Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is planning to travel to Washington this week, The Washington Post reported. He is tentatively expected to visit Capitol Hill on Thursday, where he will make a plea — backed by the Biden administration — for more aid. It would be his second trip to the United States since the start of the war.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects around the world.
In Russia, Kim inspected aviation equipment and missile systems in the city of Vladivostok, where he was met by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, state media Tass reported. Over the weekend, the leader of North Korea attended the ballet “Sleeping Rose” on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater in Primorsk. Kim also visited an aquarium where he watched a performance by sea animals, Russian media reported.
Kim was given five kamikaze drones, a reconnaissance drone and a body armor the governor of the Primorye region, which borders China and North Korea, Tass announced on Sunday that the North Korean leader had returned home.
Two merchant ships approached Ukrainian ports on Saturday, the first civilian vessels to travel through the temporary shipping corridor in the Black Sea following the collapse of the grain deal with Russia. Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov he said the Palau-flagged ships, Resilient Africa and Aroyat, are heading to Chornomorsk, where they will load almost 20,000 tons of wheat for Africa and Asia.
Jewish pilgrims gathered in central Ukraine to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year, which began at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Sunday. More than 35,000 pilgrims – mostly from the United States, Israel and Europe – gathered in the city of Uman, which has historical significance for the Hasidic community, regional governor Ihor Taburets said. Ukrainian and Israeli police patrolled the area, which was under air raids on Sunday morning.
Zelensky’s apartment in occupied Crimea is among 100 properties on the peninsula that Russian authorities plan to sell thereAccording to the announcement of the Speaker of the Crimean Parliament Volodymyr Konstantinov on Saturday. He he wrote on Telegram that eight auctions were completed, generating about $8.8 million. Other sales will take place soon, he added. Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Russia’s war in Ukraine will not end quickly, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told German media in an interview published on Sunday. “Most wars last longer than expected when they first start,” Funke told the media group. “There is no doubt that Ukraine will eventually be in NATO,” he said, adding that “we all want a quick peace.”
Poland will ban cars registered in Russia from entering its borders from Sunday, Minister of the Interior Mariusz Kaminski he announced. Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have introduced similar restrictions. Update for the European Commission instructions asked member states to prevent Russian citizens from bringing cars and other goods into the European Union in an effort to prevent evasion of sanctions.
Defense companies from 21 countries will participate in the Ukrainian Defense Industries Forum, Zelenskyy said in his Saturday night speech. According to him, the event, which is to be held this fall, is the first of its kind in Ukraine. “Our task is absolutely clear – to provide Ukraine with all opportunities for the production of weapons and ammunition, to provide modern technology so that we have reliable protection against any form of aggression,” Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian foreign minister previously said that these are top companies Franceand Czech RepublicThe defense industry was invited to the forum.
UK officials are supporting the family of a British man who is believed to have died in Ukraine and are in contact with local authorities, a British Foreign Office spokesman told The Post. Daniel Burke, 36, former British soldier, was reported missing by his family on August 16 after he traveled to the Ukrainian front to fight against Russian forces, BBC News reports. Burke’s family told the newspaper that Ukrainian authorities recently found the body of the former paratrooper in Zaporozhye.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said he was skeptical that any ammunition North Korea could provide Russia would be decisive in Moscow’s war against Ukraine. “Would it make a big difference? I’m skeptical,” Gen. Mark A. Milley said after Kim’s rare trip outside his nation to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Russia. “The impact, I wouldn’t want to downplay it too much, but … I doubt it will be decisive,” Milley told reporters traveling overseas with him.
Two Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian air defense forces over the Moscow region at nightMayor Sergey Sobyanin he said Sunday. The first drone was shot down in the Istra district, the second in the Ramensky district, he said. No casualties or damage were reported.
Russia launched drone and missile attacks on the southern part of Ukraine’s Odesa region, hitting an agricultural facilityUkrainian Air Force he said Sunday on Telegram. Russia launched six Shahed drones and 10 cruise missiles, the air force said, adding that 12 missiles were destroyed before they hit their targets.
Russian forces have “probably strengthened” their defenses around the occupied southern Ukrainian city of Tokmak, British Ministry of Defence he said Sunday. Moscow is likely to deploy additional checkpoints in an area that is approximately 10 miles beyond the current front line, the ministry said. The strengthening of the city’s defenses could indicate “growing Russian concerns about Ukrainian tactical penetrations of the first main line of defense to the north,” according to the update.
Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky under pressure in criminal cases: The war in Ukraine has greatly reduced the influence of the country’s oligarchs, but perhaps none more so than Ihor Kolomoisky, the oil, banking and media magnate who was once valued at $2 billion.
Kolomoisky is behind bars and facing legal challenges, including allegations that he siphoned off assets from Ukraine’s richest bank, which he once owned, David L. Stern in Kyiv reports. Kolomoisky also owned a TV channel that aired the popular show “Servant of the People,” about an unlikely president played by Zelensky, a former actor who became president during the war and now leads the country’s campaign against alleged corruption among its oligarchs.
