Julie Leduc
Estonia blocks transit of Russian and Belarusian grain
Estonia has banned the transit of Russian and Belarusian grain through its territory. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna announced this on the online platform X. According to insiders, Russian companies are now increasingly using terminals in Baltic Sea and Arctic ports for grain exports that are actually designed for fertilizer, coal and other goods. The background is Ukrainian drone attacks that have affected maritime transport across the Black Sea. Tsahkna says Estonia will not support Russia in maintaining its trade despite the war of aggression against Ukraine. The Baltic country will neither help finance the Russian war nor encourage the aggression of the leadership in Moscow. Belarus is a close ally of Russia.
Julie Leduc
Russia attacks Kyiv and Odessa again – two injured
According to Ukrainian authorities, one person was injured in Russian air strikes in Kiev and Odessa during the night. Infrastructure was also damaged in Odessa, as the head of the region's military administration, Serhiy Lyssak, said on the short message service Telegram. He doesn't give any details. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that the armed forces hit a logistics center in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, a data center in Odessa and a cargo ship in the nearby Black Sea port of Chornomorsk. The targets were used for military purposes.
Julius Stockheim
Estonia's secret service: Russia is targeting arms companies
According to the Estonian secret service, Russia is increasingly targeting arms companies in its attacks or sabotage attempts. “Russia’s actions in Europe are clearly systematic,” security police chief Margo Palloson said on Estonian television. Unlike before, the focus is now no longer on symbolic objects, but on companies in the defense industry. This is intended to prevent military aid to Ukraine, said the head of Estonia's domestic intelligence service.
Russia rejected the allegations from Tallinn. “Significant” number of sabotage and attack attempts “We strongly recommend that all defense industry companies, especially those supplying Ukraine, strengthen their cyber defenses,” Palloson said. According to him, there are currently companies in the defense sector in Estonia that are specific targets.
Julius Stockheim
South Korea estimates the number of North Korean soldiers in Russia at 9,000
According to South Korean intelligence estimates, North Korea still has around 9,000 soldiers deployed in Russia's Kursk region. The soldiers were involved in reconnaissance operations in the Russian invasion war against Ukraine, South Korean intelligence told parliamentarians on Wednesday.
In return, Russia gave North Korea weapons technologies to modernize its military, said lawmaker Yun Kun Young, who attended the meeting. However, Russia is cautious when it comes to the latest technology for building nuclear-powered submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles. North Korea and Russia confirmed for the first time last year that North Korean soldiers fought alongside Russian troops against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region.
Julius Stockheim
Ukraine complains about massive Russian attacks on its energy network
According to information from Kiev, Russia is launching massive attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. After nightly attacks on energy facilities in the capital Kiev and other regions, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyj wrote on Telegram that this was the first such massive and combined attack since the end of the previous heating season.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj spoke on X about 190 Russian attack drones and ballistic missiles that Moscow fired into Ukraine that night. Five people were therefore killed. Zelensky also shared a video showing firefighting efforts after the overnight attacks.
Luke Bay
Ukraine estimates war costs in 2026 at $155 billion
According to government figures, Ukraine's war costs this year total $155 billion. Kyiv is also working to close a $27 billion funding gap. This is intended to ensure that the country can continue the fight against the Russian war of aggression at the beginning of 2027, as Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyj further announced. The government wants to cover seven billion dollars through strict austerity measures in the budget and reallocation of funds. Ukraine is negotiating with partners over the remaining $20 billion. It is the first time that Ukraine has published an estimate of its annual war costs. There are no comparable figures for 2025.
Luke Bay
Russia extends diesel export ban until the end of October
Russia is exacerbating the tense situation on the global energy market by extending its diesel export ban. The government announced in Moscow on Wednesday that the export ban for fuel manufacturers will now apply until the end of October. The measure is likely to further increase pressure on the global energy market, which is already burdened by ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and supply bottlenecks.
With the repeated export restrictions on gasoline and diesel, the Russian government wants to curb rising fuel prices in its own country and combat shortages. These were triggered by Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries. At the end of August, Moscow extended the diesel export ban until the end of September. However, deliveries to countries such as former Soviet republics and Mongolia under trade agreements are excluded. Russia is normally the second largest diesel exporter in the world after the United States.
Julius Stockheim
Russia bombards Kyiv with missiles and drones at night
The Ukrainian capital Kiev and its surrounding area were massively attacked by Russia with ballistic missiles and combat drones during the night. The city administration reported at least two dead and five injured in the city this morning. A child was also killed in a suburb. There was damage to several residential buildings, a shop and a warehouse, wrote Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Telegram. There were several fires and smoke hung over Kyiv.
The Unian news agency reported that the attack was directed against the energy supply for the first time in a long time. The Russian military in Moscow spoke of attacks on the Vyshgorod hydroelectric power station north of Kiev, the Tripillya thermal power plant in the south and a substation. The Nasa website Firms, which records fire sources worldwide via satellite, recorded fires in these locations.
Eva Glaser
Russia cuts social spending: record military budget
Russia is planning to cut social spending in view of drastically increasing defense spending. Funding for social policy, which includes pensions, payments to war veterans and maternity benefits, is expected to fall by seven percent in 2027. This emerges from government documents that were available to the Reuters news agency on Tuesday. The budgets for education and health are to be cut by six and 6.8 percent respectively compared to the original plans.
