A Russian drone hit the presidium of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv on September 28, killing at least one person, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

A daytime strike on a business centre in Dnipro killed three people, Ukrainska Pravda reported, and the toll from an overnight guided-bomb strike on a Kharkiv apartment block rose to 43 injured, including 11 children, regional prosecutors said.

Ukraine's SBU security service said its drones hit four fuel depots supplying the Russian army in the Krasnodar region overnight on September 28, Slovo i Dilo reported. Russian regional officials reported fires at three enterprises caused by falling debris. The Russian side of last night, September 28 to 29, is not yet reported at the time of writing.

The strikes came as US President Donald Trump said Kyiv should “take it easy on the refineries”; a Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine would stop only if Russia agreed to an energy truce.

Refinery strikes

Nationwide: Trump told reporters: “You gotta take it easy on the refineries,” and said Zelenskiy had replied that Ukraine would probably do that, the Kyiv Independent reported on September 28. A Ukrainian official, not named by the newspaper, said Kyiv would agree to stop attacking Russian refineries only if Russia also agreed to an energy truce.

Krasnodar region: UPDATE, September 26 strike: no restart of the Ilsky refinery had been reported at the time of writing. The halt still rests on Ukrainian claims: Fire Point, the maker of the FP-1 drone, said the plant stopped work, and a Ukrainian Telegram channel cited Planet Labs satellite imagery showing damage to three crude units and the tank farm, Militarnyi reported. No Russian official or company source has confirmed a halt.

Perm: UPDATE, September 25 strike: no restart of Lukoil's Perm refinery had been reported at the time of writing, after three industry sources told Reuters the plant had fully halted crude processing.

Nationwide: no new strike on a Russian refinery was reported in the 24 hours to the time of writing. Plants reported halted or cut this month account for about 121.6mn tonnes a year, or 37% of Russia's 327mn tonnes nameplate capacity, by IntelliNews' refinery ledger, and up to 159.2mn tonnes, or 49%, if earlier halts still hold. The unconfirmed Ilsky halt is not counted. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in early September that about 10% of Russian refining capacity was under repair.

Metal plants hit

No new strike on a Ukrainian metals plant was reported in the past 48 hours at the time of writing. The status of 38 Ukrainian steel, iron ore, coke, ferroalloy, pipe and non-ferrous plants is tracked in IntelliNews' metals and mining ledger, linked below.

Oil depots, factories and military targets in Russia

Krasnodar region: the SBU said its drones hit the Edelweiss-95 and Din-Yug-Oil depots in Novotitarovskaya, the Lukoil-Yugnefteprodukt depot in Pavlovskaya and the Angelinskaya depot in Staronizhesteblievskaya, which it said store and supply fuel for the Russian army, Slovo i Dilo reported. The region's operational headquarters said debris caused fires at three enterprises in the Dinskoy, Pavlovsky and Krasnoarmeysky districts, with no casualties, AiF reported. This updates the two depot fires reported in the previous edition.

Bryansk region: a drone attack brought down part of a bridge on the Dyatkovo-Lyudinovo railway line and derailed 10 cars, and 18 empty gondola cars derailed in the Unecha district, acting governor Yegor Kovalchuk said, Euromaidan Press reported. Track was also damaged in the Navlya district. No casualties were reported and the date of the attacks was not given. Ukraine's General Staff said its forces hit a Pantsir-S2 air-defence system at Seltso, Obozrevatel reported.

Tula and Voronezh regions: Zelenskiy confirmed hits on two defence plants, which he did not name, Slovo i Dilo reported.

Voronezh region: Governor Alexander Gusev said about 20 drones were downed over Voronezh and six other districts overnight on September 28 and that falling debris injured four people, including two young children in grave condition, Kommersant reported. A dacha burned and three garages were destroyed.

Nationwide: Russia's defence ministry claimed its air defences destroyed 254 Ukrainian drones between 20:00 Moscow time on September 27 and 08:00 on September 28, EADaily reported, and 14 more between 08:00 and 20:00 on September 28, Izvestia reported. Its tally for the night of September 28 to 29 had not been found at the time of writing.

Ukraine under fire

Dnipro: a strike on a business centre in the city centre at about 11:15 on September 28 killed three people, Ukrainska Pravda reported. Injury figures differ: Ukrainska Pravda gave 12, and 112.ua gave 18 injured and 47 people rescued.

Kharkiv: UPDATE, overnight September 28 strike: the guided bomb that hit a nine-storey apartment block in the Saltivskyi district injured 43 people, including 11 children, and damaged 46 buildings, the regional prosecutor's office said, Ukrinform reported. The previous edition gave the governor's early figure of 20 injured.

Kyiv: drones hit non-residential buildings in the Obolonskyi, Darnytskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts during the day, Klitschko said, the Kyiv Independent reported. A petrol station was hit in the morning attack, UA.News reported.

Kyiv region: a strike on a warehouse in Brovary caused a minor ammonia leak, regional head Tymur Tkachenko said, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Odesa: Russian forces attacked infrastructure overnight and in the morning of September 29, starting a fire that was quickly put out, and six people were injured, two of them taken to hospital, Serhiy Lysak, head of the city military administration, said, UA.News reported.

