Ukraine news - live: Russia says it has completed partial mobilisation

Swathes of Ukraine’s capital have been left without access to water or electricity following what the country’s energy minister called “another barbaric attack” on the country’s critical infrastructure, including several hydroelectric power plants.

The mayor of Ukraine‘s capital has said that 80 per cent of consumers in Kyiv have been left without water supplies “due to the damage to a power facility near” the city from relentless Russian strikes on Monday.

Local authorities were working on restoring the supplies as soon as possible, mayor Vitali Klitschko said, telling Kyiv residents in the meantime to “stock up on water from the nearest pump rooms and points of sale.”

It comes amid reports that hydroelectric power plants in Kremenchuk, Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and Cherkasy had come under attack.

“Another barbaric attack on Ukraine‘s energy system took place this morning. Electric substations, hydropower and heat generation facilities were hit by rocket fire,” energy minister German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook.

He said there had been partial blackouts in some areas and emergency blackouts had been imposed in others to reduce the load on the energy system.

Key Points

• 80% of people in Kyiv without water, says mayor

• Russia ‘bombards hydroelectric power plants’ across Ukraine

• Putin ‘pursuing only death and destruction’ as airstrikes pound Kyiv

• Blackouts in Kyiv as Russian missiles ‘hit critical infrastructure’

• Zelensky accuses Putin of creating ‘artificial famine’ by blocking grain deal

• Ukraine says 218 vessels blocked by Moscow’s decision to suspend deal

16:10 , Emily Atkinson

Good afternoon. We are pausing live updates on the conflict in Ukraine for the time being. Join us again for the latest on Russia’s invasion shortly. Thank you.

04:50 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Zelensky accuses Putin of creating ‘artificial famine’

05:35 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of creating “conditions of artificial famine” after Russia suspended an UN-brokered grain export deal.

“How can Russia be among the G-20 if it is deliberately working for starvation on several continents,” Mr Zelenskyy said during an address on Ukrainian television, according to NBC News.

He said that Russia was “doing everything to ensure that millions of Africans, millions of residents of the Middle East and South Asia find themselves in conditions of artificial famine or at least a severe price crisis.”

UN, Turkey and Ukraine each deal to move 16 vessels

05:41 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The UN, Turkey and Ukraine pressed ahead to implement a Black Sea grain deal and agreed on a transit plan for Monday for 16 vessels to move forward, despite Russia’s withdrawal from the pact.

Russia on Saturday halted its role in the grain deal for an “indefinite term”, cutting shipments from one of the world’s top grain exporters, because it said it could not “guarantee safety of civilian ships” after an attack on its Black Sea fleet.

The move has sparked an outcry from Ukraine, Nato, the US and the UK, while the UN and Turkey, two main brokers of the July deal, scrambled on Sunday to save it.

Blinken discusses Ukraine war with Chinese minister

05:42 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with China’s foreign minister Wang Yi on a call yesterday and discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine and the threats it poses to global security and economic stability.

Mr Blinken also discussed with his Chinese counterpart on the need to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage US-China relations, a statement by the US state department said.

UN chief attempts to rescue grain deal

05:43 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres is scrambling to revive the Black Sea grain export deal aimed at easing a global food crisis, expressing “deep concern” over Russia’s unilateral suspension of the agreement with Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin’s regime wrote to Mr Guterres on Saturday to announce it was “indefinitely” halting its participation in the deal because it could not “guarantee safety of civilian ships” travelling under the pact, after accusing Ukraine of a major drone attack on its Black Sea fleet.

The move will drastically cut shipments of grain from Ukraine, a nation frequently described as the “world’s breadbasket”, and global wheat prices were expected to soar on Monday in what Kyiv labelled Moscow’s “hunger games”.

Ukraine warned that 218 vessels had been “effectively blocked” by Moscow’s decision, with president Volodymyr Zelensky claiming that the move threatened large-scale famine in Africa and Asia.

Andy Gregory reports.

UN chief attempts to rescue grain deal amid global concern over Russia ‘hunger games’

Zelensky says his troops repelled ‘fierce offensive’ in Donetsk

06:14 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday said that his troops have repelled a “fierce offensive” by Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk region.

The war-time president said a military unit from Chop in western Ukraine had undertaken the action, but did not say where the clash had occurred.

“Today they stopped the fierce offensive actions of the enemy,” Mr Zelensky said in his nighttime address. “The Russian attack was repelled.”

Wheat price soars after Russia's exit from grain deal

06:47 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Wheat futures surged after Russia suspended a crucial agreement to allow grain exports from Ukraine through the Black Sea.

