Zelenskyi spoke at the U.N. General Assembly, Russia has a secret project to develop military drones in China \u2013 Reuters, Russian troops broke through to the outskirts of Vuhledar. Is there a risk of its encirclement? \u2014 ISW\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, September 25, Volodymyr Zelenskyi delivered a speech at the U.N. General Assembly session in New York. Tomorrow, he will have an extended personal meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, at which he will present Ukraine\u2019s peace plan to him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On a second day of the general debate of the U.N. General Assembly, Zelenskyi will be the fourth leader to speak after the presidents of Mongolia, Seychelles and the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On September 24, Zelenskyi spoke at the U.N. Security Council, calling on Western countries to “force Russia to make peace,” because since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army “has been doing things that cannot be justified in any way according to the U.N. Charter.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyi assured that the “peace formula” is the best opportunity for peace, and Ukrainians will never accept that a colonial past instead of a just peace can be imposed on Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When some propose alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans \u2013 so-called ‘sets of principles’ \u2013 it not only ignores the interests and suffering of Ukrainians, who are affected by the war the most, it not only ignores reality, but also gives Putin the political space to continue the war,” the head of the state said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that his “peace formula” as a global initiative has already existed for two years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“And maybe somebody wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography for \u2018frozen truce\u2019 instead of real peace, but the only prizes Putin will give you in return are more suffering and disasters,” Zelenskyi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his speech, he laid out the main points of how he sees the achievement of peace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We must restore nuclear safety; energy must stop being used as a weapon; we must ensure food security; we must bring home all our captured soldiers and civilians forcibly deported to Russia. We must uphold the U.N. Charter and guarantee our right \u2013 Ukraine\u2019s right \u2013 to territorial integrity and sovereignty, just as we do for any other nation,” Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe must withdraw the Russian occupation forces, which will bring an end to the hostilities in Ukraine. We must hold those responsible for war crimes accountable. We must prevent ecocide\u2026 And we must not allow a second or third phase of this Russian invasion. We must make it clear \u2013 the war is over. This is the \u2018peace formula\u2019. What part of this could be unacceptable to anyone who upholds the U.N. Charter?\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyi also called on the international community to put pressure on Russia and deter it from shelling, which would pose a threat to Ukrainian nuclear industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia has established a program in China to develop and produce attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is reported by Reuters. Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned weapons company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kupol told the defence ministry that it was able to produce drones including the G3 at scale at a factory in China so the weapons can be deployed in the “special military operation” in Ukraine, the term Moscow uses for the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China’s foreign ministry told Reuters it was not aware of such a project, adding that the country had strict control measures on the export of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, U.S. officials expressed concern about what they called China’s support for the Russian military machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Garpiya-3 (G3) can travel about 2,000 km with a payload of 50 kg, according to the reports to the Russian defence ministry from Kupol. Samples of the G3 and some other drone models made in China have been delivered to Kupol in Russia for further testing, again with the involvement of Chinese experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kupol has taken delivery of seven attack drones made in China, including two G3s, at its headquarters in the Russian city of Izhevsk. The invoices, one of which requests payment in Chinese yuan, don’t specify delivery dates or identify the suppliers in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two intelligence sources said the delivery of the sample drones to Kupol was the first concrete evidence their agency had found of whole UAVs manufactured in China being delivered to Russia since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the last few days, Russian troops broke into eastern Vuhledar and probably have fire control over the C-051134 Vuhledar-Bohoyavlenka road. This road may be a final supply route for the AFU garrison in Vuhledar, which is threatened by the encirclement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is stated in a new summary by the Institute for the Study of War. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
ISW analysts state that Russian troops have reached the outskirts of Vuhledar after intensified offensives near \u200b\u200bthe city, but the hypothetical capture of Vuhledar is unlikely to provide the Russian army with any particular operational advantage for further offensive operations in the western part of the Donetsk region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ISW geolocated footage published on September 24 shows that Russian forces advanced into eastern Vuhledar up to 12 Desantnykiv Street, confirming reports from Russian and Ukrainian sources that Russian troops broke into eastern Vuhledar between September 23 and 24. ISW experts remind that Russian forces are additionally trying to advance on Vuhledar’s northeast flank via Vodyane and southwestern flank via Prechystivka, likely in an effort to encircle the Ukrainian grouping in Vuhledar and force it to withdraw. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to ISW analysts, Russian forces may manage to seize all of Vuhledar, but how quickly or easily they are able to do so will likely be contingent on partially on Ukrainian decision-making. If the Ukrainian command decides that the risk of a Russian encirclement of Vuhledar or the costs of defending the settlement itself in urban combat are too great, Ukrainian forces may withdraw, allowing Russian forces to seize Vuhledar relatively rapidly and without engaging in close combat fighting. If Ukrainian forces decide to defend Vuhledar and can prevent Russian efforts to envelop or encircle it, however. Russian forces may struggle to fight through a settlement that Ukrainian forces have had over two years to fortify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n