Europe
Russia launched another deadly attack on Ukraine overnight - as the war-torn country's nuclear energy company issues a stark warning about the Russian occupation of one of its biggest sites. The wave of overnight missile strikes targeting Kyiv and its surrounding areas has killed at least 13 people, as witnesses reported more than a dozen explosions.
At least 34 people have been injured as emergency responders continued working at the strike sites, according to officials. Apartment blocks and warehouses were hit in the "massive attack" on Thursday, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS). Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a children’s hospital in Kyiv was among the buildings struck in the attack, while people were trapped in one destroyed residential building.
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He added that an educational institution was damaged while windows were broken and cars were set ablaze nearby. The mayor said missiles also struck an industrial centre in Kyiv’s south-western Solomyanskyi district.
Residents took shelter underground as sirens blared across the capital, with Kyiv having been battered in near nightly-attacks in recent weeks.
Russia's Ministry of Defence said "high-precision weapons" were launched from land, air and sea, targeting drones, industry and transport and logistic hubs in Kyiv and the wider region.
The Polish military also said it had launched “defensive air operations” to safeguard its airspace, particularly along the country’s south-eastern border with Ukraine.
“Due to the activity of Russian long-range aviation carrying out strikes on Ukrainian territory, military aviation operations have begun in Polish airspace,” the command said in a statement on X.
Seperately, the Russian occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, in southeastern Ukraine, has experienced its 27th blackout. For the 15th time this year, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe lost its external power supply.
Automatic backup diesel generators have been activated after damage to a high-voltage line.
A Ukrainian telegram read: "As emphasised by Pavlo Kvtunyuk, head of Energoatom, the regular blackouts at the ZNPP are wearing down equipment and increasing safety risks. Frequent activation of diesel generators leads to faster degradation of the equipment.
"This latest blackout once again confirms that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains precarious. The risks to nuclear and radiation safety are being exacerbated by the incompetent actions of Russian 'administrators'.
"The only guarantee of safe operation of the plant remains the de-occupation of the ZNPP and its return to full control of Ukraine and the sole legitimate operator, PJSC 'NAEK Energoatom'."
Russia seized the plant in the opening weeks of the war in 2022, and since then, both Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of military actions that threaten nuclear safety.
"Plant personnel are monitoring the equipment's operating parameters. All necessary measures to maintain the safe condition of the power units are being taken in full," the Moscow-installed management claimed, adding that radiation levels were normal.
Meanwhile, a drone crossed into Romanian airspace near Galați early Thursday, triggering an air alert. It crashed in an uninhabited area, causing a small fire that was quickly extinguished.