Ukraine war briefing: Poland minister shows Shahed drone and warns of ‘deep’ Russian threat
Radosław Sikorski, speaking in London, urges drone wall and three-year plan to back Ukraine; Odesa mayor’s ‘citizenship suspended’. What we know on day 1,330
Russian could strike “deep into Europe”, Poland’s foreign minister warned in London as he unveiled a Russian-flown Iranian Shahed-136 drone downed in Ukraine. Radosław Sikorski said it would be “irresponsible” not to build defences such as a “drone wall” on Europe’s eastern flank and said he hoped the US would supply long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine for strikes into Russia. Sikorski urged Europe to also plan to support Ukraine for three more years. “The Ukrainians are planning this war for three years, which is prudent,” he said. “And we need to convince Putin that we are ready to stay the course for at least those three years.” The drone was brought to London by the lobby group United Against Nuclear Iran.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suspended the Ukrainian citizenship of Odesa’s mayor, Gennadiy Trukhanov, over allegations he possessed a Russian passport, according to Ukraine’s SBU security service. The SBU accused the mayor of having Russian citizenship and “possessing a valid international passport from the aggressor country”. Trukhanov, a former MP and Odesa’s mayor since 2014, has consistently denied the accusations. Revoking his citizenship would effectively oust him from his post. “I have never received a Russian passport. I am a Ukrainian citizen,” Trukhanov said in a video message posted on Telegram, adding he would “continue to perform the duties of elected mayor” as long as possible and take the case to court.
Once considered a politician with pro-Russian leanings, Trukhanov pivoted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, publicly condemning Moscow while focusing on defending Odesa and aiding the Ukrainian army. Odesa has been heavily targeted by Russia. A Ukrainian government source told Agence France-Presse that the ballet dancer Sergei Polunin had also been stripped of citizenship. Polunin has been a vocal supporter of the Russian president. The government source told AFP that the citizenship of pro-Kremlin politician Oleg Tsaryov, who survived an assassination attempt in Crimea in 2023, had also been revoked. Tsaryov is under international sanctions and wanted by Ukrainian police.
European military aid to Ukraine declined sharply this summer despite an initiative in which European countries bought US weapons, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy said on Tuesday. Europe sent or earmarked a total of €3.3bn (US$3.8bn) in military aid to Ukraine in July and August, averaging €1.65bn per month. It was a 57% drop compared with January to June this year, when European countries allocated on average €3.85bn per month. Military aid from all countries declined by 43% over the same period, even as Canada announced a large aid package at the end of August.
Russia will be able to deploy around two million volunteer military reservists to fight in Ukraine if needed under a law likely to be amended by parliament. The amendments would allow reservists to be called up during peacetime, rather than only during martial law or when war has been declared. Russia calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” rather than a war. Russia’s RBC news outlet and state media said the current draft amendments stipulated that the reservists could not be deployed for more than two months at a time.
Power cuts fell on eight regions of Ukraine after damage to energy infrastructure after Russian strikes. “Due to the difficult situation in the energy system caused by previous Russian attacks – in Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, as well as partially in Kirovograd, Kyiv and Cherkasy regions – emergency shutdowns have been implemented,” said Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s energy generator, on Tuesday. The main private network operator, DTEK, later announced the planned power outages in Kyiv had been cancelled – however a network overload and the residual effects of previous Russian attacks triggered blackouts in the capital and affected water pressure, officials said.
Russian forces struck a UN aid convoy in the partially occupied southern Kherson region of Ukraine on Tuesday, Kyiv and the UN said, adding there were no casualties. The UN said its clearly marked convoy of four vehicles came under attack from Russian drones and artillery while delivering aid to the frontline town of Bilozerka. Regional authorities said on Tuesday that three people had been killed by Russian artillery in the Kherson city. One more civilian was killed by a small drone attack on a car in the nearby town of Nikopol.
A Russian official said a local ceasefire would be needed as he announced work would begin at the end of this week to restore external power to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. The illegally occupied plant has been using emergency diesel generators for three weeks to run cooling pumps that keep its radioactive fuel from melting down. Ukraine has accused Moscow of deliberately severing the external power line to the station to link it to Russia’s power grid. A Russian diplomat this month denied that Russia intended to restart the plant.
Donald Trump again criticised Vladimir Putin during comments to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, saying the Russian leader was simply unwilling to end his war in Ukraine. “Look, I’m very disappointed because Vladimir and I had a very good relationship, probably still do,” Trump said. “He’s gotta really settle this war. And you know they have long lines waiting for gasoline in Russia right now … And all of a sudden his economy is going to collapse.”
Boeing said it had secured about $2.7bn in contracts to supply more than 3,000 seeker units for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptor missiles, which are being built by Lockheed Martin under a $9.8bn contract. Patriot is one of the advanced air defence systems supplied by western allies to Ukraine to defend against Russian missiles.