What did mid-September 2023 reveal about Ukraine's war?

What was the security picture on 16 September 2023? The days leading up to that date brought strikes on Crimea, drone claims near a nuclear plant and a legal milestone in Kyiv.

Strikes on Crimea

On 13 September 2023, Russia said at least 24 people were injured in Ukrainian missile strikes on Sevastopol, and that two boats were damaged. Ukraine claimed to have destroyed the Russian landing ship Minsk, the submarine B-237 and a KC-701-class patrol boat of the Black Sea Fleet. B-237, Rostov-na-Donu, is a Project 636.3 diesel-electric attack submarine that was commissioned on 26 December 2014 and joined the Black Sea Fleet.

Earlier, on 10 September 2023, Russia said its air defence had shot down three Ukrainian drones over Crimea: one in the northwest of the peninsula and two in the west.

Zaporizhzhia

Also on 13 September 2023, the head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, said Ukraine had launched a drone strike on Enerhodar, near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and that all six drones were destroyed. The claim was made by the Russian side, and the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive was under way at the time.

Civilian toll and accountability

On 10 September 2023, two foreign aid workers were killed and two others injured by Russian shelling near Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast.

On 14 September 2023, the International Criminal Court opened a field office in Kyiv as part of its war crimes investigations in Ukraine. It became the largest ICC office outside its headquarters in The Hague, in the Netherlands.

The picture on 16 September 2023

Taken together, the reports from those days showed fighting that reached the Black Sea Fleet's base at Sevastopol, drone activity near a nuclear facility, continued danger for humanitarian workers in Donetsk Oblast, and an expanded international legal presence in the Ukrainian capital.