Russia-Ukraine war live: ‘major’ fire at Lviv warehouse after attack, Ukraine says; Zelenskiy questions Russia’s place at UN | Ukraine#RussiaUkraine #war #live #major #fire #Lviv #warehouse #attack #Ukraine #Zelenskiy #questions #Russias #place #Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to address the UN general assembly in-person on Tuesday for the first time since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, telling reporters: “For us it’s very important that all our words, all our messages will be heard.”

The Ukrainian president made the remarks during a visit to Staten Island university hospital, where Ukrainian soldiers have been treated for amputations.

In 2022, Zelenskiy sent a pre-recorded speech to the UN in which he said: “We can return the Ukrainian flag to our entire territory. We can do it with the force of arms, but we need time.”

Zelenskiy will also attend a UN security council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday, but was unclear on whether he would remain seated at the 15-member body’s horseshoe-shaped table if Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, speaks.

“And if in the United Nations still … there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question not to me I think, it’s a question to all the members of the United Nations,” he said. “I’m not sure that we will choose the format.”

Asked whether he’d stay in the room to listen, Zelenskiy said, “I don’t know how it will be, really.”

Full report:

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine with me, Helen Livingstone.

A man has been seriously injured and a “major” fire sparked at a warehouse in the west Ukrainian city of Lviv after a Russian attack, the regional governor has said.

In a Telegram post, Maxim Kozitsky said a woman was also pulled uninjured from the rubble. The airforce had previously alerted that drones were heading towards the city. No further detail was immediately available.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has arrived in New York ahead of the UN general assembly, heading straight from the airport to a hospital to visit wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

“For us, it’s very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners,” he said after the visit. “And if in the United Nations still – it’s a pity, but still – there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me. I think it’s a question to all the members of the United Nations.”

Zelenskiy is due to address world leaders at the UN general assembly on Tuesday and speak at a UN security council meeting about Ukraine on Wednesday.

In other key developments:

• Moscow and Beijing are closely aligned in their positions on the US and resolving the Ukraine conflict, the Russian foreign ministry said following talks between their top diplomats on Monday. The statement came after China’s Wang Yi kicked off a four-day visit to Moscow with a meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

• The commander of Ukrainian ground forces hailed the recent recapture of two eastern villages, Andriivka and Klishchiivka, as an important breakthrough. Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said it had enabled Kyiv’s troops to breach Russian lines near the shattered city of Bakhmut.

• The Ukrainian government has dismissed six deputy defence ministers following the appointment of a new defence minister earlier this month. The government gave no reason for the dismissals. Those removed from their post included Hanna Maliar, who has frequently issued public updates on Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Kyiv Post reported that such dismissals are standard when the head of a ministry changes, and that some may be reappointed.

• Ukraine said it has filed lawsuits at the World Trade Organization against its three EU neighbours – Poland, Slovakia and Hungary – over their bans on Ukrainian grain imports. The central European countries went against a decision by the European Commission last week to end the import ban.

• Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, late Monday, striking an industrial district, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. “There is information about hitting an industrial zone in the city’s Kholodnohirsky district,” Terekhov said on Telegram. There was no immediate information on casualties or damage.

• The office of the Brazilian presidency has confirmed reports that president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will meet Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the UN summit on Wednesday. Lula has advocated the creation of a group of nations to mediate an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, but in May he stated that both Moscow and Kyiv were to blame for the conflict, angering Kyiv, the US and European states that back Ukraine.

• A Russian man who has lived in Hong Kong has been taken into US custody and charged with smuggling large quantities of American-made, military-grade microelectronics to Russia, the US Department of Justice said. Maxim Marchenko and two unnamed Russian co-conspirators are accused of using his shell companies to conceal the fraudulent procurement of so-called OLED micro-displays.

• Russia called a Ukrainian case alleging that Moscow abused the genocide convention to justify its invasion last year an “abuse of process,” as lawyers for Moscow sought to have judges at the International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest court, throw it out.

• People’s rights in Russia have “significantly deteriorated” since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, a top UN expert said. UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, said “the situation had already been on a steady decline over the past two decades”.

• A drone carrying explosives that landed in the Bulgarian town of Tyulenovo was destroyed in a controlled explosion, the defence ministry said. The drone landed on Sunday evening in the Black Sea town situated 70km from the Romanian border and across the sea from Crimea.

• Georgia’s security services accused a former minister of plotting from Ukraine to overthrow the Black Sea nation’s government by organising mass unrest. In a statement, it said former deputy interior minister Giorgi Lortkipanidze’s plan “would involve a rather large group of Georgian fighters in Ukraine and a part of Georgian youth”.

A “major” fire has been sparked at a warehouse in Lviv and a man has been seriously injured after a Russian attack on the western Ukrainian city, the regional governor has said.

In a Telegram post, Maxim Kozitsky said a woman was also pulled uninjured from the rubble. The airforce had previously alerted that drones were heading towards the city. No further detail was immediately available.

The city of Lviv, close to the Polish border, is seen as one of Ukraine’s safest, but it has experienced more attacks recently. Three people were killed by air strikes in August.

Several waves of drones buzzed overheard starting around 0130 GMT and an AFP journalist heard numerous explosions and movements of heavy vehicles through the streets during the nightly curfew, the news agency reported.

The Ukrainian Air Force said that drones were attacking the city and air defences operating.

Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi wrote on Telegram that “as a result of an attack, an industrial warehouse is burning in one of Lviv’s districts”.