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Russia is weaponising food, energy and abducted children in its war against Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky told leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. While there are agreements to restrict arms and trade, “there are no real restrictions on weaponisation”, he said. Mr Zelensky was addressing the gathering at a sensitive point in his country’s campaign to maintain international support for its fight. Nearly 19 months after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion, Ukrainian forces are three months into a counteroffensive that has not gone as fast or as well as initially hoped. “We must stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow,” Joe Biden earlier told the assembly. The world must remain united in defending Ukraine, he said, warning that no nation can be secure if “we allow Ukraine to be carved up”. During his address, Mr Biden described the partnerships that the US government was fostering around the globe – from Africa to the Indo-Pacific – as creating economic and other advancements, even as he stressed that those relationships were not about “containing any country” – a clear reference to Beijing. “When it comes to China, let me be clear and consistent,” Mr Biden said. “We seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict.” In his 30-minute address, Mr Biden repeatedly emphasised the value of institutions such as the United Nations and international coalitions that have helped the world confront significant challenges such as poverty and disease, as well as echoing his defence of democracy, a common theme of his presidency. “We will not retreat from the values that make us strong,” Mr Biden said. “We will defend democracy – our best tool to meet the challenges that we face around the world. And we’re working to show how democracy can deliver in ways that matter to people’s lives.” There were some notable absences as Mr Biden made his case before the assembly, including Rishi Sunak, French president Emmanuel Macron, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Mr Biden’s message of unwavering support for Ukraine will play out as the US Congress is increasingly divided over providing additional funding for Kyiv. Mr Biden has sought a package of £10.5bn in additional military aid for Ukraine and £6.8bn for humanitarian support. But conservative Republican lawmakers have been pushing for broad federal spending cuts and some of those allied to Donald Trump are specifically looking to stop money to Ukraine. Mr Biden is scheduled to host talks on Thursday at the White House with Mr Zelensky. During his visit to New York, Mr Zelensky spent time at a Staten Island hospital where he awarded medals to Ukrainian military members who had lost limbs. With help from a New Jersey-based charity called Kind Deeds, 18 personnel have been fitted with prosthetic limbs and are undergoing outpatient physical therapy at the hospital. “We all will be waiting for you back home,” Mr Zelensky told them. “We absolutely need every one of you.” Associated Press contributed to this report Read More Russia is ‘weaponising’ food, energy and children in Ukraine, Zelensky tells UN Zelensky urges Trump to ‘not waste time’ and share ideas on ending war in Ukraine Putin ‘weaponising’ food as troops target cargo ship in Black Sea - Ukraine live

Russia’s air defence units have shot down two Ukrainian drones flying over Belgorod and Oryol oblasts as Kyiv increases the pace of its counteroffensive against Moscow’s invasion. The drone attacks come as Ukraine overtook two key villages recently and has stepped up counter attacks on Russia. Drone and missile attacks deep inside Russia and on Russia-controlled territory have shot up drastically in recent months, with the Russian defence ministry blaming the “Kyiv regime” for what it calls “terrorist attacks”. While Ukraine has seldom responded to accusations of attacks, it has expressed satisfaction at the destruction of Russian military infrastructure and critical military sites. The drones were shot down at 10.30pm and 11.45pm local time on Tuesday night, the Russian defence ministry said in two separate posts on its Telegram channel on Wednesday. No immediate damage or casualties in the overnight attacks has been reported by the officials of both regions. It said “an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack by an aircraft-type UAV on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped”. Kyiv has maintained that destroying Russian military infrastructure far away from the war’s frontlines targets Moscow’s war efforts while aiding Kyiv’s own efforts to reclaim land Russia has occupied. Belgorod, roughly 40km away from the Ukrainian border, has witnessed a wave of attacks in the last two months, with the most seen this month. In return, Russia has continued its campaign of air strikes and shelling across Ukraine. The regional governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, confirmed attacks every day on the territory, stating either unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) dropping ammunition payloads in the region or being shot down by Russia’s active air defences heavily concentrated in the bordering city. A day earlier, Russia claimed its air defences shot down two unspecified aerial targets over Belgorod. The governor said initial reports indicated some damage to power lines but no casualties. Last month, three people were killed in a drone attack in Belgorod after another drone had targeted central Moscow. Read More Zelensky urges Trump to ‘not waste time’ and share proposal on ending Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin ‘weaponising’ food as troops target cargo ship in Black Sea Ukraine ‘has one month to hold knife to Crimea’s throat’ and force Putin into peace talks Zelensky says ‘Russian society has raised a second Hitler’ in attack on Putin

