Russia launches large-scale attack on Ukraine; Russian jets over Estonia ignored NATO signals
Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack targeting regions across Ukraine early Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens more, Ukrainian officials said.Related video above: Trump's push for NATO's Russian oil sanctions could raise U.S. gas pricesUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks took place across nine regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Kharkiv."The enemy's target was our infrastructure, residential areas and civilian enterprises," he said, adding that a missile equipped with cluster munitions struck a multistory building in the city of Dnipro."Each such strike is not a military necessity but a deliberate strategy by Russia to intimidate civilians and destroy our infrastructure," Zelenskyy said in a statement on his official Telegram account.Elsewhere, Ukrainian drones overnight slammed into an energy facility in Samara, southwestern Russia, according to the local governor and Ukraine's General Staff.Russia's Defense Ministry on Saturday said its forces intercepted 149 Ukrainian drones during the night.Zelenskyy said he expects to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week. He also said the first ladies of Ukraine and the United States would likely hold separate talks focused on humanitarian issues involving children.At least 30 people were wounded in the attack in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, local Gov. Serhii Lysak said. Several high-rise buildings and homes were damaged in the eastern city of Dnipro.In the Kyiv region, local authorities reported strikes in the areas of Bucha, Boryspil and Obukhiv. A home and cars were damaged. In the western region of Lviv, Gov. Maxim Kozytsky said two cruise missiles were shot down.Russia launched 619 drones and missiles, Ukraine's air force said, of which 552 drones, two ballistic missiles and 29 cruise missiles were shot down or neutralized.'We expect sanctions'Zelenskyy said that Ukraine and its partners have laid the groundwork for long-term security guarantees and that he hopes to gauge how close they are to finalizing such commitments during next week's meetings in New York.He said European nations are prepared to move forward with a framework if the United States remains closely engaged. He noted that discussions have taken place at multiple levels, including among military leadership and general staffs from both Europe and the U.S."I would like to receive signals for myself on how close we are to understanding that the security guarantees from all partners will be the kind we need," Zelenskyy said.He said sanctions against Russia must remain on the table if peace efforts stall, and that he plans to press the issue in talks with Trump."If the war continues and there is no movement toward peace, we expect sanctions," he said, adding that Trump is looking for strong steps from Europe.Ukraine targets Russia's oil sectorUkraine on Saturday claimed its drones struck the Novokuibyshevsk Refinery, a major producer of jet fuel that is operated by Russian oil major Rosneft. It said the strike resulted in explosions and a fire.Samara's regional governor, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said unspecified fuel and energy facilities were targeted. He later reported that four people had died in the attack, but did not immediately say who they were or describe any damage.Ukraine's General Staff also said a second Russian oil refinery was hit overnight, in the city of Saratov. The city lies in a region of the same name, southwest of Samara.Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels published videos of what they said was a strike near of the Saratov refinery. They show blasts and a fiery glow against the night sky, with air sirens wailing in the background.Local Gov. Roman Busargin did not immediately comment on claims that the refinery was hit. He said a woman was hospitalized following nighttime drone strikes on Saratov, and residential buildings were damaged.Ukrainian drones also struck Russian pumping stations of the Kuibyshev-Tikhoretsk oil pipeline, an intelligence official told The Associated Press on Saturday. They spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose sensitive information.The pipeline leads to the export terminal in the port of Novorossiysk.Explosions were recorded at several stations in various regions of Volgograd and Samara, according to the intelligence official.Ukraine "continues its successful work on introducing drone sanctions against Russian refineries and oil pumping stations. It is this infrastructure that brings petrodollar surpluses to the Russian budget, which fuels the war against Ukraine. Work on blocking these money flows will continue," they told AP. Russian jets over Estonia ignored signals from NATO pilots, officials sayRussian pilots ignored signals from Italian jets responding from NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission when they violated Estonian airspace, a senior Estonian military official said Saturday.The 12-minute incursion was the latest test of the alliance's ability to respond to Russian airborne threats after around 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on Sept. 10.Russia's Defense Ministry on Saturday denied its aircraft flew into Estonia's airspace, after Tallinn reported three fighter jets crossed into its territory on Friday without permission.Estonian officials dismissed the denial, saying the violation was confirmed by radar and visual contact and suggested it could be a tactic to draw Western resources away from Ukraine.The Russian MIG-31 fighters entered Estonian airspace between 9:58 a.m. and 10:10 a.m. local time Friday in the area of Vaindloo, a small island located in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, the Estonian military said. A ministry statement said it was the fourth airspace violation by Russia this year.It still "needs to be confirmed," if the border violation was deliberate or not, Col. Ants Kiviselg, the commander of Estonia's Military Intelligence Center, told The Associated