Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1363: Nearly 4,800 Ukrainian civilians remain in Kostiantynivka described as “center of hell on Earth”

Exclusive

The Arctic is melting, Ukraine is bleeding, and G7 "climate leaders" still won't quit Yamal LNG. Western gas purchases funded 271,000 Shahed drones—and accelerated Arctic warming

This is how Ukraine's F-16s hide from Russian drones. Ukraine's F-16s operate from night from small airstrips while under constant threat of Russian attack. Despite this, they're surviving.

Military

"We saw this near Vuhledar. It ended with Kurakhove's fall": Same Russian pattern now unfolding on another front, as Ukraine diverts forces to Pokrovsk. While 170,000 Russians pin Ukraine at Pokrovsk in Donbas, 70 trucks daily infiltrate the neighboring region.

Intelligence and technology

Japanese and Chinese machine tools found on Russian bomb production lines. International researchers traced foreign manufacturing equipment from Japan, China, and Taiwan to three Russian defense facilities producing guided bomb modules, missile stabilizers and ballistic missiles, according to the HUR Poland revises drone threat assessment: September drones carried explosives, not cardboard. Several hundred Russian drones flew toward Poland from Ukraine on a single September night, with 23 crossing the border and some penetrating 300 kilometers into Polish territory Sabotage strikes NATO's Ukraine weapons corridor. Railway attack fits pattern of Russian hybrid operations . Every tactical event is a strategic data point in coordinated, multi-domain hybrid campaigns

International

Orbán sells Trump-style "peace" for Ukraine by echoing Kremlin lines and attacking EU. In a soft-focus talk with German host Mathias Döpfner, Orbán presents himself as Trump's ally and would-be peacemaker while echoing Kremlin lines about Ukraine, sanctions, and a "failing" European Union. Photos reveal German deputies met in Moscow with sanctioned Russian influence network organizers. Two members of the European Parliament from Sahra Wagenknecht's ultra-left German party BSW met in Moscow with organizers of the Voice of Europe Russian influence network sanctioned by the EU, t-online reports European Commission calculates $59.9 billion military bill for Ukraine in 2026. Zelenskyy and Macron sign defense procurement deal as Paris visit opens door to rafale jets. France is considering a 10-year strategic agreement with Ukraine that would signal the provision of Rafale aircraft, Reuters reported, as President of Ukraine arrived in Paris for talks with Emmanuel Macron on defense cooperation. Ukraine receives 7,000 glass insulators from Lithuania in latest energy aid package. Ukraine has received its seventh support package from Lithuania's Litgrid, this time containing over 7,000 glass insulators collected from across the Baltic nation and delivered to help restore the country's battered energy infrastructure.

Humanitarian and social impact

"We began thinking the way they wanted us to," Ukrainian POW recounts Russia's Taganrog prison. "Maybe this hurts you, but truth must not stay silent," he said. Romanian village evacuated after Russian drone hits gas ship 500 meters from border. Authorities emptied Plauru, a Romanian village, after a Russian drone struck a vessel carrying 4,000 tons of liquefied gas just 500 meters away on the Ukrainian side of the border near Izmail port. 'A center of hell on Earth': 4,800 civilians trapped in frontline city of Kostiantynivka (VIDEO). Burned-out cars line the exits of Kostiantynivka, where 4,800 civilians are caught between Russian aerial strikes and evacuation routes that Ukrainian soldiers describe as increasingly deadly, the Donetsk Regional Military Administration reports. The Russian army struck energy facilities in five oblasts of Ukraine. Ukraine implements all-day power restrictions following attacks on Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odesa, and Donetsk facilities

Political and legal developments

Prague police investigate Ukrainian flag "installation" near anti-Ukrainian speaker's residence. Ukrainian flags appeared on the fence near Tomio Okamura's Prague home, the SPD party leader, who held the ladder himself as workers removed Ukraine's flag from the Czech parliament building on his first day as chairman of the Chamber of Deputies. Former CIA chief joins Ukrainian missile maker's advisory board amid investigation into $100M scheme, involving Zelenskyy's associate. Earlier, Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies met with an FBI representative to discuss the investigation. Read our earlier daily review here.