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September 2026 Roundup: The Russia–Ukraine War

Kyiv’s three-day pause, the U.S. envoys’ visit, strikes near Poland and Ukraine’s deep drone raids: our dated September timeline, with analysis.

ByPeter Peters
Night view from the International Space Station of city lights across Ukraine and Russia under an aurora
Ukraine and Russia at night, seen from the International Space Station (ISS-58). NASA photo (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.

KYIV — September 2026 opened with Russia’s longest run of drone attacks on Kyiv in months and the first visit to the Ukrainian capital by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. A three-day pause in strikes on Kyiv came and went, Russian attacks moved toward rail lines and the Polish border, and Ukraine kept up long-range drone strikes deep inside Russia. This roundup brings our September briefs together in one dated timeline, with official statements first, and closes with our analysis.

September timeline

Sept. 2–3: A shootout between Ukraine’s own intelligence services

Ukraine’s domestic security service (SBU) and military intelligence (HUR) exchanged fire in Kyiv in a confrontation that appeared to be connected to the detention of Stepan Kaplunov, deputy commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps, RFE/RL reported. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the gunfight “disgraceful” and on Sept. 3 fired the deputy heads of both agencies. The SBU said it had worked to stop an FSB plot against a Russian opposition figure in Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reported. Original reports: Zelensky Orders Probe After SBU and HUR Shootout in Kyiv; Russian Volunteer Corps Deputy and the Alleged FSB Plot in Kyiv.

Sept. 3–4: Drones over Moscow, Sochi and Bashkortostan; Kyiv’s eighth day under attack

Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said a Ukrainian drone set fire to an apartment building in Kubinka, west of Moscow, and Russian officials reported an attack on Sochi’s seaport, Meduza reported. Ukrainian drones also reportedly struck defense plants in Sterlitamak, more than 1,300 kilometers from Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reported. In Ukraine, Russia attacked the Kyiv region with jet-powered drones for an eighth straight day, injuring eight people there, while one person was killed in Dnipro, UNN reported. Original reports: Ukrainian Drones Hit Moscow-Region Apartments and Sochi Port; Ukrainian Drones Reportedly Hit Bashkortostan Defense Plant; Russia’s Jet-Powered Drone Blitz Leaves Six Dead in Kyiv Assault.

Sept. 4–6: U.S. envoys head to Moscow and Kyiv, and Putin pauses strikes on the capital

Witkoff and Kushner planned to visit Moscow and then Kyiv, their first trip to Ukraine, CNN reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had ordered no strikes on Kyiv for three days, the AP reported, and Zelenskyy said Ukraine would hold off on strikes on Moscow until Monday. The pause did not cover the rest of the country. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 108 drones overnight into Sept. 6, of which 82 were intercepted, the Kyiv Independent reported. Original reports: Witkoff and Kushner’s First Kyiv Trip Falters Under Russian Strikes; Putin Pauses Strikes on Kyiv, But the Front Line Gets No Ceasefire; Capitals Pause, but Russian and Ukrainian Drones Keep Killing.

Sept. 7: Ukrainian drones kill six in Russia and Crimea

At least six people were killed in Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s Belgorod and Perm regions and on annexed Crimea, Russian officials said, The Moscow Times reported. In Perm, about 1,300 kilometers from Ukraine, a drone hit an apartment building. TASS carried the Russian regional officials’ casualty reports. Original report: Ukrainian Drones Kill Six Across Russia and Crimea as Talks Stall.

Sept. 8: The pause ends, and Zelenskyy praises the envoys’ ideas

A Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight on Sept. 8 killed at least five people and injured 35, ending the brief pause, the Kyiv Independent reported. The same day, Zelenskyy said Witkoff and Kushner had brought ideas that were “very good, worthy,” Anadolu reported. Our analysis that week looked at why allies were preparing for a harder winter war rather than a quick settlement. Original reports: Russian Missiles Hit Kyiv as Capital Pause Ends After U.S. Envoy Visit; Zelenskyy Says U.S. Envoys Offered “Very Good” Peace Ideas; Allies Brace for Harder Winter War Into 2027 as Kyiv Talks Stall.

Sept. 8–9: 196 drones in one night

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched missiles and 196 drones overnight and that air defenses shot down 165 of the drones, UNN reported. A 24-story building in Kyiv was among the sites hit, RBC-Ukraine reported. Original report: Russia Unleashes Mass Strike on Ukraine; Kyiv High-Rise Hit.

Sept. 10: Seven killed in Pavlohrad

Dnipropetrovsk regional Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said Russian drones, artillery and aerial bombs hit five districts of Pavlohrad, a rail and logistics hub, killing seven people and injuring 76, Reuters reported via the Cyprus Mail. Russian strikes the same day also hit a petrol station in Kyiv and an agribusiness facility in Dnipro. Original report: Russian Strikes Kill Seven in Pavlohrad, Hitting a Shopping Center.

Sept. 10–11: NATO allies disrupt a Russian undersea-cable exercise

NATO allies disrupted a covert Russian naval exercise near Norway’s Svalbard archipelago that involved technology designed to disable undersea cables, Reuters reported, citing Western officials, according to the Kyiv Independent. The exercise was run by Russia’s Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research (GUGI). Original report: NATO Allies Foil Russian GUGI Undersea Cable Drill Near Svalbard.

Sept. 13: A drone hits a train engine near the Polish border

A Russian drone hit a train engine near the Poland–Ukraine border, and Ukrainian Railways said trains carrying former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and former CIA Director David Petraeus may have been the target, The Guardian reported. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it “Putin’s terror knocking directly on the doors of the EU and Nato.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk chaired an emergency meeting and warned that intensifying Russian attacks could affect Poland. Original report: Russian Drone Hits Kyiv–Warsaw Train Near Polish Border.

Sept. 25: Novoshakhtinsk refinery halts operations

Rostov Governor Yuri Slyusar said the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery halted operations after a Ukrainian drone attack damaged it, with no one injured, Meduza reported. He said Russian air defenses shot down about 50 drones over the region overnight. The refinery is the only one in the Rostov region. Original report: Ukrainian Drones Force Novoshakhtinsk Refinery Shutdown.

Analysis: diplomacy in Kyiv, escalation everywhere else

This section is Peter’s World analysis, based on the official statements and reports cited above.

September showed how narrow the space for diplomacy in this war has become. The Witkoff–Kushner visit produced the month’s only pause, and it covered just one city for three days. Moscow protected the capital while the envoys were there but kept striking the rest of Ukraine, and resumed attacks on Kyiv within hours of the pause ending. The message was that Russia will make gestures toward U.S. mediation without giving up military pressure.

The targets also changed. Pavlohrad’s rail hub, a Kyiv petrol station, a Dnipro agribusiness site and a passenger rail line near the Polish border point to a campaign aimed at logistics and the economy, not only at front-line forces. The train strike near the border, and Tusk’s emergency meeting, show how easily that campaign brings NATO territory into the picture. The Svalbard disclosure adds a second front for the alliance: protecting undersea cables that carry data and power across northern Europe.

Ukraine’s own long-range campaign kept pace. Strikes on Kubinka, Sterlitamak, Perm and Novoshakhtinsk show reach of more than 1,000 kilometers and a clear focus on defense industry and fuel. Russian officials’ casualty reports from those attacks are a reminder that this is now a two-way air war. The question for October is whether either side’s strikes on energy and rail change the other’s ability to fight through the winter, and whether the talks the envoys started go anywhere before then.

All 17 original reports in this roundup

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