Ukraine War News Highlights, 16 September 2025: Russia claims another village in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region

Ukraine has struck one of Russia’s largest oil refining complexes, located approximately 1,400 kilometers from the front line in the republic of Bashkortostan, according to a report in The Moscow Times. The long-range drone attack is part of a sustained Ukrainian campaign targeting Russian energy infrastructure deep within its territory. The significant distance of the strike demonstrates Ukraine's advanced long-range capabilities and the vulnerability of strategic Russian assets far from the conflict's main front lines.

Two women were killed in Russia's Belgorod region following a Ukrainian drone attack, as per a report in The Moscow Times. Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that its forces intercepted and destroyed six drones over the border region between Sunday night and Monday morning.

The Russian defense ministry announced that its troops have taken control of the village of Novomykolaivka in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, as per a report in The Moscow Times. The ministry's claim specifies that the captured village is located near the administrative border with the Donetsk region.

Thousands of people rallied across 16 cities in Slovakia, including the capital Bratislava, to protest the economic and pro-Russian policies of the prime minister's government, AP said in a report. The nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday were reportedly fueled by a recent package of austerity measures and the prime minister's trip to China, where he met with the Russian president for the third time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Romanian authorities have indicted Calin Georgescu, a former presidential candidate known for his pro-Russian stance, on charges of instigating violence, according to a report in Al Jazeera. The indictment follows the cancellation of a presidential election, which was reportedly halted over allegations of Russian interference. The charges against Georgescu are linked to events that occurred after the election was nullified, and this legal action is viewed within the context of Romania's position as a key NATO frontline state staunchly opposing Russian influence since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Trump administration has reportedly approved its first U.S. weapons package for Ukraine, utilizing a new financial mechanism where NATO allies pay for lethal aid drawn from U.S. military stockpiles, according to a report in The Hill. The arrangement, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), allows for the shipment of weapons to Ukraine funded by other countries.

A court in Russia has sentenced members of the protest collective Pussy Riot to prison terms ranging from eight to 13 years in absentia, according to a report in The Guardian. The sentences were reportedly handed down over a music video and a performance in Berlin that were critical of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The collective has rejected the charges, describing them as politically motivated.

Chrystia Freeland has resigned from her position in Prime Minister Mark Carney's cabinet to take on the newly created role of Canada’s special representative for the reconstruction of Ukraine, according to a report in AP. In a letter announcing her departure, Freeland also stated that she will not be a candidate in the next federal election. The new special envoy position is a role outside of the main cabinet.

The Netherlands will boost its defense budget to €27 billion ($32 billion) next year, a move made in response to the altered security landscape in Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to a report in Bloomberg. This increase is part of the country's broader strategy to meet a stated goal of dedicating 5% of its gross domestic product to security-related spending by 2035.

Ukraine claimed it attacked the Saratov crude oil refinery in Russia’s Volga region overnight, as per a report in Bloomberg. The facility is located hundreds of kilometers from the Ukrainian border, highlighting Ukraine's growing long-range drone capabilities. This incident is part of a broader, ongoing Ukrainian strategy to target critical Russian energy and industrial infrastructure with the aim of disrupting the country's war effort, logistics, and fuel supplies.

Chechnya Governor Ramzan Kadyrov has called Russian pop singer Alla Pugacheva an 'enemy of the people', according to a report in Meduza. The accusation was made in response to comments Pugacheva made in her first extensive interview since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in which she allegedly praised a Chechen separatist leader. The term 'enemy of the people' is a historically charged phrase in Russia, associated with the Stalinist purges of the Soviet era. Pugacheva has previously expressed anti-war sentiments and left Russia after the invasion began.

Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) and Special Operations Forces (SOF) were behind two separate railway explosions in Russia's Oryol and Leningrad regions over the weekend, according to a report in Meduza. The claims of responsibility were disseminated through Ukrainian media outlets, which cited sources within the country's intelligence services. These acts are consistent with Ukraine's strategy of disrupting Russian military logistics deep inside Russian territory.

A global outage of the Starlink satellite communications system occurred on Monday morning, affecting users around the world, including Ukrainian forces on the front line, as per a report in Meduza. The widespread disruption was confirmed by data from the monitoring service Downdetector, which aggregated user reports of the outage.

The stepdaughter of Sergey Chemezov, the head of Russian defense conglomerate Rostec, has had her request to be removed from the EU sanctions list denied, according to a report in Meduza. The woman, who has been on the sanctions list since 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, appealed for her removal. However, EU officials rejected the request, citing her 2017 appearance in the prestigious Pirelli calendar as evidence that she has benefited from her stepfather's wealth and influence, which are connected to Russia's defense industry.

