Ukraine hits oil facility in Russia’s Samara region despite pressure from Trump
Back to Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian army struck a Russian oil facility in the Samara region, days after US president Donald Trump sought to put pressure on Kyiv to stop hitting energy targets in Russia.
“I thank all our defenders who are working to send Russia’s sick war back to where it came from,” Zelenskyy said.
He continued:
“Today, we also have important results from our deep strikes. A target in the Black Sea was hit, as was a site in the Oryol region used to launch and store attack drones.
Sanctions were also applied to an oil facility in the Samara region and a supply depot for the occupiers in the Bryansk region.
These are exactly the kind of just responses we need right now. We will continue to deprive Russia of the ability to keep this war going.”
Key events
Russia expels Hungary’s diplomats in retaliation
Meanwhile, Russia has summoned the top Hungarian diplomat in the country and told him that “a group of employees” of the Hungarian embassy in Moscow and its consulates in St. Petersburg and Kazan must leave within two weeks.
The Russian foreign ministry’s move seeks to retaliate for a recent Hungarian decision to expel 10 Russian diplomats “for conducting activities incompatible with their status under the Vienna Convention” (Europe Live, 8 September).
Hungary’s prime minister Péter Magyar said at the time that the 10 Russian diplomats “carried out activities in Hungary that are unacceptable for diplomats.” “We will defend our country’s sovereignty,” he added.
UK adopts new sanctions on Russia over Ukraine war
The UK has adopted 31 new measures sanctioning LNG shadow fleet vessels, Kremlin disinformation networks and alleged perpetrators of civilian torture and child indoctrination, the foreign ministry said.
“Following sham elections in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine earlier this month, the UK is now taking firm action against people and entities found to have undermined Ukraine’s territorial integrity through human rights abuses,” the FCDO said.
The new listings include eight people alleged to be involved in the arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian civilians as part of a broader system of repression.
Seven people are targeted “for their role in the indoctrination and militarisation od Ukrainian children.”
The individuals will be subjected to asset freezes, trust services sanctions, and travel bans.
The package also hits new vessels involved in Russia’s shadow fleet.
“We are targeting both the revenues that help sustain Russia’s aggression and perpetrators of horrendous crimes against Ukrainian civilians, including children. The UK will not flinch in our support for Ukraine,” Europe minister Steward Wood said.
“While the UK does not seek confrontation with Russia, until Putin chooses to end his senseless and barbaric war, the UK’s support for Ukraine will remain unshakeable,” the ministry added in the statement.
The full list is here.
Russian drone hits school in Kyiv
A Russian drone hit a school in Ukraine’s capital, authorities said, the latest in a spate of worsening air attacks on Kyiv, Reuters reported.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said children had been in the shelter at the moment of the strike, which sparked a fire. He reported no injuries.
The State Emergency Service released images of rescue workers picking through debris and dousing the charred building, whose windows were shattered.
Reuters noted that the morning attack came amid intensifying, around-the-clock strikes on Kyiv and other cities with jet-powered drones which Ukraine’s military has struggled to shoot down.
Ukraine hits oil facility in Russia’s Samara region despite pressure from Trump
Back to Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian army struck a Russian oil facility in the Samara region, days after US president Donald Trump sought to put pressure on Kyiv to stop hitting energy targets in Russia.
“I thank all our defenders who are working to send Russia’s sick war back to where it came from,” Zelenskyy said.
He continued:
“Today, we also have important results from our deep strikes. A target in the Black Sea was hit, as was a site in the Oryol region used to launch and store attack drones.
Sanctions were also applied to an oil facility in the Samara region and a supply depot for the occupiers in the Bryansk region.
These are exactly the kind of just responses we need right now. We will continue to deprive Russia of the ability to keep this war going.”
Italy, Poland extend suspensions of Schengen rules to fight irregular migration
In other news, Italy has decided to extend the suspension of the European Union’s border-free arrangement with Spain for another 15 days.
The decision was taken due to “the current situation in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta and, in particular, on the persistence of the critical issues already identified,” the ministry said.
The move – made in the immediate aftermath of a mass influx of migrants into Ceuta in late July – remains a source of tension between Rome and Madrid.
Separately, Poland also extended its border controls with Germany and Lithuania by six months until 30 March, saying it was needed to curb irregular migration.
Since the reintroduction of border controls, entry into the country has been denied to nearly 1,300 people at the Lithuanian border and nearly 1,200 at the German border, Reuters reported.
Estonia bans transit of Russian, Belarusian grain through its territory
Meanwhile, Estonia has banned the transit of Russian and Belarusian grain through its territory, Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said.
Sources last month said Russian companies are repurposing fertiliser, coal, and other cargo terminals at Ukraine’s Baltic and Arctic ports to handle grain exports after Ukrainian drone attacks disrupted shipments through the Black Sea.
He said on X:
“I warned already in September: do not make plans to transport Russian grain through Estonia. Today, we turned that warning into law.
Together with Latvia and Lithuania, we are working to ensure that Baltic ports do not become a transit route for Russia.
Russia cannot wage a war of aggression and expect us to help keep its trade flowing. We will not help finance its war or make its aggression easier to sustain.”
Morning opening: Russia continues strikes on Ukraine as Zelenskyy makes a frontline visit
Jakub Krupa
Russia has continued its attacks on Ukraine overnight, with infrastructure damage reported in Kyiv and Odesa, among others.
The latest attacks come as part of an air campaign against Ukraine’s energy grid, hitting power facilities and infrastructure around Kyiv and other regions in the heaviest combined attack on energy sites in months.
Menawhile, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a post near the frontline.
“This is where independence is won. And the path to peace runs through these very labyrinths, these very corridors,” he said in a video published on his social media channels, walking in the trenches.
“When we say, ‘Ukraine is holding on,’ this resilience begins right here at the front, in command posts like this and at every one of our positions because Ukraine has defenders,” he said.
Elsewhere, Nato’s Mark Rutte will travel to Münster in Germany today to meet with the 1st German-Netherlands Corps and meet with chancellor Friedrich Merz and prime minister Rob Jetten.
The trio will speak at a joint press conference early afternoon, and Merz is later expected to deliver a major speech on Ukraine as he presents the 2026 International Award Ceremony of the Peace of Westphalia to Rutte in early evening.
I will bring you all the updates here throughout the day.
It’s Wednesday, 1 October 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
