Russia fires barrage at Ukraine as Zelenskyy pitches war-winning plan at UN
(LONDON) — Russia launched a major missile and drone attack into Ukraine overnight into Tuesday coinciding with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. this week, where the Ukrainian leader is seeking American and international support for Kyiv’s “victory plan.”
Ukraine’s air force wrote on Telegram that four missiles — one Iskander-M, two Kh-59/69s and one of undetermined type — were fired into northern and central Ukraine overnight,
Russia also launched 81 Shahed attack drones, the air force said, of which 66 were shot down and 13 blocked by radio jamming.
“The main direction of the attack is the north and center of Ukraine,” the air force wrote.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry, meanwhile, noted that energy facilities in six regions of the country were attacked, resulting in local power outages.
Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia also came under fire on Monday evening, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov. One person was killed, he wrote on Telegram.
The latest strikes come as Zelenskyy tries to bolster support for Kyiv’s war plan during his visit to the U.S. for meetings with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, D.C., as well as appearances at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City.
During a sit-down interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts, Zelenskyy said the war with Moscow is “closer to an end” than many believe.
“The plan of victory is strengthening of Ukraine,” he added. “That’s why we’re asking our friends, our allies, to strengthen us. It’s very important.”
President Vladimir Putin, Zelenskyy said, is “afraid” of the recent Ukrainian occupation of parts of Russia’s western Kursk region.
“His people saw that he can’t defend — that he can’t defend all his territory,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine, Zelenskyy added, can only “push Putin to stop the war” from a “strong position.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded by saying that Russia will only end the war when its goals are achieved.
“Any war one way or the other finishes with peace,” Peskov told reporters, as reported by Russian state media. “For us there is no alternative to achieving our goals. As soon as our goals are achieved one way or the other, the special military operation will end.”
Ukraine is continuing its own long-range strikes against Russian military and industrial targets, while pressing its partners for permission to use Western-supplied weapons in such operations.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported 13 “thwarted” drone infiltrations overnight into Tuesday — seven over Belgorod region, five over Kursk and one over Bryansk regions.
On the battlefield, meanwhile, Russian forces continued attacks in eastern Ukraine, increasingly threatening Ukraine’s hold on the city of Vuhledar in southeastern Donetsk Oblast, which Moscow has been attempting to seize since the early weeks of the invasion.
Ukrainian military bloggers reported that Russian forces may have broken through the defenders’ flanks near the city, which is already largely destroyed and empty of civilians.
Developments there reflect the broader difficult situation for Ukraine in the east, where its forces are trying to hold back a creeping Russian advance while inflicting heavy casualties.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the latest round of cease-fire discussions appears to have reached an impasse.
Meanwhile, after six hostages were found dead in Gaza, protests erupted in Israel. Protesters have demanded its government bring the hostages home.
Here’s how the news is developing:
16 minutes ago Funeral underway for slain American hostage
A funeral procession is underway in Jerusalem for slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The 23-year-old was one of six murdered hostages recovered this weekend.
The Israeli Ministry of Health said the six hostages were killed “in a number of short-range shots” between Thursday and Friday morning.
The funeral comes one day after thousands of people took to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest the deaths of the six hostages.
2 hours and 31 minutes ago Tel Aviv braces for fresh protests
More than 1,000 people have gathered in the northern Israeli city of Tel Aviv for continued anti-government protests, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conclude a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas.
Other marches are taking place elsewhere in Israel. A general strike — called by Histadrut, Israel’s largest trade union — also began on Monday morning in protest of the government’s failure to free those still held hostage inside Gaza.
Police reported violent clashes with anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, saying officers had arrested 29 people.
The current wave of demonstrations was sparked by the recovery of the bodies of six of Hamas’ hostages from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and David Brennan
3 hours and 57 minutes ago Israel Police accuses Tel Aviv marchers of ‘brutal’ vandalism, violence
The Israel Police has condemned what it called “brutal vandalism” during a night of anti-government demonstrations in Tel Aviv, sparked by the deaths in captivity of six of Hamas’ Gaza hostages.
In a statement, the Police Spokesperson’s Unit said officers arrested 29 suspects for a range of offenses including disorderly conduct, assaulting officers and vandalism.
The violence followed a planned protest at the Kaplan Junction in Tel Aviv, the statement said, after which “hundreds of protesters” left the approved demonstration area and moved to the Ayalon Highway, “with the intent to disrupt traffic and public order.”
Some marchers “violently pushed against barricades and officers, leading to a confrontation during which a policewoman was injured and lost consciousness,” the statement said. The officer was evacuated for medical treatment.
As officers attempted to clear the area, some protesters “breached security perimeters, blocked the Ayalon Highway, and set fires, while firing fireworks that nearly hit officers,” police said.
“The Israel Police strongly condemns the acts of vandalism and violence directed at officers,” the statement read. “We will pursue legal action against those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.”
The protesters were demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government agree to a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas.
A general strike called by Israel’s largest trade union — Histadrut — began on Monday morning in a bid to pressure the government into reaching an accord with the militant group.
Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke with the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli hostage who was found dead in Gaza on Saturday along with five other Oct. 7 hostages, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The vice president and her husband called parents Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin on Sunday to “express our condolences following the brutal murder of their son by Hamas terrorists,” Harris said in a statement on X.
“My heart breaks for their pain and anguish,” Harris continued.
“I told them: As they mourn this terrible loss, they are not alone. Our nation mourns with them,” Harris said.
4:59 PM EDT Protest erupts in Tel Aviv as demonstrators demand cease-fire deal
Protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv Sunday night, demanding a cease-fire agreement and the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas terrorists.
The demonstration came a day after Israel Defense Forces recovered the bodies of six hostages in tunnels under the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
Protesters were seen waving Israeli flags as they demanded a cease-fire agreement, chanting “Deal. Now.”
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
3:25 PM EDT 6 killed in IDF strike on Gaza school, says Gaza Civil Defense
At least six people were killed on Sunday when Israel Defense Forces conducted an airstrike on a school in Gaza City, according to Gaza Civil Defense.
The IDF said in a statement that the strike was aimed at Hamas terrorists they allege were operating a command-and-control center inside the Safad school to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against the IDF and Israel.
“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said in a statement.
The Gaza Civil Defense confirmed the Safad school was hit in the IDF strike, but said the school houses displaced people from the Al-Zeitoun area east of Gaza City.
(LONDON) — Ukraine scored victories on and off the battlefield last week, with Kyiv securing a long sought after visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the backdrop of its evolving offensive into Russia’s Kursk region.
A wartime visit by Modi — the popular and powerful leader of the world’s second most populous nation, its fifth largest economy and a major military and economic partner for Russia — has long been near the top of Kyiv’s diplomatic wish list, second perhaps only to a visit by China’s President Xi Jinping.
“It’s great news for Ukraine and can be viewed as a diplomatic victory,” Oleksandr Merezko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee, told ABC News of Friday’s visit. “It’s important for us to have a direct dialogue with him, and persuade him to be on the right side of history.”
With a cease-fire proving elusive after two and a half years of war, Kyiv’s friends and enemies alike will see opportunity in Modi’s outreach.
On Monday, President Joe Biden “commended” Modi on his Ukraine visit, per a White House readout, praising the leader’s “message of peace and ongoing humanitarian support.”
Russians, too, are “positive” about the visit, Oleg Ignatov — the Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Russia — told ABC News.
“Russia will welcome their role, if their role is constructive,” Ignatov said.
The U.S. and its Western partners — even officially non-aligned ones like Switzerland and Austria — have “lost their position of independent, impartial players” in the Kremlin’s eyes, Ignatov said.
“They can’t be middlemen,” Ignatov said.
But perhaps Modi can be that middleman.
True neutral
Modi’s dueling visits to Russia and Ukraine characterize — even if unintentionally — New Delhi’s staunch neutrality. The prime minister was in Moscow when a Russian missile struck a Ukrainian children’s hospital in July. His bear hug greeting of President Vladimir Putin earned him a fierce rebuke from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
And now, Modi has sat down with the Ukrainian leader while the latter’s troops expanded their occupation of Russian territory, in an operation that Putin has decried as a criminal effort to destabilize his nation.
