Russia’s drones threaten Kyiv-bound Western officials as war effort stalls

Russia strikes Ukraine’s border crossings with Poland and Moldova as its offensives peter out in the east.A woman and a boy walk near a fence with traces of shrapnel, the site of a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, September 8, 2026 [Reuters]Published On 18 Sep 2026Russia has threatened the safety of Ukrainian, American and European officials travelling to and from Kyiv using drones.These attacks have come as Russia’s ground war stumbles.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Efforts under way for Zelenskyy-Trump meeting at UN next weeklist 2 of 4At least 19 injured in Russian attacks across Ukrainelist 3 of 4Ukraine fires drone barrage as Russia launches electionslist 4 of 4The view from Russia: ‘No party can be antiwar’ in parliamentary electionend of listDetails emerged this week of its latest setback when an attempt to seize the city of Lyman resulted in the loss of 85 square kilometres (33 square miles) of territory Russia had previously occupied in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.A resident salvages food from her destroyed home after a Russian air strike in the front line city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine, September 16, 2026. [Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters]On September 13, Russian drones struck a Ukrainian train locomotive 5km (3 miles) from the border with Poland, endangering European officials travelling to Warsaw after they attended the Yalta European Strategy conference, an annual gathering of global political, business and civil society leaders in Kyiv.Boris Johnson, Britain’s former premier, and European political and security officials were on the train.Ukraine’s railway company, Ukraliznytsia, said the locomotive of the passenger train had been struck.A Russian drone also struck a petrol station 2km (1.2 miles) from the Polish border, destroying or damaging a number of trucks.Polish premier Donald Tusk said he expects a period of “very intensified actions by Russia”, possibly including an “escalation will also affect our territory”.“This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on social media.In another incident on September 8, a Russian drone entered Moldovan airspace as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane prepared to depart Chisinau, delaying the flight. Norway’s prime minister said it nearly struck the aircraft, though Moldova has not confirmed the claim.On September 6, US diplomatic envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff flew to Poland before taking a train to Kyiv after Russian strikes disrupted flights to the Ukrainian capital.The Ukrainian flag flies on a roof as smoke rises in the capital, Kyiv, after a Russian drone strike, September 8, 2026 [Gleb Garanich/Reuters]Russian drones and missiles have also struck four Ukrainian border crossings to Moldova in recent weeks.Kremlin Ambassador-at-large Rodion Miroshnik said the strikes were justified as part of Russia’s effort to stop Western military aid from reaching Kyiv.Ukraine has turned its ports, border crossings and logistics centres into “military targets”, he wrote on social media, boasting that Kyiv was “reaping the inevitable consequences”.Five people were killed on Wednesday when a drone struck their intercity minibus near Nikopol in the northern Kharkiv region in what Zelenskyy called “another act of brutality”.Three more were killed on Saturday.“Just this week, Russia has launched approximately 2,100 drones at Ukraine,” along with 78 missiles, Zelenskyy said on Sunday.A woman looks at her apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine September 9, 2026 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]Hope for more aid came on Thursday, when both houses of the US Congress passed a bill sponsored by Senators Darline Graham and Richard Blumenthal imposing secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian oil and gas.If implemented, the bill could deprive Russia of export revenues it needs to replenish its budget, one-third of which goes to defence.Russia has ‘no grand illusions’ on peaceUkraine has struck 26 Russian refineries this year. In the past week it struck eight, aiming for their desalination and vacuum distillation units that take months to repair.Numerous reports estimate that Ukraine has deprived Russia of at least 30 percent of its actual refining capacity.Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina recently said inflation over the summer was “primarily driven by the situation in the fuel market”.“We continue to assess inflationary risks as predominant and believe they have increased,” she said.Ukraine has proposed a ceasefire on strikes to energy infrastructure since 2025, but Russia has signalled that it is ready for talks only on its terms. These include surrendering the remaining one-fifth of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region it does not control and a broad demilitarised buffer zone beyond that.“We have no grand illusions here,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.Kushner told the Yalta European Strategy conference this week that an agreement between the US and Russia was largely prepared, claiming Ukraine’s refusal to surrender the remainder of Donetsk was the main obstacle.Over the past week, Ukrainian drones also set fire to the Tolyattikauchuk synthetic rubber factory in Samara near the border with Kazakhstan. The rubber is used in the production of solid rocket fuel for tactical and ballistic missiles.Ukraine also struck the Atlant Aero factory in Taganrog, which builds Molnya reconnaissance and attack drones and makes parts for Orion drones. On September 17, Ukraine struck an Antonov-12 and two Antonov-26 military transport aircraft on the tarmac at Rostov air base near the southern Ukrainian border and also destroyed three helicopters.Russia has been repeatedly frustrated in its efforts to seize the “fortress belt” of cities in Donetsk – Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhivka. Putin’s December 31 deadline for achieving this is his 15th of the war.Russian forces have tried to outflank the fortress belt from the north by seizing the cities of Lyman and Svyatohirsk to its northeast, said brigadier-general Andriy Biletskyi, commander of the Third Army Corps defending the area.A separate offensive was from the south, he said.The southern flanking movement was defeated in August this year, taking back 745 sq km (290 sq miles) of territory around Dobropillya.Ukraine also pushed back in Lyman and retook 85 sq km (53 square miles) of territory, its Third Army Corps revealed this week.“The northern pincer has effectively been defeated and destroyed,” Biletskyi said.“Over the space of several months, Ukraine has executed two quiet yet successful counteroffensive operations in different parts of the country,” noted military strategist Mick Ryan, a former Australian army general. “Ukrainians have been investing in the hard intellectual work of finding new methods of conducting successful offensive action at the tactical and operational levels.”Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham, right, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visit HM Naval Base in Portsmouth, England, Monday July 27, 2026 [Simon Jones/Pool photo via AP]Ukraine’s military said Russian losses in 2026 crossed the 300,000 threshold over the past week, with 20,360 casualties for the first half of September, putting Russia on track for over 40,000 casualties for the month – higher than its reported recruitment rate.Al Jazeera cannot independently verify casualty claims by either side.Ukraine’s chief of military intelligence said Russian generals have asked Putin for 800,000 troops above normal recruitment levels.