Ukraine is set to present its victory plan to its allies in Germany, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says, setting up a test of support for Kyiv's vision of ending the war with Russia.
"We will present the victory plan, clear, specific steps for a just end to the war," Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Zelenskiy will meet US President Joe Biden and other leaders at a regular meeting of Kyiv's key NATO and other allies at the US Ramstein Air Base on Saturday.
In the coming days, our teams—government officials and diplomats—will engage in political consultations, while the military personnel will focus on filling the military aspects of the Victory Plan. This can quickly bolster Ukraine's positions, particularly at the front lines.… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) pic.twitter.com/9c7f7NpdCkOctober 5, 2024
Ukraine, fending off an invasion from much larger neighbour for nearly 1000 days, suffered a major setback on the battlefield on Wednesday, when Russian forces took the eastern town of Vuhledar after two years of resistance.
Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address that his government, military and diplomatic officials will do "everything" they can in coming days to ensure that the Ramstein meeting can become "positive for our defence, for our vision of how the war should end".
He presented the plan to Biden and both the candidates running to succeed him, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, last week after months of Kyiv's teasing ideas on how to end the war.
The White House said Zelenskiy's plan contained "a number of productive steps".
But a US official described it as a repackaged request for more weapons and a lifting of restrictions on the use of long-range missiles.
The plan presupposes the ultimate defeat of Russia in the war, the official said - an aim some officials see as unrealistic.
Russian air attacks on Ukraine kept the eastern half of the country under air raid alert for more than five hours on Sunday, Ukraine's military said, with Moscow launching several waves of strikes targeting Kyiv and other cities.
"The enemy once again used its drones against Kyiv overnight!" Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.
"Russian drones entered the capital of Ukraine in several waves and from different directions."
Ukraine says Russia has launched a wave of air attacks on the country's east. (AP PHOTO)
All the air weapons were destroyed on their approach and, according to preliminary information, there were no reports of damage or injuries, Popko said.
Details regarding the size of the attack would come later in the day, he said.
Air raid alerts for the capital and its region were announced three times during the night, totalling more than five hours, Popko said.
Hennadii Trukhanov, mayor of the Black Sea port of Odesa, said on Telegram that Russia targeted the southern city overnight, with several explosions reported.
There was no information on damages or injuries there.
Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the southern region of Kherson, said early on Sunday on Telegram that one civilian had died and 15 were injured in Russia's attacks on the region in the past 24 hours.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.
Russia has not commented.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, which Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbour in February 2022.
But thousands of civilians have died, the vast majority of them Ukrainians.