Massive Russian strikes hit Ukraine for second day

A hotel was hit in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, leaving at least two people dead

Russia has targeted Ukraine with another wave of deadly strikes, a day after one of its biggest air attacks of the war.

At least two people were killed in an attack on a hotel in the central city of Kryvyi Rih and two more died in a wave of drone strikes on the Zaporizhzhia region in the south east, officials said.

Ukrainian monitors had earlier detected Russian aircraft launching hypersonic missiles and the air force said it had shot down five missiles and 60 drones.

At least six people died overnight Sunday to Monday and dozens were wounded as more than half of Ukraine's regions were attacked by drones and missiles.

On Monday people took shelter in metro stations in Kyiv

Power infrastructure was hit causing blackouts in many cities, with water supplies also affected.

A statement from the Russian defence ministry said long-range air and sea-based precision weaponry had been used to strike power stations and related infrastructure across Ukraine, including in Kyiv, Lviv and the Kharkiv and Odesa regions.

US President Joe Biden called the attacks "outrageous", saying Washington would continue to support Ukraine's energy grid.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned "Russia's cowardly missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure".

In the latest attacks overnight into Tuesday, Russia said it had launched 10 missiles and 81 drones.

A hotel was struck by a ballistic missile in Kryvyi Rih late on Monday, killing a man and a woman and leaving several others wounded. Two people were reported missing.

Kryvyi Rih is the home city of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Meanwhile, Zaporizhzhia regional administration head Ivan Fedorov said two people had been killed and four more wounded by drone strikes.

Explosions have also been reported in Kyiv, Sumy, Khmelnytsky and Mykolayiv regions.

Launches of several hypersonic Kinzhal (dagger) ballistic missiles, which are hard for air defences to intercept, have been detected.

The latest attacks are being seen as an attempt by Moscow to reassert its control over the conflict after Ukraine's recent gains of territory in Russia's Kursk region.

Russia has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure since early on in its full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.

In recent months it has renewed its campaign of attacks on the power grid, causing frequent blackouts across the country.

On Monday, Mr Zelensky called on Western allies including the UK, the US and France to change their rules and let Ukraine use their weapons to strike deeper inside Russia.

Ukraine is allowed to use some Western weapons to hit targets inside Russia - but not long-range weapons.

Mr Zelensky said "we could do much more to protect lives" if European air forces worked with Ukraine's air defence.