Live ingestion is paused. We’re migrating our backend to a new database. The archive is up to date through Sep 18, 2026 (35 days ago). Fresh events will resume once the migration finishes — historical analysis is fully available.
Conflict Events Archive
16,158 documented events · latest Sep 18, 2026 — chronological archive with full summaries and multi-source verification.
Russia’s drones threaten Kyiv-bound Western officials as war effort stalls
Russia’s drones threaten Kyiv-bound Western officials as war effort stalls Russia strikes Ukraine’s border crossings with Poland and Moldova as its offensives peter out in the east. Russia has threatened the safety of Ukrainian, American and European officials travelling to and from Kyiv using drones. These attacks have come as Russia’s ground war stumbles. Recommended Storieslist of 4 items - list 1 of 4Efforts under way for Zelenskyy-Trump meeting at UN next week - list 2 of 4At least 19 injured in Russian attacks across Ukraine - list 3 of 4Ukraine fires drone barrage as Russia launches elections - list 4 of 4The view from Russia: ‘No party can be antiwar’ in parliamentary election Details emerged this week of its latest setback when an attempt to seize the city of Lyman resulted in the loss of 85 square kilometres (33 square miles) of territory Russia had previously occupied in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. On September 13, Russian drones struck a Ukrainian train locomotive 5km (3 miles) from the border with Poland, endangering European officials travelling to Warsaw after they attended the Yalta European Strategy conference, an annual gathering of global political, business and civil society leaders in Kyiv. Boris Johnson, Britain’s former premier, and European political and security officials were on the train. Ukraine’s railway company, Ukraliznytsia, said the locomotive of the passenger train had been struck. A Russian drone also struck a petrol station 2km (1.2 miles) from the Polish border, destroying or damaging a number of trucks. Polish premier Donald Tusk said he expects a period of “very intensified actions by Russia”, possibly including an “escalation will also affect our territory”. “This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said on social media. In another incident on September 8, a Russian drone entered Moldovan airspace as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane prepared to depart Chisinau, delaying the flight. Norway’s prime minister said it nearly struck the aircraft, though Moldova has not confirmed the claim. On September 6, US diplomatic envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff flew to Poland before taking a train to Kyiv after Russian strikes disrupted flights to the Ukrainian capital. Russian drones and missiles have also struck four Ukrainian border crossings to Moldova in recent weeks. Kremlin Ambassador-at-large Rodion Miroshnik said the strikes were justified as part of Russia’s effort to stop Western military aid from reaching Kyiv. Ukraine has turned its ports, border crossings and logistics centres into “military targets”, he wrote on social media, boasting that Kyiv was “reaping the inevitable consequences”. Five people were killed on Wednesday when a drone struck their intercity minibus near Nikopol in the northern Kharkiv region in what Zelenskyy called “another act of brutality”. Three more were killed on Saturday. “Just this week, Russia has launched approximately 2,100 drones at Ukraine,” along with 78 missiles, Zelenskyy said on Sunday. Hope for more aid came on Thursday, when both houses of the US Congress passed a bill sponsored by Senators Darline Graham and Richard Blumenthal imposing secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian oil and gas. If implemented, the bill could deprive Russia of export revenues it needs to replenish its budget, one-third of which goes to defence. Russia has ‘no grand illusions’ on peace Ukraine has struck 26 Russian refineries this year. In the past week it struck eight, aiming for their desalination and vacuum distillation units that take months to repair. Numerous reports estimate that Ukraine has deprived Russia of at least 30 percent of its actual refining capacity. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina recently said inflation over the summer was “primarily driven by the situation in the fuel market”. “We continue to assess inflationary risks as predominant and believe they have increased,” she said. Ukraine has proposed a ceasefire on strikes to energy infrastructure since 2025, but Russia has signalled that it is ready for talks only on its terms. These include surrendering the remaining one-fifth of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region it does not control and a broad demilitarised buffer zone beyond that. “We have no grand illusions here,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Kushner told the Yalta European Strategy conference this week that an agreement between the US and Russia was largely prepared, claiming Ukraine’s refusal to surrender the remainder of Donetsk was the main obstacle. Over the past week, Ukrainian drones also set fire to the Tolyattikauchuk synthetic rubber factory in Samara near the border with Kazakhstan. The