Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The colder months are closing in and Ukraine is bracing for another winter under fire.
Earlier this month US President Donald Trump pushed for Ukraine and Russia to stop hitting each other’s energy infrastructure.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would support an energy ceasefire, and while Moscow has called it “a good idea”, there have been no public indications of the Kremlin being ready to accept such a ceasefire.
So the two sides will keep hitting each other’s energy infrastructure, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spent Tuesday in back-to-back meetings with the defense ministry and domestic weapons producers, mapping out how Ukraine will fight through October.
By evening, he had signed off on the plan.
Long-range campaign continues
Zelensky said Ukraine had approved a new set of long-range operations for October, an escalation of the strike campaign Kyiv has run against energy, logistics and military targets inside Russia over the summer. The president gave no operational details.
The same meeting locked in aviation supplies for the rest of the year. Zelensky said Ukraine had reached an agreement with Belgium to transfer three F-16 fighter jets by the end of 2026, and would push to receive them through an accelerated procedure.
Urgent F-16 ammunition shipments had already arrived from Belgium and Spain, and Ukraine has taken delivery of mobile F-16 simulators for pilot training.
Racing to close the jet-Shahed gap
The other headline topic on Tuesday was Russia’s jet-powered version of the Shahed drone, a faster variant that Ukraine’s air defenses struggle to stop.
Zelensky said his officials had identified the first prototypes of an interceptor that could work as an effective weapon, with production volumes, funding and deadlines still to be locked in.
“There are specific countries with which we are negotiating specific aviation packages. There will be a buildup in the near future,” Zelensky said in comments carried by Interfax-Ukraine.
The gap between the two Shahed variants is stark. Speaking on September 26, Zelensky put the interception rate for jet-powered Shaheds at 55 percent, against more than 90 percent for the older propeller-driven versions.
Russia launched more than 2,730 jet-powered Shaheds in September, of which roughly 1,500 were shot down or jammed, according to figures Zelensky cited in his evening address that day.
Long-range strikes as leverage
Ukraine’s upgraded long-range drones can now hit targets up to 3,000 kilometers inside Russia, according to United24 Media.
Kyiv has used the strike campaign to hit Russian refineries and fuel depots through the summer, and the October authorization signals no let-up before the heating season.
Zelensky did not name the countries in talks over the new aviation packages. He said Ukraine also needs additional interceptors and more defensive technology to keep pace with the volume of Shahed strikes.
