Ukraine: Russia reaches agreement on hiring Libyan mercenaries.

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck near the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka overnight on Sept. 13, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

"If something happens — a drone, a provocation, or suspicious troop movements — we can do it," Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovic said.

The latest reported death toll includes 36,568 volunteers, 18,261 recruited prisoners, 14,797 mobilized troops, and 2,777 mercenaries.

"As of today, we can state that the Russian offensive operation on Sumy has been completely thwarted by our forces," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sept. 12, citing front-line reports from Commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

"The United States stands by our NATO allies in the face of these alarming airspace violations," said acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea, addressing the 15-member Security Council.

The sanctions list includes Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, top military officials, lawmakers, oligarchs, propagandists, mercenaries, and individuals responsible for the abduction of Ukrainian children from occupied territories.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Poland sees no reason to sever diplomatic ties with Russia, noting that it has already limited the activities of Russian diplomats in several regions.

"Every time you are here, General, we can sleep a little more. We would like you to travel to all Ukrainian cities," Zelensky said at the annual Yalta European Strategy meeting.

The Russian attack on Poland exposed serious holes in NATO's air defenses.

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s bombardment of Ukrainian civilians, his stalling and delaying in internationally-backed peace talks, and his blatant disregard for human life must end," U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.

The Kyiv Independent has been awarded the Online Journalism Award for Innovation in Revenue Strategy for building a sustainable business model during wartime.

"I'm not gonna defend anybody but they were actually knocked down and they fell. But you should not be close to Poland anyway," U.S. President Donald Trump said.

Ukraine is striking oil refineries deep inside Russia — but it’s not really the oil they’re after. The Kyiv Independent’s Dominic Culverwell explains how Ukraine’s drone campaign targets the high-tech equipment Russia cannot easily replace under sanctions.