Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy takes de-escalation proposals to UNGA amid strikes

Russia bombarded at least four Ukrainian regions overnight with missiles and drones killing four people officials said Tuesday and Ukraines forces damaged another Russian oil refinery in their latest longrange strikeThe ongoing exchange of daily aerial attacks while positions on the battlefields front line barely change provided a backdrop to the visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the United StatesZelenskyy was due to meet other world leaders including US President Donald Trump at the UN General Assembly in New York The Ukrainian leader is hoping to recruit their help to end Russias more than 45yearold fullscale invasion of his countryRussian President Vladimir Putin isnt due to attend the annual eventThe war which Western officials say has killed more than 500000 Russian troops has had global repercussionsThe repeated attacks on Russian refineries following Moscows strikes on Ukraines power grid have caused international shortages of diesel and price spikes according to Trump However the global crunch also came after the Iran war led to curtailed oil shipments through the Strait of HormuzZelenskyy also wants help to ensure the flow of Ukrainian grain and other farm products to world markets through the Black Sea Russian attacks on cargo vessels have severely disrupted Kyivs exports hurting its economy and threatening global suppliesZelenskyy takes deescalation proposals to New YorkFrench President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that his country would provide Ukraine with more radars to help protect its power gridHe said on social media that he discussed with Trump the possibility of a truce between Moscow and Kyiv on strikes on energy infrastructure and a moratorium on Black Sea attacksZelenskyy began his New York visit by meeting with US senators thanking them for what he called strong bipartisan support for Ukraine and for recently passing a tougher Russian sanctions bill that Trump has signed into lawPeace and security will be closer once the bill is fully implemented he saidZelenskyy said on social media that he briefed senators on his proposals for deescalation measures that he intends to discuss with Trump later TuesdayThe Ukrainian leader also plans to again press Trump to send more USmade Patriot air defence systems that Kyiv desperately needs to stop Russias ballistic missilesUkrainian special forces say they hit a Russian refineryUkraine said that it struck the Kuibyshev oil refinery in Samara southeast of Moscow in an overnight attackSeveral drones hit their targets sparking a large fire at the facility according to a statement from Ukrainian special forcesThe refinery owned by Rosneft is a key fuel supplier for central Russia producing gasoline diesel fuel oil and other petroleum products the statement said Ukraine said that it struck the same refinery last JuneOne person was killed and four others were wounded in the Samara attack regional Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said He said that the enemy targeted industrial facilities but didnt specify which onesThe Russian Defence Ministry on Tuesday said that its forces downed 297 Ukrainian drones over 14 Russian regions overnight as well as the illegally annexed Crimean PeninsulaRussia says it struck missile plant and ammunition factoryRussias overnight attack on Ukraine included antiship missiles ballistic missiles cruise missiles and more than 200 drones Ukraines air force saidThe strikes killed four people in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro said Oleksandr Hanzha head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administrationThe strikes across Ukrainian regions damaged homes businesses and storage facilities wounding at least five people authorities said Five people were wounded in the capital Kyiv according to officialsThe Russian Defence Ministry said Tuesday that its forces struck metallurgical and chemical industries the fuel and energy sector and the militaryindustrial complex as well as port infrastructure facilities in four regions of UkraineThey included a Fire Point plant in Kyiv producing components for longrange cruise missiles and a tobacco factory in the central Poltava region used to make small arms ammunition it saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever