Zelenskyy claims Pakistani, Chinese mercenaries are fighting for Russia against Ukraine

Zelenskyy visited the front-line troops in the Kharkiv region and met with the warriors of the 17th Separate Motorised Infantry Battalion of the 57th Brigade on Monday and posted images on his X page with the soldiers.

He wrote on X: "Today, I was with those defending our country in the Vovchansk direction – the warriors of the 17th Separate Motorized Infantry Battalion of the 57th Brigade named after Kish Otaman Kost Hordiienko."

"We spoke with commanders about the frontline situation, the defense of Vovchansk, and the dynamics of the battles. We also specifically addressed the issues of drone supply and deployment, recruitment, and direct funding for the brigades. Our warriors in this sector are reporting the participation of mercenaries from China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and African countries in the war. We will respond," he said.

A senior UN official on Friday warned of mounting civilian casualties and worsening humanitarian conditions in Ukraine, as a wave of Russian missile and drone strikes this week killed dozens and injured scores across multiple regions – including pregnant women and children.

Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), renewed the call for an immediate ceasefire and a return to diplomacy to end the devastation.

“Ukrainian people have endured nearly three-and-a-half years of unimaginable horrors, death, devastation and destruction. They urgently need relief from this nightmare,” he said.

He stressed that diplomacy, not fighting, needs to escalate in the coming days and weeks.

“Diplomacy that leads to real, tangible, verifiable and lasting results that would be felt by the long-suffering people on the ground,” he added, reiterating that the UN remains ready to support all efforts toward a just, lasting peace in line with the UN Charter and international law.

Jenča described the “brutal” scale of the latest attacks.

Overnight between 30 and 31 July, a large-scale Russian aerial assault on Kyiv killed at least 31 people – including five children – and injured 159 others, 16 of them children. It marked the highest number of child injuries in a single night in the capital since the invasion began in February 2022.

The strikes damaged 27 locations across four districts of Kyiv, including a school, a preschool, a paediatric hospital wing, and a university building.

“An entire section of an apartment block was also reportedly destroyed, leaving many trapped beneath the burning rubble,” said Jenča.

Humanitarian workers, including UN agencies and local partners, responded swiftly, delivering shelter kits, emergency psychosocial support and legal counselling to affected families.

Strikes beyond Kyiv

Beyond Kyiv, attacks were reported across at least seven regions – Vinnytsia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy and Chernihiv – with a total of at least 120 civilian casualties in a single night.

In Donetsk, two people were reportedly killed and 10 injured; in Kharkiv, one person was killed and seven injured. Additional casualties were confirmed in Sumy, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

In Kamianske, a hospital attack left three dead – including a pregnant woman – and 22 injured, many of them medical staff. In Novoplatonivka, Kharkiv region, six were killed while waiting for humanitarian aid.

“These continuing horrendous attacks are simply unacceptable,” said Mr. Jenča.

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, reports that since the start of the full-scale invasion thorugh June this year, more than 13,580 civilians – including 716 children – have been killed, and over 34,000 injured.