Majority of Germans fear Russian attack on NATO partners

Fighting has been going on for months around the city of Kupiansk in northeastern Ukraine. Russian troops have now managed to make further progress in the area using a trick. US President Trump explains under what conditions he would impose new sanctions against Russia.

All events related to the Ukraine war in the live ticker:

Two Republican U.S. representatives want to force through tough sanctions against Russia by linking their bill to a much-needed government funding bill. Senator Lindsey Graham and House Representative Brian Fitzpatrick announced Saturday that they would urge their colleagues in both parties to approve the measure this week. "We will urge our colleagues in both parties to join us in advancing this legislation and standing with freedom against tyranny," the two said. "Time is running out."

The bill has been pending for months, but has not been brought up for a vote by the leadership in the Senate and House of Representatives. The reason for this is President Donald Trump's hesitancy to impose sanctions against Russia. Among other things, the bill proposes so-called secondary sanctions against India and China if they continue to purchase Russian oil. Trump instead prefers tariffs on goods from India, the world's second-largest buyer of Russian oil after China. The preliminary budget provision could now provide the two representatives with a path to push through their plan.

Following the intrusion of Russian drones into Polish airspace, a survey shows that the majority of Germans are concerned about a Russian attack on a NATO country such as Poland or Lithuania in the near future. According to the survey conducted by the polling institute Insa on behalf of "Bild am Sonntag," 62 percent of the 1,002 respondents fear such an attack. 28 percent do not, and 10 percent do not know. Accordingly, 49 percent of Germans are convinced that all gas and oil deliveries from Russia to the EU should be stopped immediately. According to the newspaper's preliminary report, 51 percent of respondents are also in favor of frozen Russian assets in the EU being used to support Ukraine.

The President of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, believes that UN peacekeeping troops could be involved in a peace settlement in the Ukraine war. "If a peace agreement is reached, it must be best secured," the former German Foreign Minister told Bild am Sonntag. "And if the majority of member states say that peacekeepers are also needed for this, then that is something that can hopefully ensure lasting peace."

Saturday, September 13th:

Ukraine says it needs at least $120 billion (€102.3 billion) next year to fight the Russian aggressors. A similar amount is also needed to "maintain the army" even if the war ends, Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a conference in Kyiv on Saturday. Ukraine spends about a third of its total economic output on defense and relies on financial aid from its Western allies.

Ukraine risks losing more territory to Russia if it continues to be financially inferior on the battlefield, Shmyhal said. He suggested seizing frozen Russian assets in the West to finance defense spending, saying Ukrainians already bear a significant tax burden after three and a half years of war.

In the Russian republic of Bashkortostan on the Volga River, a refinery belonging to the oil company Bashneft is burning, according to authorities, following a Ukrainian drone attack. According to republican leader Radi Khabirov, the facility was attacked by at least two drones, one of which crashed onto the premises. "The production facility sustained minor damage, and a fire broke out, which is currently being extinguished," he wrote.

Drone attacks on Russian oil facilities have become an integral part of Ukraine's defense strategy. The aim is, on the one hand, to disrupt the military's fuel supply and, on the other, to deprive Russia of an important source of revenue for financing its war effort. What's new is that the attacks are now also taking place during the day – deep in the Russian hinterland. Bashkortostan lies approximately 1,400 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of escalating the war following air raid warnings in neighboring Poland and Romania. The Russian military knows exactly where its drones are flying, and this is not the arbitrary actions of any subordinate commanders, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. "This is a clear escalation of the war by Russia."

This approach necessitates preventive action by the West. Russia must feel the consequences, Zelenskyy demanded. Once again, he urged sanctions and the tariffs on Russian trade that US President Donald Trump had suggested. However, it is also necessary to establish a common security system. "Don't wait for dozens of Shahed (drones) and ballistic missiles to finally make decisions," he wrote to the Europeans.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls the intrusion of Russian drones into Polish airspace unacceptable. However, Rubio says it is unclear whether Russia intentionally piloted the drones into Polish territory. Several Russian drones flew into Polish airspace overnight into Wednesday.

Romania is sending fighter jets into the country's airspace because of a drone. The Ministry of Defense announced that the drone entered the country near the border during a Russian attack on Ukrainian infrastructure. Two F-16 jets tracked the aircraft until it disappeared from radar. There was no immediate threat to the population.

