Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj began his US trip, which could be crucial for the continued war against Russia, with a visit to an ammunition factory. During his stay, he wanted to put “the plan for Ukrainian victory on the table” to US President Joe Biden and other allies such as Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Zelensky said in a video filmed on the plane on Sunday before landing in the US. Meanwhile, renewed Russian attacks on Ukraine left one person dead and 23 others injured.
After arriving in the United States on Sunday, Zelensky first stopped in the state of Pennsylvania, where he visited an artillery ammunition factory in Scranton. Scranton is the birthplace of US President Joe Biden, and the state of Pennsylvania is one of the hotly contested swing states in the upcoming US presidential election. The next stops on Zelensky’s US visit are New York and Washington. A meeting with US President Biden is scheduled for Thursday at the White House.
“Ukraine will present its victory plan to the United States – and the President of the United States will be the first to see it in full,” Zelensky said. He also wants to present the plan to “all heads of state and government of our partner countries” as well as to the US Congress and the two US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
“This fall will decide what will happen next in this war,” Zelensky continued. During his talks in the United States, the Ukrainian president is expected to once again insist that the Ukrainian army be allowed to use weapons supplied by the West to attack targets deep in Russian territory. So far this has been refused by the USA and most other supporting countries.
Before his conversation with Biden in Washington, Zelensky will meet, among others, Chancellor Scholz in New York on Monday. The UN general debate will begin in the US metropolis on Tuesday, with more than 130 heads of state and government expected.
The government in Kiev is convinced that the use of Western weapons against targets on Russian territory could significantly influence the course of the war in Ukraine’s favor more than two and a half years after the start of the Russian attack on the neighboring country. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow would view this as NATO countries entering war.
The Ukrainian army has suffered losses of territory in eastern Ukraine in recent months. The country is also exposed to Russian air strikes on a daily basis.
A 61-year-old woman was killed and seven people were injured in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson on Monday night, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin announced. In the Zaporizhia region, 16 people were injured in attacks on the regional capital of the same name, the Ukrainian national police said. In both cases, residential buildings were reportedly hit.
The Ukrainian Air Force said air defenses shot down three Shahed attack drones and prevented another drone and two cruise missiles from reaching their targets. The Russian Defense Ministry said eight Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed over the Russian border regions of Belgorod and Kursk overnight.
