Estonia seeks NATO consultations after Russia jets incident

We'll be back with the latest updates on topics to do with Russia's war in Ukraine tomorrow.

Austria's majority state-owned energy group OMV has dismissed an executive over allegations of espionage for Russia, according to an exclusive report published by the Austrian news magazine Profil. 

According to the magazine, the OMV employee attracted attention after meetings with a Russian diplomat suspected by Western intelligence services of being linked to Russia's domestic intelligence service, the FSB.

Austria’s domestic intelligence agency DSN had reportedly been monitoring the executive for several months.

OMV told Reuters that the employee's contract was terminated with immediate effect and said it is fully cooperating with authorities. The company declined to provide further details, citing data protection.

Austria's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian charge d'affaires in Vienna, who was asked to waive the Russian diplomat’s immunity. 

"Otherwise, he would have been considered persona non grata and would have had to leave Austria," the ministry told Reuters.

According to Profil, the OMV executive had been temporarily assigned to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), which owns a 25% stake in OMV.

The two companies are planning to merge their petrochemical subsidiaries, Borouge and Borealis. The employee reportedly had insights into both firms and passed information to the Russian diplomat during meetings in Vienna.

Andrii Melnyk, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN, said Kyiv will seek broader support from the Global South at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.

He also weighed the prospect of US President Donald Trump brokering peace and warned that Europe cannot return to "business as usual" with Russia once the war ends. 

Russian authorities reported multiple casualties following a drone strike on the heavily industrialized Samara region.

"It is with deep sorrow that I report that four people were killed in an enemy drone attack last night," Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said in a social media post. Fedorishchev also said that one person was injured in the attack. 

The region is located some 800 kilometers (497 miles) from the front line in Ukraine and is home to the Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery.  

General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said earlier that it targeted two Russian refineries in the Saratov and Samara regions of Russia overnight.

Ukraine frequently targets Russian energy infrastructure, with the aim of hurting Russian economy by hampering Russia's exports of oil and gas. By doing so, Kyiv hopes to cut the revenues Russia uses to fund its military. 

NATO will meet early next week to discuss Russia's alleged violation of Estonia's airspace, a spokesperson for the Atlantic alliance told German news agency dpa.

The spokesman said the consultations will be held under Article 4 of the NATO treaty, but did not provide an exact date for the talks.

Article 4 provides for consultations among allies if a member feels its "territorial integrity, political independence, or security" is threatened.

Estonia requested the consultations after detecting three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets in its airspace early Friday morning.

Russia has denied Estonia's account, stating that it had not violated any borders.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he will meet with his US counterpart Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week.

According to Zelenskyy, he will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia during his talks with Trump.

Efforts by the US under Trump to swiftly end the war or bring about a ceasefire have been unsuccessful, while Russia has made it clear that a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is not on the cards.

"We expect sanctions if there is no meeting between the leaders or, for example, no ceasefire," Zelenskyy said in comments released by the Ukrainian presidency.

"We are ready for a meeting with Putin. I have spoken about this. Both bilateral and trilateral." He is not ready," the Ukrainian leader added.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said Saturday that its forces struck two Russian refineries overnight.

The refineries are located in the Saratova and Samara regions, near Kazakhstan.

"The Saratov oil refinery accounts for approximately 2.54% of the total oil refining volume in the Russian Federation (over 7 million tons of oil annually)," the General Staff said on Telegram.

"The Novokuybyshevsk oil refinery processes over 8.8 million tons of oil per year," it added.

Ukraine has recently stepped up its attacks on Russian oil refineries and energy infrastructure using long-range drones.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that hitting Russia's oil refineries are the "most effective sanctions."

Russia launched a "massive attack" overnight on Ukraine killing at least three people and wounding dozens of others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday morning.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy said Russia had fired 40 cruise and ballistic missiles and around 580 drones during the assault, which lasted "all night."

Ukraine's president said the strikes had targeted "infrastructure, residential areas and civilian enterprises" in regions across the country, including Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Kharkiv.

Zelenskyy said a missile with cluster munitions had "directly" struck an apartment building in Dnipro.