Moscow suspended the grain deal yesterday after drone strikes against its naval fleet, claiming that one of the drones might have come from a grain ship that’s part of the initiative.

Wheat in Chicago jumped as much as 7.7 per cent to $8.9 a bushel at the open on Monday before paring gains to 5.6 per cent by 11.15 am in Singapore, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN have agreed to have 16 vessels carrying food from Ukrainian ports sail today, challenging Russia’s decision.

Explosions rock Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine

07:02 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

A series of blasts were heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Monday morning.

Similar explosions were heard in Kharkiv, where Russia "hit a critical infrastructure facility in the city", mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

Air raid sirens are on in all the regions of the country.

Blackouts in Kyiv as Russian missiles ‘hit critical infrastructure’

07:23 , Emily Atkinson

Relentless Russian strikes have rained down on critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities this morning, local officials say.

Part of Ukraine’s capital was cut off entirely from power and water supplies as a result, its mayor Vitali Klitschko said in the wake of rolling blackouts across the city.

Elsewhere, officials reported possible power outages in the cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia due to strikes.

It comes just two days after Russia accused Ukraine of a drone attack against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet off the coast of the annexed Crimean peninsula. Ukraine has denied the attack, instead accusing Russia of mishandling its own weapons.

Moscow still announced is was halting its particiaption in a UN-brokered deal to allow safe passage of ships carrying grain from Ukraine.

‘Putin’s crimes against civilians continue'

07:35 , Emily Atkinson

Government officials have corroborated reports of vicious strikes across Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine this morning.

Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian MP, this morning tweeted: “Monday starts with Russia missile attacks across the country. Kyiv has been under fire for the last hour. Blackouts again. And no water in parts of the city. Putin’s crimes against civilians continue.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called on people to avoid justifying Russia’s strikes by calling them a “response.”

“Another batch of Russian missiles hits Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Instead of fighting on the battlefield, Russia fights civilians,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Don’t justify these attacks by calling them a ‘response’. Russia does this because it still has the missiles and the will to kill Ukrainians.”

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry said amid reports of strikes on critical infrastructure that Vladimir Putin’s “only goal is death and destruction.”

Posting to social media this moring, he said: “Morning starts with air defense sirens all across Ukraine. Russian missiles hit energy infrastructure in Kyiv and other cities, causing electricity and water outages.

“Russia is not interested in peace talks, nor in global food security. Putin’s only goal is death and destruction.”

Kyiv engineers rush to restore power

07:46 , Emily Atkinson

Engineers are working to restore power following damage to the damage to an energy facility that powers about 350,000 apartments in Kyiv, its mayor Vitali Klitschko has said.

Following a barrage of Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital this morning, he wrote on Telegram: “Specialists, together with other emergency services and authorities are doing everything possible to stabilise the situation as soon as possible.”

Civilian cargo ships can never be military targets, says UN

07:58 , Emily Atkinson

Civilian cargo ships can never be a military target or held hostage, the UN coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative has said, insisting that “the food must flow” under the deal from which Russia withdrew at the weekend.

Amir Abdulla’s comment on Twitter came after the United Nations, Turkey and Ukraine pressed ahead with a transit plan. Russia had withdrawn saying it could not “guarantee safety of civilian ships” after an attack on its Black Sea fleet.

Smoke rises over Kyiv amid strikes

08:11 , Emily Atkinson

Videos of smoke rising over Kyiv have lit up Twitter this morning following reports of strikes across the city.

Rohit Kachroo, global security editor at ITV News, wrote earlier that he had heard eight explosions in the Ukrainian capital, alongside a short video clip which looks north from city centre:

Missile attacks rain down on Ukrainian regions

08:24 , Emily Atkinson

Kyiv is not the only Ukrainian city to have seen massive barrages of Russian strikes on its critical infrastructure.

Here is what we know so far:

• Reports of possible power outages in the cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia resulting from strikes

• Critical infrastructure objects were also hit in the Cherkasy region south east of Kyiv

• The energy facility in the Kirovohrad region of central Ukraine was struck, according to local authorities

• In Vinnytsia, a missile that was shot down landed on civilian buildings, resulting in damage but no casualties, according to regional governor Serhii Borzov

• In Kharkiv, the subway ceased operating. Some parts of Ukrainian railways were also cut off from power, the Ukrainian Railways reported.

