Ukraine renews calls on the West to approve long-range strikes on Russian territory

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine made a new call Saturday on the West to allow it to strike deeper into Russia after a meeting between U.S. and British leaders a day earlier produced no visible shift in their policy on the use of long-range weapons.

The renewed appeal came as Kyiv said Russia launched more drone and artillery attacks into Ukraine overnight.

“Russian terror begins at weapons depots, airfields and military bases inside the Russian Federation,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Andriy Yermak said Saturday. “Permission to strike deep into Russia will speed up the solution.”

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called on allies to greenlight the use of Western-provided long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. So far, the U.S. has allowed Kyiv to use American-provided weapons only in a limited area inside Russia’s border with Ukraine.

Discussions on allowing long-range strikes were believed to be on the table when U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met in Washington on Friday but no decision was announced immediately.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pressing the U.S. and other allies to allow his forces to use Western weapons to target air bases and launch sites farther afield as Russia has stepped up assaults on Ukraine’s electricity grid and utilities before winter.

He did not directly comment on the meeting Saturday morning, but said that more than 70 Russian drones had been launched into Ukraine overnight. The Ukrainian air force later said that 76 Russian drones had been sighted, of which 72 were shot down.

“We need to boost our air defense and long-range capabilities to protect our people,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “We are working on this with all of Ukraine’s partners.”

Other overnight attacks saw one person killed by Russian artillery fire as energy infrastructure was targeted in Ukraine’s Sumy region. A 54-year-old driver was killed and seven more people were hospitalized, Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy said.

Another three people died Saturday in a Russian strike on an agricultural enterprise in the front-line town of Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region, Gov. Ivan Fedorov said.

Meanwhile, officials in Moscow have continued to make public statements warning that long-range strikes would provoke further escalation between Russia and the West. The remarks are in line with the narrative the Kremlin has promoted since early in the war, accusing NATO countries of de-facto participation in the conflict and threatening a response.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency Tass on Saturday that the U.S. and British governments were pushing the conflict, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, toward “poorly controlled escalation.”

Biden on Friday brushed off similar comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said on Thursday that allowing long-range strikes “would mean that NATO countries, the United States and European countries, are at war with Russia.”

Asked what he thought about Putin’s threat, Biden answered, “I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin.”

Russian and Ukrainian officials also announced on Saturday a prisoner swap brokered by the United Arab Emirates. It included 206 prisoners on both sides, including Russians captured in Ukraine’s incursion in the Kursk region.

The swap is the eighth of its kind since the beginning of 2024, and puts the total number of POWs exchanged at 1,994. Previous exchanges were also brokered by the UAE.

Both sides released images of soldiers traveling to meet friends and family, with Zelenskyy commenting, “Our people are home."

Elsewhere, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 19 Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the country’s Kursk and Belgorod regions.

A woman also died Saturday after a Ukrainian shell hit her home in the border village of Bezlyudovka, Belgorod regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

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

A Ukrainian poses for a selfie as he is greeted after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians pose for a photo after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians pose for a photo after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians pose for a photo after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

A Ukrainian reacts after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainians react after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

A Ukrainian serviceman, left, is greeted after being released in a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Saturday Sept. 14, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Verdugo hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning and saved at least one run with a sliding catch along the left-field line, boosting the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Saturday night in their AL Division Series opener.

New York’s Gleyber Torres and Kansas City’s MJ Melendez hit two-run homers in a back-and-forth game in which the Royals wasted leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 5-4 and the Yankees failed to hold 2-1 and 4-3 margins. It was the first postseason game with five lead changes, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“What a game!” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Kansas City pitchers tied their season high with eight walks, forcing in a pair of runs in the fifth inning. The Yankees were just 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position before Verdugo lined a single off loser Michael Lorenzen.

Verdugo’s hit scored Jazz Chisholm Jr., who singled leading off and stole second on a play allowed to stand following a video review.

“I think we did have a really good argument that that should have been overturned,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

Boone started a slumping Verdugo in left over rookie Jasson Domínguez in a decision influenced by defense.

“I feel like I’m pretty real with myself,” Verdugo said. “As in fans booing me, fans getting on me. I understand it. I was booing myself, too.”

Verdugo entered in a 2-for-34 skid at the plate.

