Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed Olha Stefanishyna, a former top cabinet minister, as Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, ending months of speculation. She takes over as ambassador from Oksana Markarova, who held the position for six years, including more than three years of full-scale war with Russia, and became a target for partisan criticism from Republicans. It was announced in July that Markarova would be replaced. Stefanishyna served in Zelenskyy’s administration as a deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, playing a major role in the country’s integration into western institutions, and as minister of justice.
The Ukrainian capital came under a mass night-time Russian attack, Kyiv’s military administration said early on Thursday, with at least eight dead and dozens injured, plus damage to buildings in 20 locations. A kindergarten caught fire, the administration said on Telegram, while mayor Vitali Klitschko said a five-storey building had collapsed. Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city’s military administration, said Moscow had fired ballistic and cruise missiles as well as Iranian-designed Shahed drones from different directions to “systematically” target residential buildings.
Zelenskyy announced his officials will meet US counterparts in New York on Friday as the Ukrainian president continues to push for a one-on-one meeting with Vladimir Putin despite Kremlin refusals. “Friday, meetings will take place in New York, in the United States, with President Trump’s team” after “meetings in Switzerland” on Thursday, Zelenskyy said. The real estate developer Steve Witkoff, officially an envoy of Donald Trump, earlier told American media about the meeting.
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Wednesday that he was in Riyadh along with security council chief Rustem Umerov ahead of the US talks. Yermak said the talks in Riyadh focused on paths to peace in Ukraine and Saudi Arabia’s participation in this process. Yermak said they met the Saudi defence minister and national security adviser. Zelenskyy said the delegation would also hold talks on Thursday in Switzerland before proceeding to New York.
