At UN, Zelenskiy Claims Russia Plans Attacks On Ukraine's Nuclear Plants

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on September 25 said he has received reports saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to attack nuclear power plants and infrastructure in Ukraine with the goal of disconnecting the plants from the power grid.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Zelenskiy said he recently received "yet another alarming report from our intelligence" saying that Russia is using satellites to gather images and detailed information about Ukraine's nuclear infrastructure.

"Any missile or drone strike, any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster, a day like that must never come," Zelenskiy said.

Moscow "needs to understand this, and this depends in part on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor," he told the annual UN meeting in New York.

"If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation will not respect state borders," he said.

Putin Planning Attacks On Ukrainian Nuclear Plants, Says Zelenskiy

Zelenskiy also appealed to world leaders to keep his country's fight against Russia's invasion a top priority and warned that Putin is intent on seizing more territory, calling "more land" for a country the size of Russia an "insane" proposition.

"I think every leader, every country that supports us...sees how Russia, a country more than 20 times larger than Ukraine in territory, still wants even more land," he said.

Zelenskiy has been on an intensive diplomatic mission since his arrival in the United States for the annual UNGA event, meeting with key U.S. lawmakers and appearing on U.S. media to urge Washington to maintain its crucial support for Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president plans to lay out a "victory plan" to U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on September 26 amid relentless strikes on Ukraine's cities and a grinding Russian offensive that is making slow but continuous advances into the eastern part of the country.

He dismissed efforts by China and Brazil to end the war, questioning why the pair were proposing an alternative to his peace formula.

Proposing "alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles" would give Putin the political space to continue the war, he said.

China has been trying to enlist developing nations to join the six-point peace plan it issued with Brazil in May.

Their proposal calls for an international peace conference "held at a proper time that is recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties as well as fair discussion of all peace plans."

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva advocated for the plan when he addressed the General Assembly on September 24.

"Any parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are, in fact, efforts to achieve a lull instead of an end to the war," Zelenskiy told the 193-member assembly.

"When the Chinese-Brazilian duo tries to grow into a choir of voices -- with someone in Europe, with someone in Africa -- saying something alternative to a full and just peace, the question arises, what is the true interest? Everyone must understand, you will not boost your power at Ukraine's expense," he said.

The Ukrainian president told the UN Security Council on September 24 that Russia can only be "forced" into peace, and denounced Iran and North Korea as "accomplices" who have helped Moscow by providing weapons it has used in attacks on Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has "broken so many international norms and rules that he won't stop on his own. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what's needed: forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN Charter," Zelenskiy said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on September 25 that Zelenskiy's stance was "a fatal mistake" that would have grave repercussions for Ukraine.

"A position based on an attempt to force Russia into peace is an absolutely fatal mistake, because it is impossible to force Russia into peace," Peskov said in a call with reporters.

"This is a profound misconception that will inevitably have consequences for the Kyiv regime."

Details about Zelenskiy's victory plan remain unknown, but he said the blueprint will be a "bridge" toward ending the conflict.

Media reports say the plan will ask for stepped-up U.S. military and financial backing and security guarantees, as well as further sanctions on Russia.

The United States, Ukraine's main supporter, and Western allies have given Kyiv billions of dollars in military aid and other assistance while also slapping several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.

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Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has said the main security guarantee that Kyiv wants is NATO membership, a demand Kyiv has been advancing for years but which has been met with skepticism by the West, including Washington.

Zelenskiy has also indicated he will again seek permission to use long-range missiles to strike military targets deep inside Russia, a move Ukraine's allies are divided upon.

WATCH" Volodymyr Zelenskiy's Entire Speech At The UNGA

FULL SPEECH: Watch Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Addresses UN General Assembly

On September 24, he called on Washington to take "decisive" action to bring the end of the war closer. In a meeting with a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers, Zelenskiy voiced Kyiv's gratitude for what he called Washington's unwavering support for Kyiv and highlighting the critical U.S. role in defending Ukraine's freedom.

"Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year. Our victory plan will help bring Russia to peace in practice," Zelenskiy said on Telegram after the meeting.

"Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States," he said.

Even without the details of Zelenskiy's plan, some of Ukraine's most stalwart Western allies have pointed to the need to find a compromise solution to the conflict.

Czech President Petr Pavel, whose country has been one of Kyiv's strongest backers and the driving force behind a multibillion-dollar program known as the Czech Ammunition Initiative that has provided Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, told The New York Times in an interview published on September 23 that Ukrainians "will have to be realistic" about their chances of recovering all territories occupied by Russia.

"To talk about a defeat of Ukraine or defeat of Russia, it will simply not happen," the newspaper quoted Pavel as saying. "So the end will be somewhere in between."

Pavel added that Ukrainians also need to be "realistic about the support that they can achieve" from allies who are increasingly under domestic pressure to scale back help against Russia after more than 2 1/2 years of war.

Residential High-Rise Hit By Russian Attack In Kharkiv

Kyiv, which has around a fifth of its territory occupied by Russia, has repeatedly opposed such a possibility.

"There can be no half-hearted solutions when it comes to human lives, freedom, common values, justice for Russian crimes, restoration of international peace, and security," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a post on Telegram after Pavel's interview was published.

"Temporary solutions will not restore full-fledged peace but will only postpone war."

Kharkiv Glide Bomb Aftermath Highlights Horror Of Ukraine War

Zelenskiy's diplomatic offensive came as Russia stepped up its strikes on Ukraine. On September 25, Ukrainian air defenses shot down 28 drones and four missiles launched by Russia at 10 regions, Ukraine's air force said in a statement on Telegram.

Russian drones and missiles were downed over the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Poltava, Mykolayiv, Odesa, and Kherson. Four more drones were "locally lost" in several regions of Ukraine, the statement said.

SEE ALSO: What Do Ukrainians Expect From Zelenskiy's 'Victory Plan'?

In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have stepped up their attacks on the Donetsk stronghold of Vuhledar as they seek access to the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, some 80 kilometers to the north.

Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of Ukraine's Donetsk region, said on September 25 that fighting was ongoing in Vuhledar, although the Ukrainian military said the city was not yet surrounded by Russian forces.

Moscow's advances in the east appear to be the fastest over the past two years, despite a shock Ukrainian counteroffensive into Russia's Kursk region last month.