Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1281: deep strikes torch Russian drone factories 1000+ km away as Ukraine allows men aged 18-22 to travel abroad

Exclusives

Blast refineries, raise gas prices: a job for Ukraine's new missiles. Russia's oil industry is already hurting. Now imagine what a Ukrainian cruise missile with a 1,000-kg warhead can do.

Russians captured him, cut his throat, and left Ukrainian POW to die. He survived and wants revenge for tortured comrades. National Guard soldier Vladyslav was dragged into a basement near Pokrovsk and watched how the Russians tortured seven Ukrainian defenders before they slashed his own throat and dumped him in a pit with their bodies, thinking he was dead. He was not.

2 million workers gone: Russia's war economy slides toward collapse. With 73% of businesses understaffed, defense plants are breaking under labor shortages and falling output.

Military

Major pipeline explosion halts Moscow fuel supplies after Ryazan blast. The main Ryazan-Moscow oil pipeline exploded on 26 August, disrupting fuel supplies to Russia's capital and prompting Transneft to assess damages from the incident. Frontline report: Ukrainian drones strike 1,300 kilometers deep into Russia, torching Shahed storage depots in Tatarstan. The Yelabuga factory has become too dangerous to staff, with few technicians willing to work at Russia's largest Shahed assembly plant under repeated Ukrainian strikes. FT: West plans 3-layer defense system for post-war Ukraine with NATO forces. Approximately 10 countries are prepared to send troops to Ukrainian territory after the war ends with Britain has proposed deploying Typhoon fighter jets in western Ukraine

Intelligence and technology

Russia builds air defense towers around drone factory as Ukraine deep strikes intensify, partisans report. The Yelabuga facility in Russia's Tatarstan, which produces over 5,000 Geran-2 drones monthly, has sustained repeated attacks throughout 2025.

International

Yermak, Kyslytsia, Umerov to represent Ukraine in New York talks with Witkoff. Most Germans believe that Ukraine can cede territory for peace – poll. Far-right AfD supporters drive German sentiment toward Ukrainian territorial concessions, with 72% backing land-for-peace deals compared to just 43% of conservative voters Trump envoy: Russia submits Donetsk peace plan Ukraine "may not take". A Russian peace proposal involving Donetsk Oblast sits before Ukrainian negotiators as President Trump continues pressing both sides toward a settlement. US envoy sets Ukraine talks for this week, reveals daily Russia contact. A Ukrainian delegation will meet with US envoy Steve Witkoff in New York this week, as the official revealed he maintains daily contact with Russian officials and believes a peace agreement is "already on the table." Ukrainians contributed $ 5 bn to Poland's budget in 2024 as refugee protection faces uncertainty. New figures reveal 1.55mn Ukrainians generated $5 bn for Poland's budget in 2024, coinciding with President Nawrocki's veto of refugee protection extension.

Humanitarian and social impact

Ukrainian woman who fled war in Ukraine was stabbed to death in the US. Her suspected killer was arrested but the cause of the murder is still unknown. Russian drones target civilian energy infrastructure across six Ukrainian regions causing power outages. Ukraine's Ministry of Energy described the strikes as "another act of energy terrorism aimed at the civilian population." Ukrainian POW returns from 7-year Russian imprisonment with his cat. Stanislav Panchenko, 25, returned to Ukraine with 84 other released prisoners. Unlike the others, Panchenko brought home his cat Myshko, whom he had rescued and raised during 4 years in Russian captivity. Russian forces kill civilian, injure three in morning attacks on Kherson. An 81-year-old woman died and three men sustained injuries ranging from burns to traumatic brain injury during Russian attacks on Kherson

Political and legal developments

Scandal-hit Odesa chemical giant goes up for sale. Privatization aims to restore facility crucial for feeding Ukraine and the world. Ukraine allows men aged 18-22 to travel abroad amid conflict over army recruitment versus demographic crisis. Military commanders argue the country cannot afford to let healthy young men leave when frontline units desperately need fresh recruits, while civilians contend that travel restrictions have accelerated family emigration and severed homeland ties for an entire generation of Ukrainian youth abroad.

New developments

Ukraine's western regions see tourism boom. Tourism tax revenues surge 35% as mountain resorts and cultural cities defy wartime expectations. Minneapolis school shooter wrote "I am terrorist" and "Kill yourself" in Russian on weapon magazines and listened to Russian rappers. Westman mixed desperate Russian phrases with violent English fantasies, writing "I have had thoughts about mass murder for a long time" before targeting his former elementary school where his mother worked and killing two children. Read our earlier daily review here.