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Strikes reported in several Ukrainian cities
A fresh wave of explosions is being reported in several cities across Ukraine, a day after Russia launched drone strikes on multiple cities in Ukraine.
It is shortly before 9am Kyiv time, and strikes have been reported by authorities in Kryvyi Ri, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.
In Mykolaiv, the attack has totally destroyed one wing of an apartment building. At least one man died in the attack, according to a witness who spoke to Reuters.
In Dnipro, strikes targeted energy infrastructure, causing “serious damage” according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office.
There were few details about the attacks on Kryvyi Ri and Kharkiv, but we will have more on the situations in these cities soon.
Key events
Serhiy Sukhomlyn, mayor of Zhytomyr, has posted to Facebook to say that “the morning began with arrivals across Zhytomyr. The city has no light or water at the moment. Hospitals are on back-up power”.
The mayor said that “information about the victims and damage will be provided later”.
Maria Avdeeva, a Ukrainian journalist, has described events today as a “massive attack on energy infrastructure facilities this morning”, saying that Kyiv, Dnipro and Zhytomyr have been struck, accompanied by an image that purports to show the aftermath of an attack in Dnipro.
Massive attack on energy infrastructure facilities this morning. Kyiv – three strikes on an energy supply facility in Desnyansky district. Dnipro, 2 strikes at energy infrastructure facility. “Serious damage”. Zhytomyr – no electricity and water supply. Ph from Dnipro. pic.twitter.com/aGGU8laDPX
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) October 18, 2022
Here is a selection of some of the images that are coming through from Mykolaiv, the scene of Russian strikes this morning.
Other images sent to us over the newswires, which are too graphic to use, show the body of at least one victim on the ground at the scene.
Ukraine’s president has responded to this morning’s Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities. Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted to Telegram to say:
Ukraine is under fire by the occupiers. They continue to do what they do best – terrorise and kill civilians. In Mykolaiv, the enemy destroyed a residential building with S-300 missiles. A person died. There was also a strike at the flower market, the chestnut park. I wonder what the Russian terrorists were fighting against at these absolutely peaceful facilities?
The terrorist state will not change anything for itself with such actions. It will only confirm its destructive and murderous essence, for which it will certainly be held to account.
Explosions reported in Kyiv – mayor
Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv, has posted to Telegram to report “explosions again in Kyiv in the morning.”
He said that the target was an object of critical infrastructure in the Desnianskyi district.
James Heappey, minister for the armed forces in the UK, has been interviewed on Sky News in the UK. While there has been considerable focus on domestic policies and the future of beleaguered UK prime minister Liz Truss, he had this to say about Ukraine and British defence spending:
There are some very hard choices to make. And we have to be very clear on why we are doing what we’re doing in Ukraine. Why it is so important to be supporting the Ukrainian armed forces. Why it is so important to be investing in our own defence forces at the moment.
And that is because the cost of not doing those things is that we will be living in a Europe, in a world, whereby it has been shown that if you are willing to be belligerent, and use force to threaten the sovereignty of another country, you can succeed.
That if the international community loses patience, that if you get your way, what that does is set the trajectory for the rest of this century, whereby we will be having to spend a lot more on our defence and security and where our economy will be profoundly impacted by that insecurity.
So this is about investing now in the Ukrainians, so that they can do the right thing, in order to draw a line underneath Putin’s aggression, to show that a rules-based international system still applies in this century.
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, has provided an update on Telegram, saying that “today at around 8.30 am, the enemy launched eight rockets at Kharkiv from the Russian city of Belgorod” but there were no casualties.
He reported that in the last 24 hours there were three elderly people injured in the region from shelling, and that “the state emergency service defused 1,428 explosive objects during the day.”
He also said “during the past day, the Russian occupiers from tanks, mortars, barrel and jet artillery shelled the settlements located near the contact line.”
There are as yet unconfirmed reports that there has been a strike at electrical infrastructure in the Zhytomyr region. Video being shared on social media purports to show smoke rising into the sky in the area, and residents report that electricity is off. The Zhytomyr region is to the west of Kyiv.
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. My colleague Martin Belam will take you through the latest for the next few hours.
Strikes reported in several Ukrainian cities
A fresh wave of explosions is being reported in several cities across Ukraine, a day after Russia launched drone strikes on multiple cities in Ukraine.
It is shortly before 9am Kyiv time, and strikes have been reported by authorities in Kryvyi Ri, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.
In Mykolaiv, the attack has totally destroyed one wing of an apartment building. At least one man died in the attack, according to a witness who spoke to Reuters.
In Dnipro, strikes targeted energy infrastructure, causing “serious damage” according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office.
There were few details about the attacks on Kryvyi Ri and Kharkiv, but we will have more on the situations in these cities soon.
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