Ukraine-Russia war live: Zelensky says Putin is ‘afraid’ as Moscow suffers Satan II missile failure
Ukraine ‘closer to peace than we think’, Zelensky tells allies in Washington
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine was “closer to the end of the war” with Russia than many people realise.
He made the comments in an interview in which he also claimed Vladimir Putin was “afraid” of Ukraine’s Kursk operation, that has taken more than 1,000 square km of Russian territory.
Mr Zelensky is currently in Washington DC to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
“I think that we are closer to peace than we think,” he told ABC in an interview that is due to be released in full on Tuesday.
Putin has been adamant peace talks will only begin if Kyiv abandons swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine to Russia and drops its NATO membership ambitions.
It comes as Russia appears to have suffered a “catastrophic failure” in a test of its Sarmat (Satan II) missile, a key weapon in the modernisation of its nuclear arsenal.
The Satan II missile is designed to deliver nuclear warheads to strike targets thousands of miles away in the United States or Europe, but its development has been dogged by delays and testing setbacks, according to arms experts.
The 35-metre-long RS-28 Sarmat has a range of 18,000 km (11,000 miles) and a launch weight of over 208 tonnes.
World leaders meet at UN conference amid global divisions including three wars and possible middle-east conflict
World leaders will open their annual meeting at the UN General Assembly under the shadow of increasing global divisions, major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and, Sudan and the threat of an even larger conflict in the wider Middle East. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previewed his opening “State of the World” speech to presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at Sunday’s “Summit of the Future,” saying “our world is heading off the rails — and we need tough decisions to get back on track.” He pointed to conflicts “raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight” and to the global security system, which he said is “threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theaters of war.”
At last year’s UN global gathering, Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, took center stage. Mr Zelensky will be in attendance this year.
One killed and two injured in Russian attack on east Ukrainian town
A Russian guided aerial bomb attack on the eastern Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka has killed one person and injured two, according to the Dontesk regional governor Vadym Filashkin.
The attack damaged two unspecified infrastructure facilities, Filashkin added via the Telegram messaging app.
The eastern town lies some 12 kilometers (8 miles) from Chasiv Yar, a town on high ground where Ukrainian forces are attempting to stave off Russian westward advances.
Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians in its invasion of Ukraine, although it has killed thousands of them. It says its strikes on infrastructure aim to reduce Ukraine‘s ability to fight.
For Russia's response to the West, listen to Putin, the Kremlin says
The Kremlin has said that people should re-listen President Vladimir Putin’s statements in St Petersburg to understand Russia’s response to a possible decision by the West to allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with Western missiles.
Russia will not test a nuclear weapon as long as the United States refrains from testing, Putin’s point man for arms control said on Monday after speculation that the Kremlin might abandon its post-Soviet nuclear test moratorium.
In St Petersburg in June, Putin said he could deploy conventional missiles within striking distance of the United States and its European allies if they allowed Ukraine to strike deeper into Russia with long-range Western weapons.
Russia will achieve all its aims in Ukraine, Kremlin says
Russia has no alternative but to achieve all of its aims in the “special military operation” in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Peskov said that as soon as the aims were achieved, the military operation would end.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been adamant peace talks will only begin if Kyiv abandons swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine to Russia and drops its NATO membership ambitions.
Special report: Putin’s forces are desperate for a prize eastern city and Ukraine will fight street to street to keep them out
Askold Krushelnycky reports from Ukraine:
Ukraine will fight street to street to keep Russia out of key eastern city
The Russians taking Pokrovsk would split Ukraine’s defensive line in the region and harm supplies in the eastern part of Donetsk. Now facing constant bombardment, soldiers and residents in Pokrovsk speak to Askold Krushelnycky about the drawn-out siege they are bracing themselves for
Pictured: Rescuers at residential building hit by Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Exclusive: Zelensky demands UK extradites political opponent in Ukraine Orthodox Church row
Our political editor David Maddox reports:
Zelensky demands UK extradites political opponent in Ukraine Orthodox Church row
Exclusive: Ukraine MP who has attempted to defend the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is facing an attempt to have him extradited from the UK today
Zelensky’s victory plan will be defining for war in Ukraine, UK defence secretary says
Volodymyr Zelensky’s victory plan will be “defining” for the next period of the conflict in Ukraine, Defence Secretary John Healey has said.
Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Mr Healey also said the UK will support Ukraine “at any point when they decide they may want to stop” fighting and announced a joint specialist unit between his department and the Foreign Office to facilitate aid.
The Ukrainian leader is set to address the UN General Assembly on Wednesday and will present President Joe Biden with a “victory plan”.
The plan is set to include long-range striking capabilities and other weapons long sought by Kyiv, and will serve as the basis for any future negotiation with Russia.
Mr Healey told the event at conference that what is next for Ukraine “is going to be defined for us all if President Zelensky delivers what he’s trailed” in his promise to turn up in New York with a victory plan.
Russian attack on Ukraine's Poltava region disrupts power supply, authorities say
Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine‘s central region of Poltava damaged energy infrastructure, cutting power to 20 settlements, authorities have said.
Debris from falling drones damaged several homes, but caused no casualties, regional governor Filip Pronin said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, while emergency services scrambled to tackle the power situation.
“Debris also damaged the energy infrastructure in Poltava region, leaving 20 settlements without power,” he added.
In the northeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, Monday’s attack killed one person and injured at least seven, among them a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, the regional governor, Ivan Fedorov, said in an update.
The Ukrainian air force shot down 66 drones but lost track of 13 among the 81 unmanned aerial vehicles Russia launched in the overnight attack, along with four missiles, it said on Telegram.
Authorities have doused two fires in the Kyiv region sparked by the overnight attack, but no homes or critical facilities were hit, regional governor Ruslan Kravchenko said.
Ukraine says China is key route for foreign tech in Russian weapons
Around 60 per cent of the foreign parts found in Russian weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine come via China, Ukraine‘s presidential adviser Vladyslav Vlasiuk told reporters on Tuesday.
“If you take all the usual types of weapons and count the foreign made components about 60% would be coming from China. We have had lengthy discussions with some manufacturers about this,” Vlasiuk said.
“The PRC (China) is the biggest problem I would say.”
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