“I just kind of let it spiral out of control a little bit,” Verdugo said. “For me, it was just really leaning on my guys in the clubhouse. They all got my back. They all know what kind of player I am and how I played throughout my whole career and just kept telling me, `Man, don’t let this season or this little glimpse make your whole year. You can make up for a lot of things in the playoffs.'”

With the Yankees trailing 3-2, Verdugo made a sliding catch on Michael Massey’s fourth-inning fly just inside the line to strand two runners. The ball hit the heel of Verdugo’s glove and bounced off his chest before he grabbed it with his bare hand.

“Thank goodness it popped over to the left hand, so it all worked out,” he said.

Chisholm, playing third base this year for the first time after the Yankees acquired him from Miami at the July trade deadline, made three fine defensive plays, two with the help of first baseman Oswaldo Cabrera, starting because of Anthony Rizzo’s fractured fingers.

Four Yankees relievers combined to allow only an unearned run over four innings after ace Gerrit Cole came out, unhappy with his performance. Clay Holmes, dropped from his closer’s job last month, worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win. Luke Weaver got four straight outs for the save in his postseason debut.

Yankees star Aaron Judge went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, and Royals standout Bobby Witt Jr. was 0 for 5, barking at plate umpire Adam Hamari after a called third strike in the ninth.

Juan Soto went 3 for 5 and threw out Salvador Perez in the second inning trying to score from second on Melendez’s single to right. Kansas City first baseman Yuli Gurriel threw out runners at the plate on grounders in the first and fifth.

After a day off between Games 1 and 2, the series between the AL-best Yankees and wild-card Royals resumes Monday night. These teams met in four playoffs from 1976-80, with the Yankees winning the first three and getting swept in the last.

Cole allowed four runs — three earned — and seven hits in five-plus innings. Royals starter Michael Wacha gave up three runs, four hits and three walks in four-plus innings.

Tommy Pham hit a second-inning sacrifice fly, and Torres put the Yankees ahead 2-1 in the third with a 339-foot home run just over the right-field short porch.

Melendez’s two-run homer in the fourth gave Kansas City a 3-2 lead, but Royals pitchers issued four seven-pitch walks in the fifth, forcing in runs with walks by Angel Zerpa to Austin Wells and by John Schreiber to Anthony Volpe. The Yankees had not gotten a pair of bases-loaded walks in a postseason game since Bullet Joe Bush and Joe Dugan against the New York Giants’ Rosy Ryan in Game 6 of the 1923 World Series.

“They looked at a lot of pitches. We were close, but not good enough pitches to make them count,” Zerpa said through a translator.

Volpe's throwing error at shortstop set up pinch-hitter Garrett Hampson's two-run, sixth-inning single through a drawn-in infield that put the Royals ahead 5-4. Wells, in a 2-for-43 slide, tied the score in the bottom half with a two-out RBI single off Lorenzen.

UP NEXT

New York's Carlos Rodón (16-9, 3.96 ERA) starts Game 2 in the best-of-five series against the Royals' Cole Ragans (11-9, 3.14) in a matchup of left-handers.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after striking out against the Kansas City Royals during the sixth inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees third base Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts after a base hit against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Kansas City Royals third base Maikel Garcia reacts after striking out to end the top of the eighth inning against the New York Yankees during Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Kansas City Royals' MJ Melendez (1) reacts as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees' Gleyber Torres reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the Kansas City Royals during the third inning Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Kansas City Royals pitcher Michael Wacha (52) is relieved by Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro (33) during the fifth inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series against the New York Yankees, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York.

New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole walks off the mound during the sixth inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series against the Kansas City Royals, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Kansas City Royals second base Michael Massey (19) can't make the tag on New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. who stole second base during the seventh inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts as he scores against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo (24) comes up with the catch on a fly ball hit by Kansas City Royals' Michael Massey to end the fourth inning during Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo (24) comes up with the catch on a fly ball hit by Kansas City Royals' Michael Massey to end the fourth inning during Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees' Alex Verdugo (24) connects for a double to drive in a run against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Alex Verdugo reacts after driving in a run on a double against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning of Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) and outfielder Alex Verdugo celebrate after defeating the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New York Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo, left, center fielder Aaron Judge, center, and Juan Soto celebrate after beating the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of the American League baseball division series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)