By Sam Hancock
Russia has launched one of its biggest barrages of missiles yet against Ukraine, days after its troops were forced to withdraw from Kherson.
The capital Kyiv was among the cities hit, with officials saying at least one person was found dead.
There were strikes across the country, from Lviv in the west to Chernihiv in the north.
As well as following Russia’s setback in Kherson, the attacks come as world leaders meet at the G20 in Bali.
There Moscow faced fierce condemnation for the war in Ukraine.
“It’s clear what the enemy wants,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. “They will not get it.”
Air raid alerts sounded across the country on Tuesday, and Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Mr Zelensky’s office, said Russia fired over 90 missiles.
“Our air defences shot down 70,” he added in a post on the messaging app Telegram.
There were also reports of power outages affecting millions of homes in several cities, as well as neighbouring Moldova.
Describing the situation as critical, Mr Tymoshenko accused Russia of carrying out “another planned attack on energy infrastructure facilities”, saying 15 such sites had been damaged.
In video shared by President Zelensky’s office, what looks like a block of flats can be seen on fire, with flames billowing from windows.
Kyiv resident Svitlana Romanchuk told the BBC she was lying in bed when the raid started.
“We crawled out into the corridor, there was already a burning smell,” she said. “We grabbed our clothes, opened the doors and ran downstairs.”
Andriy Yermak, a presidential adviser, said the strikes were Russia’s response to President Zelensky’s “powerful speech” at the G20.
Zelensky said he was “convinced now is the time when the Russian destructive war must and can be stopped” in his virtual speech to the “G19” leaders, which he purposefully left out of.
Moscow withdrew its troops last week from Kherson, the only regional capital it had taken control of since beginning its invasion in February.
Since the withdrawal was finished, Russia has only now launched these attacks.
During this war, Moscow has frequently used the air to retaliate when it has suffered losses on the ground.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that Russia’s “callous targeting of Ukrainian cities… shows only [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s weakness.” The US and the UK were among Ukraine’s western allies to condemn the most recent strikes.
According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, such assaults “would not break Ukraine’s will.”
READ MORE
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