In Poland, fighter jets from both our own and allied air forces are patrolling the airspace in the east of the country. The aircraft are participating in an operation near the border with Ukraine to ensure Poland's security, according to the Armed Forces Operational Command. "These measures are preventive in nature and aimed at securing the airspace and protecting citizens, especially in the areas adjacent to the threatened area," it states. On the night of Wednesday, several Russian drones entered Polish airspace. Russia stated that it was not targeting Poland.

According to Russian sources, a drone strike sparked a fire at an oil company facility in the Russian region of Bashkortostan. The region's governor, Radiy Khabirov, announced this on Telegram. A drone was shot down over the production site and ignited the fire, which is now being extinguished. Damage to the facility was limited, and there were no injuries. A second drone was also shot down. He did not mention Ukraine in his post.

Unverified videos posted on local Telegram channels show an object flying into the facility, followed by a large fireball. The city of Ufa, where the oil facility is located, is approximately 1,400 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he believed the war between Russia and Ukraine would end if all NATO countries stopped supplying oil from Russia and China imposed tariffs of 50 to 100 percent on Russian oil. He then said he would be prepared to impose "massive sanctions against Russia."

Trump said in a post that NATO's commitment to winning the war was "well below 100 percent" and that the purchase of Russian oil by some members of the alliance was "shocking." "This significantly weakens your negotiating position and your bargaining power with Russia."

NATO member Türkiye is the third-largest buyer of Russian oil after China and India. Other members of the 32-nation alliance that purchase Russian oil include Hungary and Slovakia.

Trump stated in his post that a NATO ban on Russian oil and tariffs on Chinese goods would “also help end this deadly but ridiculous war.”

The president said NATO members should impose tariffs of 50 to 100 percent on China and then roll them back once the war that began with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 ends. "China has strong control and even strong influence over Russia," he wrote, and high tariffs "will break that influence."

According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russian troops have captured the town of Novomykolaivka in the southeastern Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk. In addition, Ukrainian long-range drone infrastructure was attacked, Russian news agencies reported, citing the ministry. Furthermore, 340 Ukrainian drones were shot down within the past day. This information could not initially be independently verified.

According to military observers, the fighting around the frontline town of Kupiansk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv is intensifying. Russian soldiers have managed to penetrate the town in small groups through an underground tunnel, report experts from the military-affiliated blog "Deepstate." This is not the first time Moscow has used this tactic in its advances.

Kupiansk is a strategically important transport hub located on the Oskil River. The river itself serves as a barrier to the advance of Russian troops. However, the Russian military has already managed to overcome it in some places. With the help of the tunnel, which has an entrance on the east bank of the river, the military is now strengthening its bridgehead on the west bank.

A severe 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia on Saturday. The epicenter of the quake was located at a depth of almost 40 kilometers, approximately 111 kilometers east of the port city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned of "dangerous" waves within a 300-kilometer radius of the epicenter, but the tsunami warning was later lifted.

Britain's Prince Harry visited Ukraine on Friday. Prince Harry traveled to Kyiv with a team from his Invictus Games Foundation to present plans for the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. Harry was invited by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and the director of the Superhumans Rehabilitation Center, Olga Rudneva. He met privately with Minister of Veterans Affairs Natalya Kalmykova and the head of government and laid a wreath in Maidan Square.

The United States and Western allies are accusing Russia of violating international law and the UN Charter following the incursion of Russian drones into Poland. The joint statement, read by a Polish government representative before a Security Council meeting, also calls on the government in Moscow to end its war of aggression against Ukraine and refrain from further provocations. US President Donald Trump stated on Thursday that the drone strike may have been an accident.

Zelenskyy accuses Kremlin leader Putin of continuing to seek complete occupation of Ukraine. "Putin's goal is to occupy all of Ukraine," Zelenskyy said Friday at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference, adding: "No matter what he says, it's clear that he has set the war machine in motion to such an extent that he simply can't stop it unless he is forced to fundamentally change his personal goals."

Zelensky also said that a "territorial swap" would not be enough to bring about peace. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested such a swap as a path to peace in recent months. Ukraine strongly rejects this.

After several months of heavy fighting, Ukraine says it has halted a Russian advance in northeastern Ukraine. "As of today, we can state that the Russian offensive operation in (the) Sumy region was completely thwarted by our forces," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram after a meeting with the military leadership, including Army Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyy. Fighting in the border areas continues, but the Russian group is no longer capable of launching attacks.