Merezhko said he was “surprised” by the timing.
“I suspect that our American and European allies are trying to push India in the right direction,” Merezhko said.
India has neither condoned nor condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion. New Delhi has been urging de-escalation and peace talks while benefiting from historically low prices for Russian oil — which India is also processing and selling on to the West — amid the Western sanctions campaign, analysts have noted.
India has not signed up to the Western-led sanctions drive. Russia is selling oil to India at prices above the G7 price cap, but Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that is acceptable, as long as India avoids Western insurance, finance and maritime services which are bound by the cap.
Foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said last week: “It is not like there is a political strategy to buy oil … there is an oil strategy to buy oil … there is a market strategy.”
Modi’s India has been building its U.S. ties, happy to work closely with both Republicans and Democrats as the nation looks to extract its mammoth economic potential and blunt the longstanding threat from China across their shared Himalayan border — a challenge experts have suggested is a major driver of the evolving U.S.-India relationship.
India’s trade with Russia is worth less than half that of the $130 billion exchange with the United States. The 2023 U.S.-Indian commitment to the multibillion India-Middle East Economic Corridor speaks to the expanding strategic vision of the two nations. The White House described the project as “a gateway to our future,” while New Delhi lauded what it called “a transformative integration of Asia, Europe and Middle East.”
India is also increasingly looking towards the U.S. for its military needs while its military trade with Russia dwindles, amid concerns about the quality of Moscow’s goods and its inability to deliver on advanced contracts. A warm relationship with the U.S. may also somewhat insulate Modi from concerns — at home and abroad — that he is pushing India’s democracy in an illiberal and perhaps even authoritarian direction.
Modi and his government have pushed back on such criticisms. At a press conference with President Joe Biden in 2023, Modi said there “is no scope for any discrimination” under his administration. And this year, India’s Foreign Ministry dismissed a State Department report detailing “significant” human rights abused as “deeply biased.”
Asked about the Ukraine visit, a State Department spokesperson told ABC News: “We continue to ask all our partners, including India, to support efforts toward a just and lasting peace for Ukraine and to urge Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine’s sovereign territory.”
Before departing New Delhi last week, Modi reiterated his calls for peace, saying in a statement: “As a friend and partner, we hope for an early return of peace and stability in the region.”
India’s position — firmly on the fence — could prove an opportunity for both sides.
Neither the Indian Foreign Ministry nor the Kremlin responded to ABC News’ request for comment in time for publication.
‘Let’s talk’
Officially neutral nations like India, China, Qatar or Saudi Arabia could all play a central role in bringing the war to an end, or at least achieving a cease-fire. All refused to join the Western-led sanctions campaign against Moscow, and all have called for an end to the fighting.
Indeed, reported secret Qatari efforts to facilitate renewed cease-fire talks were only scuppered by Ukraine’s Kursk offensive earlier this month.
“They are ready to play the role of intermediaries; not negotiators, but facilitators, to help both countries understand which issues their positions could be close on,” Ignatov said of non-aligned nations. “If there is a request from both Ukraine and Russia, they will help. But they won’t do anything to the detriment of one country.”
Modi’s visit may undergird the apparent sentiment on both sides of the war that negotiations could be revived. But, Ignatov said, any new proposal should be broad, and as simple as: “Let’s talk.”
Chietigj Bajpaee of the Chatham House think tank in London, U.K., told ABC News that Modi wants to promote India “as a rising and responsible global power,” and potentially as a “bridging power” between the West, its adversaries in authoritarian nations like Russia, China and India, and less powerful “Global South” nations not willing to commit to broader U.S.-led transatlantic goals.
“The other countries that maintain very good relations with Russia — China, Iran, North Korea — all of these are countries with which the U.S. and the West maintain difficult relations,” Bajpaee said.
“In theory, at least, I think India is well positioned to play some sort of role as a bridging power or mediating role in the conflict in Ukraine. Whether it has the means and motivation to do so is another question,” Bajpaee added.
