Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is insisting on the release of long-range Western weapons for use against targets deep within Russian territory. “We are in the process of convincing our partners, and will continue to do so next week, that Ukraine needs a full-fledged long-range capability,” Zelensky said in his evening video address. This is not possible with its own drones or missiles, which do not yet have sufficient range. Next week, Zelensky will travel to the USA for talks and will meet with US President Joe Biden, among others.
The head of state thanked the military for successfully attacking an ammunition depot in Russia. “The next arsenal in Russia was damaged and that was a significant arsenal for the occupier,” the president stressed. He also emphasized that the SBU secret service had succeeded in striking a Russian arsenal of tactical missiles and glide bombs.
“Everything that Russia uses for its terror against our cities,” stressed Zelensky. Only Ukrainian-made weapons were used for the attacks. “Without the means provided by our partners, which could significantly accelerate the end of this war by destroying Russia’s offensive potential,” said Zelensky, referring to the inadequate support from Western partners that he criticized.
Previously, ammunition depots in the central Russian region of Tver and in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, several hundred kilometers away from Ukrainian-controlled territory, had been attacked by drones. The Russian army had admitted to the drone attacks, but played down the damage and said that the fires were caused by crashed drone debris.
Injured in air raid on Kharkiv
According to Ukrainian sources, more than 20 people were injured by Russian shelling of a block of flats in the city of Kharkiv, which is close to the border. Among them were an eight-year-old child and two teenagers, the responsible governor, Oleh Synjehubov, said on Telegram last night. The city’s mayor also reported on the airstrike on Telegram. Several cars were on fire and dozens of people had been evacuated, wrote Ihor Terekhov.
Moscow continues to refuse to participate in Zelenskyj’s peace summit
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow reacted negatively to Zelensky’s intention to invite Russian representatives to a second so-called peace summit. Representatives of Russia would not attend, emphasized ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. There was no intention to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. But Russia was not opposed to a political and diplomatic settlement of the crisis and was ready to discuss genuinely serious proposals, emphasized Zakharova. However, the situation “on the ground” and Russia’s interests had to be taken into account. She accused Kiev and the West of being interested in continuing the war.
In June, dozens of states, excluding Russia and China, took part in a first meeting in Switzerland. The summit had no influence on the course of the war. Zelensky is planning a second meeting in November, to which representatives from Russia will also be invited.
Ukrainian accusations about Russian plans to attack nuclear facilities
Ukraine accused Russia of planning missile attacks on nuclear power plants before winter. “This particularly affects open distribution systems in nuclear power plants and substations, which are crucial for the safe operation of nuclear energy,” wrote Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha on the X platform. An incident at the nuclear power plants could have global consequences. The information from the Ukrainian secret services has already been passed on to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Russian missile and drone attacks have repeatedly targeted energy facilities. According to Ukrainian sources, power plants with a generating capacity of more than nine gigawatts have been damaged or destroyed since March. This is why there are repeated power outages lasting hours in the country. The three Ukrainian nuclear power plants in operation in the western Ukrainian regions of Rivne and Khmelnytskyi and in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv have a combined output of around 7.8 gigawatts. This generates a good half of Ukraine’s electricity.
After invading Ukraine, Russia had already occupied Europe’s largest nuclear power plant near Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine. The six reactors with a total output of six gigawatts were completely shut down for safety reasons. Artillery and drone attacks are repeatedly recorded in the area around the power plant. Several Ukrainian attempts to recapture it have failed.
The Russian occupation authorities had only reported on Friday of a new alleged drone attack on transformers at a substation at the power plant. The IAEA inspectors on site were shown the consequences. At the same time, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy called on the IAEA to have IAEA employees monitor the substations at the three Ukrainian nuclear power plants in operation.
With Western support, Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion since February 2022.
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