As reported by Polish news agency PAP, prosecutor Przemysław Nowak, spokesperson for the National Prosecutor's Office, said criminal proceedings had been opened "regarding acts committed on 23 September this year in the village of Wola Krobowska in the interests of a foreign intelligence service against the Republic of Poland, as well as the commission of sabotage and a terrorist-related crime by causing a fire at a Starlink satellite communications ground station, resulting in significant property damage".

He also said that, based on the information available at the time, the fire had been caused by arson.

"Furthermore, in this case there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the perpetrators acted on the orders of Russian secret services and in the interests of a foreign intelligence service against the Republic of Poland. The aim of their actions was to disrupt the operation and internet connectivity of the Starlink system in Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe," he said.

Nowak said that on Thursday, prosecutors carried out the necessary activities at the scene, including an examination of the site and interviews with witnesses. The activities were conducted jointly with officers of the Internal Security Agency and the Central Bureau of Police Investigation.

"An investigation is underway in this case. No one has been charged so far," Nowak added.

The investigation has been assigned to the Internal Security Agency and the Central Bureau of Police Investigation.

The fire at the Starlink satellite communications ground station in the Polish village of Wola Krobowska broke out on the evening of 23 September.

Commenting on the incident, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that he "does not like to make definitions without 100% certainty as to what constitutes sabotage and what is an accident", but added that "it does not look good".

Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stressed on X that this was "good news for Ukraine and bad news for Russia".

She said €900 million would be allocated to the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine.

Another €1 billion will go towards financing new joint purchases of equipment.

The remaining €4.7 billion will be used to reimburse member states for their costs, with some of them having already said they would redirect their share towards Ukraine's needs, the EU foreign policy chief said.

"Moscow's hybrid attacks try to intimidate Europe into scaling back its support for Ukraine. Europe is doing the opposite," Kallas concluded.

The final decision is to be taken by the defence ministers of EU member states at a Council of the EU meeting on Monday.

Meanwhile, the distribution of the €4.7 billion among member states remains unresolved, as does how much of this amount will be transferred to Ukraine.

Kallas previously said she was working with EU member state governments on allocating another €1 billion from the European Peace Facility for Ukraine's military needs.

Germany previously said that the €6.6 billion from the Peace Facility, unblocked by Hungary, should be fully transferred to Ukraine, but not all EU countries support this.

Hungary has lifted its veto on the €6.6 billion from the European Peace Facility, and EU defence ministers have already discussed how the funds could be used to benefit Ukraine.

O'Flaherty said he is deeply concerned by the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Oleshky.

He said civilians, including children, are trapped without adequate supplies of food, medicines, medical care, water or electricity.

"Under international humanitarian law, Russia, as the occupying power, has the duty to provide food and medical supplies and to facilitate humanitarian relief," he said.

O'Flaherty called for an immediate ceasefire in the area, unhindered access for humanitarian organisations and the safe evacuation of civilians.

"The hardship and suffering of people caught along the front lines of the war and in occupied territories demand international attention and action."

At the end of March, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, said the Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast is "not living, but surviving".

Ukraine's 34th Marine Brigade posted a video showing temporarily occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, describing it as "a city the Russians have turned into a ghost town".

Politicians in parliament are openly discussing this possibility. It is still unclear whether this is merely a bluff aimed at pressuring other lawmakers into making concessions, or whether such a scenario could actually materialize.

Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies have made their move in this political game by detaining Călin Georgescu, a far-right populist with pro-Russian sentiments. Although there are no solid grounds for claiming that these actions were politically motivated, they will certainly have political consequences.

Read more about Romania’s political developments and how they might unfold in the article by Serhiy Herasymchuk of the Foreign Policy Council "Ukrainian Prism": Crime in favour of the coalition: how Romania is trying to form a government and whether it will include anti-Ukrainian figures. 

The attention surrounding Călin Georgescu, along with the sense of grievance among those who had planned to vote for him in the final round of the election – and there were many such voters in Romania – became a catalyst for the rise in support for the far-right AUR party.

This far-right political force "picked up Georgescu’s banner" and even sought to win a majority in the Romanian parliament.

From the perspective of Romania’s relations with the EU and Ukraine, such a scenario would have been catastrophic.