Indian officials have publicly ruled out acting as official mediators between the warring nations, though Modi has said he is willing to convey messages between them.
For Merezhko, India would be a more appealing facilitator than China, for example. Beijing presented an initial peace plan in 2023 which was widely dismissed in Kyiv, followed by a second effort in coordination with Brazil in May.
“Modi shows that Ukraine exists for India,” Merezhko said. “In this regard, we can see a contrast between China’s and India’s position on Ukraine. Whereas Xi has not visited Ukraine at all and had several meetings with Putin, which is very telling, India’s prime minister seemingly is trying to keep some balance.”
“The Chinese plan is empty and pro-Russian. Modi, if he plans to come up with his own peace plan, will at least try to be more constructive than China,” Merezhko said.
Modi will likely keep one eye on facilitating dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow, Yehor Cherniev — a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the chairman of his country’s delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly — told ABC News, not least because of continued concerns in the “Global South” as to the conflict’s detrimental effect on trade.
But any nascent rumblings of new talks will be secondary to the ongoing combat. Ukrainian forces will keep pushing in Kursk and Russian forces on the eastern front, particularly in Donetsk. Meanwhile, both sides will keep bombarding the other’s cities with drones and missiles.
Russia’s weekend nationwide missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine served as a bloody reminder of the diplomatic gulf between the two sides.
“The outcome of this war will be decided by Russia and Ukraine,” Ignatov said, “not by India, China or the United States.”
Cherniev said that while Ukrainians are “open” to fresh ideas and “thankful” for Modi’s visit, his compatriots will wait to see “what conditions” will be tied to any revival of dialogue.
“It’s difficult to predict any outcomes of peace negotiations,” Cherniev added, stressing that Kyiv’s demand of full territorial liberation “has not changed.”
As to the persistent question of territorial concessions in pursuit of peace, Cherniev replied: “We will never do this.”
(LONDON) — Russian missiles and drones again crisscrossed Ukrainian skies on Monday night in a strike that killed at least three people.
Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram that Russia fired three Iskander ballistic missiles from occupied Crimea, one Kh-59/69 air-launched missile from Russia’s western Kursk region and 35 Iranian-made Shahed attack drones from two areas in Kursk and Crimea.
Ukrainian air defenses downed 27 drones, the air force said, with six more “lost.”
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said that two people — a 38-year-old woman and her 8-year-old son — were killed in a strike on a hotel complex in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
Two other members of the family — the father and a 13-year-old girl — were buried under rubble but later recovered. Both are in a “serious condition” and have been hospitalized, the ministry said.
Further north, in the city of Dnipro, one person was killed and at least six injured by a Russian missile attack, the Interior Ministry wrote on Telegram.
Air raid sirens also sounded in the central city of Poltava early on Tuesday.
Vladimir Rogov — the chairman of the We Are Together with Russia movement, which cooperates with Moscow’s occupation of southern Ukraine — said on his Telegram channel that Russia’s strikes had targeted a military communications school in Poltava.
Ukraine’s air defense units were active overnight in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Poltava and the Chernihiv and Sumy regions, the air force said.
Russia’s intensifying long-range attacks on Ukrainian military, infrastructure and civilian targets have prompted Kyiv to push its Western partners — chief among them the U.S. — for permission to use Western weapons against airfields and launch sites within Russian borders.
Ukraine has scored notable successes within Russia with its own domestically produced drones and missiles, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly said Kyiv needs more advanced capabilities.
“The terrorist state must feel what war is,” the president said on Sunday. “To force Russia into peace, to move them from deceitful rhetoric about negotiations to taking steps to end the war, to clear our land of occupation and occupiers, we need effective tools.”
Following a deadly Russian guided bomb strike on the city of Kharkiv last week, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that such attacks can only be stopped “by striking Russian military airfields, their bases, and the logistics of Russian terror.”
“We talk about this every day with our partners,” he said. “We persuade. We present arguments.”
Curtailing Russia’s ability to strike from the air, Zelenskyy added, would be “a strong step to force Russia to seek an end to the war and a just peace.”