Overview

• By 22:00 on September 16, the General Staff logged 148 engagements, reporting 1 missile strike, 47 air strikes, 69 guided bombs, 2,113 kamikaze drones and 3,308 shellings across multiple fronts.
• On the Pokrovsk axis, Russian forces attacked 46 times; Ukraine says 40 assaults were repelled and estimates 177 Russian casualties on that sector for the day.
• Civilian areas were hit again: Zaporizhzhia suffered a rocket‑artillery strike with 20 wounded and one death, Sumy region reported 97 strikes on 51 settlements with multiple injuries and damage, and a Kharkiv university building was struck.
• President Volodymyr Zelensky called for stronger sanctions and tariffs on Russian trade, as Germany’s foreign minister urged the U.S. to implement previously announced Russia sanctions and the EU advances a 19th package.
• Southern defense officials reported sustained high drone use and new Russian tactics, including adding motorcycle riflemen to assault units and increasing UAV operations and island landings on the Dnipro sector; a GUR source also reported a special operation targeting Russian troops in Primorsky Krai.