The Independent
· collected 2026-09-13 · by James C. Reynolds and Namita Singh
A Ukrainian sea drone shot and destroyed a Russian unmanned boat in what Volodymyr Zelensky’s navy says marks the “first-ever naval battle” between maritime drones.
asserted
navy → shoot → drones
The Ukrainian Sargan 3000 unmanned naval boat identified the Russian drone on the Black Sea and attacked with its powerful 12.7mm turret, the navy said on Telegram.
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navy → identify → Telegram
Footage shared from the Ukrainian drone showed a volley of fire hitting the other boat, which erupted with thick grey smoke before sinking.
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which → share → smoke
It was unclear when or exactly where the video was taken.
uncertain
video → take → ?
At least 12 people were killed on Saturday as the war on the ground raged on.
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war → kill → ground
Authorities in Ukraine’s Kramatorsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih regions reported fatalities.
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Authorities → report → fatalities
The Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk region also reported that three people were killed in Ukrainian attacks.
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people → instal → attacks
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sunday that a Russian drone struck near the Ukrainian-Polish border in the small town of Yahodyn overnight.
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drone → say → Yahodyn
"This is Putin's terror "knocking" directly on the doors of the EU and Nato.
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This → knock → EU
Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners," he added.
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he → add → gate
Why Russia’s new 50-ft Soviet war monument has sparked fury
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monument → spark → fury
Russia and Japan are at odds again, this time over a 50-ft granite statue that shows a Soviet soldier using the butt of his rifle to shatter a border post engraved with the Japanese chrysanthemum emblem.
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soldier → show → emblem
Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, demanded that Russia remove the statue.
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Russia → demand → statue
She said it was “unacceptable to erect a monument depicting the destruction” of the Chrysanthemum Crest, which is widely recognised as a symbol of Japan and the emblem of the Japanese imperial family.
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which → say → family
Russia has strongly rejected the demand, framing the monument as legitimate historical memory of the Soviet Union’s 1945 victory over Japan and the end of the Second World War.
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Russia → reject → War
Here’s the latest:
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latest → ’ → ?
Catch up: Fresh strikes kill 12 as Zelensky accuses Putin of expanding war
Russian strikes killed nine people, injured dozens, and damaged residential buildings and infrastructure across Ukraine on Saturday.
Three people were killed in the frontline region of Kramatorsk after Russian forces struck a private car and four were left injured, local officials said.
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officials → catch → car
Two people were killed and 11 injured in Zaporizhzhia, and two killed in Kryvyi Rih.
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two → kill → Rih
Authorities in Ukraine’s Kramatorsk region also reported fatalities.
asserted
Authorities → report → fatalities
The Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk region reported that three people were killed in Ukrainian attacks.
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people → instal → attacks
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky alleged that Russia had “expanded the war away from the front, where they have no success, into the economy”.
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they → allege → economy
Suspected drone sighting that closed Vilnius airport actually just birds, says crisis management centre
Lithuania said that a perceived drone sighting in its airspace today that saw Vilnius airport closed and prompted Nato to summon a fighter jet turned out to be a flock of birds.
The air alert was lifted and the airport reopened within 38 minutes, after the Nato jet made a visual identification, Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre said.
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Centre → close → identification
"On initial radar readings, marks left by birds and drones can be similar," it added in a statement.
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it → leave → statement
A jet had been summoned from Siauliai in northern Lithuania, the centre said, where the Italian air force is currently based as part of the Nato Baltic Air Defence mission.
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force → summon → mission
In focus: Ukraine bracing for a brutal winter as Russia steps up attacks on infrastructure
Ukraine is bracing for a brutal winter as intensified Russian attacks on the country's infrastructure and key export industries compound a deepening budget crisis, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday.
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officials → brace → Saturday
Economy Minister Oleksandr Kravchenko said that damage to infrastructure and fixed assets from Russian air strikes was estimated at close to $10 billion this year, while the broader economic costs of the attacks and the de facto blockage of its ports were seen at about 1.5 percentage points of gross domestic product.
"
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costs → say → product
We anticipate a very difficult winter in terms of both critical infrastructure, which is being destroyed every day by Russian attacks, but also in terms of overall economic conditions in the country," Kravchenko said.
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Kravchenko → anticipate → country
"This all comes when the budget and the fiscal space are very constrained," he told investors, officials and diplomats at a YES conference in Kyiv.
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he → come → Kyiv
With fighting on the front line largely stalled, Russia and Ukraine have increasingly targeted logistics networks and other economic assets in an effort to undermine each other's war effort.
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Russia → stall → effort
Lithuania lifts drone alert in Vilnius
Lithuania says it has lifted its drone alert in Vilnius, following a suspected drone incursion.
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it → lift → incursion
Vilnius airport was closed on Sunday and NATO summoned at least one fighter jet in response to a possible drone sighting.
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NATO → close → sighting
The air alert was lifted and the airport reopened after about an hour, the centre said.
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centre → lift → hour
Lithuania closes Vilnius airport in response to possible drone
Lithuania on Sunday closed Vilnius airport and Nato summoned at least one fighter jet in response to a possible sighting of a drone in Lithuanian airspace, the National Crisis Management Centre said.
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Centre → close → airspace
A jet was summoned from Siauliai in northern Lithuania, the centre said, where Italian air force is currently based as part of the NATO Baltic Air Defence mission.
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force → summon → mission
The Vilnius marathon, which was taking place in the capital, was not interrupted, the organisers told Reuters.
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organisers → take → Reuters
Countries along Nato’s eastern frontier have reported a series of drones straying into their airspace linked to the conflict stemming from Russia's 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Countries → report → Ukraine
Sweden, NATO’s newest member, is holding an election.
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Sweden → hold → election
Here’s what is at stake
Voters in Sweden will go to the polls on Sunday in a contest that will decide if the conservative government stays in power, potentially granting a hard-right party its first cabinet seats, or if the centre-left will regain control.
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left → ’ → control
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is bidding for a second four-year term leading the European Union country, which recently became NATO’s newest member.
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which → bid → country
His predecessor is attempting to reclaim office, with the battle over leadership largely overshadowing core policy debates.
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battle → attempt → debates
…and 15 more, not listed.
