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Moscow drone strike and EU sanctions reshuffle
Summary
A look back at 22 September 2026 and the events of the preceding days: a large Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow Oblast and a sanctions deal in Brussels that Latvia later blocked.
What had changed in the security picture of the Russo-Ukrainian war by 22 September 2026? Two developments from the preceding days framed it: a drone attack on Moscow Oblast on 20 September, and an agreement among European Union ambassadors on 21 September over sanctions.
The attack on Moscow Oblast
On 20 September, Ukrainian forces launched a massive drone attack on Moscow Oblast. More than 1,600 long-range drones were launched from Ukraine. At least two people were killed and hundreds more were evacuated, while the Moscow Refinery was on fire after several direct hits.
The same day, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that he had ordered the attack. He described it as a response to Russian forces targeting civilians in Ukrainian cities. He also said that FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles and ballistic missiles were used in the operation alongside the drones.
Attacks inside Russia had been a feature of the war since the full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022. The main targets have been the military, the arms industry and the oil industry, and many of the attacks have been drone strikes.
Sanctions in Brussels
On 21 September, European Union ambassadors agreed in principle to remove the Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Alisher Usmanov from the sanctions imposed over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The same agreement renewed restrictions on about 3,000 other Russian-linked individuals and entities for three years.
The arrangement did not hold. Latvia later blocked the deal.
Two tracks, one war
Taken together, the events of 20 and 21 September showed the conflict running on two tracks. On one, Ukraine was striking deep into Russian territory, with oil infrastructure among the sites hit. On the other, European governments were negotiating the scope and duration of the sanctions regime that has accompanied the war, with the agreement among ambassadors complicated by Latvia's later objection.
By 22 September 2026, the war that began with Russia's invasion in 2022 had reached Moscow's own surroundings in a way that drew evacuations, while the sanctions framework in Brussels remained a subject of dispute among member states.
