Ukraine war briefing: Moscow under drone siege for third night running

Ukraine sent drones towards Moscow for the third consecutive night, closing airports, Russian authorities said late on Tuesday. Rosaviatsiya, the air transport watchdog, said Moscow’s Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports had flights halted or restricted. Russia usually says all incoming drones were destroyed, regardless of the outcome, and typically gives limited details about the effects of Ukrainian strikes unless civilians or civilian infrastructure are hit. Over the previous two nights, Russia’s defence ministry said there were 35 Ukrainian drones destroyed over the Moscow region. Ukraine says its long-range drone strikes of recent months on Moscow and other Russian regions are aimed at hitting military and industrial assets, damaging Russia’s war economy and bringing the conflict home to Russians.

Ukraine also launched several drones targeting the Budyonnovsk industrial zone in Russia’s Stavropol oblast, said its governor, Vladimir Vladimirov. Online reporting suggested the drones targeted a petrochemical and plastics plant, with videos showing a fire.

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and leaders of Nordic countries said on Tuesday that they were confident that using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s benefit would be approved by December. EU leaders last week stopped short of approving a mammoth “reparations loan” backed by the assets, because Belgium, where the bulk of the €200bn pot is held, fears facing any legal consequences alone. Instead, they told the European Commission to move ahead with options for funding Ukraine for two more years, leaving the door open for a €140bn “reparations loan” using frozen Russian assets. “It’s legally a sound proposal, not trivial, but a sound proposal,” said von der Leyen.

Russia is poised to enforce year-long military conscription, rather than just in the spring and autumn. Russian conscripts are theoretically not liable to be sent to Ukraine, but human rights groups and media reports say many have been coerced into signing contracts as volunteers for the war. The Russian parliament is in the process of approving a permanent draft. Putin has ordered the number of active troops to be increased by 180,000, to 1.5 million. He said in September that the military has over 700,000 troops fighting in Ukraine. Putin in 2022 ordered a “partial mobilisation” of 300,000 reservists into the war but was forced to abandon the hugely unpopular programme after protests erupted, recruiting stations were burned and many thousands of men fled to other countries. Russia has since relied on recruiting volunteers with the promise of relatively high wages and other benefits.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian and European officials would meet at the end of the week to discuss the details of a ceasefire plan, Reuters reported. “It is not a plan to end the war. First of all, a ceasefire is needed,” said the Ukrainian president. “This is a plan to begin diplomacy … Our advisers will meet in the coming days, we agreed on Friday or Saturday. They will discuss the details of this plan.”

Ukraine plans to begin limited exports of weapons next month, Zelenskyy said. During his meeting with a government team, Zelenskyy also ordered a continued increase in drone production and sought to ensure that domestically produced weapons and ammunition cover about 50% of the army’s needs.

The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, announced plans to reopen two border crossings with Belarus in Kuźnica-Bruzgi and Bobrowniki to facilitate local traffic and trade, saying it was possible thanks to strengthened controls alongside the entire border line. Poland closed its border with Belarus on 12 September as a result of Russia-led military exercises taking place in Belarus and 21 Russian drones entering Polish airspace on the night of 9-10 September. Tusk noted that the opening needed to be coordinated with Lithuania, acknowledging its decision to close its crossings with Belarus in response to balloons coming across the border over the last week. Lithuania says the balloons are used to smuggle cigarettes but the Belarusian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, allows the flights to take place as a form of “hybrid warfare” harassment.