Russia Zelenskyi continues to insist on the release of long-range weapons

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insists on the release of far-reaching Western weapons for use against targets deep inside 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," said Zelenskyi in his evening video address. This is not possible with its own drones or missiles, which do not yet have sufficient range. Selensky will be traveling to the USA next week for talks and will meet with US President Joe Biden, among others.

The head of state thanked the military for a successfully attacked ammunition depot in Russia. "The next arsenal in Russia was damaged and that was a significant arsenal for the occupier," the President emphasized. He also emphasized that the SBU intelligence service had succeeded in striking a blow against a Russian arsenal with tactical missiles and glide bombs.

"Everything that Russia uses for its terror against our cities," emphasized Selensky. 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 Zelenskyi, referring to the inadequate support he criticized from Western partners.

Previously, ammunition depots in the central Russian region of Tver and in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar had been attacked by drones several hundred kilometers away from Ukrainian-controlled territory. Although the Russian army admitted to the drone attacks, it played down the damage and spoke of fires caused by falling drone debris.

Injured in air attack on Kharkiv

According to Ukrainian reports, more than 20 people were injured by Russian shelling of a block of flats in the large city of Kharkiv near the border. Among them were an eight-year-old child and two teenagers, the governor responsible, Oleh Synjehubow, announced on Telegram last night. The mayor of the city also reported the airstrike on Telegram. Several cars were on fire and dozens of people had been evacuated, wrote Ihor Terekhov.

Moscow continues to reject participation in Zelenskyi's peace summit

The Foreign Ministry in Moscow reacted negatively to Zelenskyi's intention to invite Russian representatives to a second so-called peace summit. Russian representatives would not take part, emphasized ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. No real settlement of the conflict over Ukraine was intended. However, Russia is not refusing a political and diplomatic solution to the crisis and is prepared to discuss serious proposals, emphasized Zakharova. However, the situation "on the ground" and Russia's interests must be taken into account. She accused Kiev and the West of being interested in a continuation of the war.

In June, dozens of states, excluding Russia and China, took part in an initial meeting in Switzerland. The summit had no influence on the course of the war. Selensky is planning a second meeting in November, to which Russian representatives will also be invited.

Ukrainian accusations of Russian plans to attack nuclear facilities

Ukraine accused Russia of planning missile attacks on nuclear power plants before the winter. "This applies in particular to 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 Platform X. An incident at the nuclear power plants could have global repercussions. 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 information, power plants with a generation capacity of more than nine gigawatts have been damaged or destroyed since March. As a result, there have been repeated power cuts in the country lasting several hours. 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 capacity of around 7.8 gigawatts. This generates a good half of Ukraine's electricity.

Following the invasion of Ukraine, Russia had already occupied Europe's largest nuclear power plant near the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia. The six reactors with a total output of six gigawatts were completely shut down for safety reasons. There have been repeated artillery and drone attacks in the vicinity of the power plant. Several Ukrainian recapture attempts failed.

The Russian occupation authorities reported a new alleged drone attack on transformers of a substation at the power plant only on Friday. The IAEA inspectors on site were shown the consequences. At the same time, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy called on the IAEA to have the substations at the three Ukrainian nuclear power plants in operation monitored by IAEA staff.

Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion with Western support since February 2022.

SDA