Thirty per cent of Ukraine's power stations have been destroyed in just over a week, leading to "massive blackouts" across the country, President Volodymyr Zelensky said today, as the Kremlin steps up attacks on critical energy infrastructure.
"No space left for negotiations with Putin's regime," Zelensky tweeted.
Depriving people of water, electricity and heat as winter begins to bite, and the broadening use of so-called suicide drones that nosedive into targets have opened a new phase in Russian President Vladimir Putin's war.
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The bombardments appear aimed at wearing down the notable resilience Ukrainians have shown in the nearly eight months since Moscow invaded.
Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed that the country's military had launched high-precision strikes on "energy systems" in Ukraine.
The death toll in Kyiv continues to climb this week.
At least five people were killed yesterday following Russian attacks with Iranian-made "kamikaze" drones and at least three people died in separate strikes today.
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Moscow has targeted key Ukrainian power facilities in recent days, leaving areas in at least three cities without power.
A residential neighbourhood in the capital Kyiv is experiencing power cuts and water outages, local energy company DTEK said on Facebook Tuesday.
In Dnipropetrovsk region, at least three areas, experienced electrical outages and a water pumping facility lost power after Russia launched two missiles at an energy facility, causing "fire and severe destruction," according to local authorities.
A CNN team in Dnipro saw from a distance the aftermath of a hit on a power plant in Dnipro and smoke rising from the facility.
Further west, the mayor of Zhytomyr said in a statement that the city was experiencing power and water cuts, with hospitals running on back up energy.
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Residents in the Ukrainian capital were also urged by local officials to limit electricity and water usage, after two key infrastructure complexes were hit today.
The World Health Organisation warned of a "humanitarian emergency" as Putin's military assault on Ukraine approaches the "brutal" winter months.
"Too many people in Ukraine are living precariously, moving from location to location, living in substandard structures or without access to heating.
"This can lead to frostbite, hypothermia, pneumonia, stroke and heart attack," WHO's Hans Henri P. Kluge said last week.
"The destruction of houses and lack of access to fuel or electricity due to damaged infrastructure could become a matter of life or death if people are unable to heat their homes."
With CNN and AP
