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What the late September 2023 reports showed
Summary
A retrospective on three reported developments in the days up to 26 September 2023: Western tanks, a strike on Sevastopol and Russian missile attacks.
What did the security picture look like on 26 September 2023? Reports from the preceding days pointed in three directions: new Western equipment arriving, a Ukrainian strike on a symbolic Russian target, and continued Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian territory.
On 25 September 2023, Ukraine received its first shipment of M1 Abrams tanks from the United States. The delivery formed part of the military aid supplied to Ukraine during the war.
Three days earlier, on 22 September 2023, the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea, was hit in a Ukrainian missile attack. At least one person was reported killed, and a fire broke out in the building.
Russian missile strikes continued as well. On 21 September 2023, at least two civilians were killed and 21 others injured in strikes across Ukraine.
Reading the three together
Taken side by side, the reports show both sides acting on the war's different fronts. Ukraine was adding heavy armour from its partners while striking a command site in Crimea. Russia was hitting targets across Ukrainian territory, with civilian casualties.
The reports do not establish what the tank delivery or the Sevastopol strike would change on the battlefield. They record what was delivered, what was hit and who was harmed in the days before 26 September 2023.
