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KYIV – As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepared to address the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Russian forces launched a missile and drone attack overnight, hitting cities as far west as Lviv, where officials said was a humanitarian aid camp had been destroyed.
Zelensky arrived in New York City on Monday as his forces continue to push a fierce counteroffensive against Russian invaders occupying vast areas to the south and east. The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn the invasion and demand respect for Ukraine’s borders, but the Kremlin has ignored calls for its troops to withdraw.
Zelensky stayed in Kiev for last year’s general meeting and addressed the meeting via video. At the time, its military was engaged in a far more successful and lightning-fast operation to drive Russian troops out of the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Zelensky’s personal presence this year, followed by meetings later this week in Congress and the White House, reflects an urgent need to win global support as Ukraine’s Western backers worry about the slow pace of the counteroffensive. Zelensky, a comedian and actor by profession, has proven on the world stage that he has impressive powers of persuasion.
Ukraine fires more defense officials and condemns EU neighbors’ grain ban
In a statement to The Washington Post ahead of Zelensky’s visit to the United Nations and the United States, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country had no better advocate.
“I have seen him at numerous international events and meetings and I know that he has some kind of superpower, the ability to personally persuade people,” said Kuleba, who also traveled to New York.
Zelensky is also expected to attend a meeting of the UN Security Council and “hold a number of important bilateral discussions,” Kuleba said, without giving further details. He said Zelensky would “propose some very concrete steps” that the United Nations can implement “to strengthen the principle of territorial integrity.”
“We are now at a critical juncture as Ukraine continues to advance on the battlefield,” Kuleba said, “and it is critical to maintain and strengthen global support for Ukraine.”
Despite Kiev’s claims of small and steady territorial gains, there is growing concern in the West that the war could escalate into a protracted, potentially years-long conflict. Such a scenario would potentially benefit Russia, which has a much larger military and population from which to recruit soldiers. It could also have serious economic implications internationally.
Despite Russia’s blatant invasion of its neighboring country, the deaths of thousands of soldiers and civilians, and allegations of war crimes by Russian troops, some countries in Asia, Africa and South America have been reluctant to enforce Western sanctions against Russia for fear of disrupting their economic and diplomatic relations with Moscow.
In the United States, some American lawmakers, particularly Republicans in the House of Representatives, are questioning the high price of continued economic and military support for Ukraine, estimated globally at about $73 billion.
On Thursday, Zelensky will travel to Washington to meet President Biden – his second meeting at the White House since the Russian invasion in February 2022 – as well as Senate and congressional leaders and other top officials.
But Ukrainian forces are making slow progress in their counteroffensive launched at the beginning of the summer, suffering heavy casualties as they advance through heavily mined fields toward entrenched Russian positions.
Last week, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Ukrainian troops could only have “30 to 45 days” left before rain and frost would stop fighting until next year, although Ukrainian officials say the Fights that don’t do this will stop in the winter.
U.S. intelligence officials have also predicted that Ukraine will not reach the city of Melitopol, one of the main targets of the counteroffensive this year, during this time.
On Monday, officials said Kiev troops had liberated the village of Klishchiivka in eastern Ukraine near the city of Bakhmut, which could serve as a base for further advances. While the news was positive, it also highlighted the slow pace of advance by Ukrainian troops.
The situation on the battlefield contrasts with the situation last December, when Zelensky made his final trip to the United States, which included a joint address to Congress. Then Ukrainian forces had recently liberated Kherson in the south, the only regional capital that Russian forces could occupy.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Air Force said Russian forces fired 30 self-destructing drones and a ballistic missile at targets across Ukraine overnight.
Ukraine fires more defense officials and condemns EU neighbors’ grain ban
More than half of the drones were aimed at the western Lviv region, Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the local regional administration, said on social media. Three warehouses in the city of Lviv were hit, including one belonging to Caritas-Spes Ukraine, a Roman Catholic humanitarian organization that is part of the Caritas Europa Federation.
Caritas employees “were uninjured,” it said in a statement, but “the warehouse and everything in it burned to the ground.” However, one person was killed in a strike at another warehouse, local officials said.
Denise Brown, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, said in a statement that she “strongly condemns” the attack on the Caritas Spes warehouse that destroyed 300 tons of humanitarian aid.
“Attacks on humanitarian assets have increased throughout the year, ultimately affecting those suffering the terrible consequences of war,” Brown said.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said the Lviv region has “virtually no military facilities” and is used primarily as a production center and hub for humanitarian operations.
“Most likely, [the Russians] get satisfaction from causing pain,” he said.
Isabelle Khurshudyan in Lviv and Kostiantyn Khudov in Kyiv contributed to this report.
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