rubber is used in the production of solid rocket fuel for tactical and ballistic missiles. Ukraine also struck the Atlant Aero factory in Taganrog, which builds Molnya reconnaissance and attack drones and makes parts for Orion drones. On September 17, Ukraine struck an Antonov-12 and two Antonov-26 military transport aircraft on the tarmac at Rostov air base near the southern Ukrainian border and also destroyed three helicopters. Russia has been repeatedly frustrated in its efforts to seize the “fortress belt” of cities in Donetsk – Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhivka. Putin’s December 31 deadline for achieving this is his 15th of the war. Russian forces have tried to outflank the fortress belt from the north by seizing the cities of Lyman and Svyatohirsk to its northeast, said brigadier-general Andriy Biletskyi, commander of the Third Army Corps defending the area. A separate offensive was from the south, he said. The southern flanking movement was defeated in August this year, taking back 745 sq km (290 sq miles) of territory around Dobropillya. Ukraine also pushed back in Lyman and retook 85 sq km (53 square miles) of territory, its Third Army Corps revealed this week. “The northern pincer has effectively been defeated and destroyed,” Biletskyi said. “Over the space of several months, Ukraine has executed two quiet yet successful counteroffensive operations in different parts of the country,” noted military strategist Mick Ryan, a former Australian army general. “Ukrainians have been investing in the hard intellectual work of finding new methods of conducting successful offensive action at the tactical and operational levels.” Ukraine’s military said Russian losses in 2026 crossed the 300,000 threshold over the past week, with 20,360 casualties for the first half of September, putting Russia on track for over 40,000 casualties for the month – higher than its reported recruitment rate. Al Jazeera cannot independently verify casualty claims by either side. Ukraine’s chief of military intelligence said Russian generals have asked Putin for 800,000 troops above normal recruitment levels.
Trump signs legislation expanding sanctions against Russia — White House
The legislation also extends existing sanctions on Iran
What else is the Pentagon hiding from us?
More US military personnel have reportedly died during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has shared publicly, the latest and most serious evidence of the Trump administration’s ongoing cover-up around disastrous military failures in that conflict. In a Washington Post report released Friday, six US officials with knowledge of internal Defense Department data on military casualties, attested that at least 22 service members have died. The Pentagon’s public database reports 14 military casualties as of Friday as a result of Operation Epic Fury, which began with the first US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February. Four more deaths are labeled in a separate category, “Overseas Operations,” despite the Defense Department previously reporting 18 deaths related to Iran. In July, the New York Times reported that one reason the Trump administration removed four service members who were killed days earlier from the casualty list—three in Jordan and one in northern Iraq—was that they died after the president declared a ceasefire in April. One official told the Post that the four additional deaths were not all directly tied to the Iran war, but included military personnel who were separately stationed in the Middle East. When a US service member’s death is formally accounted for, the military initiates an investigation to determine whether they died while performing official duties. The evaluation directly affects the amount of benefits their families receive. The Trump administration also appears to be hiding the extent of damage to US military bases. Earlier this week, CBS News shared photos leaked by active service members of a destroyed Boeing aircraft in an Air Force base in Saudi Arabia. Other photos show destroyed buildings and military barracks at the base. Camp Buehring, a US staging post in Kuwait, had damaged aircraft, as well as armored vehicles, that the administration had not previously acknowledged. In addition, the Defense Department’s inspector general released a report earlier this week that the war in Iran “has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial base bottlenecks for munitions resupply.” In the first four months, the inspector general valued the cost of military operations at $33.4 billion, not accounting for costs of damaged facilities, while the Trump administration struggles to accelerate weapons production—a move that the report says has “significant lead times.” Trump’s attempts to conceal those failures—with even less believable claims that the US has “wiped every single force in Iran out very completely” or that the war is “pretty much” over—are prolonging a war that the White House seems determined to lose, and that has killed thousands of people across the region.
UK court clears woman of voicing support for Hamas in university speech
Sarah Cotte said her comments were not in support of Hamas, but in support of Palestinians' right to resist.
