Ukraine war round-up: Russian military exhausted and US tech giant Meta blacklisted

President Zelensky asked for an urgent "air shield" for Ukraine

Russian strikes on Ukraine continued for a second day on Tuesday, hitting energy and other key infrastructure targets across the country.

The deadly attacks caused widespread blackouts in the western Lviv region, Dnipropetrovsk in the south-east and Vinnytsia in the south-west.

Electricity rationing is in place in the capital Kyiv after the strikes, and problems with water supply were reported in a number of Ukrainian cities.

Addressing a crisis summit of the G7 leaders of the world's most industrialised nations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country urgently needed advanced weaponry to create an "air shield" against future missile attacks.

The G7 responded by saying Russia's "indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian populations constitute a war crime" and pledged to provide support to Ukraine "for as long as it takes".

In Russia, the defence ministry again claimed that all the intended targets were hit.

Read more on the G7's pledge of support for Ukraine here.

Russian military exhausted, says UK intelligence chief

The head of the UK's GCHQ intelligence agency has told the BBC that Russia's military was exhausted, but there were no signs yet of nuclear weapons use.

Speaking to Today, Sir Jeremy Fleming argued that the mobilisation of prisoners and inexperienced men "speaks of a desperate situation" - and said President Putin had made mistakes.

However, he said Russia is still "very capable" of causing damage.

In a lecture later on Tuesday, Sir Jeremy also addressed the issue of Chinese technology, which he described as posing a major risk to the UK's security and prosperity.

There's more here about Sir Jeremy's comments on Russia and China.

Russian superyacht safe in Hong Kong

The yacht entered Hong Kong last week after a voyage from Russia

Hong Kong has said it will not seize the superyacht of a Russian oligarch who is under Western sanctions.

Chief executive John Lee said Hong Kong would be accountable to United Nations sanctions but not "unilateral" ones imposed by "individual jurisdictions".

The $521m (£472m) boat belongs to Alexei Mordashov, an ally of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and one of the country's richest men.

His yacht arrived in Hong Kong last week after sailing from Russia.

But Mr Mordashov is not believed to be on it. The billionaire was sanctioned by the US, the UK and the EU after Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year.

We've got more on the story here.

Russia confirms Meta's designation as extremist

Facebook has been unavailable in Russia since March

The Russian authorities have added Meta - which owns Facebook and Instagram - to a list of terrorist and extremist organisations, the country's Interfax agency reports.

The two platforms were banned in Russia in March for "Russophobia".

It followed Meta's announcement it would permit posts such as "death to Russian invaders" but not credible threats against civilians.

Meta appealed against the ban but it was upheld by a Moscow court in June.

The US technology giant has rejected accusations it promotes anti-Russian sentiment.

The BBC's cyber reporter Joe Tidy argues that the battle lines between Western technology platforms and Russia were drawn months ago.