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of “weaponising” everything from food and energy to abducted children in its war against Ukraine. In his first in-person appearance at the annual UNGA since Russia invaded his country in February 2022, Zelensky criticised Moscow for what he said was an “attempt to weaponise (a) food shortage on (the) global market in exchange for recognition of some, if not all, of captured territories.” Elsewhere, he accused Russia of committing genocide by kidnapping Ukrainian children and said Kyiv was working on preparing a global peace summit. “Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that after the Russian aggression, no one in the world would dare to attack any nation,” Zelensky added. “The occupier must return to his own land.” Meanwhile, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has confirmed that Putin’s forces targeted a cargo ship in the Black Sea. “The Russian military’s pattern of targeted attacks against civilian ships demonstrates Putin’s willingness to weaponise food at the expense of the rest of the world”, its statement read. Read More Zelensky urges Trump to ‘not waste time’ and share proposal on ending Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukraine ‘has one month to hold knife to Crimea’s throat’ and force Putin into peace talks How Ukraine’s battle for the Black Sea is inflicting serious pain on Putin’s forces

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's brain-chip startup Neuralink said on Tuesday that it has received approval from an independent

Ukraine has just four weeks to hold a "knife at Crimea's throat" and force Vladimir Putin into peace talks before Russia's army recoups over winter, experts have warned. Professor Mark Galeotti, academic and author of more than 20 books on Russia, said Volodymyr Zelensky’s troops need to move another 10 miles southwards to be in range of striking key Russian supply routes in Crimea. He claimed this is the only “serious” chance Ukraine has to force Mr Putin into negotiations before the Russian army has the opportunity to regroup over winter. “They’ve got about another month of campaign season. But if things slow down, the Russians will use the winter to regroup themselves and the whole thing will start up again in spring,” the professor, who teaches Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London, told The Independent. “If Ukraine can move another 10 miles southwards, Russian road and rail links used to resupply Crimea will be in range of their artillery. “The only serious chance Ukraine has of forcing Putin to the negotiating table is by holding a knife at Crimea’s throat. But I think that is going to be next year’s campaign.” It comes after President Zelensky admitted that Ukraine’s counteroffensive was progressing slowly, but insisted that more territory was being reclaimed every day. “The situation is tough,” he told CBS’s 60 Minutes. “We stopped the Russians in the east and started a counteroffensive. Yes, it is not that fast but we are going forward every day and de-occupying our land.” Ukrainian generals claimed they had recaptured the eastern villages of Klishchiivka and Andriivka near Bakhmut over the weekend. Earlier this month, Ukrainian forces also breached Russia’s first line of defence near Zaporizhzhia in the south of the country, taking the village of Robotyne. This Zaporizhzhia area is a “key” battlefield, as breaking through would allow Ukrainian forces to strike out towards the Sea of Azov, Professor Galeotti said. This would allow Ukrainian forces to disrupt and destroy supply lines linking Rostov-on-Don, in Russia, and the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed in 2014. But Dr Marina Miron, a postdoctoral researcher at King’s College London war studies department, it was "very unlikely" there would be a major breakthrough for Ukraine this year as its "window of opportunity" was now closing ahead of winter. “The rain is already starting,” she said. “The weather will get a lot worse.” Ukraine launched its counter-offensive in June to push Mr Putin’s forces out of land captured by Russia after the invasion began in February 2022, striking along the 600-mile frontline in areas including the Bakhmut, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions. But as the offensive slows it is now “touch and go” as to whether Ukraine can make a “real, pivotal difference” in the war by the end of this year, Dr Miron said. “The main effort will be to sustain troops throughout the winter. Ukraine will not be in a position to carry on the offensive,” Dr Miron added. She explained Ukraine had a “heavy logistical” footprint with German Leopard and British Challenger 2 tanks, but they would be harder to use in wetter, muddier conditions, to assist a full breakthrough. “They’re just not designed for those types of terrains,” she said. “They would risk losing more equipment getting bogged down in winter conditions than waiting it out until getting F-16 fighter jets.” In August, Denmark promised the delivery of 19 F-16 jets to Ukraine. Six will be delivered by the end of this year, followed by eight in 2024 and five in 2025, according to Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen. However, Ukraine admitted it could take up to six months to train its military to use the jets and they would not be in operation this winter. With fears growing around wavering Western support as the war draws on, Dr Miron said: “Neither side have an infinite supply of money or manpower. But Russia does have time. And that’s what they are betting on.” Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s brigades ‘suffer heavy losses’ as counteroffensive advances around Bakhmut Kremlin says Russia and China must edge closer to counter Western efforts to contain them US defense chief urges nations to dig deep and give Ukraine more much-needed air defense systems