Iran war’s cost grows to $43.6 billion in new US military estimate
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military's price tag for the Iran war has grown to $43.6 billion as of Sept. 3, according to a new estimate provided this week to lawmakers. The figure from U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, offers the most up-to-date cost for the conflict since it was launched by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28. A Congressional Budget Office report released Tuesday said the war had cost $38 billion through Aug. 1 and will continue to rack up expenses of around $3 billion a month depending on the conflict's intensity. The new breakdown, seen by The Associated Press and reported earlier by Punchbowl News, also showed the continued use of expensive munitions by American forces. Weapons costs jumped by more than $6 billion in just over a month, from $21.7 billion listed in the CBO report to $28.1 billion in U.S. Central Command’s estimate. The financial cost is just one measure of the impact of the Iran war, which also is affecting oil prices and the stock market and has led to deaths and injuries of American troops. The political costs will be calculated in November's midterm congressional elections, with Republicans facing increasing headwinds from the war's unpopularity. The U.S. military's one-page breakdown to Congress includes costs for operating warships, planes and bases as well as for equipment losses and medical support for troops. Casualties tallied by the Pentagon have included 18 dead and more than 830 wounded, according to the Defense Casualty Analysis System. The report does not include damage to U.S. bases in the Middle East, which the Islamic Republic has attacked with ballistic missiles and drones. A report from the Pentagon inspector general released Monday said Iranian strikes have damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan. In the new report to Congress, the figure for munitions was by far the largest, constituting well over half of all costs. The advanced weapons that have been in the most demand are defensive missile interceptors, such as those launched by the Army's Patriot and THAAD systems. The diminished stockpiles also have caused alarm in Europe, where U.S. and NATO officials have told the AP that there is a “beyond critical” shortage of missile interceptors. Saudi Arabia also is running low on interceptors and has turned to regional and Western allies for assistance as its standoff with Houthi rebels in Yemen drags on.
‘Daughter of Damascus’ Assala performs in Syria after 15-year exile
Thousands of people cheered as they welcomed Syrian icon Assala Nasri back at a sold-out concert in Damascus.
Number of US servicemen killed in war with Iran higher than official figures — WP
According to the newspaper, Pentagon officials are dissatisfied that the accurate figures are not reflected in official documents of the US Department of Defense
More troops died in the Iran War than Trump’s administration has revealed: report
More troops have died in the Iran War than Trump’s administration has revealed: report The deadly conflict began at the end of February after the US, alongside Israel, began launching strikes against Iran More American troops have died in the Iran War than President Donald Trump’s administration has revealed, according to a new report. At least 22 service members died in the conflict, five U.S. officials familiar with the Pentagon’s internal casualty accounting data told The Washington Post. The estimate accounts for four more than the 18 military fatalities posted on a public government database known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, according to the Post. The Independent has reached out to the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command, which conducts military operations in the Middle East, for comment. A sixth U.S. official who spoke to the Post said 23 troops have died in the Middle East during the war, but noted that not all of the undisclosed fatalities are directly tied to the conflict. As of Friday, the Pentagon’s database showed seven hostile and seven non-hostile deaths during the U.S. military campaign against Iran, which it has dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.” An additional four hostile deaths were listed in a separate category called “Overseas Operations” that started on July 7 — around the time when a fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran collapsed. This is a developing story... Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments
Syria arrests five former al-Assad-era officers over strikes on civilians
Former air officers, including an air force general, were arrested in a series of operations.
Lebanese artist turns Israeli missile debris into art
In southern Lebanon, visual artist Lina Jouni transforms debris from Israeli missile strikes into pieces of art.
Two injured by Israeli shelling as troops advance in southern Lebanon
Israeli forces withdraw from outskirts of a town in southern Lebanon after a standoff with Lebanese forces.
Trump believes Iran wants to make deal with US
The US president stated that if the deal is not a correct deal, he will not consider it
US Sanctions Four Indian Companies Over Iranian Oil Imports
The United States has imposed sanctions on four Indian companies for importing Iranian oil. The measures were implemented as part of the U. S. Department of the Treasury's "Economic Outcast" operation, which aims to block Iran's financial flows. Washington blocked the resources of these firms for engaging in trade with Tehran. U. S. officials stated the action is necessary to limit Iranian revenue due to the country's nuclear program and its regional activities. While India has historically balanced its relations between Washington and Tehran, these sanctions indicate a priority for U. S. requirements regarding the Iranian embargo. This development creates a risk of supply chain reductions for India's energy sector and forces a review of trade contracts with Iranian partners to avoid secondary sanctions. Subscribe to Pravda.Ru Telegram channel, Facebook, RSS! The 1999 ascent of the Tibetan Plateau revealed a critical trade-off between electronic sophistication and raw mechanical resilience in extreme conditions.
