'Massive' Russian Strikes Hit Ukraine Energy Grid

Russia has launched a "new massive strike" targeting Ukraine's energy grid, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, reports AFP.

He said the attacks were on a "very wide" scale, hitting Ukraine's regions in the west, centre, south and east.

Nearly 1.5 million households were without electricity, Kyiv said.

But Mr Zelensky said most of the Russian missiles and drones were being shot down, and such strikes would not stop a Ukrainian military advance.

Almost a third of Ukraine's power stations and other energy-generating facilities have been destroyed in a wave of air strikes since Monday last week.

The areas targeted by the latest attacks include the Cherkasy region, south-east of the capital Kyiv, and the city of Khmelnytskyi, further west.

Air strikes and power disruptions were also reported from Odesa in the south to Rivne and Lutsk in the north-west.