Press. Regardless, he said, the Russian jets "must have known that they are in (Estonian) airspace."The Russian pilots didn't pose a "military threat," Kiviselg said.But although they acknowledged communication from the Italian pilots flying F-35 fighter jets, they apparently ignored it and "didn't actually follow the signs," which is partly why they were in Estonian airspace for so long, he added."Why they didn't do it, that's a question for the Russian pilots," Kiviselg said.'It could be big trouble'The Russian jets came from an airfield near the city of Petrozavodsk, in northwestern Russia, and were heading to Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland. They were tracked by two Finnish fighter jets before being escorted by the two Italian jets, which took off from Estonia's Ämari Air Base and followed them into international skies, Kiviselg said.U.S. President Donald Trump responded Friday by telling reporters he will be briefed by aides on the incursion. "I don't love it," he said, adding, "I don't like when that happens. It could be big trouble, but I'll let you know later."Margus Tsahkna, Estonia's foreign minister, told AP the incident was "a very serious violation of NATO airspace." The last time Estonian airspace was violated for so long was in 2003, he said, "just before Estonia joined NATO."Estonia's government responded by saying it would request consultations under Article 4 of NATO's treaty, which allows a member to formally consult with allies whenever their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened. Poland also used the mechanism after its airspace was violated by Russian drones and, after that, NATO launched its Eastern Sentry mission to boost defenses along its eastern flank.Posting on X, Lithuania's Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė suggested NATO member "Turkey set an example" of how to respond to such incidents in 2015 when it shot down a Russian fighter jet, which violated its airspace for around 17 seconds.But that situation was "totally different," Hanno Pevkur, Estonia's defense minister, said, adding that the "Russians actually killed Turks," when Moscow used fighter jets to target what they said were militant groups near the Syrian border with Turkey.During Friday's incident, Estonia and its allies observed the Russian jets' route, communication and reaction from the pilots as well as the weapons systems they were carrying and were "very confident that there is no need to shoot them down," Pevkur said.Czech President Petr Pavel said Saturday that NATO must respond adequately to Russian violations, including potentially by shooting down Russian jets, the Czech News Agency reported. "Russia will realize very quickly that they have made a mistake and crossed the acceptable boundaries. Unfortunately, this is teetering on the edge of conflict, but giving in to evil is simply not an option," Pavel said.Estonian officials maintained Saturday that there was no need to trigger Article 5, NATO's collective defense clause, despite the repeated violations by Russian jets and drones as well as allegations from Western officials that Moscow is waging a hybrid war against the West, including a sabotage campaign, cyberattacks and influence operations.Radars and visual identificationIn an online statement published Saturday, Russia's Defense Ministry said its fighter jets had kept to neutral Baltic Sea waters more than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Vaindloo Island.It said the three MiG-31 jets "completed a scheduled flight from Karelia to an airfield in the Kaliningrad region" and "did not violate the borders of other states."Pevkur dismissed the statement, saying Estonia and its NATO allies have "multiple" radars and visual identification, which confirm the Russian jets entered the country's airspace.He suggested the "root cause" for the air violations, hybrid war and cyberattacks was to distract Western attention from Ukraine.Moscow, Pevkur said, may be trying to provoke NATO nations into sending additional air defense assets to Estonia in the hope that Kyiv's allies do more "about our own defense," and less to support Kyiv.Russia denies violating Estonia’s airspaceRussia’s Defense Ministry denied its aircraft violated Estonia’s airspace, after Tallinn reported three fighter jets crossed into its territory on Friday without permission and remained there for 12 minutes.The incident, described by Estonia’s top diplomat as an “unprecedentedly brazen” incursion, happened just over a week after NATO planes downed Russian drones over Poland, heightening fears that Moscow’s war on Ukraine could spill over.In a statement early Saturday, Moscow stressed its fighter jets had kept to neutral Baltic Sea waters more than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Estonia’s Vaindloo Island in the Gulf of Finland.“On September 19, three MiG-31 fighter jets completed a scheduled flight from Karelia to an airfield in the Kaliningrad region,” it said, referencing the Russian enclave sandwiched between Polish and Lithuanian territory. Estonia, Poland and Lithuania belong to NATO.“The flight was conducted in strict compliance with international airspace regulations and did not violate the borders of other states, as confirmed through objective monitoring,” the statement said without providing details about the monitoring operation.On Friday, Estonia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned a Russian diplomat to lodge an official protest over the airspace violation. Officials said Tallinn also moved “to start consultations among the allies” under NATO’s Article 4.On Saturday, Poland’s Operational Command said Polish and allied aircraft were deployed again overnight in response to Russian long-range airstrikes in neighboring Ukraine. In a later post on X, the Operational Command described the deployment as “preventive” and “aimed at securing the airspace in areas adjacent to the threatened zone.”Last week, fellow NATO member Romania said it deployed two F-16 jets to intercept a drone that briefly entered its airspace.Associated Press journalist Kostya Manenkov in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
