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ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 10, 2026
Confirmed
In Short: Ukraine has struck the farthest Russian gas plants to date, while Russian officials continue to posture for potential mobilization and emphasize the war's long-term impact on Russian society.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the United Russia Party as the "war party" tasked with executing his ideological aims, according to a statement on August 22. In a recent development, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev, who also serves as the United Russia Party Chairperson, has emphasized the party's commitment to supporting a protracted war in Ukraine. Medvedev's comments, made in a September 10 interview with the Russian newspaper Vedomosti, underscore the Kremlin's efforts to centralize power and silence dissent.
Medvedev's remarks also highlight the Kremlin's strategy to demand greater social sacrifices from the Russian public to support the war effort. He stressed the need for Russian society to remain on a permanent war footing, even after the conflict in Ukraine concludes. This posturing supports the Kremlin's broader efforts to centralize power and set conditions for potential mobilization, despite Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's denial of any plans for a mobilization.
In a related development, a Russian drone reportedly entered Moldovan airspace as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's plane was preparing for takeoff at the Chisinau Airport. This incident adds to the tension between Russia and Moldova, which has been a close ally of Ukraine.
Medvedev's articulation of United Russia's commitment to the war and the long-term militarization of Russian society further solidifies the party's pro-war stance as part of Russia's informal state ideology. His emphasis on the need for increased economic sacrifices by Russian society to support the war effort and the post-war defense industry's reorientation toward stockpiling weapons to repel the supposed existential threat from NATO and US allies in the Pacific, highlights the deepening commitment to the conflict.
What's confirmed
- The Ukrainian General Staff and Special Operations Forces (SSO) reported on September 9 that Ukrainian forces struck the Novy Urengoy Gas Condensate Treatment Plant and the Purovsky Gas Processing Plant in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (roughly 2,840 and 2,780 kilometers from the Ukrainian border respectively) — Ukraine’s farthest strikes thus far in the war. [1] The SSO noted that the Novy Urengoy Gas Condensate Treatment Plant’s annual capacity is 19.5 million tons, and the Purovsky Gas Processing Plant’s annual capacity is 13.4 million tons.
- Medvedev also denied that Russia will conduct a mobilization, despite growing indications that the Kremlin is setting conditions for mobilization following the September State Duma elections. [4] Russian President Vladimir Putin described the United Russia Party as the war party tasked with executing Putin’s ideological aims on August 22. [5] Medvedev is using his position as the United Russia Chairperson to reaffirm the United Russia Party's pro-war platform and to position the party as the leader of a pro-war and ultranationalist informal Russian state ideology.
- This posturing supports the Kremlin's efforts to centralize power, silence dissent, and set conditions to demand greater social sacrifices from the Russian public to support war in Ukraine and beyond. [7] A Russian drone entered Moldovan airspace as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plane was preparing for takeoff at the Chisinau Airport, Moldova on September 9.
What's still developing
- Click here to see ISW’s interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Russia has long sought to establish and control the Northern Sea Route to cement Russia’s position in the Arctic Sea and use it as an alternative shipping route amidst Ukraine’s long-range strike campaign against Russian port infrastructure in the Black and Baltic seas.