Russophiles, Europhobes, and anti-Ukrainian politicians from AUR entering the Romanian government would clearly mean a change in Bucharest’s approach to supporting Ukraine, worsening relations with Brussels and a deep division within Romanian society. It is also worth noting that AUR leader George Simion is banned from entering Moldova and Ukraine, and there are numerous reasons for this.

The worst-case scenario was avoided at that time.

However, the parliamentary coalition that was formed immediately contained structural weaknesses, and those shortcomings have now become apparent.

In April 2026, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) decided to withdraw its support for the coalition government led by Ilie Bolojan and formed with its coalition partners, the National Liberal Party (PNL).

The government was implementing unpopular measures and the Social Democrats refused to share the resulting political burden.

Then, in May, parliament voted to dismiss the government by passing a vote of no confidence.

And it did so with the combined votes of the Social Democrats and the far-right AUR!

But while they were able to bring down Bolojan’s government, they were unable to form a new one.

The government crisis dragged on, month after month, with no solution in sight. And the only political force benefiting from this was George Simion’s AUR.

The far-right opposition once again gained arguments for claiming that the mainstream parties were incapable of governing the country, essentially, "See? They’re fighting among themselves again; it’s time to remove them from power!"

On 17 September, President Nicușor Dan tried another way out of the crisis and proposed a new candidate for prime minister – Siegfried Mureșan.

However, there are not enough votes to approve his appointment.

Against the backdrop of the crisis, Social Democratic leader Sorin Grindeanu did not rule out the possibility that the Social Democrats could choose the next prime minister in cooperation with AUR. In other words, the temporary alliance that had already emerged during the government’s ouster now had a chance to turn into a formal coalition.

However, it appears that Grindeanu may be deliberately raising the stakes in order to prevent early parliamentary elections, while leaving the radicals in the role of a minority player. Early elections could further strengthen the far right’s position in parliament.

A potential obstacle to an AUR-Social Democratic coalition emerged in the form of Călin Georgescu, against whom law enforcement launched a new public phase of a criminal case on 21 September. Because of the reputational risks associated with a potential coalition partner, the Social Democrats gained an incentive to return to negotiations with the National Liberals.

If the crisis continues, it could come at a high cost for Romania, while Ukraine risks losing a reliable ally.

According to an unnamed EU official, the EU will hold discussions on planning the supply of Patriot interceptors to Ukraine.

EU member states understand that Ukraine needs interceptors "as soon as possible", European Pravda source said.

They said some of the Patriot missiles will be provided directly by the United States under the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) programme, which supplies Ukraine with US-made weapons.

"Another portion could be provided if states agree to swap their orders with Ukraine," the senior official said. He pointed out that the Council of the EU meeting of defence ministers on 28 September "will be another opportunity to press member states on this".

Another source in the EU institutions said discussions are also under way on the possibility of an EU member state transferring Patriot interceptor missiles it already has to Ukraine, with Ukraine then using funds from the €90 billion loan to order the same number of missiles from the manufacturer in the United States for that country.

According to European Pravda sources, the country in question could be Spain or Greece.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that during his meeting with Donald Trump in New York, the US president told him that he had decided to grant Ukraine licences to produce missiles for Patriot air defence systems.

Zelenskyy announced earlier an agreement on a package of Patriot missiles with one state, whose name has not been disclosed.

In 1956, many countries opened their doors to Hungarians who were forced to flee the country, András Baka recalled. Now he states that Ukraine is in a similar situation.

"Today, Ukraine is fighting to preserve its independence. Hungary condemns Russia's full-scale war of aggression as a violation of the United Nations Charter and international law. We affirm Ukraine's right to self-defence, its sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and the right of its people to decide their own future. The freedom Hungarians demanded for themselves in 1956 is a freedom we must uphold for Ukrainians today," Baka said during his address at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

According to Baka, Hungary would like to see diplomacy put an end to the war, but lasting peace requires respect for Ukraine's sovereignty.

"If taking territory by force becomes an accepted way of settling disputes, every smaller country will have reasons to worry about its own future," he said.

András Baka officially took office as president of Hungary on 19 August 2026. This followed a change of power in Hungary, when, after the April 2026 elections, Tisza party leader Péter Magyar replaced former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who had held the position for 16 years.

Meanwhile, Hungarian officials refused to meet with Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of Ukraine parliament, in Budapest.