Conflicting reports have emerged following a series of explosions near the village of Shchitovaya, close to Vladivostok in Russia's Far East, as per a report in Meduza. Ukrainian officials claimed responsibility for the incident, describing it as a successful attack on Russian troops approximately 4,000 miles from the Ukrainian border. Conversely, Russian authorities and local media have stated that the explosions were the result of a gas malfunction, providing a non-military explanation for the event.

A Ukrainian OSINT project, DeepState, reported that Russian troops used a gas pipeline to cross the Oskil River and advance on Kupyansk, with the claim and an accompanying video spreading across pro-war Russian Telegram channels, according to a report in Meduza. However, Ukraine’s military command has denied the account. The military stated that the pipeline does not lead directly into the city and that all of its exits remain under Ukrainian control.

A Russian drone attack on an administrative building in central Kharkiv, Ukraine, has resulted in four injuries, as per a report in Al Jazeera. The strike occurred on a busy street, and footage reportedly captured the moment of impact.

An Italian appeals court in Bologna has approved the extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian citizen, Serhii Kuznietsov, who is a suspect in the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines, according to a report in AP. The pipelines, which run between Russia and Germany, were sabotaged in September 2022. Kuznietsov's lawyer, Nicola Canestrini, stated that his client opposes the extradition and they intend to appeal the decision to Italy’s highest court, the Cassation Court.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a key Republican proponent of aid to Ukraine, will not seek re-election, according to a report in RT. The Texas congressman has been a consistent advocate for providing continued military and financial support to Kyiv amid the ongoing war with Russia. McCaul's decision to retire removes an influential pro-Ukraine voice from a senior position within the Republican party, which has seen growing internal divisions over the level of US foreign assistance.

An overnight Russian rocket attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia wounded 13 people, including two children, AP says in a report. In the wake of the strike, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on European leaders to build an ambitious air defense umbrella to make the continent safe. The attack is the latest in ongoing Russian strikes on civilian areas in Ukraine.

Top NATO military leaders fear Russia is on a "collision course with the rules-based international system" and believe much of Moscow's military might remains intact despite its ongoing war with Ukraine, according to a report in the Washington Times. From the alliance's Norfolk base, leaders have voiced concerns about the potential for Russian attacks against North America, assessing that Russia's military power has not been sufficiently degraded by the conflict to eliminate broader threats to the transatlantic alliance.

A Ukrainian civilian named Dmytro, who was imprisoned by Russia shortly after its full-scale invasion in 2022, was freed last month after being held for three years, BBC said in a report. During his imprisonment, Dmytro was held in detention and allegedly beaten but was never formally charged with a crime.

Ukraine's military claims to have destroyed a Russian Buk-M3 anti-aircraft system, while Moscow has accused Kyiv of provocation over an alleged drone intrusion into Romania, according to a report in Deutsche Welle. Kyiv's defense intelligence announced that its operatives attacked the advanced air defense system, valued at an estimated $40 million. Concurrently, Russia is characterizing an alleged drone incident in the airspace of neighboring Romania as a deliberate provocation by Ukraine.

Russia has claimed, without providing evidence, that a drone incursion into NATO member Romania on Saturday was a "provocation" by Kyiv, according to a report in The Guardian. Separately, EU trade spokesperson Olof Gill defended the bloc's sanctions against Russia, stating that economic evidence shows they are having their intended impact on the Russian economy. Gill also reiterated the EU's active efforts and "clear roadmap" to phase out its reliance on Russian fossil fuels, including legislative proposals to eliminate remaining gas imports.

Poland's top diplomat will press his Chinese counterpart to have Beijing lean on Russia to cease a "hybrid operation" on the European Union's eastern border, according to a report in Bloomberg. Warsaw is making the appeal by highlighting that the border crisis, which it attributes to Russian-backed Belarusian actions of weaponizing migrant flows, has led to the shutdown of a key rail trade route to Europe that is crucial for China's economic interests. This diplomatic effort seeks to leverage China's trade concerns to influence Russia's activities in the region.

The UK's Foreign Office summoned Russian Ambassador Andrei Kelin on Monday, calling recent Russian drone incursions into NATO airspace "utterly unacceptable," according to a report in AP. The ministry's statement cited a "significant and unprecedented violation" of Polish and NATO airspace by Russian drones last week. This was followed by a further incursion into Romanian airspace on Saturday, prompting the formal diplomatic protest from Britain's government.

Russia and Belarus have launched joint military manoeuvres known as the Zapad 2025 (West 2025) drills, according to a report in BBC. The exercises are being reported on from the ground where the manoeuvres are taking place.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the country’s State Protection Service neutralized a drone flying over government buildings and the Belweder Palace in Warsaw, The Hill said in a report. Tusk stated that two Belarusian citizens were involved in the incident. This development comes less than a week after the Prime Minister reported that Poland had downed multiple Russian drones that had violated its airspace.