Azerbaijan has launched what it has called an “anti-terrorist operation” targeting Armenian military positions in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, as heavy artillery firing was reported around its capital. The Azerbaijani defence ministry announced the start of the operation hours after four soldiers and two civilians died in landmine explosions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. It raises concerns that a full-scale war over the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which fought heavily for six weeks in 2020. The ministry did not immediately give details but said “positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenia’s armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities, are incapacitated using high-precision weapons”. The Azerbaijani statement said: “Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.” But ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said the region’s capital Stepanakert and other villages are “under intense shelling”. Earlier on Tuesday, Azerbaijan said six people died in two separate explosions in the region, which is partly under the control of ethnic Armenian forces. A statement from Azerbaijan‘s interior ministry, state security service and prosecutor-general said two employees of the highways department died before dawn when their vehicle was blown up by a mine and that a truckload of soldiers responding to the incident hit another mine, killing four. Nagorno-Karabakh and sizeable surrounding territories had been under ethnic Armenian control since the 1994 end of a separatist war, but Azerbaijan regained the territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself in a six-week war in 2020. That war ended with an armistice which placed a Russian peacekeeper contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh. But Azerbaijan alleges that Armenia has smuggled in weapons since then. The claims led to a blockade of the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing severe food and medicine shortages in the region. Red Cross shipments of flour and medical supplies reached Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday but local officials said road connections to the region were not fully open. The hostilities come amid high tensions between Armenia and its longtime ally Russia. Armenia has repeatedly complained that the 3,000-strong Russian peacekeeping force was unable or unwilling to keep the road to Armenia open even though that duty was stipulated in the agreement that ended the 2020 war. Armenia also angered Russia, which maintains a military base in the country, by holding military exercises with the United States this month and by moving toward ratifying the Rome Convention that created the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday denied claims that Russia was informed in advance of Azerbaijan‘s intention to mount the operation, saying the peacekeepers were notified only “a few minutes” before it began. Reporting by Associated Press.

Ukraine could take time to “kick out” over 200,000 of Vladimir Putin’s troops from its soil even if its military counteroffensive achieves all its goals, a soon-to-retire US military general has claimed in a new interview. The comments come as Ukraine has stepped up its counteroffensive against Russia in the last few days by retaking a couple of key villages near battle-worn Bakhmut and launched joint intelligence ops in Crimea, the territory Moscow illegally annexed in 2014. “There’s well over 200,000 Russian troops in Russian-occupied Ukraine,” General Mark A Milley, who is set to retire as the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an “exit interview” to CNN. “This offensive, although significant has operational and tactical objectives that are limited in the sense that they do not – even if they are fully achieved – they do not completely kick out all the Russians, which is the broader strategic objective that president Zelensky has,” he said. Ejecting Russian soldiers from the entirety of Ukraine is going to take a long time and will be “a very significant effort over a considerable amount of time”, Mr Milley said. The general said he doesn’t want to “put a time on it because a lot of things can happen in a war”. “You could see a general collapse, you can see escalation, you could see a lot of different things happen in the future, but I can tell you that it will take a considerable length of time to militarily eject all 200,000 plus Russian troops out of Russian-occupied Ukraine. That’s a very high bar, that’s gonna take a long time to do it,” he said. Earlier this month, Mr Milley said Ukraine only has around 45 days left before poor weather conditions hinder its continuing counteroffensive. It will become “very difficult to manoeuvre” once it starts raining, according to the head of the US military. “That offensive kicked off about 90 days ago,” he said, referring to recent criticism about the counteroffensive. “It has gone slower than the planners anticipated. But that is a difference between what (Prussian general and military theorist Carl von) Clausewitz called war on paper and real war,” he said. “So these are real people in real vehicles that are fighting through real minefields, and there’s real death and destruction, and there’s real friction. “And there’s still a reasonable amount of time – probably about 30 to 45 days’ worth of fighting weather left. So the Ukrainians aren’t done,” he said. “This battle is not done. They haven’t finished the fighting part of what they’re trying to accomplish. So, we’ll see… It’s too early to say how this is going to end. They at least have achieved partial success in what they set out to do, and that’s important. And then the rains will come in. It’ll become very muddy,” he said. “It’ll be very difficult to manoeuvre at that point, and then you’ll get the deep winter, and then, at that point, we’ll see where things go. “But right now it is way too early to say that this offensive has failed or not failed.” In the same interview, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the UK’s Chief of the Defence Staff, said Ukraine is “winning” because Russia failed to bring the country under its control. The Ukrainian counteroffensive is now in its fourth month and its forces have now had a series of territorial successes against Russian forces, including closing in on the country’s eastern areas from multiple directions. Russia had invaded Ukraine in February last year. Ukraine’s pushback, backed by its Western allies who have poured help through modern machinery and funds, has so far been marked by small victories and is awaiting more major breakthroughs. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin launches attack on Lviv as Russian defences breached near Bakhmut villages Ukraine’s Zelensky questions why Russia still has place at UN ahead of New York address Explosions shake Lviv as western Ukraine under air raid alerts for Russian drone strikes Ukrainian troops claim to have liberated Bakhmut village from Russia UNGA Briefing: Biden, Zelenskyy and what else is going on at the United Nations