Zelenskyy was asked during an online briefing with the media whether Burnham had assured him that London would not lift sanctions on Usmanov and Fridman and whether the EU was prepared to vote for the next sanctions package containing measures aimed at countering Russia's ballistic missile capabilities.

Zelenskyy said he had raised the issue of sanctions, including the need to prevent sanctions against Usmanov and Fridman from being lifted, during his meeting with Burnham.

"The prime minister assured me that he has no intention of doing so. I am very grateful to him," Zelenskyy said.

The president also said the EU had assured him that the next 3,000 individuals subject to sanctions would not be removed from future sanctions packages. He stressed that he had also received assurances that the EU would vote in favour of the upcoming packages.

Media reports previously said that Burnham had told Zelenskyy that he disagreed with the European Union's decision to lift sanctions on Russian billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman.

The move points to a rare split between the UK and the EU over sanctions against Russia, which have largely been coordinated since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Both Fridman and Usmanov have had interests in the UK. Usmanov is best known internationally for his investment in London football club Arsenal, which he exited in 2018. Fridman moved to London in 2013 but left the country after sanctions were imposed on him.

On 22 September, the Council of the EU decided to extend for another 36 months the restrictive measures against individuals responsible for undermining or threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, but removed Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the sanctions list.

"There are specific agreements in place. At our latest meeting, President Trump stressed to me: 'Yes, I have made the final decision: Ukraine will receive licences to produce Patriot missiles," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy had previously said that Ukraine had reached an agreement on the supply of a package of missiles for Patriot air defence systems.

Following his meeting with the US president, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Donald Trump was in favour of granting Ukraine licences to produce Patriot missiles.

The US State Department subsequently said that the United States had not yet made a final decision on granting Ukraine licences to produce missiles for Patriot air defence systems.

On 31 July, US President Donald Trump, commenting on the possibility of allowing Ukraine to produce interceptor missiles for Patriot systems, said that the United States "has to be very careful" on the matter.

According to CNN sources, the meeting took place on 24 September. Cooperation between the US and Russia, as well as ending the Russia-Ukraine war, were discussed.

In particular, Dmitriev is said to have arrived in New York to continue "peacemaking efforts" and dialogue between Russia and the US following Putin's meeting with Trump's envoys in early September.

On 23 September, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed issues concerning the Russia-Ukraine war during a meeting in New York.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a briefing in New York that the G20 summit in Miami could provide a venue for a trilateral meeting involving Ukraine, the US and Russia.

As reported by Politico, a "yes" vote would also rule out military cooperation between the country and an alliance such as NATO, except in cases where Switzerland itself comes under attack or faces an imminent threat.

"It's not a vote against neutrality – neutrality is very supported – it's about what neutrality means," noted Fabio Wasserfallen, Professor of European Politics at the University of Bern.

However, the referendum will raise the question of how neutral a country can remain regarding security issues, economic sanctions or cooperation with military alliances such as NATO.

"Currently, the government has a bit of room to manoeuvre and uses it. The question of that referendum is whether people think that's good or whether there should be stricter boundaries towards neutrality," Wasserfallen said.

This flexibility came under pressure following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since February 2022, the Swiss government has largely matched EU sanctions against Moscow, triggering a backlash among proponents of a stricter interpretation of neutrality.

Polls conducted this month showed that nearly two-thirds of voters in Switzerland oppose the initiative for a stricter definition of neutral status.

However, as the publication notes, even if the referendum fails this weekend, Swiss voters will have to address another neutrality-related issue. In November, they will be asked to evaluate whether Switzerland's arms export rules still serve their purpose or whether the country should be allowed to export weapons to a designated group of 25 mostly Western countries, even if they are involved in a military conflict.

If approved, this change would strengthen Switzerland's ties with Western countries and could boost export revenues for its defence industry.

In Switzerland, two polls showed that voters are likely to reject the referendum proposals for a stricter definition of neutrality that would prevent the country from imposing economic sanctions or cooperating with NATO.

Earlier, the Swiss government adopted the 2026 Security Policy Strategy, which includes measures already being implemented to strengthen the country's defence. In particular, it highlights the need to enhance defensive capabilities so that Switzerland can withstand an armed attack, which also encompasses cooperation with partner states.