Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the south has been cut off from access to electricity after Russian shelling, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko says.

He says the facility's emergency diesel generators are now providing it with the power needed.

The Russians are "testing our ability" to quickly fix key infrastructure like electricity substations, the minister adds, describing as "nuclear blackmail by the terrorist state".

Russian troops seized the nuclear plant - Europe's largest - in early March. Moscow has so far made no public comments on the latest Ukrainian accusations.

Both Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for previous attacks near the plant, amid fears that this could lead to a major radiation contamination in Europe.

EU foreign ministers meeting today in Luxembourg will discuss the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia and fresh sanctions could also be on the table.

The talks will involve Ukraine's foreign minister and come as the EU prepares to approve sanctions on Iran over its violent crackdown on protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

Top EU' diplomat Josep Borrell says the bloc is looking for "concrete evidence" of any Iranian involvement in Russia's war on Ukraine. But several foreign ministers have already indicated they're certain Iran has been supplying Russia with drones.

Denmark's FM Jeppe Kofod said: "What we can see now: Iranian drones are used apparently to attack in the middle of Kyiv, this is an atrocity."

Last week, President Zelensky said Russia used Iranian-made "suicide drones" as part of a spate of nationwide attacks which left 19 people dead. And on Sunday, The Washington Post cited, external sources saying Iran plans to supply Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles to Russia.

Russian media have not yet commented on the report, and Teheran has denied any involvement.

But one Israeli minister said the development meant Israel had to get involved in backing Ukraine.

"There is no longer any doubt where Israel should stand in this bloody conflict," Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai wrote on Twitter.

Image source, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi/Sumy regional administration

As the result of Russian attacks over the past 24 hours, 585 towns and villages across Ukraine are now without power, Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin says.

Speaking live to Ukrainian TV, he says the Russians "terrorised not only the capital [Kyiv] but whole regions of Ukraine".

Yenin says the confirmed death toll of a Russian strike on an energy-generating facility in Ukraine's north-eastern Sumy region has risen to four. The local authorities earlier reported three victims (see our earlier post).

A similar attack was carried out in the south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, he says. There were no casualties.

“Russia is hunting for all energy-related facilities,” the deputy interior minister warns. “They want to cause chaos in the energy industry.”

Image source, Reuters

Civilians with weapons in Ukraine should not try to shoot down drones, officials have warned.

In statement, internal affairs minister Denys Monastyrskyi said the probability of one being successfully hit by an untrained person was extremely low, on top of the risk they could injure themselves or others.

Monastyrskyi says people who see a drone in flight should inform the authorities instead.

The statement comes amid growing calls for people to fire upon Russian drones themselves, with some photos with instructions for destroying the Russian weapons being shared widely on social media.

Moscow has met its targets for the "partial mobilisation" declared by President Vladimir Putin in September and Russian army draft offices in the city will be shut down later today, its mayor says.

Sergei Sobyanin also said mobilisation orders issued during the drive have become void. Should this apply to other Russian regions, it would mean that the tens of thousands of draft-dodgers who fled Russia in recent weeks could officially be in the clear.

Mobilisation had become an "ordeal for thousands of Moscow families", the mayor said, but added that thanks to the "responsibility, sense of duty and patriotism of Muscovites" the task of partial mobilisation was fulfilled.

Addressing recruits, Sobyanin said in a statement: "We are all worried and concerned about your fate, about the difficulties and dangers that lie ahead of you and that you are already facing. We hope and pray that you return safe and sound. Return with victory. Having defended the security and independence of our country."

Russia has taken to using kamikaze drones to strike Ukraine because they are relatively cheap and an effective way of attacking Ukraine, a former British Army officer says.

Justin Crump told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that their small size and low-flying capabilities mean they are more easily able to evade radar detection and interception by air defence systems.

Because they can be sent in waves they are comparatively hard to counter, but they are light and easily disabled when hit, Crump says.

Other ways to combat their use might be to use "electronic warfare" techniques to confuse their guidance systems and prevent them from reaching their targets, the expert adds.

One way to prevent their use would be to disrupt the supply of the drones from Iran, he adds, noting that Russia's dependence on foreign-made arms "underscores their own shortage of more modern weapons".

We've just learned from Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko that two of the three people who died in this morning's drone attack on a Kyiv residential building were a "young couple" expecting a baby.

The woman was six months pregnant, the mayor said.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says five kamikaze drones were used in this morning's attack on the capital.

Earlier, he reported the figure was four.

In total, 28 drones were launched, but 23 were shot down.

Energy infrastructure facilities in the central and northern regions have been damaged in this morning's strikes, Ukraine's state energy company has confirmed.

Ukrenergo says repair crews are working to repair the damage and adds that the country's power system is under control.

But the company also warns about possible power outages and says it can't rule out introducing emergency electricity blackouts where needed.

Ukrenergo also calls on people to continue to consume as little as electricity as possible, especially in high-consumption hours in the evenings.

