This timeline of the Russo-Ukrainian war covers the period from 1 September 2026 to the present day.
September 2026
1 September
Ukrainian drones attacked and damaged port infrastructure at Ust-Luga. The regional governor confirmed a fire at the port while claiming 38 drones had been shot down.
Overnight Russian strikes killed 12 people, including six Ukrainian Railways employees, and injured 21 others in Kyiv and the surrounding area.
President Zelenskyy warned "airlines, insurers, and foreign governments" to avoid Russian airspace as it "will be de facto closed" by Ukrainian drones. President Putin called such actions "state terrorism".
2 September The Proton-PM facility near Perm caught fire.
A shootout broke out between units of the SBU and HUR in Kyiv. Three HUR officers were wounded during the firefight, two seriously, between both services involving the deputy head of the Russian Volunteer Corps, Stepan Kaplunov. The HUR accused the SBU of kidnapping Kaplunov, while the SBU accused Kaplunov of working with the FSB. President Zelenskyy subsequently fired SBU official Oleh Khramov, head of the SBU's department for the protection of state secrets.
Some 27 flights to and from Moscow were cancelled by various international airlines due to Ukrainian threats to Russian airspace over the capital.
3 September
The commander of the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, was shot near the village of Probuzhdenie, near Engels-2 air base. Varpakhovich was shot twice, once in the face and once in the torso. A Moldovan national accused of carrying out the attack was subsequently arrested by the FSB in Astrakhan Oblast.
Ukrainian naval drones attacked Sochi, with explosions and smoke being reported over the port. Nine oil depots were destroyed, while the Russian vessel Nefrit was struck. A Ka-52 and an Mi-28 were destroyed while an Mi-8 was damaged at Sochi International Airport, also damaged were two radars and an S-300 missile system. The PETRUS plant in Noginsk was set on fire by Ukrainian drones.
4 September
A Russian drone hit the headquarters of the SBU in Kyiv, injuring 12 people. Zelenskyy said that the attack was aimed at assassinating SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad. Attacks were also carried out on two vessels in Odesa Oblast.
In Sterlitamak, the Sterlitamak Petrochemical Plant and the Avangard Federal State Enterprise were struck by Ukrainian drones. At least 12 FP-1 drones were used in the attack. Both facilities produce explosives, synthetic rubber and aviation fuel, among other military products.
The HUR struck a K-300P Bastion-P missile system in Crimea that was capable of firing Zircon and Onyx missiles.
5 September
President Zelenskyy ordered a halt to attacks on Moscow from 5 to 8 September to allow U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to visit Kyiv and then Moscow for peace talks. Russian attacks killed four people and injured five others in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
President Putin ordered a halt to attacks on Kyiv, for three days starting from midnight on 6 September to allow US peace envoys to visit Kyiv and Moscow for talks.
An explosion in Simferopol killed Anatoly Chernyshov, a pro-Russian fundraiser. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage by President Putin.
6 September
The Lady Maria, a Russian-flagged sanctioned tanker, was struck 12 times near Sicily by Ukrainian drones launched from Libya. The vessel was travelling from Oran to Syria with suspected Iranian weapons on board.
The Ryazan oil refinery was set ablaze by Ukrainian drones, while explosions and firing from air defences were reported in Bataysk.
7 September
Ukrainian drones struck oil refineries in Ryazan and Perm Oblasts and Tatarstan, with smoke and/or fires being at all three locations. Ukrainian drones struck the Taganrog-Central air base, striking an Mi-35 and an Mi-8.
Two Russian Su-35Ss collided over Kursk Oblast. One pilot was killed, the second survived.
8 September
Two people were killed in Russian airstrikes on Kyiv.
Ukrainian drones attacked Saratov Oil Refinery, residents reported explosions and a fire.
The EU approved the use of a loan for Ukraine to purchase 1,000 Patriot missiles.
The ISW reported that a Ukrainian brigade commander operating in the Orikhiv direction claimed that the Russians had formed 120 assault groups, totaling "roughly" 150,000 personnel, to support offensive operations against the city.
9 September
The Romanian Intelligence Service detained a Russian national suspected of trying to sabotage a Ukrainian aircraft in Romania.
Ukrainian drones struck the naval base at Novorossiysk, with fires being reported at the seaport's fuel oil terminal and naval base. Four people were killed in the attack. The Russian frigate Admiral Essen was struck by a Neptune missile, starting a fire on the ship’s superstructure. An Su-33 and an Mi-8 were also destroyed by Ukrainian drones. Drones also attacked the Purovsky Gas Condensate Processing Plant, from the Ukrainian border, a record for FP-1 drones. Fires were reported at facility along with smoke, to avoid an explosion the plant released excess gas through the flare stacks.
A Ukrainian naval drone struck Sochi, setting fire to the port embankment and injuring eight people. A concert by Tatiana Bulanova was evacuated.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius said that Germany would transfer PAC2 missiles from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine.
Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced that President Zelenskyy’s aircraft was nearly struck by an UAV while taking off from Moldova the day before.
10 September
Five people were killed in a Russian airstrike on a mall in Pavlohrad. Two people were killed in an attack on an American oil extraction plant in Dnipro.
