Zelenskyy appeals to West to relax targeting limits for Ukraine as glide bombs hammer front line

DONETSK REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Drone footage from Ukraine’s military released Sunday has shown what appears to be bodies in a civilian area in the embattled eastern town of Toretsk, which has come under heavy Russian bombardment in recent days.

The attacks in the war-torn Donetsk region have prompted a scaled-up evacuation effort by Ukrainian rescue services. Local officials said that powerful Russian glide bombs have also been used in the town, the latest eastern front flash point as Russian attacks continue to put stretched Ukrainian front-line units on the defensive.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Russia had dropped more than 800 glide bombs in Ukraine in the past week alone.

“Ukraine needs the necessary means to destroy the carriers of these bombs, including Russian combat aircraft, wherever they are. This step is essential,” he wrote in an online post.

Glide bombs are heavy Soviet-era bombs fitted with precision guidance systems and launched from aircraft flying out of range of air defenses. The bombs weigh more than a ton and blast targets to smithereens, leaving a huge crater.

Police rescuers in Toretsk helped older residents out of their homes, carrying one woman out of her bed and onto a stretcher.

“It’s a terrible situation, because for three days we could not evacuate,” Oksana Zharko, 48, told The Associated Press while leaving the town in a police van with family members and a cat in a plastic carrier box.

“Yesterday there was an attack and our house was destroyed — very strong, there are no walls left. Everyone is stressed, emotional, in tears. It’s very scary.”

Russian attacks in recent weeks have focused on the town of Chasiv Yar farther north, as Ukrainian commanders in the area say their resources remain stretched, thanks largely to a monthslong gap in military assistance from the United States.

Ukraine is still struggling to stabilize parts of its front line after desperately needed military assistance was approved by the United States in April.

Zelenskyy called on countries assisting Ukraine to further relax restrictions on using Western weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.

“Clear decisions are needed to help protect our people,” he said. “Long-range strikes and modern air defense are the foundation for stopping the daily Russian terror. I thank all our partners who understand this.”

Hours after Zelenskyy spoke, Ukrainian officials said Russian glide bombs had struck near a postal warehouse in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city in the northeast, killing an employee and injuring nine people including an 8-month-old baby.

According to a statement by Nova Poshta, the private postal and courier company that operates the site, the strike set at least seven delivery trucks ablaze, while damaging at least three others and the warehouse itself. One driver died as a result.

As many as nine people remained trapped under burning wreckage, and rescue teams were combing the site on Sunday evening, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram.

Less than a day earlier, Russian missiles slammed into a town in southern Ukraine, killing seven civilians, including children, and wounding dozens, local authorities reported.

Ukrainian officials published photos of bodies stretched out under picnic blankets in a park in Vilniansk, and deep craters in the blackened earth next to the charred, twisted remains of a building.

At least 38 people were wounded in Saturday evening's attack, authorities said, and declared a day of mourning on Sunday. Vilniansk is in the Zaporizhzhia region, less than 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the local capital and north of the front lines, as Russian forces continue to occupy part of the province.

Russia-appointed officials in Donetsk, which is partially occupied and illegally annexed by Moscow, said that Ukrainian shelling on Sunday wounded a 4-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl. According to Russia’s Emergencies Ministry, four of its staff also came under shelling Sunday as they attempted to put out a fire in the Kremlin-occupied local capital, also called Donetsk.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday reported its forces overnight shot down three dozen Ukrainian drones over six regions in Russia’s southwest. It later said that a total of 72 were downed on Saturday and during the night.

Debris from one drone fell on a village in the Kursk region, blowing out windows and damaging roofs and fences, according to a Telegram post by regional Gov. Aleksey Smirnov.

Associated Press writer Joanna Kozlowska in London contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A worker of Nova Poshta delivery gestures in front of destroyed trucks after a Russian attack on his office, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, June 30, 2024. At least one person was killed and several injured. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

A rescue worker extinguishes a truck on fire which was destroyed by a Russian attack on Nova Poshta delivery, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, June 30, 2024. At least one person was killed and several injured. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

A police officer collects evidence after a Russian attack on Nova Poshta delivery in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, June 30, 2024. At least one person was killed and several injured. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

Police officers document evidence near to a body of a man who was killed by a Russian attack on Nova Poshta delivery in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, June 30, 2024. At least one person was killed and several injured. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

