Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1673: Ukraine’s two steel plants, which produce 70% of country’s steel, are buckling under Russian strikes

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Two plants make 70% of Ukraine's steel. Russia hit both. Then ports closed, rail costs rose 30%, and the EU's carbon tax kicked in. The head of Ukraine's largest steel plant says the government needs a single rescue document with deadlines and assigned agencies, because each problem stalls when handled alone.

Vivaldi's secret weapon was the targeting, not the robots: Third Corps reconnaissance mapped Russian command nodes, then hit them to cause panic. The officer said disrupting command and communications was one of the tasks set directly by the corps commander, with brigade and corps intelligence identifying the areas to strike.

Ukraine's chief prosecutor fled. Politicians still choose the man who can prosecute them.. He is only the latest prosecutor general to leave the office in disgrace, and the office is the reason.

Military

Russia fabricates Dobropillia encirclement to strengthen its case for Kyiv's capitulation at UN – ISW. Ukrainian officers describe active fighting around the Donetsk Oblast transport hub.

Russia is mapping everyday targets across Kyiv, from trolleybus depots to Zhuliany airport, top monitoring channel says, ahead of next ballistic strike. Meanwhile, Ukraine is racing to defend Kyiv against jet drones before winter.

He swore to defend Ukraine, then switched to Russia when it seized Crimea. Twelve years later, Ukrainian FPV drone found him commanding Russian regiment. Colonel Oleksandr Isaiev, a Mykolaiv native who switched to Russia during the seizure of Crimea, died in an FPV drone strike.

Ukraine's Vivaldi counteroffensive near Lyman just got help from behind Russian lines: partisans say they cut rail supply to three Russian regiments, no explosion needed. ATESH says it disabled four relay cabinets in Voronezh Oblast, which helped a Russian operation in Donetsk Oblast.

Vivaldi erased Russia's Lyman pincer. Now Moscow is pushing toward Sloviansk instead. DeepState says Ukraine stopped one Russian approach to its fortified Donetsk cities. Moscow is pressing another.

Foreign volunteers retrain as drone operators as Ukraine's battlefield changes. Some of the Western volunteers who came to Ukraine to fight on the ground are now learning to operate FPV drones as unmanned systems take on a growing role in combat.

Intelligence and technology

Year ago, only 12 Ukrainian brigades could order weapons online. Now, 500 units participate in revolutionary program that has delivered 1.3 million drones to front. DOT-Chain Defense lets frontline units order their own drones and gear.

Ukraine's new drone ferries FPV drones deep behind Russian lines and releases them there. It costs about $9,900 and does three other jobs too. The KARA can drop bombs, relay signals, ferry FPV drones to the front, or strike, and it is on sale on Ukraine's state marketplace.

A former US nuclear-sub commander, a Ukrainian fund, and a plan to shield Odesa with drone swarms. Ukraine can't fully export its weapons yet — but its battle-tested tech is so in demand that two Ukrainian players just went to Denmark.

Old American armor, new Ukrainian brain: Skelya regiment nears completion of M1117 unmanned conversion. The regiment's Innovation Center is finishing a project to remotely control an armored vehicle based on a chassis originally designed during the Vietnam War era.

Strike copters lead Ukraine's 650 new military drone approvals—jam-proof and interceptor models close behind. By July, Ukraine's drone approval tally was running more than 30% ahead of last year, with the count reaching 650 by September.

International

Europe is overreacting to Russian threats, Finland's president says—his intelligence sees no imminent danger. Stubb says the main goal of Russian sabotage abroad is to spread panic so that partners provide less support to Ukraine.

Humanitarian and social impact

"Food must never be used as a weapon": EU calls for Black Sea attack moratorium. The push comes as attacks have made the route increasingly dangerous and costly for commercial shipping, threatening a key trade lifeline for Ukraine and a major source of food for global markets.

Russia is spending jet-powered drones on Ukraine's toilet-paper factory. It's same campaign that has destroyed 2.1 million square meters of Ukraine's warehouses. Snow Panda, a maker of toilet paper and wipes, lost its warehouse to a second Russian strike, months after a missile hit its main hub and injured workers.

Political and legal developments

$16 bn or lives of Ukrainians: Kyiv is furious after EU took two of Russia's richest men off its sanctions list. Usmanov and Fridman were dropped over a prisoner deal and a $16bn lawsuit.

New developments

Russia's sanctioned propaganda network Rybar freely roamed Schengen zone to shoot manipulative content. Czech journalists caught Rybar operatives posing as documentary filmmakers in Prague—they fled when confronted by reporters from Seznam Zprávy.

Explosives found meters from the drone that crashed near a Bundeswehr air base—investigators say it matches the GRU's Leipzig attack devices. The federal prosecutor and Germany's criminal police have taken over the case, and the drone may have been near the A400M transport fleet hub for up to two years.

Read our earlier daily review here.