12 September 2026

ESO said on Saturday it had restored permanent power to all customers who reported outages after the late-August storm. The last connections were completed in the Zarasai and Ignalina districts, and the company called it the strongest storm since 1970.

Only a few days ago about 1,000 customers were still without electricity, even though supply had already been restored to 99.8% of affected users. ESO has also received thousands of claims for direct damage linked to the outage and damaged infrastructure. An explosion in Vilnius today triggered a fire and drew a large firefighting response. Crews first checked whether anyone was trapped inside, while officials worked to establish the cause and decide whether nearby buildings need additional inspections.

Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday that Lithuania could “disappear from the world map” if nuclear or other weapons were deployed on its territory. Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas dismissed the remarks as another Kremlin provocation and said Lithuania is already a Russian target. Lawmakers are due to consider in the autumn session whether to scrap Article 137 of the constitution, which bans nuclear weapons on Lithuanian soil. Kaunas also said Russia has already stationed tactical nuclear weapons around Lithuania.

Lithuania’s ruling coalition yesterday unveiled a family support package worth almost 800 million euros a year, with part of it due to take effect from 2027. A group of lawmakers also wants a full ban on disposable e-cigarettes debated in the autumn session, with Health Minister Linas Kukuraitis backing the move.

The most significant late development was Dmitry Medvedev's threat against Lithuania over weapons on its territory. Domestically, a dispute escalated between the finance minister and MP Mindaugas Lingė after the minister threatened legal action over a post on changes to lottery taxation.

Kyiv said it shot down 9 Russian missiles and 101 drones over the past day, but strikes still reached the capital and southern Ukraine. Russian attacks killed at least eight civilians in Ukraine today, while a mass overnight strike in the Odesa region wounded at least 28 people, set a textile factory on fire and damaged two apartment buildings.

The attack also hit the Orlivka international ferry crossing on the Romanian border. AP separately reported that Russian drones struck the Starokozache border crossing on the Ukraine-Moldova frontier earlier this week, killing two people. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Polish and Ukrainian services had thwarted a direct threat to one border crossing overnight and warned of possible sabotage against trade routes and border infrastructure.

Britain's military chief Rich Knighton said in Kyiv that Russia has lost more than 500,000 troops killed in Ukraine since February 2022, with total casualties reaching 1.5 million. He said Russia had also lost more than 10,000 armoured and protected vehicles, nearly 3,000 air-defence and artillery systems, and more than 370 aircraft and helicopters. Volodymyr Zelenskiy proposed meeting Vladimir Putin at the G20 in Miami, but Putin said any deployment of European troops in Ukraine would mean war against Russia.

After visits by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the Kremlin has repeated that it is open to a trilateral format with Ukraine and the United States but still gives no venue or date. The Institute for the Study of War says Moscow has not changed its original war demands, while Dmitry Peskov opened a Baltic nuclear warning front by saying Lithuania would fall into Russia's nuclear sights if it hosted allied nuclear weapons.

Germany suspects Russian intelligence over the attack at Leipzig airport. In Bulgaria, investigators are examining possible sabotage after explosions and a fire at an ammunition depot. The Kremlin said talks between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky at the G20 summit are impossible.

In the Philippines, the death toll from a passenger ferry fire off Coron rose to 76, with 13 people still missing. The vessel carried 132 passengers and crew, and coast guard teams are still searching the burned-out ship and looking for the captain.

Russia struck Ukrainian cities today, killing three civilians. Twenty-eight people were wounded in and around Odesa over the past day.

Western governments have tightened pressure on Iran’s nuclear programme over the past two days: the IAEA board sent Tehran’s case to the UN Security Council for the first time in 20 years, and Britain announced tougher sanctions. BRICS countries urged restraint over the Middle East today and, according to an Indian official, agreed a joint statement. North Korea launched an unidentified object toward the Sea of Japan, while Yemeni government forces struck the Houthi-held city of al Mucha.

Maritime states warn that tougher shipping emissions rules will raise freight, fuel and broader trade costs. The Bahamas says the final bill for any global levy or quota system will fall on all countries that depend on international trade. In Germany, the AfD’s win in Saxony-Anhalt is still weighing on Chancellor Friedrich Merz over migration, Ukraine and ties with Washington. In Silicon Valley, Apple unveiled a $1,999 foldable iPhone yesterday in a bid to turn a premium niche into a broader upgrade cycle.

The United Nations said at least 76,000 people in Yemen have been displaced by fighting since July. A fire at a nursing home in Chile killed 16 people.