According to the Polish government, the number of airspace violations by Russian drones may be higher than previously known. Army analyses have shown that there may have been 21 airspace violations over the EU and NATO country overnight into Wednesday, said Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. Previously, Poland's leadership had stated the number as 19. Kosiniak-Kamysz emphasized that the number of airspace violations does not equate to the number of drones.

NATO is launching a new initiative to protect its eastern flank following Russia's alleged deliberate airspace violations. Secretary General Mark Rutte announced this in a press conference with Supreme Allied Commander Europe Alexus Grynkewich. "NATO is launching the Eastern Sentry operation to further strengthen our defensive position along our eastern flank," Rutte said in Brussels on Friday. The military operation will include "a range of resources" from countries such as Germany, Denmark, France, and Great Britain, he added.

In addition to “traditional military capabilities,” the measure “will also include elements specifically designed to address the particular challenges associated with the use of drones,” explained the NATO Secretary General.

The Supreme Commander of NATO forces in Europe, General Alexus Grynkewich, said he had already given the order for the new operation to begin “immediately.”

Zelenskyy accuses China of a lack of interest in peace in Ukraine. "China certainly has the ability to force the Russians to stop the killing. However, the world has seen no efforts by China to implement this with regard to Russia," the Ukrainian leader said during an appearance in Kyiv. While Beijing has called for an end to the war and warned against escalation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has done nothing.

"And that doesn't stop China from welcoming Putin and talking to him about the most important thing: longevity," he accused Beijing, referring to Putin's recent four-day state visit to China. A conversation between Putin and President Xi Jinping about aging was accidentally overheard.

As part of the ongoing EU planning for a new package of sanctions against Russia, the German Federal Government is also advocating for more restrictive issuance of entry permits into the Schengen area. According to information from the German Press Agency, a position paper calls for the full implementation of guidelines published by the EU Commission in 2022. These guidelines were supposed to have long since severely restricted the issuance of visas to Russian citizens for tourist trips or shopping trips to EU member states.

Recent figures show that this is clearly not happening. According to EU data, consulates in Russia issued around 542,000 visas for short-term stays in EU countries or other Schengen states such as Switzerland last year. While this was significantly fewer than in the pre-coronavirus year of 2019, it was around a fifth more than in 2023.

This development is causing frustration, especially in eastern EU states. There, there has long been criticism that it is unacceptable for wealthy Russians, who profit from the government of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, to bask in the sun on Mediterranean beaches in EU countries while countless people are dying in Ukraine as a result of Russia's war of aggression.

According to NATO's assessment, the current joint military exercises between Russia and Belarus do not pose an "imminent military threat" to NATO allies. However, the defense alliance is monitoring Russian military activities "very closely," a NATO representative told the AFP news agency. The Kremlin has repeatedly demonstrated "a lack of transparency" regarding the size and scope of its exercises, she added.

According to the Kremlin, Russia is not currently holding talks with Ukraine. Despite existing communication channels, there has been a "pause" in the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference in Moscow.

"The communication channels exist, they are well established," Peskov explained. "Our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through these channels, but for now, we should probably speak of a pause."

The EU has summoned the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus following the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones. "We have made it clear that this reckless act represents a serious escalation by Russia," an EU official in Brussels said. The ambassadors of both countries had already been summoned on Thursday.

France also announced that it would summon the Russian ambassador. Acting Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told France Inter that they would tell him that they would not be intimidated. Furthermore, Russia must stop testing NATO and its allies.

Barrot called the intrusion unacceptable: "This is a deliberate strategy by Russia to intimidate us, to test us."

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk sees the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones as a calculated move. He writes on X: "We would also like the drone attack on Poland to have been an accident. But it wasn't. And we know that."

US President Trump had previously speculated that the border crossing might have been a Russian mistake. Poland's foreign minister promptly refuted this.

According to a report in the British Guardian, Prince Harry has made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. According to the report, Harry (40) and a team from his Invictus Games initiative were invited by the Ukrainian government.

The visit will focus on initiatives to support the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. Harry said he wanted to "do everything in his power" to support the recovery of soldiers. In April, Harry traveled to Lviv in western Ukraine and visited a clinic where wounded soldiers and civilians are rehabilitated.