Jerusalem Daily: Netanyahu says he will ‘change the face of the Middle East
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will ‘change the face of the Middle East’
US Sanctions Bill: Determined to protect our trade interests, says MEA
US Sanctions Bill: Determined to protect our trade interests, says MEA MEA says attacks threatening navigation in Bab-el-Mandeb are unacceptable, while reiterating concerns over the impact of proposed US sanctions legislation on trade ties Archis Mohan New Delhi Listen to This Article The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday reiterated that it has conveyed the implications that the ‘Lyndsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran’ legislation will have on India-US bilateral trade relations to the senior leadership of the Donald Trump administration. This includes the trade deal that the two countries are currently negotiating. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said India is determined to protect its trade and economic interest, and desires balanced and mutually beneficial trade relations with the US. He added that New Delhi has clarified its positions on the issue to senior leaders in the Trump administration, including the implications of sanctioning India for its purchase of Russian oil on the international energy market and overall bilateral ties. Expressing concern over the situation in the Red Sea area and Yemen, India on Friday said attacks that undermine regional security and threaten freedom of navigation in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait are “unacceptable”. It also condemned the attacks on Saudi Arabia, especially the targeting of civilian and economic facilities and the attempted attack on the holy city of Mecca. The Yemen-based Houthis have rapidly advanced in recent days along the Red Sea coast and near the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait threatening Saudi oil exports. Jaiswal at his briefing said India is deeply concerned at the escalation of the security situation in the Red Sea region and Yemen, and condemns the attacks on Saudi sovereign territory. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday received a phone call from the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The two discussed “new measures” to further deepen India-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership, including in energy and defence. They also discussed developments in West Asia, and their commitment to coordinate their efforts to promote regional peace, security and stability. Nearly 10 million Indians live and work in West Asia. At a United Nations Security Council meeting on Thursday, India said navigational rights must not be subject to coercion, threats, unlawful restrictions or arbitrary interference. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni called for coordinated evacuation frameworks for seafarers in conflict zones, with clear responsibilities among states and international organisations. “Disruptions at one chokepoint can increase pressure on alternative routes, raise freight and insurance costs, disrupt energy and food supplies and adversely affect developing countries,” he said. “The international community must therefore move beyond responding to individual incidents by crafting practical arrangements to facilitate the continued movement of essential commercial and humanitarian supplies during crises,” the Indian envoy said. More From This Section Topics : India US Trade Deal Yemen Saudi Arabia Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel First Published: Sep 18 2026 | 9:05 PM IST
Ukrainian Drone Hits Russian Nuclear Plant Days After Trump Energy Truce Plea
Ukrainian Drone Hits Russian Nuclear Plant Days After Trump Energy Truce Plea President Trump raised eyebrows when on Monday he declared that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop attacking each other's oil and energy infrastructure, amid global crude and diesel supply problems related mostly to the Hormuz Strait crisis. But then within days later it became clear that the default reality on the ground has persisted, as energy sites continue to get pummeled. And it's not only refineries and ports which have continued getting hit, but as of Thursday morning a Russian nuclear plant was apparently targeted in a Ukrainian drone attack. Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, file image A drone hit the cooling tower of a reactor unit at Russia's Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency has announced Friday. The unit was operating at the time, but its operating mode was unchanged and no fire broke out. The UN agency's director Rafael Grossi declared in a statement that "all attacks on nuclear facilities are unacceptable as they could endanger nuclear safety and security, irrespective of where they occur." He urged "maximum military restraint to prevent the risk of a nuclear accident" - which remains a top dangerous reality of the battlefield in the context of the Ukraine war. In early July the same site had suffered a prior drone attack from Ukraine. One industry source reviews: The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (Kursk NPP) has been the target of several military actions and drone strikes. The most notable incident occurred in August 2025 when a drone detonated and damaged an auxiliary transformer, sparking a structural fire that had to be contained by emergency teams. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitored the event and confirmed that radiation levels remained normal. The Kremlin going back to 2024 has accused Ukrainian forces of seeking a 'provocation' at the Kursk nuclear plant. The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) lies about 25 miles west of the city of Kursk, which is the administrative center of the oblast by the same name. The plant continues to be a major electricity producer for Russia. Kremlin officials have long voiced alarm that Ukraine may seek to use some major provocation to draw its backers in NATO deeper into the conflict. Apparently on Ukraine's target bank going back years... Russia's Kursk Nuclear Power Plant seen through the camera lens of a Ukrainian Shark reconnaissance UAV. pic.twitter.com/bbwN8YQq4s — Status-6 (War & Military News) (@Archer83Able) September 15, 2024 As a reminder, Trump began the week by declaring on Truth Social, "Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise! The World’s Diesel price rise is mostly caused by the Russia/ Ukraine War, not Iran." ...So much for that. Tyler Durden Fri, 09/18/2026 - 12:00
The cost of Iran’s regional leverage
Tehran’s use of pressure across the region is putting its rapprochement with Gulf states under increasing strain.
