Russia planning to hit Ukraine with 'massive attack,' Zelensky warns
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Russia is preparing to launch a new large-scale strike against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sept. 22, citing intelligence reports.
Zelensky's comments followed a meeting about security and air defense support with U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
"We currently have intelligence information indicating that Russia is preparing a new massive attack against Ukraine," the president said on social media after the meeting.
Zelensky did not provide additional details on the expected Russian attack or the contents of the intelligence reports. His warning comes after he told the press Ukraine was ready to agree to a total halt on energy attacks as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Russia — if Russia agrees to the same terms.
Russia, however, has given no indication that it will accept such a truce.
The president then thanked the United Kingdom for making a "new contribution" to Ukraine's energy sector ahead of winter — expected to be especially grueling as Russia aims to decimate the power grid just when civilians are most vulnerable. Zelensky did not specify what the U.K.'s contribution was.
Zelensky's warning also falls on the same day that the European Union lifted sanctions against two Russian oligarchs as a condition for extending its total list of sanctions for another 36 months.
"When Ukrainians live under the threat of missile and drone strikes every day, there can be no question of lifting sanctions," Zelensky said. "I and the Prime Minister share the same position on this issue: as long as the war continues, sanctions must remain in place and be strengthened."
Russia has dramatically intensified the scale of its aerial strikes against Ukraine over the past year, relying on frequent ballistic missile attacks to exploit Kyiv's critical shortage of air defense systems and inflict maximum damage.
The effects have been devastating, with Ukraine suffering the highest rates of civilian casualties since the early days of the full-scale war.