Dmitro Zhyvytsky, the governor of the Sumy region in north-eastern Ukraine, said three people were killed by Russian attacks.

"At 5:20 (02:20 GMT) in the morning, three Russian rockets hit a facility of civil infrastructure. At least three people died. Nine are injured. There are still people under the rubble," Zhyvytsky said on Telegram.

Image source, Reuters

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says today's drone strikes on Kyiv are part of the "genocide of the Ukrainian people".

"The Russians need a Ukraine without Ukrainians. They want to leave without heating, without electricity, without life. They need territory – not residents of Ukraine," he told reporters.

He says all available resources have been deployed to clear the rubble from devastated areas.

City authorities are expecting soon the arrival of air defence systems to protect the capital from drone attacks, the mayor added.

Image source, Kyiv Mayor's office

Emergency workers are attempting to find survivors of drone attacks in Kyiv, while also fighting fires and searching the rubble of buildings.

Nineteen people are said to have been saved so far. Mayor Vitali Klitschko and other government officials are at the scene of an attack on a city centre housing block.

Image source, Kyiv mayor's office

Image source, Kyiv Mayor's office

Image source, Kyiv Mayor's office

Jessica Parker
Reporting from Brussels

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to send "shockwaves" around the world, says the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell.

But despite the war's social and economic consequences, he claimed Russia was growing increasingly isolated - both morally and politically.

“Russia’s losing this war,” Borrell told journalists as he arrived for an EU foreign affairs ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg. “We have to continue supporting Ukraine.”

Ministers are expected to sign off on a military training mission, to be based in countries outside of Ukraine, such as Poland.

They’re also set to approve more money from a fund known as the European Peace Facility.

It works by reimbursing member states’ arms donations to Ukraine.

Asked about reports that there are problems in meeting those reimbursement costs, Borrell said: “It’s enough money, don’t worry about the money.”

The number of people killed as a result of a kamikaze drone attack on a residential building in Kyiv has risen to three, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration.

Nineteen people have been rescued, he said on Telegram.

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Kyiv

Facing military defeats on the battlefield, with its troops forced to abandon long-held positions in the east and south, Russia has stepped up attacks on civilian sites across Ukraine in recent weeks. One of the targets this morning appears to have been the HQ of Ukraine’s national energy company.

By hitting energy infrastructure ahead of winter, Moscow’s strategy seems to be inflicting as much pain as possible on Ukrainians, no matter where they live.

The next few months will be difficult. Repairing the damage will take time, and people have been urged to reduce energy consumption at peak periods.

The attacks - a week after Russia’s deadly barrage of missiles on several cities, including the capital - hit the central district as people went to work or school. A block of flats was damaged, trapping residents under the rubble.

The perception that Kyiv is relatively safe will probably be shaken, but most people are more likely to be angry than scared.

Moscow will not make any military progress with these strikes. But the fact that “kamikaze drones” have been used will be a point of concern.

Officials here say Iran has provided hundreds of them to Russia, in what President Zelensky has previously described as “collaboration with evil”.

Russia has increasingly used those drones in its attacks. Although Ukraine’s air defence systems have intercepted many of them, some have managed to hit their targets.

Image source, Reuters

Explosions were heard across Kyiv this morning from about 06:30 local time (03:30 GMT) as Russia launched drone attacks on the city.

Residential and non-residential buildings were hit and at least one person has died, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

• They are small aerial weapons which are destroyed after striking the target
• Unlike other drones - which are supposed to return home after dropping missiles - kamikaze drones are disposable
• The name derives from the Japanese pilots who volunteered to crash their planes in suicide missions in World War Two
• President Zelensky has previously accused Russia of using Iranian-made drones - Iran denies supplying them while Russia has not commented

Paul Adams
Reporting from Kyiv

Image source, Kyrylo Tymoshenko/Telegram

Frantic rescue work is going on here in the centre of Kyiv, not far from the railway station.

An office building behind me has been damaged, but across the road a four-storey apartment building has been ripped in half.

Dozens of emergency workers are on the scene. We’ve seen a body bag being carried away and one elderly lady rescued from her balcony.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko is here, along with senior government officials.

The mayor says there were five explosions this morning, but that 28 drones were aimed at the city. So far there has been one confirmed fatality.

Nearly 40 drones were shot down around the country last night and this morning, the Ukrainian armed forces have said.

In the south around the ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv, 26 kamikaze drones were intercepted, while in northern and central Ukraine - which includes Kyiv - 11 were successfully taken out.

At the same time, three cruise missiles in eastern Ukraine were also intercepted.

Officials in Odesa say a piece of infrastructure near the coast was hit by a strike.

Image source, Reuters

The body of a woman has been recovered from the rubble of a house in Kyiv after the city was attacked by drones this morning, the city's mayor says.

Vitali Klitschko says one person is still trapped under the house in the Shevchenkivskyi district, and that three victims were taken to hospital.

"Everything that is happening [here] is terrorism," he told reporters.