Ukrainian drones struck Makhachkala, with reports of fires raging near the city’s port with the Caspian Sea. One person was killed in a separate attack on Borisoglebsk, Voronezh Oblast.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated that Canada was supplying a $350 Million CAD aid package to Ukraine in order to bolster Ukrainian air defenses.
11 September
A Russian airstrike on Odesa Oblast destroyed the family apartment of tennis player Dayana Yastremska and left 37 injured and two missing across the region.
Ukrainian drones struck an Ozon warehouse and an oil refinery, both in Saratov. The Ozon facility ceased operations due to the resulting fire. Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo missiles struck the Volgogradpromproekt in Volgograd. The company has been sanctioned by the US since 2023, and manufactures ferrocene which is "used as a catalyst and combustion-rate modifier for composite solid rocket propellants." The strike destroyed a section of the plant’s main workshop.
12 September
Ukrainian drones attacked a strategic chemical plant in Tolyatti and an airfield and automobile plant in Taganrog. A tank at the automobile plant in Taganrog caught fire and fires were reported at the airfield.
A Ukrainian naval drone destroyed a Russian naval drone in the Black Sea, which the Ukrainian Navy described as the "This is the first-ever battle between unmanned naval boats".
A Ukrainian aerial drone struck the Russian tanker Armada Leader near Sochi. The vessel was escorted by a helicopter that engaged the drone with gunfire.
According to the ISW, HUR director Lieutenant General Oleh Ivashchenko claimed in an interview that Russian generals have asked President Putin to mobilize 800,000 additional troops after the 2026 Russian legislative election, "likely to sustain and enable Russian offensive operations in the face of enormous Russian casualty rates". He claimed that Russia's daily casualty rate exceeded their recruitment rate, with "about" 60 percent of casualties being killed in action, an "extraordinarily high ratio of killed to wounded when the standard ratio in modern war is 1:3". The ISW assessed that Russia does not currently possess the training and administrative capabilities to fully mobilize 800,000 new recruits, especially if they did so during their semi-annual October conscription cycle.
The Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Force killed Russian Major General Anton Grunis during a raid in Horlivka.
13 September
Ukrainian drones struck the TANECO refinery in Nizhnekamsk and the Slavyansky oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban.
An unknown object flew from Belarus through Lithuanian airspace before reaching Kaliningrad.
Russian drones attacked a fuel station in Yahodyn, Volyn Oblast, and a Warsaw-bound train at Yahodyn railway station.
14 September A German-Ukrainian woman identified as "Ilona W." was charged by German authorities with providing intelligence to the Russian Embassy in Berlin. According to the case's prosecutor, "Ilona W." had been in contact with the Russian embassy since October 2023 and tried to convince members of the German Ministry of Defense to defect to Russia.
HUR Chief, Lt. General Oleh Ivashchenko, claimed that Russia had recruited over 28,000 foreign mercenaries for the war in an attempt to "offset its battlefield losses". He also claimed that Russia could increase the number of North Korean troops in Kursk Oblast to 50,000, with 8,000 currently deployed there.
15 September
Russia struck port utilities in Odesa.
Ukrainian drones struck the Syzran Oil Refinery.
The Atlant Aero drone factory in Taganrog was struck by Neptune missiles, resulting in a roof collapse.
The 3rd Army Corps of Ukraine confirmed conducting counteroffensive operations called Operation Vivaldi to clear Russian forces from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, which includes countering the Russian salient northwest of Lyman in Donetsk oblast.
Elena Astanina, a Ukrainian woman who was head of a section of the Russian election commission, was killed in a drone strike in Zhovtneve. She is accused of orchestrating “sham” Russian referendums in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts.
16 September
Poland closed two airports at Lublin and Rzeszow for 40 minutes and scrambled fighter jets due to a Russian drone attack on Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces retook Serednie, Donetsk Oblast.
17 September
Poland said it would send up to 50 million euros worth of F-16 ammunition for Ukraine to shoot down Russian drones.
Ukrainian drones hit two S-400 launchers in Bryansk Oblast, an Su-24M at Saky airbase, the Yaroslavl oil refinery, and a military airfield in Rostov Oblast. Ukrainian drones attacked an airfield in Rostov, damaging a An-12, two An-26, and three more helicopters. Satellite imagery showed the “complete destruction” of two Mi-8 helicopters, another An-12 and a An-26.
Three medical workers and the head of the medical advisory commission for Ternopil Oblast were arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes, ranging from $6,000 to $12,000, to give some 1,000 Ukrainians medical deferment certificates for military services, between 2024 and 2026.
Ukraine repatriated the remains of some 252 deceased citizens from Russia.
18 September
Two people were killed in a Russian attack on Zhytomyr Oblast.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed that 350 Ukrainian drones were shot down, including 64 on a “terminal approach” to Moscow, while the others were shot down over Moscow Oblast. Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports cancelled flights for several hours.
Two Ukrainian companies completed “combat tests” of drones capable of intercepting Russian jet-powered Shahed drones.
Estonia's intelligence chief, Col. Ants Kiviselg, claimed that Russian losses over the past week were 11,000, averaging 1,600 personnel killed and wounded per day. He also claimed that this was the third consecutive week that Russian troop losses exceeded 10,000.
19 September
Three people were killed in a Russian drone attack on Kyiv Oblast.