"Every such strike is not a military necessity but a deliberate strategy by Russia to terrorize civilians and destroy our infrastructure," he said.

Zelenskyy said Russia's latest attacks demonstrate the need for a "strong international response" as he called for Ukraine's air defenses and weapons supplies to be strengthened, as well as tougher, broader sanctions on Moscow's "military machine."

Poland and its allies deployed aircraft on Saturday to protect Polish airspace after Russia launched airstrikes on western Ukraine, the country's military said.

Poland, a NATO member, shares a 529 kilometer (329 miles) border with western Ukraine.

"Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness," the
operational command said in a post on X.

At 0340 GMT, nearly all of Ukraine's territory was under air raid alerts after the Ukrainian Air Force warned of Russian missile and drone attacks.

While Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began over three years ago, Russian incursions of NATO airspace over the past week mark a significant escalation, NATO and Ukrainian officials have warned. 

US President Donald Trump has reacted to reports that Russian jets flew violated Estonia's and NATO's airspace, telling reporters that he was still to be briefed by aides on the reported incursion.

"I don't love it," he said, adding, "I don't like when that happens. It could be big trouble, but I'll
let you know later."

Trump's response was considerably less firm than many of the US' NATO allies, who roundly condemned the "brazen" and "reckless" alleged incursion.

The US president's wavering commitment to NATO and his attempts to foster closer ties with Russia since his return to the White House have raised concerns in Europe.

Russia has denied that its fighter jets violated Estonia's airspace on Friday.

"The flight was conducted in strict accordance with international airspace rules, without violating the borders of other states," Moscow's Defence Ministry said, according to Russian state news agency TASS early on Saturday.

"During the flight, the Russian aircraft did not deviate from the agreed flight path and did not violate Estonian airspace," the ministry added, saying the jets flew over neutral waters of the
Baltic Sea, more than three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the island of Vaindloo.

The information could not be independently verified.

Estonian President Alar Karis described Russia's violation of his country's airspace as "another provocation," adding that, "It's very clear that air defence must be a NATO priority."

Referring to NATO's new Eastern Sentry mission to reinforce security along the alliance's eastern flank, he added, "I am confident it will focus on all Russian air threats across the entire eastern flank."

Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul condemned Russia's violation of Estonian airspace after the incident on Friday.

"Vigilance is the price of freedom. This principle of NATO remains as relevant as ever. Today's unacceptable violation of Estonian airspace by Russia clearly demonstrates this," Wadephul said on X.

The foreign minister said he had given Estonian counterpart, Margus Tsahkna, his assurance of Germany's "full solidarity."

"By immediately intercepting the Russian aircraft, we are showing that NATO is always ready to defend itself," Wadephul said. 

NATO member Estonia said three Russian fighter jets entered its airspace and flew for 12 minutes in an "unprecedentedly brazen" incursion on Friday, amid rising tensions on the alliance's eastern flank.

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Russia had already violated Estonian airspace four times this year, "which is unacceptable in itself, but today's violation, during which three fighter jets entered our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen."

Estonia was the third NATO country to report an incursion of its airspace by Russia in recent weeks, following incidents in Poland and Romania.

However, Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement early Saturday that its jets flew over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, in proceeding from northwest Russia to Kaliningrad.

"The flight was conducted in strict accordance with international airspace rules, without violating the borders of other states," the Russian ministry said. 

"During the flight, the Russian aircraft did not deviate from the agreed flight path and did not violate Estonian airspace," the ministry added.

Good morning readers. We're following news about three Russian fighter jets having violated NATO member Estonia's airspace in an unusually long 12-minute incursion on Friday. 

Estonia then requested NATO Article 4 consultations after the intrusion. NATO's principal political decision-making body is set to convene early next week to discuss the incident.

European leaders have condemned the incident, which came after NATO jets shot down Russian drones that entered Polish airspace earlier in September. 

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, called Friday's incursion "an extremely dangerous provocation" that "further escalates tensions in the region."

Stay with us for more on this and other developments involving Russia's war in Ukraine.