Nationwide: Russian strikes left consumers without power in the Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kyiv and Odesa regions on the morning of September 28, the grid operator Ukrenergo said, Mezha reported. Russia's defence ministry said it hit fuel and telecoms infrastructure in Kyiv, the Vasylkiv military airfield, a Nova Post logistics centre in Odesa, a cargo vessel at Chornomorsk and the Dunaisudoservis ship-repair yard in Izmail overnight on September 28, TASS reported. Reuters said it could not verify the claims, and no Ukrainian confirmation was found.

Data centres, telecoms, media and R&D

Kyiv: a Russian drone hit the presidium building of the National Academy of Sciences in the Shevchenkivskyi district at about 13:30 on September 28, starting a fire; people inside escaped through windows, LIGA.net reported. Klitschko said one woman was killed and three people were injured, the Kyiv Independent reported. The academy said there were fatalities and that it had lost contact with some colleagues, UA.News reported, and LIGA.net, citing the academy, reported two academicians killed. Former security council secretary Volodymyr Horbulin was slightly hurt by glass.

“There will definitely be a response to Russia for this,” Zelenskiy wrote.

Kyiv: the building of the Education and Science Ministry was damaged in the same attacks, Minister Andrii Butenko said, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Kyiv: Russia's defence ministry said it hit data processing centres of the operator Ukrtelecom and the internet provider DreamLine in Kyiv overnight on September 28, TASS reported. No statement from either company or Ukrainian confirmation had been found at the time of writing.

Weapons and technology

Ukraine is shooting down 70% of Russian drones overall but only 57% of the jet-powered ones, Zelenskiy said on September 28, Ukrinform reported, adding that new interceptors were being tested in combat and needed refining. On September 26 he put the jet-drone rate at 55% and said Russia planned to spend $12bn next year on jet drones and loitering munitions alone, citing Russian documents obtained by military intelligence, the Kyiv Independent reported.

“North Korea has already established mass production of single-use attack drones,” Kyrylo Budanov, head of the presidential office, said on September 28, Ukrinform reported.

Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps said it drove Soviet BTR-60 armoured personnel carriers converted into remote-controlled kamikaze robots into Russian positions during its offensive near Lyman, Ukrainska Pravda reported. No figures on numbers or explosive loads were given.

Russia's National Guard said it tested a vehicle-mounted combat laser against drones in the Leningrad region, TASS reported, without giving a model or performance data.

The EU Council approved its first five defence projects of common interest on September 28, including a drone and counter-drone project and an integrated air and missile defence project, the Council said. No amounts were named.

In Russia, companies have increased demand for drone protection almost fivefold since President Vladimir Putin authorised temporary state management of critical infrastructure whose owners fail to protect it, the Financial Times reported, putting the cost of protecting one industrial site at about RUB220mn ($2.6mn).

Arson and sabotage in the EU and the UK

UK: UPDATE, September 27 arrests: the five men held near RAF Fairford were released on bail under strict conditions after interviews, and Counter Terrorism Policing said they “absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of inquiry,” PBS reported, citing AP. The authorities have linked the case to no state.

EU: defence ministers discussed an “Emergency Security Protocol” as a common response to hybrid attacks, including drone incursions and sabotage, on September 28, foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, Politico.eu reported. She said it was unclear whether a majority of member states backed it. No new arson, sabotage or drone incursion was found for September 28 to 29 in a limited search.

Tit for tat

Russia struck Ukraine's leading science institution and a Dnipro office block in daylight, after a week in which Zelenskiy said Moscow fired more than 2,200 drones at Ukraine and Ukraine hit six Russian refineries, by Ukrainian count. Ukraine answered with drones on Krasnodar fuel depots and Bryansk railways, while Washington pressed Kyiv to spare Russian refineries and Kyiv said it would do so only in return for an energy truce.

The ledgers

The running ledgers are kept as six public spreadsheets at permanent addresses. The first three are non-exhaustive, every row is sourced, and where only one side has spoken the row says so. Defence ministry figures are recorded as claims, and in the sabotage ledger attribution is given exactly as the authorities state it and no further. The fourth tracks what has happened to Ukraine's steel, iron ore, coke, ferroalloy and non-ferrous plants since 2021, grouped by owner. The fifth, started on September 27, follows strikes on data centres, telecoms, media and research sites.

RUSSIA STRIKES LEDGER: Russian strikes on Ukraine's economic infrastructure, 290 rows

UKRAINE STRIKES LEDGER: Ukrainian strikes on economic infrastructure in Russia and occupied territory, 170 rows

ARSON & SABOTAGE LEDGER: Arson, sabotage and drone incursions in the EU and the UK, 59 rows

METAL STRIKES LEDGER: Ukraine's metals and mining assets: 2021 baseline against status in September 2026, 38 plants and mines

DATA CENTRE & TELECOM STRIKES LEDGER: Data centres, telecoms, media and research sites hit in Ukraine, 27 rows

REFINERY STRIKES LEDGER: Russian oil refineries hit, and how badly, 27 refineries