Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the US to conclude a drone deal with Ukraine. “The US wanted to test all types of our drones. We agreed to the way they wanted to test, train with, and use our systems in the air, on land, and at sea. But we still don’t have a bilateral drone deal – a big framework document,” Zelenskyy posted after discussing the topic on CBS Face the Nation.
Middle Eastern countries have come under Iranian attack – often using the same Shahed drones that Russia fires at Ukraine – as a result of the war started by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump has been dismissive of Ukraine’s widely acknowledged expertise in the wartime use of drones, claiming the US does not need Ukraine’s help. That has been belied by Middle Eastern countries jumping into deals to source Ukrainian defensive drones and training for personnel.
“The drone deals we have are with some countries in the Middle East and Europe, and now we are preparing a big drone deal with the EU. I hope we will reach the same agreement with our American partners,” Zelenskyy said, while acknowledging that Ukraine could also benefit from US expertise. “American companies have advanced AI technologies we don’t have. In turn, we have many things they don’t have, due to our extensive experience on the battlefield. I think this cooperation can be huge … for this, we need President Trump to say yes.”
Ukraine on Sunday launched more strikes on Russian energy sites. The Ukrainian general staff said drones struck Rosneft’s Saratov oil refinery in south-western Russia, causing a large fire. It said the refinery was supplying Moscow’s war effort. The Russian local governor, Roman Busargin, confirmed a Ukrainian drone attack, while Astra – an independent Russian news channel – said an oil refinery was on fire at Saratov.
Ukraine also struck the Lazarevo pumping station in Russia’s Kirov region north-east of Moscow, more than 1,200km (745 miles) from Ukrainian-controlled land. The station helps ship Russian oil from Siberia to Belarus. The Russian regional governor, Alexander Sokolov, confirmed a drone strike in the Kirov region. Drones also set on fire a fuel depot in Russia’s south-western Rostov region, said the local governor, Yuriy Slyusar. Ukraine’s general staff confirmed the strike at the town of Matveev Kurgan which local authorities said caused a large fire.
A truck driver died early on Sunday as Russian drones hit a parking lot in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, according to local administration head Vyacheslav Chaus. Meanwhile, 40,000 people were left without power after a Russian attack on Chernihiv, a local energy company said.
Russian drones struck the city of Dnipro and an oil refinery in Ukraine’s Rivne region, causing fires, authorities said. The head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, of which Dnipro is the capital, said one person was killed and nine were injured in Russian attacks in the province. A Russian-appointed official said a Ukrainian drone struck an apartment building in the city of Henichesk in a Russian-held part of southern Kherson region, killing a child and injuring 11 people.
Ukraine received a new Iris-T missile launcher from Germany on Saturday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as he appealed to allies for more air defence ammunition. “We also need missiles for air defence systems to have sufficient capabilities to repel Russian attacks,” he said. Iris-T is a short-range missile that can intercept other missiles as well as drones, rockets and aircraft, but unlike Patriot it is not considered a match for ballistic missiles.
In the Face the Nation interview, Zelenskyy said Russia treated abducted Ukrainian children “essentially as combatants” and Kyiv had evidence they were being trained to fight against fellow Ukrainians. “They taught these children to hate their native country, to hate [their] native people. And Ukrainians, can you imagine, such young Ukrainians – young boys – come to the battlefield and kill [other] Ukrainians,” he said.
Russia had separated abducted Ukrainian siblings, adopting them out to different families, and offered to trade some children for captured Ukrainian soldiers in prisoner swaps. The international criminal court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, the Russian ruler, for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions.
In the same interview, Zelenskyy said he wanted to press on with talks on securing peace before the onset of winter to take account of Kyiv’s improved strategic position against Russia.