Ukraine/Russia Update 1,314….Heavy Russian Drone Attack…Trump Losing Love for Putin…

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again urged the international community to act decisively to cut off Russia’s energy revenues that fund its Ukraine warafter Moscow carried out one of its worst attacks on Kyiv of the war. “The time for decisive action is long overdue, and we count on a strong response from the United States, Europe, the G7 and the G20,” the Ukrainian president said on Telegram. While the United Nations was holding general assembly sessions, Russia had “literally used every day, every hour, to strike at Ukraine”, he said in his nightly video address. Ukraine has so far failed to convince US president Donald Trump to impose punitive sanctions on Moscow.

• The onslaught on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine killed at least four people in what Zelenskyy called a described as a “vile and cowardly” attack, Luke Harding reports. Russia launched nearly 600 drones and more than 40 cruise missiles in a bombardment that lasted more than 12 hours over Saturday night and into Sunday morning. The main targets were the Ukrainian capital and the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Odesa.

• The Ukrainian president noted the bombardments came at the close of UN general assembly week in New York, during which Donald Trump expressed support for Kyiv. A missile wiped out most of a street in Kyiv’s Petropavlivska Borshchahivka district, while a falling concrete slab killed a 12-year-old girl. Two of the other deaths occurred at a cardiology clinic in the capital. Across Ukraine 67 people were reported wounded, according to local authorities. Zelenskyy described the attack on the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia as “extraordinarily fierce”, with nearly 40 injured, while footage on social media showed several buildings badly damaged and on fire.

• Zelenskyy promised his country would “strike back”. “This is precisely how Russia shows its true position. Moscow wants to keep fighting and killing and deserves only the harshest pressure in the world,” he said on Telegram. “The Kremlin benefits from continuing this war and terror as long as energy revenues flow and the shadow fleet operates.”

• The US is considering Ukraine’s request to obtain long-range Tomahawk missiles for its war effort, vice-president JD Vance said. Zelenskyy has asked the US to sell Tomahawks to European nations that would send them to Ukraine. Vance told Fox News on Sunday that Donald Trump would make the “final determination” on whether to allow the deal. Trump has denied Ukraine’s requests for use of long-range missiles in the past – Tomahawks have a range of 2,500km (1,550 miles) – but is frustrated at Moscow’s refusal to reach a peace deal. Vance also said Russia’s invasion had stalled, with little in the way of territorial gains in Ukraine recently. “The Russians have got to wake up and accept reality here. A lot of people are dying. They don’t have a lot to show for it.”….

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ISW...Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 28, 2025

1. US Vice President JD Vance criticized Russia’s rejection of American invitations to engage in bilateral or trilateral negotiations as Kremlin officials continue to demonstrate their lack of interest in good-faith negotiations with Ukraine.
2. Russian forces conducted the third largest combined missile and drone strike against Ukraine of the war to date on the night of September 27 to 28 with 643 total projectiles.
3. European officials continue to report unidentified drones operating within NATO airspace.
4. Kremlin-linked Moldovan politicians called for protests in Moldova following the September 28 parliamentary election.
5. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized that Russia will use its upcoming United Nations Security Council (UNSC) presidency to “review” the 1995 Dayton Accords in a likely effort to destabilize the Balkans and divide and distract Europe.
6. Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman and Novopavlivka.