Sumy and Kyiv Hit as Diplomacy Stirs in New York

Russia's heaviest strikes of the day hit Sumy, where guided bombs killed two people and wounded twenty-three, including four children — among them an eleven-month-old infant now hospitalized after the bombs tore into residential blocks. Hours later, on Saturday evening, drones struck three districts of Kyiv, hitting office and apartment buildings; Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported seven injured across the capital. Ukraine's air defenses are keeping pace with the onslaught: President Zelensky said the military now intercepts 55% of Russia's reactive Shahed drones and over 90% of conventional ones, with more than 1,500 reactive drones shot down in September alone. But he also warned of a new front — Russian strikes deliberately aimed at Ukrainian data centers to cut off internet and communications — and promised countermeasures. Zelensky added that Moscow shows no sign of winding the war down, pointing to plans to spend $12 billion on drone and loitering-munition production in 2027 alone. Against that backdrop, diplomacy stirred in New York. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul met Russia's Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the highest-level contact between Berlin and Moscow since the 2022 invasion. Lavrov, for his part, told reporters Russia still regards the 2025 Anchorage deal with Trump as real and stands ready to return to it.