Victory Chronicles-DAY 1310

Ukraine’s Air Force said on Sept. 25 that its air defense units shot down a Russian Su-34 Fullback fighter-bomber that was striking the southern city of Zaporizhzhia with guided bombs. The incident happened around 4 a.m., according to the Air Force. Officials described the aircraft as targeting civilian areas in the city before being destroyed.

The Su-34 is a twin-engine Russian strike aircraft often used to drop large, guided munitions from a distance, making it a frequent threat to Ukrainian cities far from the front lines. 

Russian strike cuts power for 30,000 in Chernihiv. A Russian aerial attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv struck a critical infrastructure site on Sept. 25, knocking out electricity for about 30,000 residents, regional officials said.

Dmytro Bryzhynskyi, head of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration, said the strike caused a fire that firefighters were working to contain. No casualties were reported.

The outage also lowered water pressure in some neighborhoods, officials said, though normal service is expected once power is restored. Repair crews have begun restoration work.

Chernihiv, located roughly 90 miles northeast of Kyiv and near the border with Belarus, has been repeatedly targeted by Russian missile and drone strikes since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Russian drone strike kills civilian male in Kharkiv region. A Russian drone strike overnight hit a municipal facility in the frontline locality of Prykolotne in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, igniting a fire and killing a 59-year-old man, emergency officials said.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that the drone slammed into an administrative building, causing significant damage and a blaze that rescue teams battled through the night. Ten firefighters, three vehicles and a medical unit were deployed to the scene.

Prykolotne lies in the Kupiansk district, near the northeastern front where Russia has been pressing its offensive for months.

Ukrainian seaborne drones strike Russian oil ports. Ukrainian intelligence forces used explosive surface drones to attack two major Russian oil export hubs in Novorossiysk and Tuapse on Sept. 24, temporarily disrupting operations at facilities that handle millions of barrels of crude each day, a Ukrainian intelligence source told Kyiv-based Ukrainska Pravda.

The attack targeted a Transneft oil terminal and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal near Novorossiysk, where tankers, including vessels from Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, were being loaded, the source said. Together, the facilities have the capacity to export up to 2 million barrels of crude daily.

In Tuapse, drones blew up an oil pier at one of Russia’s largest terminals. Russian defensive fire was described as chaotic and inaccurate, which ended up damaging residential buildings and cars and triggering panic in Novorossiysk, Tuapse, and even in Sochi, about 50 miles away, where beachgoers were briefly evacuated.

Key Takeaways

1. The Kremlin is using nuclear threats to influence U.S. President Donald Trump to stop his efforts to secure peace in Ukraine.
2. Russia launched a multipronged informational campaign intended to mask Russia’s economic weakness that U.S. President Donald Trump recently correctly identified.
3. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his commitment to engaging in peace negotiations and holding elections in accordance with the Ukrainian Constitution and Ukrainian law.
4. Former Ukrainian Command-in-Chief and current Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi assessed on Sept. 24 that Russian forces are adapting technological innovations and ground tactics in an attempt to restore maneuver to the battlefield.
5. Russian jamming originating from Kaliningrad Oblast likely disrupted the GPS on Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles’ plane flying to Lithuania on September 24.
6. Ukrainian forces recently conducted a series of aerial and naval drone strikes against Russia and occupied Crimea, including against Russian oil infrastructure and drone production facilities.
7. Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Lyman and Pokrovsk and in the Dobropillya tactical area. Russian forces recently advanced near Siversk and Pokrovsk, in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area, and in western Zaporizhia Oblast.

• US jets scrambled near Alaska over Russian aircraft
• Zelenskyy: Trump supports Ukrainian retaliatory strikes on targets in Russia
• Russians attack scooter carrying civilians in Kherson Oblast: two men killed
• Blackout continues for second day at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant due to actions of Russian Federation
• Two transport aircraft and coastal radars destroyed in Ukrainian Defense Intelligence raid in Crimea
• Von der Leyen considers possibility of downing Russian aircraft entering NATO airspace