A view of Nova Poshta delivery vehicles damaged after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, June 30, 2024. One person was killed and several were injured. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

A police officer covers a body of a man who was killed by a Russian attack on Nova Poshta delivery in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, June 30, 2024. One person was killed and several were injured. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

A local woman tries to find a signal for her phone before she leaves her home during evacuation to safe areas, in Toretsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Zelenskyy appeals to West to relax targeting limits for Ukraine as glide bombs hammer front line

Police officers of the White Angels unit help an elderly woman walk into a van during an evacuation to safe areas, in Toretsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Zelenskyy appeals to West to relax targeting limits for Ukraine as glide bombs hammer front line

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations General Assembly adopted a Chinese-sponsored resolution with U.S. support urging wealthy developed nations to close the widening gap with poorer developing countries and ensure that they have equal opportunities to use and benefit from artificial intelligence.

The resolution approved Monday follows the March 21 adoption of the first U.N. resolution on artificial intelligence spearheaded by the United States and co-sponsored by 123 countries including China. It gave global support to the international effort to ensure that AI is “safe, secure and trustworthy” and that all nations can take advantage of it.

Adoption of the two non-binding resolutions shows that the United States and China, rivals in many areas, are both determined to be key players in shaping the future of this powerful new technology — and have been cooperating on these first important international steps.

The adoption of both resolutions by consensus by the 193-member General Assembly shows widespread global support for their leadership on the issue.

China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong told reporters Monday that the two resolutions are complementary, with the U.S. measure being “more general” and the just-adopted one focusing on “capacity building.”

He called the Chinese resolution, which had over 140 sponsors, “great and far-reaching,” and said, “We’re very appreciative of the positive role that the U.S. has played in this whole process.”

Fu said AI technology is advancing extremely fast and the issue has been discussed at very senior levels, including by the U.S. and Chinese leaders.

“We do look forward to intensifying our cooperation with the United States and for that matter with all countries in the world on this issue, which … will have far-reaching implications in all dimensions,” he said.

The Chinese ambassador, however, strongly criticized the U.S. Treasury Department’s proposed rule, announced on June 21, that would restrict and monitor U.S. investments in China for artificial intelligence, computer chips and quantum computing.

“We are firmly opposed to these sanctions,” Fu said. China doesn’t believe the rule will be “helpful to the healthy development of the AI technology per se, and will, by extension, divide the world in terms of the standards, and in terms of the rules governing AI.” He called on the U.S. to lift the sanctions.

The Chinese resolution calls on the international community “to provide and promote a fair, open, inclusive and non-discriminatory business environment,” from AI’s design and development to its use. Fu said China doesn’t think the U.S. actions foster an inclusive business environment.

Both the U.S. and Chinese resolutions focus on the civilian applications of AI, but Fu told reporters the military dimension of artificial intelligence is also very important.

“We do believe that it is necessary for the international community to take measures to reduce the dangers and the risks posed by the development of AI,” he said.

China is actively participating in negotiations in Geneva on controlling lethal autonomous weapons, Fu said, adding that some countries are considering proposing a General Assembly resolution this year on the military dimension of AI — “and we are in broad support of that initiative.”

Both the U.S. and Chinese resolutions warned of the dangers of AI while also touting its potential benefits in promoting economic development and the lives of people everywhere.

The U.S. resolution recognizes that “the governance of artificial intelligence systems is an evolving area” that needs further discussions on possible governance approaches. It calls on countries to ensure that personal data is protected, human rights are safeguarded, and AI is monitored for potential risks.

Ambassador Fu, who headed the Foreign Ministry’s arms control department from 2018 to 2022, said China put forward the resolution because of the widening gap in AI technology between the developed North and developing South.

He said China also wanted to highlight the central role the United Nations should play in AI governance as “the most representative and most inclusive international forum.”

The Chinese resolution resolves “to bridge the artificial intelligence and other digital divides between and within countries,” and promote international cooperation, including sharing knowledge and transferring technology to developing countries.

FILE -Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations addresses members of the U.N. Security Council during a meeting on Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, April 24, 2024 at United Nations headquarters. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a Chinese-sponsored resolution with U.S. support urging wealthy developed nations to close the widening gap with poorer developing countries and ensure that they have equal opportunities to use and benefit from artificial intelligence.Fu Cong told reporters Monday that the two resolutions are complementary, with the U.S. measure being “more general” and the just-adopted one focusing on “capacity building.”(AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)