Ukraine news - live: Blackouts in Kyiv as Russian missiles ‘hit critical infrastructure’
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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 after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of creating "conditions of artificial famine" after Russia suspended an UN-brokered grain export deal with Kyiv.
“How can Russia be among the G-20 if it is deliberately working for starvation on several continents," Mr Zelensky 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.”
Key Points
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
UN, Turkey and Ukraine each deal to move 16 vessels
Wheat price soars after Russia’s exit from grain deal
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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’
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, 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.
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.”
04:50 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
