Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Russia’s “criminal aggression” in Ukraine, and castigated its right of veto by addressing the UN Security Council for the first time in person this Wednesday, September 20.
“Most countries in the world recognize the truth about this war,” said Volodymyr Zelensky, who faced Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia seated in front of him. “This is a criminal and unjustified aggression by Russia against our nation, which aims to seize the territory and resources of Ukraine,” he said. Volodymyr Zelensky called on the UN to remove Russia’s veto power in the Security Council, calling for major reform. “The right of veto in the hands of the aggressor blocks the UN,” he said. “It is impossible to stop this war because all efforts are vetoed by the aggressor or those who support the aggressor,” he added.
Poland’s anger after Zelensky’s remarks at the UN
Poland “urgently” summoned the Ukrainian ambassador this Wednesday to protest against President Volodymyr Zelensky’s comments at the UN, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
The approach targets the remarks made on Tuesday by Volodymyr Zelensky, according to which “certain countries feign solidarity (with regard to Ukraine, editor’s note) by indirectly supporting Russia”. The Polish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, who received the Ukrainian diplomat, denounced this “false thesis with regard to Poland and particularly unjustified concerning Poland which has supported Ukraine since the first days of the war”, according to the ministry’s press release.
kyiv responded by inviting the Polish side to “put emotion aside”.
Putin announces he will visit China in October
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Wednesday that he would visit China in October at the invitation of his counterpart Xi Jinping, his first trip to the country since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022.
Vladimir Putin said he was “delighted” to accept this invitation during a meeting in Russia with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to images broadcast by Russian television. He had already announced his intention to travel to China to participate in the Belt and Road Forum, which brings together international leaders.
Erdogan wants to “intensify” peace efforts
Faced with the cascading impacts of the war, particularly on food security, more and more countries in the South are pleading more and more openly for a diplomatic solution. Tuesday at the UN, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for “intensifying” peace efforts. “Since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, we have tried to keep our Russian and Ukrainian friends around the table, with the idea that the war will have no winners and peace no losers,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the United Nations.
Russia shoots down 4 drones, Ukraine 17
Russia said on Wednesday it had destroyed four Ukrainian drones overnight over the regions of Belgorod, bordering Ukraine, and Orel, also in the west, in three separate attacks. The ministry has not provided information on possible damage or casualties at this stage. On Sunday evening, Russia had already announced that it had shot down 4 Ukrainian drones in this region of western Belgorod, as well as in the southwest of annexed Crimea. Ukrainian attacks of this type against Russian territory, whether its capital Moscow, the border areas of Ukraine or the annexed Crimean peninsula, have increased in recent months against the backdrop of a counter- Kiev offensive started in early June.
For its part, the Ukrainian army indicated Wednesday morning that it had destroyed 17 Russian Shahed-type drones during the night. In its daily report at the start of the day, it reported 24 Shahed drones launched by Russian forces, including 17 shot down, without being able to give details on the consequences of this assault. The day before, 28 of these same devices out of 31 had been destroyed by Ukrainian air defenses, the army also indicated. Russia uses these Iranian-made devices and missiles almost daily to attack Ukrainian cities.
Nine civilians killed in Ukraine
At least nine civilians were killed Tuesday in Russian strikes across Ukraine, six in Kupiansk (east), two in Kherson (south) and one in Lviv (west), according to a new report provided by Ukrainian authorities. At least six people died in the town of Kupiansk, located in the Kharkiv region (north-east), about ten kilometers from the front line, Governor Oleg Synegoubov announced early in the evening.
Three had already been killed earlier in the day in an attack using a “guided aerial bomb”. Rescuers are “continuing” to search the site, the governor added, suggesting that the toll could rise further.
Fire at a fuel depot in Sochi
A fire broke out at a fuel depot near the airport of Sochi, a seaside city in southwest Russia, at dawn on Wednesday, without causing any injuries. On his Telegram account, the mayor of Sochi indicated that the fire was extinguished by firefighters and that the area affected by the flames was less than 100 m2. The incident took place at a fuel depot near Sochi International Airport in the Adler district. According to the mayor, “the airport and all transport are operating normally”.
The Russian online media Baza, close to the security services, claimed that it was a drone strike and published photos showing metal parts presented as debris from the machine. The media also published an alleged video of the attack where we see a tank of the oil group Rosneft suddenly explode in a ball of flames.
If the drone attack is confirmed, it would be the first such incident in Sochi, a popular tourist city, since Russia’s offensive in Ukraine began in late February 2022. Unlike other cities in the region, Sochi was spared from the strikes and its airport is still open, while those of other large nearby cities (Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar) are closed to avoid incidents linked to the fighting.
Russian Defense Minister in Iran
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Iran on Tuesday for an official visit, an “important step” for military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, which is accused of supplying it with drones for its offensive in Ukraine. This trip “will contribute to strengthening Russian-Iranian military ties and will mark an important step in the development of cooperation between the two countries,” said the ministry, quoted by Russian news agencies.
In Tehran, Sergei Shoigu met with the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, reported the local Mehr news agency. “The development of defense diplomacy” and the “expanding of bilateral cooperation”, as well as the “management of common threats” are on the menu of the two officials’ discussions, according to the official Irna agency. Iran is accused by the West of delivering large quantities of drones, particularly explosives, to the Russian army to help it in its assault on Ukraine, which Tehran denies.
Moscow and Tehran are subject to international sanctions which restrict trade. Over the past year, they have forged close ties in several sectors, including military and energy cooperation. In March, Iran announced that a deal had been reached to purchase Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia. Enough to make the United States say in May that the two countries were “expanding their defense partnership”. Since the start of the year, Iran has been very active on the diplomatic scene with the ambition of reducing its isolation by becoming more closely linked to Russia and China, and by reconciling with its Arab neighbors.