The government in Moscow is planning military spending of 17.1 trillion rubles (around 178 billion euros) for 2027. This is an increase of around 27 percent compared to the original draft and the highest since the war in Ukraine began in 2022.
Eva Glaser
Germany will join the Ukraine Compensation Commission by the end of the year
Germany wants to complete the procedure for joining the international compensation commission for Ukraine by the end of the year. Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul announced this on Tuesday in a speech to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The Council of Europe plays a crucial role in dealing with Russian war crimes and creating the basis for justice and reparation.
We will complete our ratification process for Germany's accession to the Compensation Commission by the end of the year. And we are committed to ensuring that the special tribunal can also be set up as soon as possible. Johann Wadephul, Foreign Minister
Tim Seckel
NATO rejects Russian threat of nuclear weapons
NATO has firmly rejected a Russian warning of a serious military escalation around the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. After a letter from the Russian government, NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart also made it clear that NATO is a defense alliance and that none of the alliance activities or exercises pose a threat to any part of Russia.
She was responding to a letter sent to NATO via the Russian Embassy in Belgium, in which Russia accused NATO of an “unprecedented escalation of the military-political situation around the Russian Kaliningrad region” and extremely provocative public statements by representatives of NATO member states. The text of the letter was available to the German Press Agency.
“This dangerous and reckless course poses a high risk of the outbreak of a direct armed conflict, in which Russian attacks on the decision-making centers in the member states of the alliance would be possible early in the conflict,” it said.
And further: “Russia will be ready to use the entire arsenal of forces and capabilities at its disposal, including nuclear weapons, to defend its territory should NATO countries make any attempt to isolate the Kaliningrad region from the rest of the country.”
Eva Glaser
Russian Economy Minister attends G20 trade ministers meeting
According to information from Moscow, Russian Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov will take part in the meeting of G20 trade ministers on Wednesday and Thursday in the USA. This is reported by the Interfax news agency, citing the ministry. US President Donald Trump has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the next G20 summit in December in Miami. It is still unclear whether Putin will accept the invitation.
Jeanne Vesper
Apparently Russian special envoy meets with US representatives
According to insiders, Russia's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev met with representatives of the US Treasury and Energy Departments during his visit to Washington. Constructive discussions were held, says a US government official. Not only was there talk about how the war in Ukraine could be ended, but also about possible energy projects after the war ended.
Jeanne Vesper
Zelenskyj: Defended ballistic missiles
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, Ukraine also fended off ballistic missiles during Russian attacks. Zelensky wrote this on social media and thanked his country's American and Norwegian partners for a Nasams-type air defense system. He also thanked Germany and France for their anti-aircraft support. It is important that such packages continue to be delivered, he wrote and accused Russia of escalation.
He accused Russia of terrorism and that lives, people and civilian infrastructure were being attacked day and night. Russia attacked, among other things, data and business centers and residential buildings in Kyiv. An educational institution and a student dormitory were attacked in the Odessa region. Two foreign ships were hit. Nine regions were the target of Russian attacks that night. The result is damage to energy objects, civil companies and residential buildings.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow wrote on Telegram in the morning about attacks on the capital Kiev and its surrounding areas and the Odessa region. Two weapons storage facilities and two data centers were hit in Kiev and the region. In the Odessa region, two ships, a substation and port objects were hit, among other things. The information cannot be independently verified.
Jeanne Vesper
Wadephul wants Putin to show his willingness to negotiate
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is demanding signs of willingness to negotiate from Russian President Vladimir Putin after his invitation to the G20 summit in the USA. Putin must “prove whether there is a willingness for peace, a willingness to negotiate on the Russian side,” said the CDU politician at a meeting with his Slovak colleague Juraj Blanar in the capital Bratislava. “Of course, the best way to underline this is to take steps in this direction from the outset.”
The invitation to Putin to the G20 summit is a litmus test for Russia, emphasized Wadephul. Moscow can best underline its willingness to negotiate “by taking steps in this direction from the outset” – for example through a ceasefire for the Black Sea, “which made urgently needed grain exports possible.”
This is a big question for grain producers Ukraine and Russia, but an even bigger question for many countries in the global south, Wadephul warned. “There is a threat of famine there, there is a threat of further humanitarian catastrophes and there is a threat of further destabilization of states.” This could lead to refugee movements, displacement and new military conflicts. He therefore urgently appeals to Russia to show understanding here.
Jeanne Vesper
Tusk warns of constant attacks on the border with Poland
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk now considers Russian attacks in the Ukrainian border region with his country to be a permanent situation. Polish Air Force fighter jets would take off every night because Russia's attacks in this region had taken on a "permanent character," Tusk told a cabinet meeting in Warsaw. His country faces difficult weeks and months ahead.
According to Polish government information, on Monday there was another drone attack on Ukrainian territory not far from the Dorohusk-Jahodyn border crossing. According to Ukrainian information, during the attack the drone damaged a border control building with its pressure wave.
In the past two weeks, Russian drones have repeatedly attacked targets in Ukraine near the same border crossing.
