Sep 18, 2026, 01:30 AM UTC

The United States has conducted its largest crude oil transport operation through the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began six months ago, employing naval, aerial, and space assets. The movement coincided with a US strike on Iran's Larak Island. In response, Iranian forces deployed rocket-launched sea mines across the maritime corridor.

Tehran declared that the waterway "will not be opened" until Washington fulfills a memorandum of understanding requiring the lifting of oil sanctions, unfreezing of assets, termination of port blockades, and cessation of military operations. Prior to the hostilities, approximately 20 million barrels of crude passed through the strategic passage daily.

Sources: Expresso, Expresso das Ilhas, RTP (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal)

Ukrainian drone strikes hit major Russian logistics targets, including Wildberries and Ozon facilities across multiple regions, causing operational halts and driving Ozon shares down by nearly 30 percent. Separate drone impacts caused civilian casualties in Moscow Oblast and Krasnodar Krai, where seven people died on a beach in Arkhipo-Osipovka. Meanwhile, Russian strikes on Kyiv killed nine people and injured 33.

On the frontline, Russian forces made tactical gains near Artelne in Kharkiv Oblast, while Ukrainian troops advanced toward Velyka Novosilka. In Belarus, military authorities announced plans to establish a new air assault brigade along the southern border with Ukraine.

Sources: Mediazona, Point, Радіо Свобода, The Guardian, The Insider.

Tensions across the Middle East and Central Asia persist as the United States military launched a second series of airstrikes on Iranian targets within 48 hours amid rising confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz. In response to regional pressure, Tehran appointed a hardline official to head its Supreme National Security Council. Simultaneously, civil disobedience against dress codes remains widespread in Iran four years after Mahsa Amini's death, with local enforcement noticeably declining in major cities.

Elsewhere, fighting intensified in Yemen after Houthi attacks on the port of Moca killed 18 people, prompting retaliatory government strikes in Marib province. In Afghanistan, while the Taliban administration has established relative internal security, the population faces ongoing economic strain and strict social prohibitions, including bans on music.

Sources: Canarias7, El Día, El Mundo, La Provincia, La Vanguardia

Ahead of upcoming regional state elections in eastern Germany, concerns over far-right sentiment in schools and political disputes over cultural funding have intensified. Educators in eastern states report a rise in extremist symbols among students, prompting Thuringia's education ministry to prepare "constitutional coaches" with the University of Jena to support democratic values in classrooms. Meanwhile, the federal commissioner for SED dictatorship victims, Evelyn Zupke, advocated for mandatory school visits to East German memorial sites.

Cultural policy has also become contentious ahead of the polls. In Saxony-Anhalt, the Alternative for Germany party proposed defunding programs labeled "anti-German," raising concerns for Holocaust memorials, Bauhaus sites, and local theaters amid wider East-West identity debates.

Sources: Correctiv, Der Spiegel, DW, FAZ, Tagesschau.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš confirmed that security agencies are monitoring potential Russian hybrid attacks against Western allies supporting Ukraine, mirroring recent warnings from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Concurrently, parliamentary Deputy Speaker Barbora Urbanová visited Kyiv to meet counterpart Olena Kondratiuk, following earlier procedural resistance from the Czech parliamentary steering committee. Meanwhile, Chief of General Staff Miroslav Hlaváč awaits Ministry of Defence approval to attend an upcoming security summit with European military commanders in Ukraine.

Domestically, Czech authorities have established the "Kobra 26" task force to target fraudulent employment agency networks involving Ukrainian workers, which officials warn could cost the state billions of korunas in unpaid taxes. Separately, new European Union rules extending temporary protection for displaced Ukrainians until March 2028 have taken effect, making status renewal conditional on fulfilling home-country military service requirements.

Sources: Deník N, Ekonomický deník, iROZHLAS, Respect, Seznam Zprávy