Russia, Ukraine Exchange Strikes As NATO Jet Shoots Down Drone In Lithuania
by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · JoinRussia and Ukraine exchanged strikes overnight, hitting a gas station and an oil refinery, according to local authorities and monitoring Telegram channels.
The attacks on September 14-15 came just hours after US President Donald Trump said Moscow and Kyiv had agreed not to target each other's energy facilities.
Separately, Lithuanian authorities said a NATO fighter jet shot down a drone that entered the country's airspace early on September 15.
In the Ukrainian capital, a petrol station and warehouse facilities were hit early on September 15, and one man was hospitalized in serious condition following the attack, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Russia has recently expanded its strikes to petrol stations in Kyiv, with Ukrainian authorities saying around 300 petrol stations have been hit in recent months, most of them in or near Ukraine’s frontline regions.
Meanwhile, a missile attack on the Russian city of Taganrog, near the Ukrainian border, damaged a warehouse owned by online retailer Ozon, as well as warehouses belonging to agricultural companies, regional Governor Yuri Slyusar said on September 15.
The Russian region of Samara was also targeted by drones overnight, with an industrial facility sustaining damage, according to regional Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, who added that 40 drones had been destroyed during the attack. He did not identify the facility. The region is home to a number of large oil refineries.
Monitoring Telegram channels reported that a fire was visible in the industrial area of the Syzran oil refinery in the Samara region following a drone attack.
The attacks came after Trump said in a post on Truth Social on September 14 that "Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!"
In comments following Trump's post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to stop strikes on Russia if Ukraine's allies ensured that Moscow would cease hitting Ukrainian energy facilities, critical infrastructure, and food supply routes.
NATO Jet Downs Drone Over Lithuania
Meanwhile, in Lithuania, a NATO fighter jet shot down a drone early on September 15, the Lithuanian National Crisis Management Center said, after a drone alert was issued earlier in the capital, Vilnius, and the surrounding region.
"Together with our NATO Allies, Lithuania will defend its airspace," Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda wrote on X following the incident.
According to Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, citing preliminary data from the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), the drone came from neighboring Belarus and was heading west.
The incident in Lithuania, an EU and NATO member, came after recent Russian drone strikes near the Polish border, with Kyiv warning that Moscow is "knocking on NATO's door."
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On NATO's Doorstep: The Checkpoints Being Targeted Along Ukraine's Borders
"Russia's barbaric strikes at the Ukraine-Poland border in Yahodyn are not just a continuation of its attacks on our state borders," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha wrote on X on September 13. "This is Putin's terror 'knocking' directly on the doors of the EU and NATO."
Russia, Ukraine Exchange Strikes As NATO Jet Shoots Down Drone In Lithuania
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