• Explosions have also been reported in other regions of Ukraine

Grim warnings over damage to energy infrastructure as cold weather looms

08:42 , Emily Atkinson

As the cold weather approaches, bleak warnings have been issued in Kharkiv where energy infrastructure came under Russian fire this morning.

Reporting from Kivsharivka, an urban settlement in eastern Ukraine, The Independent’s international correspondent Bel Trew told of how elderly residents are already living makeshift outdoor cabins in a bid to keep warm.

“Yesterday I was in Kivsharivka where under shelling, without power, gas or water, the elderly are building makeshift outdoor cabins out of scavenged cupboards, wood & scrap metal to cook & to try to keep warm. They told me they entirely rely on humanitarian aid for food,” she wrote on Twitter.

In an earlier tweet, Bel said she was entirely without power this morning following shelling in the area.

“This is going to be the nightmare as temperatures drop,” she wrote.

Kyiv is under attack again, says UK ambassador

09:04 , Emily Atkinson

Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons weighed in on reports that Russian forces pounded energy facilities in Kyiv with missiles on Monday.

“Sheltering down low and listening to booms outside,” she wrote on Twitter. “Kyiv is under attack again. What is it about Mondays...”

Official reports damage to transport links and water supply in Kharkiv

09:30 , Emily Atkinson

The mayor of Kharkiv has reported severe damage to transport and water supply as a result of this morning’s strikes, but told residents that emergency services were working to restore “normal life.”

Posting to Telegram this morning, Ihor Terekhov said: “After the morning arrivals, the situation in Kharkiv is rather complicated. The blow fell on a critical infrastructure facility, as a result of which the subway and ground electric transport were de-energised. At the moment, we have managed to launch the Kholodnogorsko-Zavodskaya line, and we have replaced trolleybuses and trams with buses.

“There are also problems with water supply, but power engineers and our public utilities are doing everything possible to resume water supply to the homes of Kharkiv residents as soon as possible. All services are working to restore the normal life support of Kharkiv. Together we will stand and win.”

10:08 , Emily Atkinson

This map shows the current state of the war in Ukraine and locations of bombings on 31 October

Kyiv hit by barrage of Russian missiles as capital plunged into new blackout

10:27 , Emily Atkinson

A massive barrage of Russian strikes has rained down upon critical infrastructure in Kyiv and other cities, Ukrainian officials have said.

The attack has cut part of Ukraine’s capital off from power and water supplies, its mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

It is said to have damaged an energy facility that powers hundreds of thousands of apartments in Kyiv.

The city has already been facing rolling blackouts due to Russian attacks on infrastructure.

Zoe Tidman reports:

Kyiv hit by barrage of Russian missiles as capital plunged into new blackout

80% of people in Kyiv without water, says mayor

10:50 , Emily Atkinson

The mayor of Ukraine‘s capital has said that 80 per cent of consumers in Kyiv were left without water supplies “due to the damage to a power facility near” the city from Russian military strikes on Monday.

Local authorities were working on restoring the supplies as soon as possible, mayor Vitali Klitschko said, telling Kyiv residents in the meantime to “stock up on water from the nearest pump rooms and points of sale.”

In a separate Telegram post, Klitschko added that water supplies in some areas of Kyiv will be restored in “three to four hours,” and power had already been restored in one of the city’s districts.

Russia ‘bombards hydroelectric power plants’ across Ukraine

11:21 , Emily Atkinson

A major hydroelectric power plant at Kremenchuk in central Ukraine came under attack, the regional governor said, without making clear whether it had been hit or damaged.

Unconfirmed reports on social media and local media reports suggested hydroelectric power plants had also been attacked in the Kyiv region, in the southern regions of Odesa and Zaporizhzhia, and in the central Cherkasy region.

“Another barbaric attack on Ukraine‘s energy system took place this morning. Electric substations, hydropower and heat generation facilities were hit by rocket fire,” energy minister German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook.

He said there had been partial blackouts in some areas and emergency blackouts had been imposed in others to reduce the load on the energy system.

Kremlin denies Truss phone hack

11:56 , Emily Atkinson

The Kremlin has dismissed media reports that Liz Truss’s mobile phone was hacked by Russian agents.

The Daily Mail reported on Saturday that Russian spies gained access to the former prime minister’s phone while she was foreign minister.

When asked about the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was little in the British media that could be taken seriously.

“Unfortunately, there is a shortage of material in the British media that can be perceived as serious. And we treat such publications as the yellow press,” Peskov said.

