Zelenskyy hopes for quick US action as more arms depots hit in Russia

KYIV: A major Ukrainian drone attack set multiple Russian arms depots ablaze, destroying what Ukraine's General Staff said were thousands of tons of weaponry, including missiles from North Korea. President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, appealed for quick action from the United States to send more weapons before his visit to the White House next week with a multi-point "victory plan".

Ukraine launched more than 100 drones at Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula overnight, Russian news reports and the defence ministry said on Saturday.

The strikes set an arms depot on fire that appeared to be near the same town as one struck by Ukrainian drones earlier this week, in an attack that wounded 13 people and also caused a huge blaze. Arms and ammunition depots were also hit on Saturday in Russia's southern Krasnodar region.

In Ukraine, a 12-year-old boy and two older women were killed as Russian missiles overnight struck Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy's hometown in central Ukraine, local governor Serhii Lysak said.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, 15 people including young teens were wounded by Russian airstrikes on Friday evening, mayor Ihor Terekhov said, more than twice as many as initially reported.

Russian drone and artillery strikes also wounded at least three civilians in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, officials reported, while a fourth was wounded after an airstrike hit the city of Sumy. AP

Russia: Won’t attend Ukraine peace summit
Russia said Saturday it would not attend a possible second Ukraine peace summit in November, despite Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky signalling that this time he would invite Moscow’s representatives. Moscow rejected the idea ahead of Zelensky’s travels to the United States, where he is due to present his peace proposals to Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. “The summit will have the same aim: to promote the unviable ‘Zelensky formula’ as the only basis for resolving the conflict, get support for it from the world majority and with that present Russia with an ultimatum on capitulation,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. “We will not take part in such ‘summits’,” she added. (AFP)