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.
Mr Zelensky is currently in Washington DC to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. He added Vladimir Putin is “afraid” of Ukraine’s Kursk operation, in which it has taken more than 1,000 square km of Russian territory.
“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.
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.
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.
Takeaways from AP's report on warning signs about suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt
Takeaways from AP's report on warning signs about suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt
Chelsea Walsh was in Kyiv as a nurse and aid worker in the early days of the war in Ukraine
At the UN, world leaders try to lay out a vision for the future — and actually make it happen
At the UN, world leaders try to lay out a vision for the future — and actually make it happen
The U.N. General Assembly adopted a “Pact for the Future” to meet the challenges of the 21st century
Putin’s forces are desperate for a prize eastern city and Ukraine will fight street-to-street to keep them out
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 contstant bombing, Askold Krushelnycky speaks to soldiers and residents in Pokrovsk about the the drawn-out siege they are bracing themselves for
Mapped: Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian Kursk region explained
Mapped: Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian Kursk region explained
Ukraine’s attack into Kursk has left Vladimir Putin’s forces scrambling
Photos from the frontline
Over 20 people wounded after Russia strikes apartment blocks in Ukraine’s Kharkiv
Over 20 people wounded after Russia strikes apartment blocks in Ukraine’s Kharkiv
Russian strikes have hit high-rise apartment blocks in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, leaving dozens wounded in a second consecutive nighttime attack this week
Ukraine accuses Russia of seeking to illegally control strategic sea as arbitration hearings open
Ukraine accuses Russia of seeking to illegally control strategic sea as arbitration hearings open
Ukraine has accused Russia of seeking to illegally seize control of the strategically important Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait
Ukraine accuses Russia of flouting maritime law beside Crimea
Ukraine accused Russia at an international court on Monday of flouting sea law by trying to keep the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and annexed Crimea under its sole control.
Kyiv began proceedings at the Hague-based intergovernmental Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 after Moscow began building the 19 km (12 mile) Crimea Bridge link to the peninsula it seized from Ukraine two years previously.
The bridge is crucial for the supply of fuel, food and other products to Crimea, where the port of Sevastopol is the historic home base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and became a major supply route for troops after Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Kyiv, which wants the bridge demolished and has targeted it with attacks, says Russia built it low to keep international ships out while allowing smaller Russian ones through the strait connecting the Sea of Azov and Black Sea.
“Russia wants to take the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait for itself,” Ukraine‘s representative Anton Korynevych told arbitrators at the opening of hearings.
Russia dismissed Ukraine‘s case as groundless and hopeless.
Ukraine says it does not target civilians during offensive in Kursk region
Ukraine abides by international humanitarian law and does not target civilians during its current incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region, Ukraine‘s foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, Russia said at least 56 civilians had been killed and 266 wounded during Ukraine‘s incursion.
“Given Russia’s long history of false numbers and propaganda, there is simply no way of verifying their claims. If Russia wants to show the real situation on the ground it can grant such access to the UN and ICRC,” Heorhiy Tykhyi, the spokesman, told Reuters, using the acronyms for the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Kremlin says world chess body's ban on Russian players is result of Western pressure
The Kremlin said on Monday that a decision by the general assembly of FIDE, the governing body of chess, to uphold a ban on Russian and Belarusian players was the result of Western and Ukrainian pressure.
FIDE’s general assembly on Sunday upheld the ban which was imposed after Russia sent its army into Ukraine in February 2022. Belarus allowed Russian forces to use its territory to enter Ukraine.
When asked about the ban being rolled over, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The West and Ukraine are putting open and undisguised pressure on countries within FIDE. This is no secret, everyone knows about it.
“Unfortunately, FIDE is also not free from the politicization of sport and the world of chess in particular,” said Peskov.
The Ukrainian government, the U.S. State Department, and players including former world champion Magnus Carlsen, and members of the Ukraine Olympic team had urged chess federations to reject an initial motion by Russian ally Kyrgyzstan to fully reinstate the two nations.
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