Russia and Ukraine Launch Reciprocal Infrastructure Strikes

Russia and Ukraine launched reciprocal strikes on energy and industrial infrastructure on September 13, 2026. Russian forces targeted power substations and port infrastructure in Odesa and Mykolaiv, as well as railway infrastructure in western Ukraine. This included a strike on a truck near the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing point, 800 meters from the Polish border, which the Russian Ministry of Defence claimed targeted European military cargo infrastructure.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian military responded with drone strikes against the Slavyansk oil refinery in Krasnodar, the Taneco refinery in Tatarstan, and a drone storage site in the Rostov region. Additional strikes in Nizhnekamsk, Russia, resulted in at least two deaths. Meanwhile, Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev accused Ukraine of striking diesel fuel trucks near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on September 11, killing two Russian servicemen and endangering backup power systems.

Diplomatic efforts continued as Russian leadership attended a BRICS summit in India. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping offered to broker a peace settlement. While Ukraine expressed willingness to meet at a G20 summit in December, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov maintained that progress depends on Ukraine meeting Russian territorial demands, specifically the surrender of the Donetsk region.