Russia has launched missiles at targets across Ukraine, from Kharkiv in the north to Odesa in the south and Zhytomyr in the west. Buildings and infrastructure were hit in Kharkiv and Odesa, with power blackouts in several areas. Attacks on the capital Kyiv are also reported. The electrical power supply at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has also been lost. It comes as bitter fighting continues for the eastern city of Bakhmut.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion just over a year ago. Since then tens of thousands of combatants and civilians have been killed or injured and millions of Ukrainians became refugees. Emergency services in Kyiv are at the scenes of blasts in western and southern districts of the capital where the mayor, Vitaly Klitschko, said explosions had taken place. Mr Klitschko said cars were burning in the courtyard of one residential building and he urged people to stay in shelters.

A mass missile attack struck an energy facility in the port city of Odesa, triggering power cuts, its governor Maksym Marchenko said. Residential areas were also hit but no casualties were reported, he added. "About 15" strikes hit Kharkiv city and region, with "critical infrastructure facilities" and a residential building targeted, regional administration chief Oleg Synegubov said.

Emergency workers extinguish fire in vehicles at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 9, 2023. Nuclear energy operator Energoatom said a strike at the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is Europe's largest, meant the "last link" between the facility and the Ukrainian power system was cut off.

Russia-installed officials in the Moscow-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region said the halt in electricity supplies to the power station from Ukrainian-held territory was "a provocation". Other regions hit include Vynnytsia and Rivne in the west, and Dnipro and Poltava in the centre of the country.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP