Russia's military launches deadly missile strikes on cities across Ukraine

Russia's military launched a large-scale missile attack on Kyiv and cities across Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least six civilians, according to Ukrainian officials and multiple reports.

The big picture: Local officials reported blackouts and widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure in cities including Kharkiv and Odessa, while Ukrainian operator Energoatom said the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant lost power due to the biggest Russian missile assault on Ukraine for some three weeks.

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Photo: Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko/Twitter

• Ukraine's Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said in a Facebook post that Russian shelling had been reported at facilities in the Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk and Zhytomyr regions.
• Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post that 40% of the capital's residents were without heating following a missile strike.
• In Lviv, the head of the regional military administration said on Telegram that three men and two women were confirmed to have died after a rocket fell in a residential area.
• Russian strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region killed one more person and injured two others, Gov. Serhii Lysak wrote in a Telegram post. The strikes also damaged energy infrastructure and industrial facilities, he said.
• Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov told the Ukrainian public broadcaster that the missile strikes had left the city without heat or running water, AP reported.

State of play: Russia launched 81 missiles and eight Shahed drones in total, Ukraine’s Air Force Command said in a Facebook post Thursday. Ukraine claimed it shot down 34 of the missiles and four of the drones.

• "It’s been a difficult night," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a Telegram post Thursday.

Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Facebook post that its forces had "repelled attacks" on the key eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and on surrounding communities on the 379th day of the Russian military invasion.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.