Published On 25 Sep 2025
Here is how things stand on Thursday, September 25 :
Fighting
- At least two people were killed by a daytime Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian city of Novorossiysk on Wednesday, according to The Moscow Times. Among those injured were employees of a Russian-Kazakh oil project.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defence on Wednesday said 1,495 Ukrainian troops were killed in the past 24 hours of fighting, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS. The numbers have not been independently verified.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed concerns about Russian incursions into NATO airspace as unfounded “hysteria”, according to the AFP news agency.
- “We hear such exaggerated hysteria about our military pilots allegedly violating some rules and invading someone’s airspace,” Peskov said.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned world leaders of the threat posed by Russian weapons and innovation while speaking to the United Nations General Assembly.
- “Stopping Russia now is cheaper than wondering who will be the first to create a simple drone carrying a nuclear warhead,” Zelenskyy said on Wednesday.
- The Ukrainian leader also warned of the threat posed by artificial intelligence in the weapons industry, which could be the “most destructive” arms race in human history.
- Ukraine and Syria formally restored diplomatic ties on the sidelines of the UN summit. Kyiv broke off ties in 2022 after Syria’s then-leader Bashar al-Assad recognised Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory as independent.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov separately met with his United States counterpart Marco Rubio in New York on Wednesday. Rubio urged “Moscow to take meaningful steps towards a durable resolution”, while Lavrov accused Kyiv and Europe of “prolonging” the war.
- Kremlin spokesperson Peskov rejected a statement from US President Donald Trump that Russia is a “paper tiger” and said the country “maintains its macroeconomic stability”.
Economy
- Russia released its 2026 wartime budget on Wednesday, which included a proposal to raise its value-added tax (VAT) from 20 to 22 percent. This would draw in another $15.5bn in funds, according to The Moscow Times.
- VAT remains an important source of government revenue in Russia, the newspaper said, and approximately 40 percent of this year’s federal revenue will come from VAT.
- Moscow’s latest budget also came with the dire prediction that growth in 2025 will tap out at just 1 percent, down from 4.3 percent in 2024, according to the Reuters news agency.
- Russia’s economy is expected to grow just 0.5 percent in 2026, The Moscow Times said, while the federal deficit swelled to $61.1bn between January and July.
