Ukraine: Three killed in Russian attacks as Zelenskiy says ‘victory plan’ could end war

Three women were killed and five other people were injured on Wednesday during Russian attacks on the eastern Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region, prosecutors said.
Russian troops shelled a residential part of the town, some 14km from the active combat zone, and killed two elderly women, the Prosecutor’s General Office said on the Telegram messaging app.
Later Russian forces hit another residential area, probably with a self-propelled multiple rocket launcher, killing a middle-aged woman and injuring five other civilians, it said.
The Donetsk region, which Russian troops partially occupy, regularly comes under Russian shelling and air strikes.
Moscow denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure in its invasion of Ukraine, although thousands of people have been killed in its attacks.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday a “victory plan” he wants to present to US president Joe Biden this month would strengthen Kyiv and have a “psychological” impact that could push Russia to end its war diplomatically.
Speaking at Kyiv’s annual Crimean Platform event, Mr Zelenskiy said it was important that Ukraine presented the plan to its allies before a second international summit on peace that he wants to hold later this year.
“If partners support [the plan], it will make it easier for Ukraine to force Russia to end the war,” he said.
“What is this plan for? It is a serious strengthening of Ukraine and, in my opinion, it will have both psychological and political … influence on Russia’s decision to end this war.”
Mr Zelenskiy first spoke of the plan last month, saying he wanted to discuss it with Mr Biden and his two potential successors after the US presidential election in November. He is expected to travel to the United Nations General Assembly later this month.
Mr Zelensky has called for “strong decisions” to be made as he ramped up the pressure on the West for permission to use long-distance missiles in Russia.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Ukraine on Wednesday, where he will meet senior government officials at what he said was a critical moment for supporting the country in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
The top US diplomat, who is travelling to Ukraine alongside the UK’s foreign secretary David Lammy, said he will use his visit to hear directly from Mr Zelenskiy and others what Kyiv’s current goals in the war are and what Washington can do to help it achieve them.
“I think it’s a critical moment for Ukraine in the midst of what is an intense fall fighting season with Russia continuing to escalate its aggression,” Mr Blinken said in London at a news conference with Lammy.
On the battlefield more than 2½ years since the invasion, Ukrainian forces are being stretched by a better armed and more numerous foe, as they try to fend off creeping Russian gains in the east where Moscow is focusing its attacks.
In a bid to seize back some of the initiative and divert Russian forces, Kyiv sent troops into Russia on an audacious large-scale cross-border incursion last month, but Moscow’s troops have continued to inch forward in the east.
The visit also comes a day after Mr Blinken in London said Russia has received ballistic missiles from Iran and will likely use them in Ukraine within weeks, warning that co-operation between Moscow and Tehran threatens wider European security.
The deepening military co-operation between Iran and Russia is a threat for all of Europe, Mr Blinken said, and added that Washington had privately warned Iran that providing ballistic missiles to Russia would be “a dramatic escalation.” The US issued sanctions on Iran later on Tuesday over the transfer.
[ Ukrainian drones hit Russia as US says Iran has supplied missiles to MoscowOpens in new window ]
Mr Blinken declined to say whether Washington will allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons deep inside Russia but said multiple factors went into the consideration of this decision rather than just looking at it as a weapons system.
“It’s not just the system itself that counts. You have to ask: Can the Ukrainians effectively use it, and sometimes that requires significant training, which we’ve done. Do they have the ability to maintain it?” Mr Blinken said.
Mr Zelenskiy has long pushed back against allies who have supplied long-range weapons but told Kyiv they cannot use them deep inside Russia for fear of instigating a direct conflict between the West and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
Thousands of civilians have died in the war, which Russia started with a full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022. Millions of Ukrainians have also been displaced, while their cities and villages have become piles of rubble.
Russia has escalated its drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, while Ukraine has also sent hundreds of long-range attack drones deep into Russian territory. – Reuters/PA