Key developments on Sept. 23:
- Ukraine hits over 200 military targets in Russia using drones within a year, Umerov says
- Next few months will be 'decisive,' Zelensky says during speech in US, urges allies to act faster
- Ukrainian forces break through another section of Russian border, 95th Brigade claims
- Netherlands struggling to complete Patriot system pledged to Ukraine, defense minister says
Ukraine has destroyed or damaged over 200 military facilities in Russia over the past year using "drone swarm" technology, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov wrote in an opinion piece for Forbes Ukraine published on Sept. 23.
"Today, Ukrainian drones fly over 1,000 kilometers (623 miles), reaching Murmansk and the Volga region, destroying Russian oil refineries and airfields," Umerov wrote.
Among the targets of Ukrainian forces were control centers, airfields, ships, air defense systems, and Russian military bases, the minister added.
According to the minister, Ukraine has increased its long-range military capabilities "several times" this year. Particularly, in 2024, the Defense Ministry contracted drones worth over Hr 21 billion ($507.6 million) in total and ammunition for drones worth Hr 9 billion ($217.5 million).
Recent Ukrainian drone attacks have forced Russia to relocate its aircraft to airfields 250 kilometers (156 miles) from the Ukrainian-Russian border, Umerov said.
The Ukrainian military has proven to be a pioneer in drone technology, using innovative ways to undermine Russia's ammunition and personnel advantage.
Aerial drones have been used to ram into Russian helicopters or drop molten metal on ground positions, while naval drones were a key component in upending Russia's dominance in the Black Sea.
In recent months, Ukraine has increased the number of large-scale attacks on Russian territory. Ukraine has used over 100 drones in a number of its recent strikes against Russia.
On Sept. 18, Ukrainian drones attacked one of the largest arsenals in Russia, causing a powerful detonation in the town of Toropets in Russia's Tver Oblast, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine's attack on the arms depot in Russia's Tver Oblast destroyed two to three months' worth of munitions, according to the Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center.
Next few months will be 'decisive,' Zelensky says during speech in US, urges allies to act faster
The next few months will be "decisive" in Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sept. 23, as he begins his nearly week-long trip to the U.S.
Speaking at the American Academy of Achievement award ceremony in Washington D.C., Zelensky urged Ukraine's allies to act faster and "define what the outcome (of the war) will be."
"We don't have much time," he said, adding: "The next few months will be decisive. Ahead of us in this war — Russia's war against Ukraine, and all of you because this is Russia's war against freedom itself — we are short of time to define what the outcome will be.
"And we must define it. Not Russia, not their bloody allies. We need to be faster. We need not to lose the next few months in war, so that we don't lose the next decades."
Zelensky's remarks came as he began his trip to the U.S. where he will present his "victory plan" to U.S. President Joe Biden, as well as to presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris and members of Congress.
He will also attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York and meet other world leaders.
Carl Bildt
Zelensky will present his "victory plan" as Ukraine holds territories in Russia's Kursk Oblast, though Moscow keeps on pushing on multiple fronts in the country's east.
Ukraine said it is open to suggestions from Washington to strengthen the plan. U.S. officials said they had been acquainted with elements of Zelensky's strategy and voiced belief "that (it) can work."
Zelensky said the plan was designed to end the war with the backing of international partners without relying on Russia's cooperation. However, he did not specify how it would achieve this.
"This must be our shared achievement — victory for freedom, with no compromises at freedom's expense," the president said.
At the American Academy of Achievement award ceremony, Zelensky received the Golden Plate Award in recognition of contributions to human development.
Asami Terajima
Ukrainian forces break through another section of Russian border, 95th Brigade claims
Ukraine's 95th Separate Polissia Air Assault Brigade said on Sept. 23 it had broken through another section of the Russian border.
The brigade published a video purporting to show the breakthrough of engineering barriers, the crossing of airborne assault units into Russia, and the first battles near the border.
The exact location and time of the attack were not disclosed, but the brigade said it was "the second successful operation to break through the Russian border since the beginning of the operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast."
Ukraine launched its cross-border incursion into Kursk Oblast on Aug. 6, seizing around 100 settlements and over 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles).
Over past weeks, Russia launched a counterattack in Kursk Oblast, which was halted on Sept. 18, according to the Ukrainian military.
One of the objectives of Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast was to force Russia to redeploy its forces from the front in Ukraine, primarily from the Pokrovsk sector. Moscow has moved about 40,000 Russian soldiers to Kursk Oblast as of Sept. 19, Zelensky said.
Dinara Khalilova
Netherlands struggling to complete Patriot system pledged to Ukraine, defense minister says
The Netherlands is still looking for partner countries to provide components for a Patriot air defense system pledged to Ukraine, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said in an interview with the Delfi media outlet published on Sept. 23.
In June, the Netherlands announced that it would provide radar and launch components, and that it had found another unnamed country to provide the additional necessary parts to make up a complete system.
But earlier this month it was reported the unnamed country had backed out of the agreement.
In the interview with Delfi, Brekelmans said the Netherlands was "trying to find other elements that are necessary to complete the system."
"And there are several countries that are also very eager to help Ukraine," he said, adding: "They are doing everything they can. But they have encountered some problems that make it impossible to assemble this system."
Brekelmans confirmed that the Netherlands provided Kyiv with a radar system and that three launchers would be delivered "very soon."
Kyiv has been calling on its partners to provide additional air defense assets as Russia intensifies its strikes against cities and energy infrastructure.
Ukraine has received at least three Patriot systems from Germany and one from the U.S. Other countries, like the Netherlands and Spain, delivered individual launchers or missiles.
The U.S. and the Netherlands also pledged in June to deliver one additional system each. Romania will transfer a Patriot to Ukraine too after the donation was finally approved in early September.
Kateryna Hodunova
