War between Russia and Ukraine is ongoing: ‘Major’ fire in Lviv warehouse after attack, Ukraine says; Zelenskiy questions Russia’s place at the UN | Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskiy will address the UN General Assembly in person on Tuesday for the first time since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, telling reporters: “For us it is very important that all our words, all our messages be heard.”

The Ukrainian president made the remarks during a visit to Staten Island University Hospital, where Ukrainian soldiers were treated for amputations.

In 2022, Zelenskiy sent a pre-recorded speech to the UN in which he said: “We can return the Ukrainian flag to all of our territory. We can achieve this by force of arms, but we need time.”

Zelenskiy will also attend a U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday, but he is unsure whether he will remain seated at the 15-member body’s horseshoe-shaped table if the Russian minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, takes the floor.

“And if in the United Nations there is still a place for Russian terrorists, the question does not concern me, I think, but it is a question which is addressed to all members of the United Nations,” he said. he declares. “I’m not sure we’ll choose the format.”

Asked if he would stay in the room to listen, Zelenskiy said: “I don’t really know how that will happen.”

Full report:

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Livingstone.

A man was seriously injured and a “major” fire broke out at a warehouse in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv after a Russian attack, the regional governor said.

In a message posted on Telegram, Maxim Kozitsky said that a woman was also pulled out unharmed from the rubble. The Air Force previously warned that drones were heading toward the city. No further details were immediately available.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in New York ahead of the UN general assembly, heading straight from the airport to a hospital to visit injured Ukrainian soldiers.

“For us, it is very important that all our words, all our messages are heard by our partners,” he said after the visit. “And if in the United Nations there is still – it’s a shame, but still – a place for Russian terrorists, the question does not belong to me. I think this is a question for all members of the United Nations.”

Zelenskiy is scheduled to address world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday and speak at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday.

In other key developments:

• Moscow and Beijing are closely aligned in their positions on the United States and resolving the Ukraine conflict, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday following talks between their top diplomats.. This statement comes after China’s Wang Yi began a four-day visit to Moscow with a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

• The commander of Ukrainian ground forces hailed the recent recapture of two eastern villages, Andriivka and Klishchiivka, as an important breakthrough. General Oleksandr Syrskyi said this allowed kyiv troops to break through Russian lines near the destroyed town of Bakhmut.

• The Ukrainian government has fired six deputy defense ministers following the appointment of a new defense minister earlier this month.. The government gave no reason for the dismissals. Among those removed from office was Hanna Maliar, who frequently posted public updates about Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Kyiv Post reported that such dismissals are common when there is a change in the head of a ministry, and that some may be reappointed.

• Ukraine said it had filed a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization against its three EU neighbors – Poland, Slovakia and Hungary – over their bans on Ukrainian grain imports.. Central European countries last week opposed the European Commission’s decision to end the import embargo.

• Russia launched a missile attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, on Monday evening, hitting an industrial district, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.. “There is information that an industrial zone was hit in the Kholodnohirsky district,” Terekhov said on Telegram. No information was immediately available on casualties or damage.

• Brazil’s presidential office confirmed reports that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva would meet with Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the UN summit on Wednesday.. Lula advocated the creation of a group of nations to negotiate an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, but in May he declared that Moscow and Kiev were both responsible for the conflict, angering Kiev, of the United States and European states that support Ukraine. .

• A Russian who lived in Hong Kong has been arrested by the United States and charged with smuggling large quantities of American-made military-grade microelectronic products into Russia., said the US Department of Justice. Maxim Marchenko and two unnamed Russian co-conspirators are accused of using his front companies to conceal the fraudulent purchase of OLED microdisplays.

• Russia has called a Ukrainian case alleging that Moscow abused the genocide convention to justify its invasion last year an “abuse of process.” as Moscow’s lawyers sought to have the case thrown out by judges at the International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest court.

• People’s rights in Russia have “significantly deteriorated” since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, a UN expert has said.. The UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, said that “the situation was already in steady decline over the past two decades.”

• A drone carrying explosives that landed in the Bulgarian town of Tyulenovo was destroyed by a controlled explosion, the Defense Ministry said.. The drone landed on Sunday evening in the Black Sea town located 70 km from the Romanian border and across the Crimean Sea.

• Georgian security services have accused a former minister of plotting from Ukraine to overthrow the Black Sea country’s government by organizing mass unrest.. In a statement, he said former Deputy Interior Minister Giorgi Lortkipanidze’s plan “would involve a fairly large group of Georgian fighters in Ukraine and part of Georgian youth.”

A “major” fire broke out at a warehouse in Lviv and a man was seriously injured after a Russian attack on the western Ukrainian city, the regional governor said.

In a message posted on Telegram, Maxim Kozitsky said that a woman was also pulled out unharmed from the rubble. The Air Force previously warned that drones were heading toward the city. No further details were immediately available.

The city of Lviv, close to the Polish border, is considered one of the safest cities in Ukraine, but has recently seen more attacks. Three people were killed by airstrikes in August.

Several waves of drones buzzed from around 01:30 GMT and an AFP journalist heard numerous explosions and heavy goods vehicle movements in the streets during the nighttime curfew, the news agency reported.

Ukraine’s air force said drones were attacking the city and air defenses were operational.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote on Telegram that “following an attack, an industrial warehouse is on fire in one of the districts of Lviv.”