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Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in New York with first lady Olena Zelenska for the UN General Assembly, with Ukraine set to push for a freeze on energy sector strikes and a new drone deal with its allies.
Zelensky is set to meet US president Donald Trump later on Tuesday, where the pair will discuss a limited truce to protect heating and power facilities ahead of winter.
French president Emmanuel Macron, who also arrived in the city, met Zelensky late on Monday and stressed the urgent need to stop the strikes on energy infrastructure, amid fears millions of families in Ukraine could be deprived of critical heating and electricity.
Trump earlier warned that Russia had “unfortunately lost control” of its oil industry, as he urged Ukraine to halt long-range strikes on refineries.
“A large number of their diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission,” the US president wrote on Truth Social, following a phone call with Zelensky.
A senior White House official familiar with the conversation between the two leaders said Trump was worried that the Ukrainian attacks are exacerbating a global diesel shortage and pushing up prices, the FT reported.
One person was killed and four people were wounded in a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Samara region, the local governor, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said in a statement on Telegram on Tuesday.
He said that Ukrainian drones hit civilian targets, including private houses and cars, in Russia’s Samara region on the Volga River, which hosts critically important facilities such as oil refineries.
Dozens of drones had been downed overnight by air defences, he added.
The mayor of Samara, Ivan Noskov, said on the Max messenger platform that air defences had thwarted a massive attack on the city, located over 1,000km (621 miles) southeast of Moscow.
Ukraine and Russia both deny targeting civilians.
(Reuters)
Shweta Sharma22 September 2026 08:10
Every new digital device in Russia is mandated to come equipped with a messenger app named Max.
But beneath its innocuous white-and-blue logo lies software that experts warn could allow the Kremlin to dramatically expand its capacity to spy on the Russian public.
The app, launched last year by Russian tech company VK, is not only a space for messaging and video calls but serves as a broader information system with the capacity to perform rigid surveillance on citizens.
New research conducted by academics has found tens of millions of people use the platform, which has the potential to serve as a “backdoor” to sweeping invasions of privacy that “undermine the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information”.
Shweta Sharma22 September 2026 08:00
The Kremlin said on Monday that food and medicine shortages in a Russian-controlled town in Ukraine’s Kherson are being resolved.
Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, where some 6,000 people and 200 children live, has been facing an escalating humanitarian crisis due to constant Russian drone attacks.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine’s delegation intended to raise before the UN General Assembly the issue of Oleshky, where residents “were dying from hunger and cold.”
“The occupiers are not allowing humanitarian aid through. We have been negotiating evacuation for a long time… and Russia is giving no reply,” Sybiha said in a video posted on Facebook.
“We will talk about Oleshky here, at the highest level, and we will apply pressure so that the world hears this and makes Russia provide humanitarian access,” he said.
Nearly 130 heads of state are visiting New York this week for the UN General Assembly.
Shweta Sharma22 September 2026 07:56
The Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday its forces had carried out a massive strike on targets in Ukraine, hitting industrial and military facilities, the fuel and energy sector as well as port infrastructure facilities and sea vessels operating for the Ukrainian military.
The ministry said its air defence units had intercepted and destroyed 297 drones over various Russian regions overnight.
Shweta Sharma22 September 2026 07:22
Ukrainian drones hit civilian targets, including private houses and cars, in Russia’s Samara region on the Volga River, which hosts critically important facilities such as oil refineries, the local governor claimed on Tuesday.
Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said on the Telegram messaging app dozens of drones had been downed overnight by air defences.
The mayor of Samara, Ivan Noskov, said on the Max messenger platform that air defences had thwarted a massive attack on the city, located over 1,000km (621 miles) southeast of Moscow.
Ukraine and Russia both deny targeting civilians.
Shweta Sharma22 September 2026 07:10
Volodymyr Zelensky has responded to Donald Trump’s Truth Social post about Russia “ losing control of its diesel oil industry”, warning that the “aggressor will suffer as well”.
The Ukrainian president stressed that Ukraine has sought peace from the start of the full-scale invasion, having made “dozens” of diplomatic proposals on how to end it.“Right now, there is a dialogue with President Trump and America,” he said.
“There are also ideas on the table for bringing peace closer, starting with strong de-escalation steps.
“Ukraine’s energy sector, critical infrastructure, and our food exports must stop being targets for Russia, and this will lead to matching de-escalation steps on our part.
Trump, whose approval ratings have slumped to a record low amid high gas prices ahead of the US midterm elections in November, has expressed concern over the extensive damage done to Russian oil refineries that have been pummelled by Ukrainian drone attacks.
Shweta Sharma22 September 2026 06:56
US president Donald Trump has reportedly urged his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Trump’s main message was about “diesel, diesel . . . diesel” and urging Zelensky to order his military to stop its drone and missile attacks, a senior Ukrainian official on the call told the FT.
Another senior Ukrainian official said Trump emphasised that he was very concerned about rising diesel prices and wanted Russian supplies to reach global markets.
Zelensky described the call as an “important conversation” and said his planned meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week “could change a lot”.
“There is diplomatic momentum,” he said without elaborating.
Shweta Sharma22 September 2026 06:55
The EU’s top diplomat has urged member states to maintain sanctions against Russia as Moscow’s forces continued their attacks on Ukraine.
“Sanctions are a core pillar of our response to Russia’s war,” Kaja Kallas told reporters in New York after a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers.
EU officials were aiming to conclude talks on extending the sanctions soon and put the rollover in place swiftly, she said.
“We need to have this stability,” Kallas added on the sidelines of the UN general assembly, calling for sanctions to remain in place for a longer period.
She stressed that the EU’s position had not changed.
“That’s why we are also working on a new package of sanctions,” she said.
Discussions over the sanctions remain ongoing, with some EU member states seeking to remove certain individuals from the bloc’s blacklist.
EU countries failed on Monday to finalise a deal that included lifting sanctions on Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andriy Sybiga denounced the proposed removals as “unacceptable”, saying they would send Moscow the “wrong signal”.
Negotiations are expected to continue in Brussels as EU countries seek to extend sanctions on almost 3,000 other individuals and entities over the war.
The bloc is scrambling to reach an agreement before a deadline late on Tuesday.
Shweta Sharma22 September 2026 06:30
Emmanuel Macron held an in-depth discussion with Volodymyr Zelensky during which the two discussed the ongoing energy crisis in Ukraine due to attacks on energy facilities.
Macron said Russia’s strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure threaten to deprive millions of families of heating and electricity.
“France will stand by Ukraine to face the winter, and the G7 Energy will also be mobilised at its side. We are strengthening its air defence with the signing of a contract for the delivery of radars, as well as the supply of interceptors,” he said.
“I also discussed this support with President Trump, as well as the prospect of an energy truce and a moratorium in the Black Sea, which we support. This will be a key issue in the negotiations that must resume and that must lead to a just and lasting peace.”
Shweta Sharma22 September 2026 05:58
Lithuanian prime minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said his country has made evacuation plans in the face of threats from Russia, but added they “will not surrender” if attacked, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
Sinkevicius told BBC Newsnight that Lithuanians feel “constantly threatened” by Russia, in part because of drones entering the nation’s airspace. He said that if his country, a Nato member, was attacked, “we will fight back… we will engage”.
“We’re thinking about a variety of scenarios, not all of them are being discussed very much publicly,” Sinkevičius told the BBC.
“We face concrete threats, not on a daily basis, but we’re experiencing them and it’s a true reality for us.”
Military drone incursions have rattled the Nato partner, with residents living close to the Russian border forced to take shelter following drone alerts.
Shweta Sharma22 September 2026 05:35