‘I Want Ukraine to Have More Leverage’ – Ukraine at War Update for Sept. 30

Satellite images posted by the independent Russian news outlet Radio Svoboda (part of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty) on Sunday, Sept. 29, seemed to indicate that Ukraine’s massive drone strike earlier on an ammunition and missile depot in the Russian town of Kotluban did not destroy the facility.

Instead, the images show damage from a blaze just outside where weaponry was stored. Still, the actual arsenal of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Main Missile and Artillery Directorate appeared intact.

However, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) confirmed that AFU drones successfully hit the arsenal in the Volgograd region in the early morning hours of Sunday, in cooperation with units of the Special Operations Forces, Defense Intelligence and the Security Service of Ukraine.

“According to the available information, a train carrying Iranian missiles had arrived at the arsenal the day before the strike,” the office of the AFU General Staff stated. “The military facility was heavily protected by electronic warfare and air defense systems, but our units successfully accomplished the combat objective. A fire is raging and ammunition is exploding on the arsenal’s premises.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed on Sunday morning that 125 Ukrainian UAVs attacked several Russian regions the night before. Bloggers on Telegram had also reported explosions near a military base in Yeysk, near Krasnodar, as well as explosions in the Russian regions of Rostov and Voronezh.

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Florida Republican senator agrees with Trump's position that the US can’t wait for an outright victory in Ukraine

In an interview on Sunday, the vice chair of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), defended former President Donald Trump’s position that the war in Ukraine must end with negotiations and some concessions on Kyiv’s part.

“I’m not on Russia’s side, but unfortunately the reality of it is that the way the war in Ukraine is going to end is with a negotiated settlement,” Rubio said in an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC’s Meet the Press. “And I want, and we want, and, I believe Donald Trump wants, for Ukraine to have more leverage in that negotiation.”

“I don’t know why we can’t just say that,” Rubio complained.

(Rubio’s political base in Southern Florida is mostly made up of his fellow Cuban-Americans, opposed to the Communist regime in Havana and their boosters in Moscow.)

After meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump, the Republican candidate for president in November’s elections, held firm to his position that the US cannot keep holding out for an outright victory in Ukraine.

 “It takes two to tango, and we will,” Trump said.

Trump added in the recap of the meeting that while he has a very good relationship with Zelensky, despite recent setbacks, he also had a very good relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Interjecting after that remark, Zelensky said he hoped Trump had a better relationship with himself than with Putin.

Rubio reiterated that Trump and the Republicans still believe that Washington must help guide Kyiv to a position of strength at the negotiating table.  

“We hope that when that time comes there is more leverage on the Ukrainian side than on the Russian side. That really is the goal here in my mind,” Rubio said. “And I think that’s what Donald Trump is trying to say, but he’s going to say it like a businessman. But Biden won’t even tell us what victory is.”

 “I think what the deal looks like will be up to the parties when they negotiate it. Obviously, Zelensky is not going to come out there and say, from a negotiating standpoint, is not going to go out there and predetermine what it looks like,” Rubio said.

The US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is chaired by Mark Warner (D-VA) and has the highest level of access to US intelligence outside of the White House.

Yermak says the next steps on the Victory Plan are in the works, after “successful” reception in the US

The head of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, said that Zelensky’s visit to the United States was “challenging” but a “success,” noting that Zelensky’s Victory Plan was well received by Congress, President Joe Biden, and both presidential candidates in the November elections.

“The meetings with our partners were very substantive,” Yermak’s office wrote. “They show that today, support for Ukraine is strong and ongoing. Moreover, the President and the entire team continue to work with countries that are still neutral,” he noted.

“Our partners received [Zelensky’s ‘Victory Plan’] with great attention and interest, understanding its necessity. Very soon, another meeting between our leaders will take place to discuss the next steps regarding this Plan. The teams have already begun working on it.”

“We returned to Ukraine with the feeling that our partners’ support for our country is at a very high level,” Yermak said.

In his interview with Fox News at the end of his US visit, Zelensky said he felt confident about Washington’s inclination to drop restrictions on the use of American-donated weapons on strikes deep within Russia. Biden’s administration had already hinted that any such announcement would amount only to tipping Washington’s hand to Moscow, even if a more tacit green light was forthcoming.

“I am more positive [about the US authorizing long-range strikes],” Zelensky said.