Overview

• The General Staff said 183 combat engagements occurred on September 16, with Ukrainian forces stopping 60 assaults on the Pokrovsk axis.
• Russia carried out two missile attacks, 74 airstrikes with 118 glide bombs, and employed 6,206 loitering munitions over the day, according to the morning update.
• Southern command reported a surge to roughly 750–780 kamikaze-drone strikes per day in its sector and active use of Molniya and Molniya‑2 loitering munitions to disrupt logistics, notably on the Mykolaiv–Kherson road.
• President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia has launched more than 3,500 drones, nearly 190 missiles and over 2,500 aerial bombs since the start of September, urging tougher sanctions and a layered air-defense shield.
• Authorities in Sumy documented 97 strikes across 51 settlements with multiple civilians wounded, while a Ukrainian intelligence source reported an operation against a Russian military unit in Primorsky Krai.