Russia-Ukraine war live: ‘major’ fire at Lviv warehouse after attack, Ukraine says; Zelenskiy questions Russia’s place at UN
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One injured and ‘major’ fire sparked after Russian attack on Lviv
A “major” fire has been sparked at a warehouse in Lviv and a man has been seriously injured after a Russian attack on the western Ukrainian city, the regional governor has said.
In a Telegram post, Maxim Kozitsky said a woman was also pulled uninjured from the rubble. The airforce had previously alerted that drones were heading towards the city. No further detail was immediately available.
Lviv, close to the Polish border, is seen as one of Ukraine’s safest cities but it has experienced more attacks recently. Three people were killed by air strikes in August.
Several waves of drones buzzed overheard starting around 0130 GMT and an AFP journalist heard numerous explosions and movements of heavy vehicles through the streets during the nightly curfew, the news agency reported.
The Ukrainian air force said drones were attacking the city and air defences operating.
Lviv’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, wrote on Telegram that “as a result of an attack, an industrial warehouse is burning in one of Lviv’s districts”.
Key events
One confirmed injured in attack on warehouses in Lviv
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that despite the warehouse fire caused by an attack on the city, all trollybuses and tram routes in Lviv are running as normal.
Earlier Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of the region, reported that a 26-year-old man was injured as the result of three hits on industrial warehouses. “I want to emphasise that these were ordinary industrial warehouses. Nothing military was kept in them,” he said.
Seven of the drones shot down by Ukraine overnight were in Lviv’s airspace.
Ukrainian air defences destroyed 27 out of 30 drones launched by Russia overnight as well as an Iskander ballistic missile, the air force has said in a morning update on Telegram. A reconnaissance drone was also downed in the east of the country.
The report said the missile was launched from occupied Crimea at Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine, while the drones were destroyed in the south, central and west of the country.
In its latest update on the Ukraine war, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has looked at reports from Ukrainian military officials that the liberation of Klishchiivka and Andriivka south of Bakhmut may have rendered up to three Russian brigades “combat ineffective”.
Russia’s 72nd Motorized Rifle Brigade (3rd Army Corps), the 31st Guards VDV Brigade, and the 83rd Guards VDV Brigade “likely suffered heavy losses”, the think tank writes, noting that another Russian commander has said that the commander of the VDV brigade was killed.
If recent Ukrainian advances south of Bakhmut resulted in the destruction of the 31st and 83rd VDV brigades’ combat capabilities, then the Russian command will likely laterally redeploy elements of another relatively elite formation to maintain critical elements of the Russian defense south of Bakhmut …
Lateral redeployments from elsewhere in Ukraine or substantial tactical redeployments of other VDV elements in the Bakhmut area would therefore indicate that recent Ukrainian advances have resulted in significant Russian losses.
One cargo vessel carrying grain has left the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Chornomorsk for the first time since a grain deal collapsed, an industry source has said according to Reuters, in a test of Ukraine‘s ability to unblock its seaports for grain export.
Ukraine last month announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea to release ships trapped in its ports since the start of war in February 2022 and to circumvent a de facto blockade after Russia abandoned a deal to let Kyiv export grain.
Just as China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, has been meeting his counterpart in Russia, China’s vice-president, Han Zheng, has been meeting the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York.
Wang has also just held talks with the US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in Malta. The flurry of diplomacy has fuelled speculation that the US president, Joe Biden, could meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in November at an Asia-Pacific Economic conference in San Francisco.
“I think it’s a good thing that we have this opportunity to build on the recent high-level engagements that our countries have had to make sure that we’re maintaining open communications and demonstrate that we are responsibly managing the relationship between our two countries,” Blinken said in brief remarks at the top of his meeting.
AP reports:
Han told Blinken that US-China relations face “difficulties and challenges” that require both countries to show “more sincerity” and make additional efforts to “meet each other halfway.”
Blinken visited Beijing over the summer after cancelling a planned trip there in February following the shooting down of a Chinese surveillance balloon over US territory. Blinken was followed to Beijing by the Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, the climate envoy, John Kerry, and the commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo.
“From the perspective of the United States, face-to-face diplomacy is the best way to deal with areas where we disagree and also the best way to explore areas of cooperation between us,” Blinken said. “The world expects us to responsibly manage our relationship. The United States is committed to doing just that.”
The White House said on Sunday that Sullivan’s meeting with Wang in Malta was intended to “responsibly maintain the relationship” at a time of strained ties and mutual suspicion between the rival powers. It said the pair had “candid, substantive and constructive discussions”.
The White House said Sullivan and Wang discussed the relationship between the two countries, global and regional security issues, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Taiwan strait. They also discussed artificial intelligence, counternarcotic efforts and the status of detained US citizens in China.
However, after those talks, Wang travelled immediately to Russia for several days of security consultations with senior Russian officials.
China and Russia have grown closer as relations with the west have deteriorated for both. China is looking for support as it seeks to reshape the US-led international order into one that is more accommodating to its approach. Last month, it helped engineer an expansion of the Brics partnership, which invited six more countries to join what has been a five-nation bloc that includes China and Russia.
Moscow and Beijing are closely aligned in their positions on the US and resolving the Ukraine conflict, the Russian foreign ministry said following talks between their top diplomats.
The statement came after China’s Wang Yi kicked off a four-day visit to Moscow with a meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, the latest in a series of high-level contacts between the two strategic allies, AFP reports.
“The similarity of the parties’ positions regarding US actions in the international arena, including those of an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese nature, was stated,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.
“The parties discussed in detail the current state of affairs in Ukraine, noting the futility of attempts to resolve the crisis without taking into account Russia’s interests and, all the more so, without Russia’s participation,” it added.
