On September 16, Vladimir Putin arrived in the Nizhny Novgorod region, where he personally supervised the final stage of the joint Russian-Belarusian exercises "West-2025". According to official data, 100 thousand military personnel took part in the maneuvers, including not only the Russian and Belarusian armies, but also representatives from India, Iran, Bangladesh, as well as African countries - Burkina Faso, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It is noteworthy that this is only the second time since the start of the full-scale war that Putin has appeared publicly in military uniform. According to ISW analysts, the Kremlin is thus trying to create the image of a "supreme commander-in-chief" who personally leads the army.
Russia has been practicing air strikes, landings, and the use of drones and robotic platforms in the Kaliningrad region, the Barents Sea, and the Sredny Peninsula. Belarusian troops, according to Deputy Defense Minister Pavlo Muraveyko, have been practicing with non-strategic nuclear weapons and the Oreshnik ballistic missile system. They have also been using drones, motorcycles, and robotic platforms—experience directly learned from the war against Ukraine.
On the same day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported a successful drone attack on the Saratov oil refinery, which supplies fuel to the Russian army. A large-scale fire broke out, and the plant is assessing the damage. The plant's capacity reaches 4.8 million tons per year.
Problems in the Russian oil sector are piling up. Reuters writes that Transneft has warned producers about reducing transportation volumes after strikes on terminals and refineries. At the Kirishinsky plant alone, equipment that provided 40% of its capacity was destroyed.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian companies Vyriy and The Fourth Law have launched mass production of FPV drones with the TFL-1 artificial intelligence module. According to United24 Media, the new drones have increased the effectiveness of strikes by 2–4 times. The cost of one device is only $448, which makes it almost equivalent in price to a regular FPV, but many times more effective.
On September 16, explosions were heard at the base of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Russian Federation in Primorsky Krai. ISW sources claim that this was sabotage by the Ukrainian GUR. Official authorities explained the incident as “problems with the gas infrastructure,” but local residents saw military helicopters and blocked roads.
In Sumy region, Russian troops have failed to advance. On the contrary, Ukrainian forces are surrounding enemy units near Alekseevka. Russian bloggers have confirmed that the Kremlin has sent North Korean soldiers to defend Kursk region. However, their training has been weak, which is causing problems in interaction with the Russians.
Thus, while Putin was demonstrating “allied strength” in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Ukrainian drones and sabotage were hitting Russian resources, weakening the Kremlin’s ability to wage war.