Watch live as US secretary of defense Lloyd J. Austin makes opening remarks before he hosts an in-person Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting at Ramstein US Air Base in Germany on Tuesday 19 September. The meeting of allies assisting Kyiv has been highly anticipated and comes as the United States explores the shipment of ATACMS longer-range missiles packed with cluster bombs to Ukraine. Ukraine has also been pushing Germany to send similar Taurus missiles that could give them the ability to cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory, but Berlin has repeatedly said it will only act in concert with Washington on arms deliveries. Ahead of the meeting, it was confirmed that German defence minister Boris Pistorius will not take part at the UDCG meeting due to Covid-19 infection.

Watch live as Ukraine responds to Russia’s objections against the jurisdiction of the World Court in a genocide case brought by the nation, which claims Moscow falsely applied genocide law to justify its 2022 invasion. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, is holding public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by the Russian Federation in the case from 18 to 27 September. Ukraine brought the issue to the UN’s highest court just days after the Russian invasion on 24 February last year, arguing Moscow is abusing international law by saying the invasion was justified to prevent an alleged genocide in eastern Ukraine. Russia wants the case to be thrown out and objects to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. The hearings will not delve into the merits of the case and are instead focused on legal arguments about jurisdiction. Ukraine has already cleared one hurdle as the court decided in its favour in a preliminary decision in the case in March last year. Based on that, the court ordered Russia to cease military actions in Ukraine immediately. Read More

Volodymyr Zelensky posed the question of why Russia and Vladimir Putin continued to have representation at the United Nations to world leaders ahead of his UN security council speech. Mr Zelensky was speaking in the US after visiting wounded Ukrainian military members at a New York hospital shortly after arriving for his diplomatic tour on Monday. "For us, it’s very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners. 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," he said. Follow latest live updates on coverage of Ukraine war here The Ukrainian president is likely to cross path with Russia’s top diplomat at the United Nations during the upcoming UN Security Council meeting. On being asked if he will stay in the room to listen to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov’s remarks at the meeting, Mr Zelensky said: “I don’t know how it will be, really”. Mr Lavrov had called Mr Zelensky a “b*****d” and walked out after a round of condemnation and accusations of war crimes aimed at Russia in last year’s UNSC meeting. “Such outrages remain unpunished because the United States and their allies with the connivance of international human rights institutes have been covering up the crimes of the Kyiv regime based on the policy of ‘Zelensky might be a b*****d, but he’s our b*****d’,” the foreign minister said. He walked out after his speech and remained absent for most of the session having already arrived 90 minutes late – missing UN chief Antonio Guterres’s briefing. The Ukrainian president had confronted the UN even before the war launched by neighbour Russia, who, as a Security Council member, is entrusted with maintaining international peace and security. In September last year, Mr Zelensky detailed the Russian atrocities in Ukraine and described a sweeping peace plan to end the war in his previous address to the UN General Assembly. “How can we allow the Russian army somewhere on Ukrainian soil, knowing that they are committing such mass murder everywhere?” Mr Zelensky asked. “We cannot. We must protect life. The world must protect life.” He also called on the international community to temporarily strip Russia of its UN powers, continue sanctions, and establish a special tribunal to oversee the peace process. He lamented at the General Assembly in 2021 that the UN was a “retired superhero who’s long forgotten how great they once were”. Mr Zelensky will be making a case for Ukraine’s protection and security assurances as the country continued to fight off a Russian full-scale invasion for nearly 600 days now. He will also seek help from Washington ahead of a looming winter. The US Congress is currently mulling over president Joe Biden’s request to provide Ukraine with as much as $24bn more in military and humanitarian aid. Mr Zelensky will spend some time at the Capitol Hill on Thursday and then proceed to meet with Mr Biden at the White House. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Kyiv commander says Russian defensive line breached near villages of Bakhmut Explosions shake Ukraine’s Lviv as western parts remain under air raid alerts Heading for UN, Ukraine's president questions why Russia still has a place there How Ukraine’s battle for the Black Sea is inflicting serious pain on Putin’s forces New explosions at Sevastopol as Ukraine launches fresh drone strikes on Crimea

