The commander of Ukraine‘s ground forces has claimed the recapture of another village in the east of the country has helped Kyiv‘s forces break through part of Russia‘s defensive lines around the devastated city of Bakhmut.

The area has been a key part of Ukraine’s counteroffensive to try and reclaim territory occupied by Russia as part of its near-19 month invasion. Bakhmut has been the scene for some of the bloodiest fighting of the war and in the process taking on symbolic importance for both Russia and Ukraine far greater than its size.

Retaking Klishchiivka is considered tactically important as it will allow Ukrainian forces to further extend their gains around Bakhmut and keep pushing forward.

Blasts rocked Ukraine’s western city of Lviv in the early hours of Tuesday as Russia launched large-scale air attacks that struck an industrial warehouse, officials said.

Local officials said air defence systems were engaged in repelling a Russian air attack that started in the early hours.

All of western half of Ukraine was covered under air raid alerts, starting from about 0000GMT.

The mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi and regional governor Maxim Kozitsky asked people to stay indoors due to the threat of continuing attacks in the region. “As a result of the strike on the territory of Lviv, we recorded a fire at an industrial warehouse,” he said.

The Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelesnsky will join other world leaders in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly to make a security speech.

The war in Ukraine and the climate crisis are expected to be discussed at great lengths as more than 140 leaders gather.

It is not yet clear if he will stay for Russian diplomat Sergei Lavrov’s speech, last year Lavrov called Zelensky a ‘b*******’ and walked out after a strong line of accusations and condemnation aimed at Russia.

The Ukrainian leader questioned world leaders as to why Russia still has a place in the UN ahead of his speech.

He said: “For us, it’s very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners. 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.”

Ukraine‘s air defence systems destroyed 27 out of 30 drones and one Iskander ballistic missile that Russia launched on in the early hours of Tuesday, Ukraine‘s air force said on the messaging platform Telegram – as reported by Reuters.

The Iranian-made Shahed drones were destroyed in Ukraine‘s southern, central and western regions, while the missile was launched in the direction of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, it said.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Ukraine’s military claims its latest recapture of a key village in Bakhmut will act as a “springboard” for further offensive actions against Russia’s continuing invasion.

Ukraine scored another victory recently when it recently recaptured village Klishchiivka that lies in the southern flank of Bakhmut, as its forces fought off Russian attempts to get back into the area.

The war-torn country’s forces had last week also recaptured Andriivka, another village a few kilometres to the south of Klishchiivka, after earlier criticism alleged Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces had slowed.

Both settlements have been reduced to ghost towns and destroyed in the months of fighting for Bakhmut that had fallen into Russian hands in May this year.

“Now we have gained a springboard for ourselves, which in the future will allow us to continue to develop offensive operations and liberate our land from the invaders,” Illia Yevlash, spokesperson for Ukraine’s troops in the east, said in a national telecast after they retook Klishchiivka.”

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Volodymyr Zelensky posed the question of why Russia and Vladimir Putin continued to have representation at the United Nations to world leaders ahead of his UN security council speech.

Mr Zelensky was speaking in the US after visiting wounded Ukrainian military members at a New York hospital shortly after arriving for his diplomatic tour on Monday.

“For us, it’s very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners. 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,” he said.

Russian warships patrol the surface of the Black Sea, launching missiles at Ukrainian cities and towns as part of a near-daily assault. While also enforcing a de facto blockade, leaving ships in little doubt of the consequences if they try to break it.

Such is the importance of this shipping route for both sides. For a long time, Russian ships moved with relative impunity. And a grain deal that enabled Ukraine to export from its ports on the Black Sea allowed for an uneasy status quo to hold. But, after Moscow withdrew from that deal in the summer and stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s ports, and Kyiv began a counteroffensive to retake land occupied by Russia in southern and eastern Ukraine – the Black Sea has become one of the most active fronts in the war.

A populist former prime minister whose party is favored to win Slovakia’s early parliamentary election plans to reverse the country’s military and political support for neighboring Ukraine, in a direct challenge to the European Union and NATO, if he returns to power.

Robert Fico, who led Slovakia from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018, is the frontrunner in the Sept. 30 election. He and his left-wing Direction, or Smer, party have campaigned on a clear pro-Russian and anti-American message.

His candidacy is part of a wider trend across Europe. Only Hungary has an openly pro-Russian government, but in Germany, France, Spain and elsewhere, populist parties sceptical of intervention in Ukraine command significant support. Many have national or regional elections coming up that could tip popular opinion away from Kyiv and towards Moscow.

Ukraine’s military claims its latest recapture of a key village in Bakhmut will act as a “springboard” for further offensive actions against Russia’s continuing invasion.

Ukraine scored another victory recently when it recently recaptured village Klishchiivka that lies in the southern flank of Bakhmut, as its forces fought off Russian attempts to get back into the area.

The war-torn country’s forces had last week also recaptured Andriivka, another village a few kilometres to the south of Klishchiivka, after earlier criticism alleged Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces had slowed.

Ukraine‘s legal battle against Russia over allegations of genocide used by Moscow to justify its 2022 invasion resumes Monday at the United Nations’ highest court, as Russia seeks to have the case tossed out.

Hearings at the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, will see Ukraine supported by a record 32 other nations in a major show of support.

Kyiv launched the case shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, arguing that the attack was based on false claims of acts of genocide in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine and alleging that Moscow was planning genocidal acts in Ukraine. It wants the court to order Russia to halt its invasion and pay reparations.