Russia-Ukraine strikes intensify as Zelenskyy seeks US backing at UN

Russia and Ukraine traded fresh long-range strikes overnight, with Russian missiles and drones hitting at least four Ukrainian regions and killing four people, while Ukrainian forces said they damaged another Russian oil refinery.

The latest exchange came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the United States for the UN General Assembly in New York, where he was due to meet world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, to seek support for ending Russia's more than 4.5-year full-scale invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin is not due to attend the annual event.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that France would provide Ukraine with more radars to help protect its power grid. He said on social media that he had discussed with Trump the possibility of a truce between Moscow and Kyiv on strikes on energy infrastructure and a "moratorium" on Black Sea attacks.

Zelenskyy began his New York visit by meeting US senators and thanking them for what he called strong bipartisan support for Ukraine, as well as for recently passing a tougher Russian sanctions bill that Trump has signed into law. He said peace and security would be closer once the bill was fully implemented. Zelenskyy also said on social media that he had briefed senators on his proposals for de-escalation measures, which he intends to discuss with Trump later on Tuesday. He also plans to again press Trump to send more US-made Patriot air defence systems that Kyiv says it needs to stop Russia's ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy is also seeking support to keep Ukrainian grain and other farm products moving to world markets through the Black Sea. Russian attacks on cargo vessels have severely disrupted Kyiv's exports, hurting Ukraine's economy and threatening global supplies.

The war has had wider global effects. Trump said repeated attacks on Russian refineries, after Moscow's strikes on Ukraine's power grid, had led to international diesel shortages and price spikes. He also said the global supply crunch was worsened after the Iran war curtailed oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Western officials say the war has killed more than 500,000 Russian troops.

Ukraine said it had struck the Kuibyshev oil refinery in Samara, southeast of Moscow, in an overnight attack. Ukrainian special forces said several drones hit their targets, causing a large fire at the Rosneft-owned facility. The statement described the refinery as a key fuel supplier for central Russia, producing petrol, diesel, fuel oil and other petroleum products. Ukraine said it had struck the same refinery last June.

Samara regional Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said one person was killed and four others were wounded in the attack. He said that "the enemy targeted industrial facilities", but did not specify which ones. Russia's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had downed 297 Ukrainian drones over 14 Russian regions, as well as the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Ukraine's air force said Russia's overnight attack included anti-ship missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and more than 200 drones. Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said the strikes killed four people in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Authorities said the attacks across Ukrainian regions damaged homes, businesses and storage facilities, and wounded at least five people. Officials in Kyiv said five people were wounded in the capital.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had struck metallurgical and chemical industries, the fuel and energy sector, the military-industrial complex, and port infrastructure facilities in four regions of Ukraine. It said the targets included a Fire Point plant in Kyiv that produces components for long-range cruise missiles, and a tobacco factory in the central Poltava region that it said was being used to make small arms ammunition.

The latest strikes underlined how the war continues to be fought through daily aerial attacks even as front-line positions change little, with both sides reporting damage and casualties as Zelenskyy seeks more support abroad for Ukraine's war effort and de-escalation proposals.