A Belarusian “hit man” who served with the country’s special forces and is accused of the forced disappearance of three high-profile opposition figures will finally stand trial in Switzerland – 24 years after the three vanished. Yury Garavsky, 44, was arrested following a confession in which he said he was involved with a group linked to the kidnapping and presumed killings of adversaries of Belarus’s current president Alexander Lukashenko. In 2019, Garavsky gave testimony to German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle about his part in the 1999 killings of three of president Lukashenko’s political opponents. He was working for the interior ministry’s SOBR special forces unit then. He even claimed he was present during the executions of former interior minister Yury Zakharenko, opposition politician Viktor Gonchar and pro-opposition businessman Anatoly Krasovsky. Now a Swiss court will determine the veracity of his claims. Zakharenko had vanished in May 1999. In September that year, Gonchar and his friend Krasovsky were abducted. Families of the three have been waiting for the trial to start to begin. Garavsky, who sought asylum in Switzerland in 2018 after fleeing Belarus capital Minsk, pointed out in his interview earlier that his superior Dmitry Pavlichenko shot the three victims in the chest. Mr Pavlichenko, however, has denied the allegations. The BBC reported that daughters of the two abducted men, both of whom left Belarus shortly after their fathers’ kidnappings, are set to appear in court this week. Both said the trial in the city of St Gallen will provide them with some solace. Garavsky is facing trial in Switzerland, where he was arrested, due to the country’s adherence to a UN convention against forced disappearance. He had said during the 2019 interview with DW that the actual orders to abduct the politicians were not written. “There was never anything written or any video confirmation. Everything was ordered verbally – I guess based on the wishes of President Lukashenko.” “I feel repentant and guilty. I feel that if these people remained alive, things would be different in Belarus,” he said. “Their bodies have probably decomposed, but the bones should be there.” Read More Poland imposes EU ban on all Russian-registered passenger cars Kim Jong-un shown Russia’s nuclear capable bombers and hypersonic missiles Ukraine is the spotlight at UN leaders' gathering, but is there room for other global priorities? North Korean leader to visit Russia's Pacific fleet as he continues trip focused on arms cooperation Putin meets the leader of Belarus, who suggests joining Russia's move to boost ties with North Korea Lithuania to issue special passports to Belarus citizens staying legally in the Baltic country

Blasts rocked Ukraine’s western city of Lviv in the early hours of Tuesday as Russia launched large-scale air attacks that struck an industrial warehouse, officials said. Local officials said air defence systems were engaged in repelling a Russian air attack that started in the early hours. From around 1am BST the entire western half of Ukraine was covered by air raid alerts. The mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, and regional governor Maxim Kozitsky asked people to stay indoors due to the threat of continuing attacks in the region. “As a result of the strike on the territory of Lviv, we recorded a fire at an industrial warehouse,” he said. Follow latest live updates on coverage of Ukraine war here One injured person in the air attack was found under the wreckage, the mayor said. “There is a threat of a second attack. Air defence works in our region. Do not leave shelters, please!” the mayor said on his Telegram channel, starting the alert messages around 7am local time. “These are the sounds of air defence!!” he said. It is not immediately known if the attacks were caused using missiles and drones. The heavy aerial attacks from Russia on Ukraine commenced as the war neared 600 days of conflict and coincided with the start of president Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the US on Monday. The war-time president is making his second visit to the country after his last trip in December. He is likely to deliver a powerful address at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday. He will also address world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. Mr Zelensky will come face-to-face with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in a first since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February last year. The Russian leader is also expected to make remarks at the meeting. Moscow is a veto-wielding member of the security council. Mr Zelensky is scheduled to spend some time Thursday on Capitol Hill and meet with president Joe Biden at the White House. Read More Heading for UN, Ukraine's president questions why Russia still has a place there 'Stop it!' UN's nuclear chief pushes Iran to end block on international inspectors Ukraine-Russia war – live: Kyiv commander says Russian defensive line breached near villages of Bakhmut How Ukraine’s battle for the Black Sea is inflicting serious pain on Putin’s forces Russian defensive lines breached in capture of villages near Bakhmut, Ukraine commander says