Wang also told Lavrov about the content of talks he held over the weekend with US president Joe Biden’s national security adviser ,Jake Sullivan, the statement said.
According to a Chinese state media readout, Wang reiterated Beijing’s position paper on the Ukraine conflict, which called for peace talks but was met with scepticism by the US and Nato when it was released earlier this year.
Wang told Lavrov the plan “takes into account the security concerns of all parties and is conducive to eliminating the root causes of the conflict”, according to China’s Xinhua.
“A permanent good-neighbourly friendship, comprehensive strategic cooperation, and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia will continue to contribute to the development and revitalisation of each country,” he added.
Zelenskiy arrives in New York ahead of UN address
Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to 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’s very important that all our words, all our messages will be heard.”
The Ukrainian president made the remarks during a visit to Staten Island university hospital, where Ukrainian soldiers have been 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 our entire territory. We can do it with the force of arms, but we need time.”
Zelenskiy will also attend a UN security council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday, but was unclear on whether he would remain seated at the 15-member body’s horseshoe-shaped table if Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, speaks.
“And if in the United Nations still … there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question not to me I think, it’s a question to all the members of the United Nations,” he said. “I’m not sure that we will choose the format.”
Asked whether he’d stay in the room to listen, Zelenskiy said: “I don’t know how it will be, really.”
Full report:
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Livingstone.
A man has been seriously injured and a “major” fire sparked at a warehouse in the west Ukrainian city of Lviv after a Russian attack, the regional governor has said.
In a Telegram post, Maxim Kozitsky said a woman was also pulled uninjured from the rubble. The airforce had previously alerted that drones were heading towards the city. No further detail was immediately available.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has arrived in New York ahead of the UN general assembly, heading straight from the airport to a hospital to visit wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
“For us, it’s very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners,” he said after the visit. “And if in the United Nations still – it’s a pity, but still – there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me. I think it’s a question to all the members of the United Nations.”
Zelenskiy is due to address world leaders at the UN general assembly on Tuesday and speak at a UN security council meeting about Ukraine on Wednesday.
In other key developments:
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Moscow and Beijing are closely aligned in their positions on the US and resolving the Ukraine conflict, the Russian foreign ministry said following talks between their top diplomats on Monday. The statement came after China’s Wang Yi kicked off a four-day visit to Moscow with a meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
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The commander of Ukrainian ground forces hailed the recent recapture of two eastern villages, Andriivka and Klishchiivka, as an important breakthrough. Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said it had enabled Kyiv’s troops to breach Russian lines near the shattered city of Bakhmut.
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The Ukrainian government has dismissed six deputy defence ministers following the appointment of a new defence minister earlier this month. The government gave no reason for the dismissals. Those removed from their post included Hanna Maliar, who has frequently issued public updates on Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Kyiv Post reported that such dismissals are standard when the head of a ministry changes, and that some may be reappointed.
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Ukraine said it has filed lawsuits at the World Trade Organization against its three EU neighbours – Poland, Slovakia and Hungary – over their bans on Ukrainian grain imports. The central European countries went against a decision by the European Commission last week to end the import ban.
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Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, late Monday, striking an industrial district, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. “There is information about hitting an industrial zone in the city’s Kholodnohirsky district,” Terekhov said on Telegram. There was no immediate information on casualties or damage.
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The office of the Brazilian presidency has confirmed reports that president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will meet Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the UN summit on Wednesday. Lula has advocated the creation of a group of nations to mediate an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, but in May he stated that both Moscow and Kyiv were to blame for the conflict, angering Kyiv, the US and European states that back Ukraine.
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A Russian man who has lived in Hong Kong has been taken into US custody and charged with smuggling large quantities of American-made, military-grade microelectronics to Russia, the US Department of Justice said. Maxim Marchenko and two unnamed Russian co-conspirators are accused of using his shell companies to conceal the fraudulent procurement of so-called OLED micro-displays.
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Russia called a Ukrainian case alleging that Moscow abused the genocide convention to justify its invasion last year an “abuse of process,” as lawyers for Moscow sought to have judges at the International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest court, throw it out.
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People’s rights in Russia have “significantly deteriorated” since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, a top UN expert said. UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, said “the situation had already been on a steady decline over the past two decades”.
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A drone carrying explosives that landed in the Bulgarian town of Tyulenovo was destroyed in a controlled explosion, the defence ministry said. The drone landed on Sunday evening in the Black Sea town situated 70km from the Romanian border and across the sea from Crimea.
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Georgia’s security services accused a former minister of plotting from Ukraine to overthrow the Black Sea nation’s government by organising mass unrest. In a statement, it said former deputy interior minister Giorgi Lortkipanidze’s plan “would involve a rather large group of Georgian fighters in Ukraine and a part of Georgian youth”.
One injured and ‘major’ fire sparked after Russian attack on Lviv
A “major” fire has been sparked at a warehouse in Lviv and a man has been seriously injured after a Russian attack on the western Ukrainian city, the regional governor has said.
In a Telegram post, Maxim Kozitsky said a woman was also pulled uninjured from the rubble. The airforce had previously alerted that drones were heading towards the city. No further detail was immediately available.
Lviv, close to the Polish border, is seen as one of Ukraine’s safest cities but it has experienced more attacks recently. Three people were killed by air strikes in August.
Several waves of drones buzzed overheard starting around 0130 GMT and an AFP journalist heard numerous explosions and movements of heavy vehicles through the streets during the nightly curfew, the news agency reported.
The Ukrainian air force said drones were attacking the city and air defences operating.
Lviv’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, wrote on Telegram that “as a result of an attack, an industrial warehouse is burning in one of Lviv’s districts”.
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