Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missile strikes hit multiple Ukrainian cities

Dozens of injuries were reported in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

Russia has continued a nearly 19-month-long invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Recently, though, the Ukrainians have gone on a counteroffensive, fighting to reclaim occupied territory.

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Russian drone strikes northern Ukraine, fatalities reported

At least two people were killed and 19 others injured from a Russian drone attack in northern Ukraine, the Sumy Regional Military Administration said.

An administrative building and two apartment buildings were damaged in the four drone strikes, officials said.

Four people have been hospitalized, according to officials. Two of the patients were listed in intensive care.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily evening address that the lack of air defense systems is part of the reason buildings were hit.

"The enemy is taking advantage of this," he said.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman


US ambassador to Moscow meets with detained WSJ journalist

Lynne Tracy, the U.S. ambassador to Moscow, met with detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich on Monday, the ambassador's press secretary told ABC News.

Tracy met with Wall Street Journal reporter at Moscow's Lefortovo prison where he's being held, according to the press secretary.

This is the second visit between Tracy and Gershkovich since his initial detention in March.

-ABC News' Tanya Stukalova and Ellie Kaufman


Prigozhin releases new message

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group leader who led the rebellion in Russia, reportedly released a new message Monday, his first in a week, to a social media account with ties to the PMC.

In a short audio message posted by Grey Zone telegram account, which believed to be run by a Wagner member that frequently posts about events on the frontline in Ukraine, Prigozhin claimed the June 24 rebellion against Moscow was aimed at "fighting traitors and mobilizing our society."

"I think we have achieved a lot of it. In the near future, I am sure that you will see our next victories at the front. Thanks guys," he allegedly said.

The Wagner Group leader said "today, more an ever, we need your support."

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell


Ukraine holds disaster drills amid fears Russia could sabotage Zaporizhzhia plant

Amid fears Russia might blow up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine is holding drills to prepare emergency services with how to deal with a potential radioactive disaster.

ABC News was invited to the drills in the city of Zaporizhzhia this week, about 30 miles from the plant, where firefighters in hazmat gear simulated decontaminating people from radiation during an evacuation.

Emergency workers demonstrated scanning civilians with Geiger counters as they disembarked buses, stripping some civilians and hosing them with water as they lay on stretchers. Firefighters in yellow suits sprayed down vehicles and moved them through a large washer system rigged up between fire trucks.

This week, Ukraine's chief of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, claimed Russia had now completed preparation to potentially sabotage the plant if it chooses.

Read more about the drills here.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell


Zelenskyy takes softer tone on NATO membership ahead of meeting with Biden

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden are set to meet in Lithuania’s capital on Wednesday afternoon, a day after NATO leaders announced during a summit that Ukraine will be allowed to join the alliance "when allies agree and conditions are met" but didn't offer a timeline.

Earlier Wednesday, Zelenskyy held a joint press conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, fielding many questions from reporters about Ukraine's path to NATO membership. The Ukrainian president took a noticeably softer tone compared to his remarks the previous day criticizing the lack of a timeline as "unprecedented and absurd."

Zelenskyy told reporters it's difficult as NATO partners are living under different conditions, whereas in Ukraine "survival" matters. He said he understands some people are "afraid" to talk about Ukraine joining NATO because "nobody is willing to have a world war." He acknowledged that his country cannot be a member of the alliance while a war is going on within its borders, but he said "signals are important."

When asked about his upcoming meeting with Biden and how he plans to convince the U.S. president that Ukraine is ready for NATO membership, Zelenskyy responded with gratitude to the United States and confidence that Ukraine will join the alliance once Russia's war is over.

"I'm grateful to President Biden and to the Congress and to the people of United States that are truly the leaders in support and assistance to Ukraine. We highly appreciate this," the Ukrainian president told reporters. "Not planning to find any arguments for making sure that President Biden would see us in NATO. I believe that those arguments, they should be mutual because it's all about this security, the East, the European continent, the Eastern Flank of NATO. And I believe that NATO needs us just as we need NATO. And I believe that this is absolutely fair. I am confident that after the war, Ukraine will be in NATO. We will be doing everything possible to make it happen so that we with the United States would have a same understanding and same vision."

-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Joe Simonetti