MOSCOW/KYIV, Sept.19 (SANA)– TheRussia-Ukraine warcontinues on both the political andmilitary fronts,with diplomatic and economic moves by both sides and ongoing military operations and exchanges of aerial attacks. Ukraine is strengthening defense cooperation with several European countries, while Russia says it is continuing its military operations and criticizesWestern support for Kyiv.

According to the Ukrainian news agency, PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyysaid that the economic component of the “Carpathian Eight” summit would include the signing ofinvestment and trade agreementsworth about 1 billion euros, with around 550 business representatives taking part. About 100 projects with a combined value of approximately 40 billion euros are also expected to be presented.

The “Carpathian Eight” initiative includes Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Slovakia,Hungary, the Czech Republic,Austria and Serbia.

As part of European support for Kyiv,Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyisaid on X that his country had received a 3.3-billion-euro tranche from theEuropean Union. He said the funds would be allocated to defense needs, particularly the purchase of missiles and drones.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmaraand French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin discussed Friday ways to strengthenUkraine’s air defenses, including supplying Mirage aircraft with munitions and developing interceptor drones to counter attack drones.

The two sides also discussed implementing joint defense-industry projects and the “FREYA” anti-ballistic missile initiative, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.

In Moscow, theRussian Foreign Ministrysaid it had summoned Britain’s chargé d’affaires and lodged a protest over what it described as London’s continued increase in supplies of drones and weapons to Ukraine.

In a statement carried by Russia’s Sputnik news agency, the ministry said Moscow reserved the right to take measures it deemed necessary, warning thatBritish military facilities in Ukraine, that it said were being used to carry out strikes against Russia, could become legitimate military targets.

On the battlefield, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had shot down or electronically suppressed 72Russian dronesduring an overnight aerial attack, adding thatRussian forceshad launched 93 drones of various types.

In the Zhytomyr region,Ukrainian authoritiessaid two people were killed and two others wounded in a Russian strike on a civilian facility in the Korosten area. Fires broke out and warehouses and production buildings were damaged, they said.

Five people, including children, were also wounded in a drone attack on the Fastiv area of theKyiv region.

Meanwhile, Reuters quotedKursk regionalGovernor Alexander Khinshtein as saying that one person was killed and three others wounded in drone attacks on the Russian region. The report came after Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had intercepted several Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the Black Sea.

In a separate incident, Russian authorities said one person was killed in shelling of the city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region.Russia’s Defense Ministrylater said its forces had taken control of the towns of Zolotyi Kolodiaz and Viroliubivka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, while also striking sites and vessels it said were linked to Ukrainian forces.

The developments come as military operations and reciprocal aerial attacks betweenRussia and Ukrainecontinue, alongside political and diplomatic statements and initiatives related to the war. There has also been discussion of possible limited understandings on protectingenergy facilities,although this has not brought an end to the continuing battlefield confrontation between the two sides.