Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1308: Former Florida police officer operates 200 Kremlin propaganda sites

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"When prevention fails, we use law enforcement"—Ukraine's new BEB director on fighting the $ 24 bn shadow economy. In his first interview since taking office, Tsyvinskyi explains how the Bureau of Economic Security will use neural networks to track laundered money from economic crimes.

The EU's "drone wall" needs Ukraine's know-how, EU cash — and integration no one owns.

Moldova elections: Russia's spy agency pushes conspiracy of planned NATO "occupation". Kremlin intelligence targets Moldova's elections with claims of anti-Western plots.

Vacancies: Deputy editor-in-chief, fundraising communications manager. Euromaidan Press is expanding and searching for professional soulmates who believe in independent journalism.

Military

Balloons with explosives reported taking part in Ukrainian drone strike on Russia for first time. Ukraine's overnight drone strike on Russia may have contained balloons armed with explosives, according to Russian reports — Ukraine uses balloons to augment its drone warfare strategy Ukraine hits aircraft in occupied Crimea and oil refining facilities in Russia. Ukrainian forces struck the pipeline complex supplying Russian military operations and hit two aircraft at a Crimean airfield during overnight raids that extended deep into Russian territory Russia claims 44 drones shot down near Moscow in one night — and the attack isn't over yet. From 19:30 on 22 September to 12:25 on 23 September, Moscow mayor Sobyanin has posted ongoing interception reports and claimed the attack was still ongoing.

Intelligence and technology

How Russia compensates for lost surveillance after Ukraine destroyed Be-12 anti-submarine amphibious aircraft in Crimea. The Black Sea Fleet's "eyes" may never fully recover from September's surgical strike. Copenhagen's main airport halts flights due to drones, but Kremlin dismisses it as "unworthy of attention". Large drones hover over critical European infrastructure while Peskov calls accusations "groundless." Lithuanian military granted new powers against drones — law revised after border airspace intrusions. The Aviation Law and statute on military force were changed to reflect evolving aerial threats from Russia. From Baltic to Black Sea: EU plans a "drone wall" across NATO's eastern edge. On 26 September, seven EU countries and Ukraine are going to discuss the so-called "drone wall" to protect Europe's eastern frontier, following Russia's unprecedented violation of Estonian, Polish, and Romanian airspace. Latvia wants to restore marshes on border with Russia to strengthen defense. Latvia's Ministry of Defense plans to use European Union funds to restore marshes and water bodies on degraded peat sites, positioning the wetlands as components of the Baltic Defense Line project.

International

Trump says Ukraine can reclaim its territory from Russia "with time" — but Kyiv urgently needs 60 billions to fight in 2026. As Trump says patience will lead Ukraine to the success, Moscow is arming itself with lifelines from China and North Korea each day. Russia claims French, British troops arrived in Odesa to target Transnistria as Sandu warns of Moldova-based assault on Ukraine. The unsubstantiated allegations mirror tactics used before Russia's 2014 Crimea annexation, creating manufactured pretexts for potential invasion from Moldova's region occupied by Russian forces. ISW: Russia dangles nuclear talks to extract Trump concessions on war in Ukraine. Russia's push for arms control dialogue masks an ultimatum that could fracture Western unity if Trump prioritizes nuclear negotiations over Ukrainian sovereignty and NATO commitments. Sanctions withheld, while Ukrainian cities bombed — but Rubio calls it US "broker" strategy. While Trump's peace initiatives falter, attacks hit Ukraine, Poland, and even Norway, Denmark, and Moldova. Trump threatens tariffs if Europe continues Russian oil and gas imports. While Hungary's FM recently rejected US pressure to abandon Russian energy supplies, Trump told the UN that European nations are "financing a war against themselves" and demanded they immediately cease all energy imports from Moscow. Ukraine refuses to abandon EU aspirations despite 11 years of Russian war, new Transparency International poll shows. Ukrainians primarily associate EU membership with peace (60%) and better futures for children (65%). Three African juntas quit ICC while their ally Putin faces arrest warrant. The timing of the announcement draws attention given all three countries maintain close ties with Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin faces an ICC arrest warrant issued in 2023 Russia lobbies UN aviation agency to end air sanctions, claims violations of human rights. Russia is pressing the UN's aviation body to lift sanctions on spare parts and overflights, claiming they violate "human rights," even as its airlines scramble for Western components and its Belarusian ally faces fresh scrutiny over backdoor transfers. Norway reports first Russian airspace violations in 10 years. Russia violated Norwegian airspace three times between April and August 2025, the Norwegian government announced Family loses contact with Indian man reportedly drafted into Russia-Ukraine war. At least 21 Indians have now claimed they were tricked into traveling to Russia for education or work only to face forced military conscription.

Political and legal developments

Anti-corruption cops nail railway executives after beating Zelenskyy. Despite the attempt to strip their independence, NABU and SAPO completed the Ukrzaliznytsia investigation. Vacancy: deputy editor-in-chief.

New developments

Former Florida cop turned Kremlin operative, spreading Russian propaganda through over 200 fake news websites. John Mark Dougan fled to Moscow in 2016 after facing charges in Florida, then received political asylum and now coordinates GRU-funded servers running AI models. Russian propaganda media claimed half the world watched Moscow's Eurovision rival. The number was just combined population figures. Russian state media initially declared that over 4 billion people tuned in to the Intervision song contest, then hours later changed "watched by" to "available to" after revealing the figure simply represented the combined population of all participating countries. Reuters: Russia's fuel crisis spreads to central and southern oblasts as Ukraine's refinery attacks cut supply. Independent fuel stations report outages of popular gasoline grades after Ukraine steps up strikes on energy targets. Read our earlier daily review here.