´óÏó´«Ã½

We've just heard from Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun, who is in Kyiv, and says air raid alerts started at midnight last night.

She says that while Russian drone strikes have become a regular occurrence, last night's missile strikes hit unexpected parts of the country, including the western city of Lutsk - where we reported earlier about power cuts and transport disruption.

She adds that this is Russia's second large-scale attack on western Ukraine in a matter of days, adding that the western city of Ternopil was targeted just three days ago.

Sovsun describes last night's attack as "massive" and estimates that roughly half of the people living in Kyiv are experiencing power cuts at the moment as a preventative measure. She adds that she doesn't currently have access to water.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
´óÏó´«Ã½ Monitoring's Russia editor

All of the missiles and drones , but falling debris has caused minor damage, the city’s military administration says.

According to it, the attack lasted almost nine and a half hours.

Zhanna Bezpiatchuk
´óÏó´«Ã½ Ukrainian Service, reporting from Kyiv

The capital has been under this massive missile attack - I woke up myself to very loud explosions.

Residents have experienced drone attacks almost every night in the Ukrainian capital since October, but this latest attack was different as it involved missiles.

Everything is disrupted when there's massive missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.

People don't know if it's possible to follow their schedules, children don't go to school - unfortunately, it repeats again and again.

Right now, we have emergency power cuts in Kyiv - we don't know how long it's going to last.

Almost everybody has their own power generators - smaller or bigger - that can allow you to charge your devices, to cook, to warm up a little.

Ukraine heavily depends on generators for industry, schools, hospitals, all critical infrastructure as well as households - and it really helps.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
´óÏó´«Ã½ Monitoring

Kherson, a major regional centre in southern Ukraine, has in the wake of the Russian missile attack this morning, local authorities say. Reports indicate that the power outage has interrupted water supplies to at least parts of the city.

Journalist Kateryna Malofieieva describes hearing missiles and activated air defence systems in the Ukrainian capital.

The Ukrainian air force earlier today issued a nationwide air raid warning "due to the threat of missile danger".

We've just received an update that the air alert has now ended.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
´óÏó´«Ã½ Monitoring's Russia editor

Some 523,000 consumers - households and companies - have beenn Ukraine's western Lviv region, local administration head Maksym Kozytsky says.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
´óÏó´«Ã½ Monitoring's Russia editor

Electricity supplies, a city of about 260,000 people west of Kyiv, the local water supply company says.

No electricity means no running water, and the water company Zhytomyrvodokanal says it's trying to connect its pumps to generators.

Russia's defence ministry says the country's air defence systems destroyed 25 Ukrainian drones overnight over four regions.

Fourteen of the drones were destroyed over the Krasnodar region in the south, six over the western Bryansk region, three over Moscow-annexed Crimea and two over the southern Rostov region, the ministry said.

Krasnodar's regional governor, Veniamin Kondratyev, wrote on Telegram last night that two districts were subjected to a "massive drone attack" overnight. One civilian was injured, he said.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, this is not the first time Russia has targeted Ukraine's energy system, it's something that Moscow has done repeatedly since the start of the war.

Earlier this month a Russian missile and drone attack targeted the power infrastructure across Ukraine, hitting several regions, and killing at least 10 people,

Kyiv, Donetsk, Lviv and Odesa were among the regions affected in what President Volodymyr Zelensky called a "massive" attack, estimating that around 120 missiles and 90 drones were launched.

The strikes resulted in blackouts, and Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said its thermal energy plants had suffered "significant damage".

Paul Adams
Reporting from Uman, central Ukraine

Ukrainian officials have been warning for some time that Russia has been stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles in order to launch coordinated, countrywide attacks on Ukraine’s energy system.

This is the second such attack this month.

As usual, the attack unfolded over several hours, with waves of drones and missiles flying across the length and breadth of this vast country.

Ukraine's response is equally familiar, the authorities implementing pre-emptive emergency power cuts in order to minimise damaging overloads to the country’s grid.

Temperatures are dropping and the country has already experienced its first snowfalls, but the full force of Ukraine’s famously harsh winter has not yet been felt.

If Russia keeps up these country-wide attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, as it has in previous winters, then the country will once again face a challenging few months.

Here's a little more detail from the statement by Ukraine's energy minister.

"Attacks on energy facilities are taking place all over Ukraine," Herman Halushchenko says in a post on social media.

The country's state-owned energy operator, Ukrenergo, has "urgently introduced emergency power outages", he adds.

He urges residents to regularly check official updates and to seek shelter.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
´óÏó´«Ã½ Monitoring's Russia editor

There is no clear picture of the whole impact of the latest Russian missile attack on Ukraine so far, but reports are coming in of damage to civilian infrastructure.

In north-western Ukraine, Lutsk mayor Ihor Polishchuk says there's and trams have stopped, while the head of the Rivne administration Oleksandr Koval says electricity supplies have been .

Image source, Reuters

This morning's strikes follow a week of escalation and intensifying rhetoric between Ukraine and Russia.

Russia made close to 1,500 strikes on Ukraine through Sunday night on about half of the country's regions, causing dozens of injuries, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Meanwhile Ukraine's military said it struck a key oil depot south of Moscow, and targets in the Bryansk and Kursk border regions.

Last week Russia said it had fired a new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile on the Ukrainian city if Dnipro, while Ukraine used long-range US and British missiles inside Russian territory for the first time.

We're now getting pictures of Kyiv residents seeking shelter in the capital's underground train stations.

Many are wrapped up in winter gear and some have brought along their pets.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Paul Adams
Reporting from Uman, central Ukraine

Ukraine's energy minister says the country's power infrastructure is, once again, under widespread attack.

So far, explosions have been reported from one end of the country to the other, in a series of missile and drone attacks that began late last night.

Reports are still coming in from Kharkiv in the east to Lutsk in the far west and Odesa in the south.

Emergency power cuts have already been introduced – a standard procedure when the authorities see that the country’s entire grid is being targeted.

Ukrainian officials have been warning for some time that Russia has been stockpiling cruise and ballistic missiles in order to mount coordinated attacks on power infrastructure throughout the winter.

This appears to be the second such attack this month.

Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, says Russia’s actions made no military sense.

The attacks, he said, were aimed at intimidating the civilian population and creating a humanitarian crisis.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says air defences are working in Kyiv, amid Russia's nationwide attack on energy infrastructure.

Early on Thursday, the Ukrainian air force issued a nationwide air raid warning "due to the threat of missile danger".

Numerous other regions around the country, including Rivne, Vinnytsia, Kropyvnytskyi, Balta, and Mykolaiv are believed to be targeted.

Good morning and welcome.

We are starting live coverage of the latest events in the Ukraine war, with authorities there saying the country has been hit by a series of missile and drone attacks overnight targeting the country’s power infrastructure.

Explosions have been reported across the country with reports still coming in from Kharkiv in the east to Lutsk in the far west and Odesa in the south.

"The energy sector is under a massive enemy attack again," says Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, in a post on social media.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates and analysis.