UK ‘unprepared’ amid sharp rise in drone threats to military bases
UK ‘unprepared’ amid sharp rise in drone threats to military bases - Ministry of Defence figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws reveal that rogue drone incidents at or near UK military bases rose to 340 in the year to August 2026, up from 250 in 2025 and 126 in 2024. - Defence experts and former Conservative defence minister Tobias Ellwood warned that the UK is unprepared for these escalating threats, attributing many of the drone intrusions to hostile actors operating on behalf of Russia and Iran. - The stark increase coincides with warnings from Polish prime minister Donald Tusk that Moscow is preparing hybrid drone or missile strikes against Nato nations aiding Ukraine, as UK defence chiefs caution that Russian threats have reached Cold War levels. - The Ministry of Defence stated that the rising numbers partly reflect enhanced counter-drone detection technology, better reporting procedures, and increased vigilance among military personnel across sites. - Armed Forces minister Louise Sandher-Jones highlighted government action, including expanding restricted airspace to over 200 defence sites, quadrupling counter-drone spending, and passing legislation enabling military personnel to take down hostile drones directly. More bulletins
Treasury Sanctions Crypto Exchange Behind Iran's Bitcoin Tolls On Hormuz Ships
Treasury Sanctions Crypto Exchange Behind Iran's Bitcoin Tolls On Hormuz Ships Via Decrypt.co, The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned BitBank, naming the Iranian exchange it says carried the Bitcoin that shipping companies paid for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Since June, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said, the Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority has used BitBank to pass the payments it collects on to the Iranian regime. That authority was the body charging vessels in Bitcoin for transit rights, a scheme Treasury designated in July. Today, as part of Operation Economic Outcast, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated key components of the Iranian regime's digital assets-based sanctions evasion infrastructure. Targets include BitBank, a priority digital assets... — Treasury Department (@USTreasury) September 17, 2026 Between June and July, Treasury says, BitBank was used to move "hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Bitcoin" to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. BitBank is controlled by Babak Zanjani, an Iranian financier OFAC designated in January. Sentenced to death in Iran in 2016 for embezzling from the National Iranian Oil Company, he had his sentence commuted in 2024 and resurfaced last year backing regime-linked ventures. Treasury says he has been advertising BitBank on his social media accounts since at least 2024. Four more designations The action also covers Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, which built BitBank's software and is a subsidiary of the already-designated Dot One Value Creation Group, along with three Dot One executives: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein and Seyed Adel Heidari. Treasury describes the first as involved in most of Zanjani's sanctions evasion, including oil exports, and says he has brokered digital asset transactions that ended up with the IRGC. All five were designated under Executive Order 13902, which the administration extended in August to cover anyone operating in Iran's digital asset sector. It is the authority Treasury has been using since to work through the network, including the crypto exchanges it designated for laundering Iranian funds. "Efforts to finance the Iranian regime using cryptocurrencies are not beyond OFAC's reach," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "If you support the Iranian regime, the Department of the Treasury will sanction you." The designations fall under Operation Economic Outcast, the campaign Bessent announced on August 24 and dubbed Economic D-Day, which Treasury says is aimed at severing Iran's remaining economic lifelines with help from the EU, the UK and Gulf partners. U.S. assets belonging to the five are blocked, as are any entities they own half or more of, and non-U.S. firms dealing with them risk secondary sanctions. Traders do not expect the pressure to lift soon. On Myriad, a prediction market developed by Decrypt's parent company Dastan, the odds of Washington announcing an end to its naval blockade of Iranian shipping by September 30 have fallen to 10%, down 30 points. Even a December 31 deadline is only a 60% shot. Tyler Durden Fri, 09/18/2026 - 09:40
Trump warns White House leakers they will ‘pay a big price’ over Iran war
Trump warns White House leakers they will ‘pay a big price’ over Iran war - President Donald Trump warned administration leakers that they will pay a high price following behind-the-scenes reports about the ongoing conflict with Iran. - Reports revealed that key advisors, including Tulsi Gabbard and Vice President JD Vance, originally urged against launching Operation Epic Fury. - Trump praised a Washington Post editorial describing his choice to strike Iran as a courageous decision made despite opposition from advisors. - The conflict has entered its seventh month and faces low domestic support, with only 31 percent of Americans backing the war ahead of the midterms. - The ongoing military campaign has cost an estimated $33 billion, driven up gas prices, and severely restricted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. More bulletins