Ukraine-Russia war latest: Russian fighter jets violate Estonian airspace in third Nato incursion in two weeks – UK Times

Ukrainian drones have reportedly struck oil refineries deep inside Russia, triggering explosions and fires in the regions of Saratov and Samara, according to Russian Telegram channels and local officials.

In Saratov, residents shared videos appearing to show a drone hitting an oil refinery on the city’s outskirts overnight on 20 September, causing a large blast and blaze visible from the city. Governor Roman Busargin confirmed one person was injured after a residential building was damaged during what he called a “Ukrainian drone attack,” though he did not directly mention the refinery.

The Saratov refinery, which produces more than 20 petroleum products including gasoline and diesel, has been hit before. Ukrainian strikes earlier this month caused a fire at the facility, which supplies the Russian military, according to Kyiv’s General Staff.

Farther east, residents in Novokuybyshevsk, Samara Oblast, reported a major fire near the city’s refinery, with geolocated footage suggesting damage to its main processing unit. Russia’s aviation authority briefly grounded flights at Samara airport during the attack.

Ukraine has not commented on the strikes, which follow a pattern of escalating attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure as Moscow faces mounting fuel shortages.

One person died and 13 were injured after Russia carried out a large-scale missile and drone strike on Ukraine in the early hours of Saturday, hitting regions from Kyiv to the country’s far west.

Explosions were reported in Pavlohrad and Mykolaiv around 4.40am local time during an initial wave of attacks, followed by further blasts in Dnipro shortly after 6am.

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast governor Serhii Lysak said on Telegram that one person was killed and 13 injured in the attack on the region.

The Kyiv Oblast Military Administration said strikes damaged a home, 10 garage units and five parked cars in Bucha, Boryspil and Obukhiv. Mykolaiv mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said on Telegram there was damage in a residential area, though no casualties were reported.

Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine from 5.45am until around 7am as dozens of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles were launched, according to Ukraine’s air force. Lviv governor Maxim Kozytsky said two cruise missiles were downed over the region.

The attack came after Russia allegedly violated Estonian airspace, prompting Nato consultations under Article 4.

Russia’s alleged violation of Estonian airspace comes just days after a think tank warned Moscow was threatening another Nato neighbour, Finland, using the same “playbook” as it used in Ukraine.

“High-ranking Kremlin officials have increased threats against Finland in recent weeks, including by using language that mirrors the Kremlin’s false justifications for its invasions of Ukraine,” the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said in an analysis published on Thursday.

“ISW continues to assess that the playbook Russia is currently using to threaten NATO mirrors the playbook Russia previously used to set informational conditions justifying its aggression against Ukraine.”

Europe’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the “violation of Estonia’s airspace by Russian military aircraft is an extremely dangerous provocation”.

She added that the EU “stands in full solidarity with Estonia”, and said: “We will continue to support our member states in strengthening their defences with European resources.”

“Putin is testing the West’s resolve. We must not show weakness.”

Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said NATO’s borders were being tested for a reason.

In a post on X, she said: “Three russian fighter jets over Tallinn is one more hard proof that #EasternSentry is long due.

“PS. Türkiye set an example 10 years ago. Some food for thought.”

In 2015, a Russian aircraft was shot down by the Turkish air force after it was claimed to have violated its airspace.

A statement from the Russian military said the flight was “scheduled” and had been in “strict accordance” with airspace rules.

The statement read: “On September 19 of this year, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets made a scheduled flight from Karelia to an airfield in the Kaliningrad region.

“The flight was conducted in strict accordance with the International Rules for the Use of Airspace, without violating the borders of other states, as confirmed by objective monitoring means.

“During the flight, the Russian aircraft did not deviate from the agreed air route and did not violate Estonian airspace. The flight route of the aircraft passed over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea basin at a distance of more than three kilometres from the island of Vaindlo.”

UK officials have joined leaders across Europe in condemning Russia’s incursion into NATO airspace today.

Defence Secretary John Healey said: “This is yet another edition of the Putin playbook.

“Putin’s aggression only serves to strengthen the unity of NATO and our resolve to stand with Ukraine.”

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK was standing in solidarity with its Estonian allies, calling the incursion “reckless”

“We must continue to increase pressure on Putin, including driving forward the important new economic sanctions announced by the UK & EU in recent days,” she said.

NATO Article 4 has now been triggered nine times in the past 75 years, two of which have occurred in less than two weeks.

The organisation has called a meeting in Estonia early next week to discuss Russia’s incursion into Estonia’s airspace on Friday. The meeting comes after Estonia requested consultations under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty.

Article 4 states that members of NATO can bring an issue forward for the North Atlantic Council, the organisation’s principal political decision-making body, to consult. The parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territory, political independence or security of any of them is threatened.

Since NATO was established in 1949, Article 4 has been invoked nine times, including today’s request. On 10 September, it was triggered by Poland after Polish forces shot down 19 drones over its airspace.

Article 5 states that “the Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.”

If members decided that Russia had attacked the territory of a member state, then Article 5 would be invoked and members would take the action they deemed necessary.

Article 5 is the cornerstone of the North Atlantic Treaty, NATO’s founding treaty. When the treaty was created in 1949, its key aim was to counter the Soviet Union if it sought to extend its control of Eastern Europe.

Republican and Democratic senators are seeking a bill which would target Russia’s “shadow fleet”.

The “Sanctioning Harbors and Dodgers of Western Sanctions,” or SHADOW Fleets Act, would provide a list of indicators the US could use to identify vessels supporting the fleet, making it easier to sanction them sooner.

It would also put in place strict sanctions liability for any ship that engages in a transfer with a sanctioned Russian vessel.

US Senator Jim Risch said: “Putin will use every trick in the book to evade U.S. sanctions, and the U.S. is cracking down on this illicit shadow fleet of ships that he uses to fund his war.

“These ships and the oil sales they facilitate directly threaten American and European security, and will be stopped.”

Zelensky said Ukrainian forces caused heavy losses to Russia in a frontline counteroffensive in two of its towns today.

Zelensky said forces had disrupted Russia’s plans to seize the logistics centre in the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.

He said: “It was there that one of the most important directions of the Russian offensive was located, and they were unable to launch a full-fledged offensive there. Our military is destroying its forces.

“The Russians have suffered significant losses, and the ‘exchange fund’ for our country has been significantly replenished – every day more Russian prisoners are being taken.”

Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said forces had pressed on from three to seven kilometres through enemy defences and cleared nine settlements of Russian forces.