UNITED24 Media Telegram Highlights
❗️President Zelenskyy reports $27 billion budget deficit and calls for renewed push to use frozen Russian assets
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged funding gaps in Ukraine’s budget, saying the Defense Ministry has already used funds allocated for the remainder of the year.
“Within the PEARL program and bilateral cooperation, we also need to overcome certain funding gaps related to the budget formation process. The Ministry of Defense used the funds allocated in the budget until the end of this year, but the overall deficit currently stands at $27 billion,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia spends about €340 billion on the war, while Ukraine spends €140 billion. So, if we want to bring the war back to Russia and make it painful for them, we need a comparable number of drones, not money, because they have twice as much money today, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing.
A meeting of the Coalition of the Willing was held in Kyiv. Here are the key statements from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders:
🇺🇦 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the summit focused on securing Patriot interceptor missiles for Ukraine by winter, providing $27 billion to finance the Defense Forces and unblocking the Black Sea.
🇬🇧 UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Britain would share information on components of Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles and call on its defense industry to support the FREYJA anti-ballistic missile program.
🇫🇷 French President Emmanuel Macron proposed convening a ministerial meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in the coming weeks to focus on combating Russia’s shadow fleet.
🇮🇹 Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged to continue humanitarian assistance to Ukraine through the winter, including by providing additional generators to help support the country’s power system.
🇬🇧 British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has approved the transfer of technology to Ukraine to produce Storm Shadow cruise missiles.
🇲🇩 Russian forces attacked the Vynohradivka border crossing with Moldova with a Shahed drone.
Russia-backed sabotage at European arms factories is on the rise, The Telegraph reports.
Moscow is carrying out sabotage at arms factories across Europe and recruiting members of local criminal groups to target defense plants and test NATO’s readiness to respond, the British newspaper reports.
According to intelligence officials, the attacks appear to be designed to avoid triggering Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which provides for collective defense. Russia rarely leaves evidence that could directly link it to the attacks. In addition, some European countries, including Italy and Germany, are often reluctant to attribute incidents to Moscow for fear of escalation.
The Telegraph recalls that explosions occurred at major arms factories in Italy and Bulgaria in August. In addition, three people suspected of deliberately setting fire to a defense company’s building in Tallinn, Estonia, on August 15 were detained in Latvia.
On August 24, during the event marking Ukraine’s 35th Independence Day, Ukraine showcased its arsenal of innovative weapons, among which were ground robotic platforms, naval drones, combat UAVs, and fighter jets. This is what the present and future of the strong, modern armed forces look like.
https://t.me/United24media/45452
💥 Ukraine’s General Staff confirms strikes on the Afipsky Oil Refinery and Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant
A fire broke out at the Afipsky Oil Refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai following a strike. The refinery is one of the region’s major oil-processing facilities, with a design capacity of 6.25 million tons of oil per year. It produces, among other products, diesel fuel and gasoline components and supplies the Russian military.
The General Staff also confirmed damage to two U-272 gas separation units at the Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant in Russia’s Astrakhan region.
The plant’s products are used to supply the Russian Armed Forces, while its technical sulfur is used in the production of explosives.
Putin, as promised, is taking Russians back to the past. Russian entrepreneurs may soon have to remember what expropriation means.
The Russian president signed a decree allowing the state to place enterprises under “temporary management” if their owners fail to adequately protect them, including from drone attacks.
Companies may also face state control if they fail to promptly restore facilities damaged in attacks or do not restore them at all.
The decree covers a broad range of facilities, including industrial, fuel and energy, communications, utilities, logistics and transport companies, as well as facilities deemed “critically important” or “potentially dangerous.”
The decision to introduce temporary management will be made by the government at the president’s direction. It may apply not only to the assets themselves but also to shares and stakes in the companies.
“Spirit-030,” a rare Russian alternative to Starlink, was destroyed in the Huliaipole direction.
The terminal was destroyed by an FPV crew from the 2nd UAV Battalion of the 1st Separate Assault Regiment named after Dmytro Kotsiubailo, according to the unit.
The Spirit-030 is a portable satellite internet terminal with an antenna just 30 centimeters in diameter, making it difficult to detect.
The 1st Separate Assault Regiment said Russian forces began deploying the terminals on a large scale after March 2026, when their access to Starlink was blocked.
🇵🇱🇺🇦 “We will never be Russian colonies again”: Sikorski speaks out on Ukraine’s Independence Day
“We in Poland, and you in Ukraine, have decided this: We will never again be Russian colonies,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said.
He said the spread of the name “Russia” instead of “Muscovy” was linked to the conquest of Ukraine and the appropriation of the legacy of Kyivan Rus.
Sikorski said Russia has used conquest and assimilation for centuries to subjugate neighboring peoples, meaning that fear of Russia “is not irrational.”
“Once and for all, Russians must decide where Russia ends,” the Polish diplomat said.
😍 The Eiffel Tower lit up in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
In London, the Palace of Westminster was illuminated in blue and yellow; in Ottawa, the Peace Tower; in Baku Heydar Aliyev Center, and in Brussels, the European Commission headquarters.