Russian strikes leave 600,000 without power in Ukraine, Zelensky says

At least 600, 000 individuals throughout Ukraine are now without electricity after deadly overnight Russian missile and drone strikes, President Volodymyr Zelensky has noted.

Key points

• Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow at present controls regarding 20% of Ukrainian territory.
• But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has remarked Ukraine does not deserve the "respite" a ceasefire would bring.
• On Sunday, Trump wrote in a post on social media: Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine.
• President Zelensky has since repeatedly remarked Ukraine is ready to halt its strikes on Russian oil refineries and other energy facilities if Moscow did the same.
• In Kyiv, at least three individuals were killed and 21 injured, Ukraine's state emergencies service DSNS stated.

He remarked "critical" energy infrastructure had been hit in Kyiv and the capital region and additionally in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv – despite a claim by US President Donald Trump on Sunday that an "energy ceasefire" was in place between Russia and Ukraine.

Russia's defence ministry remarked its "massive" strikes overnight had targeted communications and energy facilities in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions employed by Ukraine's military.

For context, the defence ministry additionally stated 902 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight over a number of Russian regions, including the capital Moscow and Crimea – Ukraine's southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

According to Ukraine's air force, overnight, Russia had rolled out 39 ballistic and cruise missiles and 128 drones, and that four of those missiles and 115 drones had been shot down.

On Sunday, Trump wrote in a post on social media: "Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!"

But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has remarked Ukraine does not deserve the "respite" a ceasefire would bring. Under any truce, he continued, Europe would be able to "pump with new weapons" for it to continue the war.

For now, russian strikes leave 600, 000 without power in Ukraine, Zelensky says remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.