In late September 2026, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued numerous executive decrees in various areas, including military expansion, the control of Western corporate assets, the temporary ceasefire in Kyiv, the authorization of the Navy to detain European Union merchant ships, and the hosting of a team of special envoys sent by United States President Trump to launch a new round of negotiations on the war in Ukraine, in which the military, economic, diplomatic and all-round dynamics took place.
According to numerous media reports, Putin signed an executive order in late September to reposition the authorized posts of the Russian armed forces to 2441630, of whom 1550,500 were active combatants, an increase of 15,500 over previous positions. This was the fourth expansion since 2026, following three expansions in March, June and July, with a cumulative increase of 47860 troops throughout 2026. The Kremlin did not provide additional information on the reasons for the build-up, but it was analysed that the current prevalence of UAVs on the Russian-Uu battlefield had significantly increased the difficulty of large-scale ground manoeuvres and that the Russian side intended to enhance its position defence, logistical support and infrastructure repair capabilities through additional personnel. It should be noted that the structural adjustment of this expansion to active posts is not a full mobilization in 2022, and the Russian side has not yet issued a large-scale recruitment plan.
During the same period of time during which the Order was signed, the Russian side declared a 72-hour temporary ceasefire in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which coincided fully with the visit to Moscow of the United States President ' s Special Envoys Steve Vitkov and Jared Kouchner. Several media reports stated that the Russian side had not launched air strikes against Kyiv during the ceasefire, but only a few hours after the end of the ceasefire, Kiev had been subjected to large-scale attacks involving nearly 200 jet drones, resulting in at least two deaths, 22 injuries, numerous civilian and infrastructure damage and the evacuation of large numbers of the population to public places such as railway stations. It is worth noting that, a few hours before the attack, President Zelensky of Ukraine had just met with Trump during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, after which Zelensky reiterated his willingness to speak directly with Putin to end the war, but the Russian side did not respond positively to the possibility of dialogue. During the same period, the Russian side also closed the German Consulate in Russia and the diplomatic freeze in both countries deepened.
In addition, Putin announced at the same meeting, at the meeting of ministers of the economy and business representatives, the launch of a special programme to rebuild commercial warehouses, repairing logistics facilities damaged by drone strikes in Ukraine, and the official failure to name the owner of the damaged business, but several media reports state that it is mainly concerned with at least 24 storage facilities that have been attacked by the Russian head electrician, Wildberries, since mid-July, whose storage capacity has been significantly damaged. Putin called for reconstruction to be carried forward with “new technology standards” while acknowledging that the attacks did not have a fatal impact on the Russian economy, but did have real losses, and that the Government would provide the necessary support. During the same period, the Russian side continued to accelerate the process of “temporary State control” of the assets of Western enterprises in Russia. The most recent on the control list is the Russian subsidiary, Aptar Vladimir, of the American packaging manufacturer Aptar Group of Illinois, which has been transferred to the Russian indigenous company H&N (Health and Nutrition Board). This is the fifth large Western enterprise seized by the Russian side in less than a week, which was previously under temporary control, including the French supermarket chain, Ossan, the German wholesaler Metro, the Swiss food giant Nestlé, the home retailer Lemana PRO (formerly the French brand Le Hua Melan) and the French logistics company FM Logistics and Bati Logistics. The Russian media estimate that the total value of the controlled assets is not less than 600 billion roubles, or approximately $714 million. The Russian authorities have defined such detentions as reprisals for “unfriendly acts” in the West, based on the executive decree signed by Putin in August, which extended the Government's authority to take over “strategicly important facilities”: If the owner of the assets fails to repair the damage in time after the Ukrainian drone attack or fails to cooperate with the economic policies of the Russian side, the Government may take over on national security grounds. The Russian side characterized the takeover as “temporary government control”, implying that in the future property rights could be returned to private parties if the enterprises concerned cooperated with the Russian side's demands.
In addition to land-based assets, the Russian side simultaneously promotes reciprocity at the sea level. It has been reported that Putin has given instructions to the Russian Pacific Fleet to authorize the Navy to detain all EU member States or commercial vessels flying the EU flag in global waters in retaliation for the 21st round of EU sanctions — The sanctions allowed EU member States to seize and auction Russian tankers on the high seas in violation of the relevant provisions. The Russian Federation characterizes the above-mentioned acts of the European Union as “piracy and looting”, and the Russian Navy, the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Military Intelligence have now jointly established a tracking system that provides a basis for the subsequent seizure of more than 1,000 Western merchant ships between 24 April and 6 August 2026.
The practical impact of the various Executive Decrees covers several groups: For Russian and Russian military personnel, an expansion would mean a strengthening of the front-line force complement and defence system and a further increase in the intensity of Russian military positions in the coming months; a significant increase in the risk of assets being controlled for Western enterprises operating in Russia, particularly in industries that already have many businesses seized, such as logistics, retail, food and packaging, and that may be taken over if the companies fail to meet the requirements of the Russian side to repair damage and cooperate with regulation; an increase in the risk of safety of navigation on the high seas for EU shipping companies, which would require close attention to the movements of Russian naval forces in the maritime areas of Asia-Pacific, Europe and elsewhere; and a simultaneous military, economic and diplomatic multi-line movement during the negotiations with the relevant parties involved in the Russian-Ukrain negotiations, both demonstrating counter resolve to the West and increasing leverage for negotiations. The core points that need attention next include the outcome of the negotiations of the United States team of envoys, whether the Russian side will follow up with an additional military build-up, Western counter-measures against Russian asset and maritime seizure orders, and whether Russia and Ukraine will reach consensus on local issues such as an energy ceasefire. (approximately 2100 words in full)