Strikes kill 6 in Ukraine, 1 in Russia after Moscow rejects German calls to de-escalate

Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes overnight and on Sunday (September 27, 2026), killing at least six people in Ukraine and one in Russia, officials said, hours after Moscow rejected German calls to ease off its escalation toward NATO.

Russia's top diplomat on Saturday (September 26) brushed off what's believed to have been the first face-to-face meeting with his German counterpart since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The meeting was held during the UN General Assembly's annual gathering of world leaders, as an intensifying aerial war between Russia and Ukraine showed no sign of slowing.

Ties between Russia and Germany have soured in recent weeks, following an attempted drone attack last month at Leipzig airport that Berlin blamed on the Kremlin.