Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky’s plane ‘almost hit’ by Russian drone as deadly strikes rock Moldovan border

Two injured as Russian strike sparks fire at Pryluky shopping centreUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's flight from Moldova to Norway was delayed after it was almost hit by a Russian drone, Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Store said.Officials in Moldova said they had to shut down the country’s airspace because of a drone incursion as Russian forces targeted the border between that country and Ukraine this week.“His flight was almost hit by a drone when it was taking off from Moldova. That is the reality he lives in,” Store said yesterday. The drone exploded around 160km from Moldova’s main Chișinău International Airport. The airspace restrictions were eventually lifted and Zelensky’s plane took off later than scheduled.At least two people were killed yesterday when a swarm of Russian drones hit a border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova in the southern region of Odesa.The drone that entered Moldovan airspace on Tuesday crossed into neighbouring Romania, a Nato member, where it was tracked through several northeastern counties.Another Russian drone had crashed in a sunflower field on Tuesday causing four fires to break out, Moldovan police said.Five killed and 24 injured in Russian attack on SumyAt least five people have been killed and 24 injured in a Russian air strike on Ukraine’s Sumy, police officials said this morning.Regional governor Oleh Hryhorov said earlier that a Russian drone had struck a shopping centre in Sumy on Wednesday and put the toll at two killed and 20 injured.Emergency personnel work at the site of a shopping mall hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy (Reuters)Arpan Rai10 September 2026 05:29Watch: Russian drone strike on Sumy shopping mall kills two, injures 14Russian drone strike on Sumy shopping mall kills two, injures 14Arpan Rai10 September 2026 05:00Russian drones kill two at Ukraine-Moldova border crossingRussian drones hit a border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova in the southern region of Odesa, killing two people, Ukrainian and Moldovan officials said, as Moscow targets trade and logistics routes to cause economic damage.Two civilians were killed and three wounded in the attack on the Starokozache border crossing in southwest Ukraine, Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram.The ⁠checkpoint, about a kilometre (half a mile) from Moldovan territory, ‌is used daily by thousands of people and hundreds of cars. Moldovan officials said passenger and vehicle traffic was halted by the attack.Russia ‌has struck five border crossings in recent weeks, the Ukrainian border guards said — ‌four on the border with Moldova and one on its border with Romania, a Nato member. Arpan Rai10 September 2026 04:12Flight carrying Zelensky to Norway ​delayed in Moldova because of drone incursionA flight scheduled to carry Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky from Moldova to Norway was ​delayed when authorities closed Moldova’s airspace because of a drone incursion, a government spokesperson said Wednesday.The drone that entered Moldovan airspace on Tuesday crossed into neighbouring Romania, a Nato member, where it was tracked through several northeastern counties.Moldovan police said a Russian drone crashed on Tuesday in a sunflower field on the outskirts of a village in Riscani district, which caused four fires to break out but no injuries.Moldovan authorities confirmed the drone came down and exploded 160km (100 miles) from Chișinău International Airport. The airspace restrictions were lifted and Zelensky’s plane took off later than scheduled.Arpan Rai10 September 2026 03:52Turkey to start drilling challenging Black Sea wellTurkey is set to start drilling a challenging oil-targeted well in the western Black Sea, Ankara announced on Wednesday."We will soon begin drilling an oil-targeted well in the western Black Sea,” energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.“It will be a difficult drilling operation and will take some time," he told broadcaster CNBC-e.Turkey has previously said it plans six exploration wells across the western, central and eastern Black Sea in 2026 as it seeks new oil and natural gas discoveries.Alex Croft10 September 2026 03:00Zelensky says Kyiv hitting Russia 'across its entire map' including Black Sea port attackWe’ve heard earlier from Volodymyr Zelensky, who has spoken out on Kyiv’s attack on the Russian Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk.The Ukrainian president said targets in the Krasnodar region, including a naval base and a oil-loading terminal, were attacked.Warships carrying missiles and military port facilities were also hit, he said.“We are responding to Russia’s daily terrorist strikes – effectively and practically across its entire map,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X alongside footage of the attacks.“I thank everyone developing our long-range sanctions capabilities, so that Russia’s war is increasingly felt where it came from.”Alex Croft10 September 2026 01:29Merz says Germany will continue supporting Ukraine despite AfD state winChancellor Friedrich Merz has stated that Germany will continue supporting Ukraine because Ukraine was also defending Germany's freedom.Merz was responding to criticism from the far-right Alternative for Germany that Germany's support was needlessly prolonging the war in Ukraine and shutting Germany out of accessing cheap energy supplies from Russia.It comes after the AfD won an historic election in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday.Alex Croft10 September 2026 00:00EU court dismisses Hungary action over frozen Russian asset profits for UkraineA Hungarian action against the EU's decision to use windfall profits from frozen Russian central bank assets for Ukraine's defence has been dismissed by the European Union’s General Court on Wednesday.The bloc's second-highest court said it had no jurisdiction over the matter.On 3 August, the EU received €1.4 billion in windfall profits from Russian bank assets, bringin the total revenue to roughly €8 billion.Alex Croft9 September 2026 23:01Which airlines are still flying in Russian airspace?Airlines and passengers that still fly over Russia have been warned that the skies are “completely unsafe” by the president of Ukraine.Volodymyr Zelensky deemed Russian airspace to be unsafe in a warning to airlines ahead of Ukrainian drone attacks last Tuesday.“We want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, and everyone who still uses Russia’s key airports: Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe,” he said.Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in spring 2022, most major Western carriers have suspended operations over Russia, rerouting journeys around its airspace.The airspace is currently closed to around 35 countries and territories in retaliation for banning all Russian aircraft from using EU airspace, among other international restrictions.Travel writer Natalie Wilson reports:Alex Croft9 September 2026 22:01Ukraine’s prosecutor general resigns citing political conflictUkraine's prosecutor general said on Monday he had offered his resignation citing political reasons, in the latest sign of ​disunity in the senior ranks of the Ukrainian ruling ‌elite."This is a political decision, and I have made it consciously. I do not want the position of Prosecutor General to be used as ​an instrument of political confrontation," Ruslan Kravchenko said in ​a statement on Telegram late on Monday, without elaborating.Mr Kravchenko ⁠thanked president Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, ​and asked them to accept his resignation.Ukraine's anti-graft agencies said last week they had uncovered a criminal organisation dealing with fraudulent call centres which was allegedly arranged by an official within ​the Prosecutor General's Office.Full report:Alex Croft9 September 2026 21:00