Moscow, Sept 24:
Russia hammered Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, with drones in daylight attacks on Wednesday, hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to address world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
Two people were killed and 23 were wounded in Kyiv and palls of black smoke floated above the city following the latest in what have been daily Russian attacks that torment Ukrainian civilians. The drones set off fires and damaged buildings in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine overnight, authorities said.
Zelenskyy was in New York for the annual gathering as part of his diplomatic effort to shore up and recruit further international support for his country’s gruelling 4.5-year fight against Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskyy met on Tuesday with US President Donald Trump, who has shown impatience with the lack of progress in talks aimed at ending the war and the escalating aerial attacks by both sides this year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is accused by NATO officials and European governments of sabotage, espionage and other threats, is not scheduled to attend the UN gathering this year.
Ukraine has hit back at Russia by damaging oil refineries that are a vital pillar of the country’s economy.
Zelenskyy said at the start of his US visit that he had proposals to make about possible de-escalation in the war. Urgent issues for Kyiv are halting devastating Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid and ensuring Ukrainian grain can be shipped to world markets through the Black Sea despite the war.
Ukraine also needs more US-made Patriot air defence systems as a shield against Russian ballistic missiles, but Patriots are in short supply after the war in Iran began.
In Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine, two men aged 37 and 39 were wounded by a strike that started a large fire at a shopping mall. Emergency services said the fire spread across about 6,000 square metres (1.5 acres) before coming under control.
The Russian Defence Ministry said that its forces overnight struck Ukraine’s military-industrial and energy sector facilities, logistics centres, and sea vessels.
It said that its air defences intercepted more than 500 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions, as well as illegally annexed Crimea and waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.