Kremlin warns Kyiv over Black Sea grain route after deal withdrawal

12:22 , Emily Atkinson

The Kremlin has warned it would be risky for Ukraine to continue exporting grain via the Black Sea now that Moscow had suspended its participation in a UN-brokered deal to facilitate shipments.

“In conditions when Russia is talking about the impossibility of guaranteeing the safety of shipping in these areas, such a deal is hardly feasible, and it takes on a different character - much more risky, dangerous and unguaranteed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Peskov blamed the actions of the Ukrainian side for disrupting the deal. Russia said on Saturday it was suspending its participation after an attack on its Black Sea fleet.

Germany ‘will push for export of grain from Ukraine via sea to continue'

12:56 , Emily Atkinson

Transportation by sea is the most efficient way of exporting grains out of Ukraine but land transport will be continued, a German transport ministry spokesperson has said.

“The most important thing is that transport by sea continues, and we are doing all we can to ensure that this happens,” they added at a regular government news conference.

Russia says ‘high precision strikes’ used to target energy and military infrastructure

13:20 , Emily Atkinson

Moscow forces pounded key military and energy infrastructure targets in “high precision strikes”, the Russian defence ministry has said.

“Russian armed forces continued strikes with high-precision long-range air and sea-based weapons against Ukraine’s military command and energy systems,” a statement from the ministry said.

“The strike targets were achieved. All assigned objects have been hit.”

Swathes of Ukraine’s capital have been left without access to water or electricity following what the country’s energy minister called “another barbaric attack” on the country’s critical infrastructure.

Russian missile debris 'lands in Moldovan village’

13:45 , Emily Atkinson

Missile debris landed in the northern Moldovan village of Naslavcea on Monday morning after a Russian fusillade was intercepted by air defences in neighbouring Ukraine, the country’s interior ministry said.

No one was reported hurt but the windows of several residential homes were shattered in Naslavcea, which lies on the border with Ukraine, the ministry said in a statement.

The Russian strike had targeted a Ukrainian dam on the Nistru river that runs through Ukraine and Moldova, foreign minister Nicu Popescu tweeted.

“Attacks on water infrastructure and ensuing stress on the river could put the entire region in danger of floods,” he said, condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine “in the strongest possible terms”.

Ten Ukrainian regions hit by missile strikes, says Kyiv

14:13 , Emily Atkinson

Russian missiles and drones hit 10 Ukrainian regions and damaged 18 sites, mostly energy facilities, Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has said.

Hundreds of areas in seven Ukrainian regions were left without power, he said in a Facebook post, adding that “the consequences could have been much worse” if the Ukrainian forces hadn’t shot down most of the Russian missiles.

Russia completes partial mobilisation, says defence ministry

14:41 , Emily Atkinson

Russia has completed the partial military mobilisation announced by president Vladimir Putin in September, the country’s defence ministry said on Monday.

A statement written on behalf of defence minister Sergei Shoigu reads: “All activities related to conscription for military service by the military commissariats, together with the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, of citizens in the reserve have been stopped.

“Preparation and delivery of subpoenas are stopped.

“Alert stations and headquarters, collection points for citizens of military commissariats, as well as buildings and structures allocated by decisions of the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, used for partial mobilisation measures, are subject to release for functioning or use for their previous purpose.

“Also, according to the instructions, all personnel of the military commissariats involved in ensuring partial mobilisation are ordered to return from 31 October of this year. to carry out their duties as usual.

“In the future, the work of the military commissariats for recruiting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will be organised only by accepting volunteers and candidates for military service under the contract.”

Russia summons Dutch ambassador over ‘recruitment attempt by British intelligence'

15:16 , Emily Atkinson

Moscow’s foreign ministry has summoned the Dutch ambassador to protest at what it called an attempt by UK intelligence to recruit the Russian military attache at the Russian embassy in The Hague.

In a statement, the foreign ministry called on the Dutch authorities to prevent “countries that the Netherlands calls its allies” from taking such “unfriendly” actions.

Moscow discusses Black Sea grain deal with Ankara

15:57 , Emily Atkinson

Russia’s defence minister held a phone call with his Turkish counterpart on Monday to discuss Moscow’s suspension of its role in a deal on Black Sea grain exports, Shoigu’s ministry said.

On Saturday, Moscow declared it was suspending its participation after an attack on its Black Sea fleet.

Ankara was instrumental in brokering the original deal, which allowed Ukraine to resume shipments from ports blockaded by Russia.

A brief statement from Russia‘s defence ministry gave no further detail on the conversation between Sergei Shoigu and Hulusi Akar.