While Trump met Zelensky, Russia launched drone attack on Zaporizhzhia, killing 1, wounding 15
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated. Read more of our reporting on U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky here.
Russia launched a drone attack on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on Sept. 23, killing one person and injuring at least 15 others, Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
The attack came around the time a meeting was being held between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
No information was immediately available on the extent of the damage caused or the status of the injured victims.
Trump has previously expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin for repeated strikes on Ukrainian cities amid active peace talks.
Following the attack, Russia launched another wave of strikes on the city using missiles.
The strikes came after Russian aircraft bombed Zaporizhzhia overnight, killing one person.
Zaporizhzhia Oblast in southeastern Ukraine shares borders with Dnipropetrovsk to the north, Donetsk to the east and Kherson to the south. The region is also home to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest, which remains under Russian occupation.
Russian troops have continued to pound frontline cities in southern and eastern Ukraine as the war continues through its third year.
Following his meeting with Zelensky, Trump appeared to mark a stark reversal in his administration's policy and Trump's past comments towards Ukraine's occupied territories, suggesting that "Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form."
"With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option," Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that Russia has been fighting its war "aimlessly for three and a half years."
Following the meeting, Zelensky addressed the UN Security Council, calling on members of the Coalition of the Willing to assist Ukraine in shooting down Russian missiles and drones fired over Ukrainian airspace.
"If we could strengthen our skies with a joint system to shut down Russian missiles and drones, it would force Russia to stop its attack from the sky," Zelensky said. "Because everything could be shut down and so (Russian President Vladimir) Putin would be forced to sit here, or in another respectable venue, and look for a truce on the ground."
"If there is no war in the sky, Russia can't keep fighting on the ground," Zelensky continued, adding that he has spoken to U.S. President Donald Trump as well as other European leaders about the matter.
