Ukraine-Russia war – live: Kyiv drone attack on Crimea as Putin’s Black Sea resort town ‘rocked by strike’

Volodymyr Zelensky has started addressing the special United Nations Security Council session, saying Ukrainian soldiers were doing what the UN security council should be doing by vote.

He accused Russia of “criminal and unprovoked aggression” that violated the UN Charter.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov avoided staring each other out across the UN Security Council’s famous horseshoe-shaped table:

Before Ukraine’s President Zelensky took the floor to speak to the security council’s 15 members, Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia objected.

Albanian prime minister Edi Rama, serving as president of the tense session, responded with a gibe at Moscow, which has long said the invasion does not amount to a war but was a “special military operation”.

“I want to assure our Russian colleagues and everyone here that this is not a special operation by the Albanian presidency,” Mr Rama said to muted laughter across the room.

“There is a solution for this,” he continued. “If you agree, you stop the war and President Zelensky will not take the floor.”

Mr Nebenzia said the session was a show.

The speech of Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov lasted for more than 24 minutes. Security Council delegates had been asked to limit speeches to four minutes.

Nazis could “skip the queue” to join the EU, Sergei Lavrov claimed – in contrast with countries such as Turkey, where talks had dragged on.

Mr Lavrov’s rambling speech to the security council has already lasted much longer than those of other delegates and is continuing with regular swipes at Western “aggression” and “hypocrisy”.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West after the cold war of ignoring the legacy of the founding fathers of the UN, fomenting “new global tensions”.

He accused the US and allies of meddling in Ukraine’s politics since fall of the Soviet Union to force pro-western policies in Kyiv, which did not represent the views of the people of Donbass (the Russian-occupied area of Ukraine), Mr Lavrov said.

And he accused the West of trying to suppress Russian culture, including people using their native language.

Volodymyr Zelensky left the security council meeting after his speech, avoiding a clash with Mr Lavrov and his team.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cited heinous examples of homes being targeted and children being removed form their homes, saying Russia was committing war crimes daily.

He listed examples of acts of destruction he said Russia was carrying out, including targeting grain supplies, using Iranian drones.

“It’s hard to imagine a country demonstrating more contempt of the UN,” Mr Blinken said.

But Ukrainians were not giving up, he said.

He pledged the US would continue to do more than its share of supporting the war effort and send a clear message to aggressors.

The UK is giving another £3m to the UN Food Programme following disruptions to grain supplies, the UK’s deputy prime minister told the security council.

Oliver Dowden said the “hungry and malnourished people of the developing world” were also victims of Russia’s “war of choice”.

Russia was impervious to UN demands and conducted sham elections in Ukraine’s sovereign territory, he said, as he highlighted the need for “effective multilateralism” to secure peace, restore grain flows and help Ukraine in its recovery”.

Poland summoned Kyiv’s envoy to the foreign ministry, after comments by Ukraine’s president on a ban on grain imports angered the government in Warsaw, which is toughening its stance ahead of October elections.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies, but the countries are now embroiled in a deepening conflict over agricultural imports since Poland, along with Hungary and Slovakia, extended a ban on grain imports from their war-torn neighbour.

President Volodymyr Zelensky told the United Nations General Assembly Kyiv was working to preserve the land routes for grain exports, but he added that the “political theatre” around grain imports was only helping Moscow, which invaded Ukraine last year.

“(Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski) conveyed the Polish side’s strong protest against the statements made by President V. Zelensky at the UN General Assembly yesterday, alleging that some EU countries feigned solidarity while indirectly supporting Russia,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Volodymyr Zelensky called for the UN General Assembly to remove Russia’s veto power on the security council.

Ukraine is exercising its right to self-defence, the Ukrainian president told the meeting.

And he said support for Ukraine amounted to backing for the aims of the UN Charter.

He called on nations to support Kyiv’s 10-point peace plan – which the Kremlin has previously rejected.