Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Joe Biden to “go down in history” by “strengthening Ukraine” by allowing it to launch long-range attacks into Russia with US-supplied weapons before he leaves office.Zelensky said he would present a “winning plan” to end the war ahead of a major visit to the United States, including to the United Nations, to shore up support for the Ukraine war. Zelensky will visit an ammunition factory in Pennsylvania on Sunday that produces one of the weapons most needed for his country's fight. Officials told The Associated Press that the president will visit the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant as the start of a busy week in the United States to shore up support for Ukraine. This week he will also address the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and travel to Washington to meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Zelenskiy also said Saturday that an end to the war depended on the “determination” of Kiev's Western allies to provide the necessary weapons and authorization to use them.In an evening video address, he further called for increased arms supplies to halt the slow advance of Russian forces in the Donetsk region. Kiev also wants permission to use Western weapons against targets deep inside Russian territory to preempt Moscow's air strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure, including energy facilities. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that allowing Ukraine to use long-range weapons would put Russia “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies.
Ukraine's foreign minister said on Saturday that Russia was planning an attack on Ukrainian nuclear facilities before winter.He called on the UN nuclear watchdog and its allies to set up a permanent monitoring mission at the country's nuclear plants. There was no immediate comment from Moscow.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday that Russia would not take part in a follow-up to a June “peace summit” hosted by Switzerland, describing the process as a “scam.”Russia was not invited to the June meeting, dismissed as meaningless without Moscow's participation, and Zelenskiy has said he wants to hold a follow-up meeting with Russia in attendance by the end of the year.
Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday that their troops had attacked two Russian arms depots overnight. The attack signals an increased capability to strike targets deep inside Russian soil. A statement from the Ukrainian General Staff said “at least 2,000 tons” of weapons, including missiles supplied by North Korea, were destroyed in Tikhoretsk in southern Russia and Oktyabrsky in the western Tver region.
In the western Tver region, authorities said on Saturday they would temporarily close a main federal highway following a Ukrainian military attack near the city of Toropets.About 380km northwest of Moscow and 500km from the Ukrainian border, Russian authorities temporarily closed a 100km stretch of highway and evacuated passengers from a train station after a fire sparked a series of explosions. Unconfirmed images circulating on Telegram on Saturday showed a large fireball rising into the night sky and dozens of smoke plumes from the explosions.
Russian forces attacked a high-rise apartment building in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Saturday night.Mayor Igor Terekhov said the blast, which he said was a guided bomb dropped by Russian forces, injured at least 12 people and prompted some residents to evacuate.
A Russian missile struck Kryvyi Rih, killing a 12-year-old boy and two elderly women. A missile exploded in President Zelensky's hometown in central Ukraine, Governor Serhiy Lysak announced on Saturday. He said the missile hit “in the middle of the night, when the town was asleep,” injuring three people, destroying two buildings and damaging 20 more.
Iran unveiled new ballistic missiles and an improved one-way attack drone in a military parade on Saturday, state media reported.Amid rising tensions in the region and allegations that it is supplying arms to Russia, Iran has been accused by Western governments of supplying Russia with both drones and missiles for use in the war with Ukraine – a charge Iran has repeatedly denied.
