Ukrainian forces are hoping the recapture of the village of Klishchiivka, south of the strategically important eastern city of Bakhmut, will position them to pursue control of Bakhmut again. “We managed to get ourselves a place d’armes that will allow us to further develop assault actions and liberate our land from the occupiers,” spokesman Ilya Yevlash said in an interview with TSN news network, adding that the village is key to control of logistical routes to Bakhmut.
President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to lobby for more support for Ukraine when he speaks at the United Nations General Assembly meetings that start Tuesday in New York. On the sidelines, Zelensky is scheduled to hold meetings with other world leaders and is then expected to take his message to Washington.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
The retaking of Klishchiivka could be an important development for Ukraine’s prospects in the country’s east, where Russian forces seized control of the destroyed city of Bakhmut this year after months of bloody fighting. Before recapturing the village, Ukraine’s counteroffensive had focused largely on the south, where troops are moving slowly, in large part because of heavily mined territory.
Zelensky is set to travel to New York and Washington this week to appeal for more assistance, with a visit to Capitol Hill tentatively expected Thursday, The Post has reported. His visit was coordinated with the Biden administration in a push to get Congress to provide $24 billion in additional aid to Ukraine.
Recent drone strikes in Russia were a message from Ukraine that Russia’s airspace is “not as well protected as you think,” Zelensky said in an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” though he denied having personally ordered those attacks.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un departed from the city of Vladivostok after concluding his six-day trip to Russia, the North Korean state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported. Kim’s visit has drawn attention in Washington and beyond over a possible arms deal between Moscow and Pyongyang, as Russia seeks artillery for its waning stockpiles.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the war in Ukraine with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, according to U.S. and Chinese readouts of their Sunday conversation, which focused on bilateral relations and Taiwan, among other issues. Both readouts called the talks “candid, substantive, and constructive,” though neither side revealed details.
Wang will be in Moscow from Monday through Thursday to attend a strategic security meeting with top Russian officials, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman announced Monday. Chinese state media outlets say the meeting, held annually since 2005, serves to keep Beijing and Moscow aligned on core interests.
Canada pledged $25 million more in aid to bolster Ukraine’s air defense, Defense Minister Bill Blair announced.
A glimpse of Ukraine’s ruins: Photos by Wojciech Grzedzinski from a U.S.-supplied Humvee along the deserted roads in Orikhiv and Novodanylivka in southern Ukraine provide a glimpse of scenes common in communities along the front lines.
Orikhiv, an important juncture for Ukrainian soldiers heading into the fight, has been reduced to a skeleton of its former self. Russian artillery bombarded the small town for months, forcing many of its residents to flee or take shelter underground, where life and even city business goes on.
correction
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that strategic security meetings between Russia and China were not held in 2020 and 2021. The annual meetings were conducted virtually in those years because of the coronavirus pandemic. The article has been corrected.
Anastacia Galouchka contributed to this report.
