(KYIV) – At least eight people have been wounded in an overnight Russian drone attack on Kyiv, while Ukrainian drones struck a Russian oil refinery and logistics infrastructure in a separate overnight operation.
Citing city officials, the Kyiv Independent reports that the victims were injured when a fire broke out in a high-rise residential block during the attack. Moscow’s forces have resumed near constant air strikes on Kyiv after a brief hold last weekend for the visit to Moscow and Kyiv of US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Ukraine’s air force reportedly downed 62 Russian drones out of at least 66 launched at the city.
The attack came as Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on 11th September 2026. Ukraine also targeted logistics infrastructure and struck a Russian oil refinery in an overnight drone attack, according to the Kyiv Independent, citing independent Russian Telegram channels.
As Russia continues its war against Ukraine and threatens countries along NATO’s eastern flank, questions remain over how quickly the Alliance could respond to an attack. Lieutenant General John Mead, Deputy Commander of NATO’s Joint Force Command in the Netherlands, said: “It’s absolutely quick enough. I can’t go into the details because they’re the details of our plans, but they are in relation to our assumptions over threats. And then we rehearse that tempo. We increasingly look at setting the theatre so that we can move very rapidly between peace, crisis, and conflict should that arise.”
Mead added that NATO is using the war in Ukraine to learn the right lessons and prepare for the worst, which the Alliance still views as highly unlikely. “But we’ve still got to be prepared for the highly unlikely,” he said.
As fears of Russian provocation rise, Poland is carrying out preventative measures, with Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz touring the country with American officials to find a suitable location for a permanent US military base.
On 11th September 2026, the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the United States remembered the 2,977 people killed when two hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. Eight Poles perished in the attacks. Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four aircraft. The third plane crashed into the Pentagon, while the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after crew and passengers fought back. Thousands more have reported long-term health issues due to dust from the destroyed buildings. In response, the United States launched the global war on terror.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has revealed that Polish and Ukrainian security services recently joined forces to prevent a planned attack near the border. He shared the details after receiving an intelligence briefing from CIA Director John Ratcliffe on 10th September 2026. Speaking alongside the leaders of the Visegrád Four and Ireland, Tusk said: “In the last few hours, I have received a fairly detailed report directly from the head of the CIA concerning possible events in the coming months. Both Poland and all of Europe must be prepared for various scenarios, not only regarding the situation on the Russian Ukrainian front, but also on the European Union’s eastern flank.”
Tusk also revealed that a Russian attack on a border crossing had been thwarted hours earlier. “Last night, thanks to cooperation between our security services and those of Ukraine, we managed to avert an immediate threat to one of our border crossings,” he said. “We expect similar actions to take place on border crossings shared between Ukraine and other countries including Poland.” His comments come amid an uptick of Russian hybrid attacks on European countries, with Germany openly blaming Moscow for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport in August.
Prime Ministers of the Visegrád Four countries, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, met in Bratislava on 10th September 2026, joined by Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin. The meeting gave the V4 leaders an opportunity to present their positions ahead of upcoming EU level negotiations, including talks on the bloc’s next long term budget. After years of divisions, the prime ministers met for the third time in just a few months. “I am absolutely thrilled. We’ve gone back to the old days. To the old days when the V4 had a strong voice,” said one leader.
Ireland’s prime minister also joined ahead of Ireland taking over the EU presidency next year. The 2028 to 2034 EU budget was high on the agenda, as was the call for continued support for cohesion funding. “Let’s not put cohesion against competitiveness. It is possible to set it in a way that removing regional differences will help competitiveness,” said Tusk.
The V4 also addressed EU budget funding, rejecting a proposal to use revenue from EU emissions allowances as a new source of funding. Tusk was critical of the idea, warning that sky-high energy prices already put the region’s industry at a disadvantage. “Anything that risks pushing up energy prices, we will block. There is simply no room for discussion because this is a matter of survival not only for our four countries but for the entire European Union,” he said. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called for fair compensation for countries protecting the EU’s borders, which he said costs Hungary 1 million euros (approximately $1.08 million or £850,000) a day. European Council President António Costa said member states must reach an agreement on the EU’s next long term budget by the end of the year.
The Baltic states recognise that Moscow’s hybrid warfare poses a growing threat that is already testing NATO’s resolve. Latvia and Estonia are developing the Baltic Defence Line, a network of defensive infrastructure intended to slow a potential ground invasion from Russia or Belarus. Across the Baltic region, Russia and Belarus are applying pressure without triggering an outright military confrontation. “We don’t like calling it hybrid warfare. It’s also a warfare. It’s just not with conventional armed forces,” said one official.
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have all seen an increase in the number of people attempting to cross their borders from Belarus since 2021. Latvian border guards have faced a surge of irregular migration this summer, stopping nearly 10,000 attempts to cross the border this year, often with more than 100 daily attempts. “We must first of all stop talking about those kinds of provocations and activities as innocent hybrid attacks. We must find new ways how to actually respond to this new wave of provocations,” said a Latvian official.
Together with Lithuania and Estonia, Latvia is developing the Baltic Defence Line, which includes anti-tank obstacles, ditches and other defensive positions, as well as preparations for the use of drones and plants for minefields. “Unfortunately, the new reality of geopolitics dictates that our energy infrastructure, its protection, is part of our national security dimension,” said a Latvian representative. NATO’s support was recently tested when a drone entered Latvian airspace last month. Jets from NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission shot it down after it entered from Belarus near the village of Rugāji in northern Latvia.
Thousands of rail passengers across Poland faced delays on 11th September 2026 as train drivers staged a nationwide go slow protest over safety on the country’s railways. Drivers slowed down at each level crossing to 20 kilometres per hour in protest against what they call a drastically deteriorating safety situation and a series of serious accidents endangering the lives and health of train drivers, railway staff and passengers. The strike came after a collision on 9th September 2026 between an intercity train and a cement mixer vehicle, killing one and injuring another 20. Amid a growing number of traffic violations by car drivers at level crossings, Tusk and Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak pledged new legislation to improve safety. As of 7:20am on 11th September 2026, more than 20 trains were delayed by over 45 minutes, with the service between Prague and the Polish city of Gdynia clocking a delay of 3 hours and 8 minutes. The protest was initially to last the whole day but the drivers’ trade union decided to cut it short and ended at noon for the sake of passengers.
Numerous casualties have been reported after a bus carrying Dutch tourists flipped over in a remote alpine region of eastern Switzerland. Several people have been confirmed killed and many more injured, but the exact number is not yet known. According to local police, the accident occurred near the village of Sörenberg on 10th September 2026. The bus reportedly struck a guard rail before veering off the road and overturning onto its right side. Footage from the scene shows the coach lying on its side next to the road, surrounded by police and emergency service personnel. Forty eight Dutch nationals were on board.
Poznań Zoo has three new residents, female elephants who arrived from Germany on 10th September 2026. The move was recommended to ensure the animals get the care they need as they grow older. Daisy, Siva and Ittosha, three female elephants aged 35 to 42, completed a safe 800 kilometre journey from Osnabrück, Germany, to their new home in western Poland, joining two existing residents, Kija and Nino. Their relocation was recommended by the European Endangered Species Programme, as the enclosure at their previous home could no longer provide the space required for contemporary elephant care. Poznań’s elephant complex ranks among the largest and most advanced facilities of its kind in Europe. To help reduce stress from the move, the elephants’ longtime keepers will accompany them in Poznań for several weeks.
Be First to Comment