A Ukrainian military unit specializing in intelligence has launched a separate project to recruit volunteers from China. Currently, about 12 Chinese citizens serve in it, while more than 30 Chinese candidates were rejected after interviews. The Guardian writes about this. The publication does not disclose the name of the unit at the request of its commander, call sign Muse. He attributed this to safety concerns for the Chinese fighters and their families.

A store belonging to German retailer Metro provided free food to Russian service members in the city of Samara on multiple occasions in 2022, according to the official journal of the Samara Region’s Public Chamber. At the same time, Metro’s Ukrainian subsidiary was providing aid to Ukraine’s armed forces, donating more than 1,000 metric tons of food and other goods between February 2022 and September 2023, The Insider found.

According to an analysis conducted by the Israeli Ministry of Defense and intelligence services, one of the pilots of a Flydubai airline plane with Israeli passengers on board tried to cause a plane crash, writes Ynet. Authorities are considering the possibility of a terrorist attack. The pilot who allegedly tried to crash the plane turned out to be an Omani citizen. The crew commander who prevented him with the help of several passengers is a citizen of the United Arab Emirates.

The Russian government has sent to the State Duma a bill on the federal budget for 2027 and the planning period 2028–2029, the order was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. Next year, treasury expenditures are planned at 48.8 trillion rubles, and receipts - 43.3 trillion, that is, the deficit will be 5.5 trillion. In 2028, expenses will increase to 50.9 trillion with revenues of 45.8 trillion, in 2029 - to 53.9 trillion with 48.6 trillion.

Vladimir Putin has bestowed state honors on 51 employees of Russia’s state-run Pervy Kanal (Channel One), the result of a decree dated Sept. 29. Among the honorees are propagandists whose reports The Insider has previously debunked as false. Correspondent Ivan Blagoy received the Order of Friendship. He authored a widely known 2016 report about “Lisa,” a girl in Germany who was allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted by immigrants.

A Flydubai airline plane flying from Dubai (UAE) to Tel Aviv (Israel) issued a distress signal, Ynet reports . Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz convened an urgent meeting. Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled due to fears that the plane might be hijacked. “There is no exact information about the hijacking, the pilot activated a distress signal. We cannot contact the pilot, and this is worrying,” a security source told Ynet.

Films and TV series about corruption among law enforcement officials and security agencies will no longer receive government funding, sources in major Russian film studios told the Kommersant newspaper. The logic is that such pictures undermine trust in government institutions.

Patrick Branco Ruivo, CEO of the Société d'exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE), which manages the Eiffel Tower, will leave his post at the end of 2026. The decision followed an internal investigation into the scandal, during which female employees were removed from their jobs at the request of the Hindu delegation, AFP reported . Branko Ruivo has been running the company since 2018.

Exports of Russian diesel fuel and gas oils through the Black Sea fell to zero in the week ending September 24 for the first time in recorded history, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data reviewed by The Insider. A week earlier, 66 thousand tons of fuel were exported from Novorossiysk, while in 2025, Black Sea ports shipped an average of about 200 thousand tons per week. The total sea exports of Russian diesel fuel and gas oils fell by almost half over the week, to 81 thousand tons.

Russia has not discussed with the United States the possibility of releasing political prisoners in exchange for easing sanctions, said Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. According to him, Moscow “categorically denies” the very existence of political prisoners in Russia. “Russia categorically denies having political prisoners, so the topic of their release in exchange for easing sanctions was not discussed,” Peskov said.

Gazprom has extended the agreement on Russian gas supplies to Serbia for another three months, until the end of 2026. The conditions will remain the same, said Dusan Bajatovic, director of the state company Srbijagaz. This is the third three-month extension of the agreement since the beginning of the year: the previous parties agreed in March and June. At the same time, Serbia retains a significant discount on Russian gas.

Moscow sent a diplomatic note to NATO warning of its readiness to use nuclear weapons if the alliance tries to isolate the Kaliningrad region, located between Poland and Lithuania, from the rest of Russia. The document was seen by Reuters.

Access Opera, a partner agency of the American rapper Kanye West, has officially confirmed — via Instagram — that the musician’s purportedly scheduled concerts in Russia will not take place. It recommended that all ticket refund requests be directed to the Say agency. Say itself said it would release information about the concerts on Wednesday, Sept. 30. “No earlier and no later — be patient,” the agency wrote on its Telegram channel. St.

Ukrainian Vladimir Zhuravlev, arrested in Croatia on suspicion of participation in the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, requested political asylum in the country. “Suspilne” writes about this with reference to his lawyer. According to the defense lawyer, Zhuravlev justified his request by the fact that in Germany, where he could be extradited, he would not receive a fair trial. The lawyer notes that a request for asylum does not automatically stop the extradition process.

In Sevastopol, since the beginning of 2026, the construction of not a single new apartment building has started, according to participants in the local real estate market. In 2025, about ten residential complexes began to be built in the city. At the same time, official statistics so far show an increase in housing commissioning: in the first seven months of the year it increased by 35%. Experts explain this by the completion of projects laid down in previous years.