social media by residents seem to indicate a a drone striking the refinery, inflicting a big explosion. Russian Telegram channels posted photographs and movies of the massive fireplace seen from the town.
Saratov Oblast Governor Roman Busargin, with out mentioning the reported strike on the refinery, claimed {that a} residential constructing in Saratov was broken within the metropolis amid a Ukrainian drone assault, leaving one individual injured.
0:00/0:091×A purported video of a Ukrainian drone hanging an oil refinery within the Russian metropolis of Saratov on Sept. 20, 2025. (Crimean Wind/Telegram)
The reported assaults come simply days after Ukrainian forces struck the Saratov oil refinery in a single day on Sept. 16, inflicting explosions and a fireplace on the facility.
The Saratov refinery produces over 20 kinds of petroleum merchandise, together with gasoline, diesel gasoline, gasoline oil, bitumen, and extra. The ability, whose processing quantity amounted to 4.8 million metric tons in 2023, helps provide the Russian army, in response to Ukraine‘s General Staff.
It was not instantly clear as as to whether the identical refinery was struck within the in a single day assault. The area has been focused by Ukrainian forces earlier than, together with on Aug. 10 when the Rosneft-run refinery was reportedly pressured to halt operations.
Saratov lies roughly 150 km (100 miles) from the border with Kazakhstan and almost 600 kilometers (370 miles) east of the entrance line in Ukraine.
Elsewhere in Russia, Ukrainian drones additionally reported caught a refinery within the metropolis of Novokuybyshevsk in Samara Oblast amid a drone assault on the area.
Novokuybyshevsk lies over 900 km (560 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.
It was not instantly clear as to the harm precipitated in Novokuybyshevsk, though residents within the metropolis reported a big blaze close to the town.
Ukrainian Telegram media channels Exilenova Plus reportedly geolocated the footage to the the principle oil processing unit on the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery in Samara.
Rosaviatsia, Russia’s aviation authority, reported later within the night time {that a} non permanent floor halt has been imposed at Samara Airport amid the drone assault.
The assault on the refinery comes as Russia faces a mounting gasoline scarcity, exacerbated by Ukrainian strikes on oil infrastructure.
Oil pumping stations in Volgograd and Samara stop work after Ukrainian drone attack, SBU source says
Ukrainian long-range drones struck a series of oil pumping stations in Russia overnight on Sept. 19, resulting in a shutdown of pumping, a source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent.
3 Russian Mi-8 helicopters, radar station destroyed in occupied Crimea, Ukraine's HUR says
Ukraine’s army intelligence (HUR) destroyed three Russian Mi-8 helicopters and a radar station in occupied Crimea, the company reported on Sept. 21.
“The Russian invaders’ air fleet within the briefly occupied Crimea has been diminished once more because of profitable fight operations,” HUR wrote on Telegram.
The Mi-8 is a medium-lift helicopter broadly utilized by Russia for transport, reconnaissance, and fight assist. It may carry troops and gear or be outfitted as a gunship.
The radar destroyed was identified because the 55Zh6U Nebo-U, a cell early-warning system able to detecting stealth plane and cruise missiles at lengthy ranges.
Such radars present crucial focusing on knowledge for surface-to-air missile programs.
0:00/0:511×Purported footage of Ukrainian assaults in opposition to Russian helicopters and a radar station in occupied Crimea. Footage revealed on Sept. 21, 2025. (HUR/Telegram)
The company didn’t disclose the precise location of the strike.
Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, has remained one of many key targets for Ukrainian operations in opposition to Russian army infrastructure because the begin of the full-scale invasion.
On Sept. 9, HUR reported focusing on two radar stations, and on Sept. 1, it said it destroyed two Mi-8 helicopters and struck a Russian tugboat.
Ukraine has a massive new sea drone, could threaten Russia’s Crimean Bridge
Although the platform had been known for about a year, it was only now publicly displayed.
