Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv strikes key Russian oil hub ahead of Zelensky’s Paris talks with Macron

As the conflict in the Middle East places increasing strain on US missile stockpiles, Ukraine is leveraging its wartime innovations – specifically, low-cost interceptors designed to counter Russian attack drones – into significant geopolitical influence.

Now a leading global producer of these interceptors, Ukraine is offering its expertise to the United States and its Gulf allies for use in the Middle East. In return, Kyiv hopes to secure the high-end weaponry it cannot manufacture domestically.

Police in western Poland were investigating the origin of a drone found by a worker at a mine on Thursday.

NATO member Poland has been on high alert for airspace incursions since more than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on the night of September 9-10, and some of them were found in the east of the country.

“It doesn’t look like a civilian drone, but there’s no information about the model,” Maciej Swiecichowski, a police spokesperson in the western city of Poznan told Reuters by telephone.

Local police said on X earlier they had been alerted to an “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle of the drone type” found by an employee in Galczyce, Konin County, on the premises of the lignite mine.

“At the scene, police officers from Konin and Poznan are securing the area,” they added.

Romanian president Nicursor Dan says that he has signed a document with Zelensky about joint drone production in Romania.

A drone found was found by a worker at a mine in western Poland on Thursday, police said, with a spokesperson adding that it “does not look like civilian drone” and that they did not have information about the model yet.

Ukraine is awaiting White House approval for a major drone production agreement proposed by Kyiv last year, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, as countries scramble to modernise their air defences after the Iran war exposed shortcomings.

The proposed deal with the US would cover various types of drones and air defences that operate as a single system capable of protecting against swarms of hundreds or even thousands of Iranian-designed Shahed drones and missiles, Zelenskyy said.

Russia has fired tens of thousands of Iranian-designed Shahed drones at Ukraine since it invaded its neighbour just over four years ago. Iran has responded to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes by firing the same type of drones at targets in the Middle East.

Ukraine struck an oil pumping station in Russia’s Krasnodar region on Thursday, as Kyiv ramps up its attacks on Russian strategic infrastructure.

A large-scale fire broke out after the drone strike on Tikhoretsk, a Ukrainian security service official said, noting that the hub is the only supply route for petroleum products to the key Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

Russia’s regional task force said no one had been injured in the drone strike.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that 80 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted and destroyed over Russian regions overnight in a spate of attacks.

Russia has blamed Britain for a deadly missile strike launched by Ukraine on a vital munitions factory, that reportedly killed seven people.

Kyiv claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack on one of Russia’s “most important military factories”, the Kremniy El plant in the border city of Bryansk. It said that British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles had been used in the assault.

Local authorities said that at least seven civilians were killed and 42 were injured in the “terrorist missile attack”.

For years, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s health has been the subject of speculation and rumours – with claims he is suffering from an array of different ailments.

Putin could be seen clearing his throat before having a coughing fit as he gestured towards his neck in the video, which was deleted by the Kremlin shortly after it was uploaded to the official Telegram channel.

Venice Biennale has come under scrutiny for plans that allow Russia to reopen its pavilion at this year’s edition.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said, in an interview with Caolan Robertson: “We know the end of Hitler. We understand the end of Putin. Weaponizing sports, music, film and art festivals – like Venice Biennale – never helps.

“Across various cultural platforms – even during children’s animation festivals – the Russians stuff their movies with propaganda to indoctrinate their society from a very young age. But it never helps. I’m sure their nation will face a tragic end.”

Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French cruise missile with a maximum range of around 155 miles (250km). The French call it Scalp. After launch, the weapon, equipped with its navigation system, descends to a low altitude to avoid detection before locking on to its target using an infra-red seeker. On the final approach, the missile climbs to a higher altitude to maximise the chances of hitting the target.

On impact, it penetrates the target before a delayed fuse detonates the main warhead. Powered by a turbo-jet engine, the 1,300kg Storm Shadow travels at speeds of more than 600mph, is just over five metres long and has a wingspan of three metres.

The UK first confirmed it would supply Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles in May 2023, for use on Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine.

Then defence secretary Ben Wallace had touted that the weapons would give Ukraine the “best chance” of defending itself. Ukraine has deployed Storm Shadow missiles on several occasions during the war.

Storm Shadow missiles have also been used by British and French air forces in the Gulf, Iraq and Libya.