Russia's plans to "torment millions of Ukrainians" by destroying the country's power infrastructure threatens to cause a nuclear catastrophe that could reach beyond Ukraine's borders, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned the UN.
The Ukrainian president also criticised Russia's "very special buddies", Iran and North Korea, as well as "half-hearted peace proposals" from Brazil and China, in another plea to world leaders to keep backing his nation against its invader.
Mr Zelenskyy addressed the UN General Assembly in New York the day after discussing his "victory plan" at a special meeting of the Security Council.
He has not publicly discussed the plan in detail. But he is lobbying allies to loosen restrictions on military aid and allow Ukrainian forces to use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory.
Just hours after Mr Zelenskyy's speech, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was updating its "nuclear doctrine" – effectively rewriting the rules for its own weapons.
He appeared to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear bombs, warning that Russia could deploy them if it was attacked by a non-nuclear-armed nation that was supported by a nuclear power.
His remarks, at a meeting of Russia's Security Council, were widely interpreted as a warning to Western powers considering Zelenskyy's request.
Russian 'torment'
Mr Zelenskyy said Russia had now destroyed all Ukraine's thermal power plants and a large part of its hydro-electric capacity, and was now planning strikes on its nuclear plants.
"This is how [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is preparing for winter — hoping to torment millions of Ukrainians, ordinary families, women, children, ordinary towns and villages," he said.
"Putin wants to leave them in the dark and cold this winter, forcing Ukraine to suffer and surrender."
Before Russia's invasion, about half of Ukraine's power was generated by its four nuclear power plants. They include Europe's largest nuclear plant, the Zaporizhzhia facility, which has been occupied by Russian troops for two and a half years.
"If, God forbid, Russia causes a nuclear disaster at one of our nuclear power plants, radiation won’t respect state borders," Mr Zelenskyy said.
He said North Korean and Iranian support for Russia also meant "every neighbour of Russia in Europe and central Asia feels that the war could come to them as well".
A costly fight
The Ukrainian president will now travel from New York to Washington, where he will present his victory plan to US President Joe Biden on Thursday. Mr Biden said he would announce "a series of actions to accelerate support for Ukraine's military".
He used his speech to push back on a "proposal for peace" backed by China and Brazil, which includes "no escalation of fighting" and an "international peace conference".
"Maybe someone wants a Nobel Prize for their political biography for [a] frozen truce instead of real peace," Mr Zelenskyy said. "But the only prizes Putin will give you in return are more suffering and disasters."
Yesterday, Mr Biden told the UN that "Putin's war has failed", but implored world leaders not to grow weary with supporting Ukraine.
Today, presidential nominee Donald Trump criticised Mr Zelenskyy at a rally in North Carolina, not long after the Ukrainian president spoke at the UN.
"We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal," said Trump, who has previously said he would have war "settled in one day".
"There was no deal that he could have made that wouldn't have been better than the situation you have right now."
At the same time, a group of Republican congressional committee chairs called on Mr Biden to release an unclassified report on his strategy for the war.
"Given the vital US interests at stake in Ukraine defeating Putin’s invading forces, all of Congress and the American people deserve to understand how their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent," they said in a statement.
The US has provided Ukraine with $US56 billion ($82 billion) in security assistance since Russia's invasion, the State Department says, and Congress has passed legislation to provide tens of billions more.
The Department of Defense today said it would provide Ukraine with its 66th tranche of equipment to date, including air-to-ground weapons, munitions for rocket systems, armoured vehicles and anti-tank weapons. The package is worth $US375 million ($550 million), the department said.
Thanks for Australia
Australia announced a $250 million package for Ukraine in July, bringing its total support to $1.3 billion, as NATO allies pledged support of at least 40 billion euros ($65 billion) to be provided over the coming year.
Supporters of Ukraine are also hoping Australia will donate a fleet of Abrams tanks, which are due to be retired by the Australian Army soon.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, speaking at a G20 meeting on the sidelines of the UN gathering, criticised Russia's invasion while arguing for reform of the Security Council.
"Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine violates the UN Charter and the principles which underpin global security, global stability, and global prosperity," she said.
"We again call on Russia as [permanent Security Council] member, and its supporters, including some who are in this room, to immediately end this war."
Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha said he thanked Australia for its "lasting and meaningful support" when he met Senator Wong at the UN event.
"We discussed ways to ensure accountability for Russian crimes," he said in a statement.
"We also focused on further defence cooperation and steps to enable the transfer of decommissioned Australian equipment to Ukraine."
