'Massive blackouts': Ukraine's electricity and water supplies targeted by Russian airstrikes
Russian airstrikes have left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without access to electricity and water, after targeting many of the country's power stations.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said nearly one-third of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed in the past week, “causing massive blackouts across the country".
On Tuesday, he tweeted: “No space left for negotiations with Putin’s regime."
Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces appear to have opened a new phase in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, depriving people of water, electricity and heat as winter begins to bite.
Supply routes for the Ukrainian frontlines are also being affected by the strikes, which are damaging key facilities throughout the country.
The latest city to lose power was Zhytomyr, home to military bases and industries - about 140 kilometres (85 miles) west of Kyiv.
Its mayor said all of the 250,000 people who live there initially lost power and water, and despite quick repairs some 150,000 residents were still without electricity hours after Tuesday morning's strikes.
In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, missile strikes damaged two power facilities and killed two people, according to city authorities. The attack also left 50,000 people without power for several hours.
Elsewhere, in the south-central city of Dnipro missiles severely damaged an energy facility, leaving an unknown number of homes without power.
The latest barrage of strikes comes after Moscow seems to have changed its attack strategy.
On Monday, waves of suicide drones laden with explosives were used in Kyiv, hitting energy facilities and setting ablaze buildings. One drone slammed into a residential building, killing four people.
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Ukraine has claimed the Kremlin is getting thousands of drones from Iran.
Kyiv's Foreign Ministry has said in the past week more than 100 self-destructing Iranian-made Shahed drones have slammed into power plants, sewage treatment plants, residential buildings, bridges and other targets in urban areas.
President Zelenskyy used his overnight address on Monday to say Russia is using the drones because it is losing ground in the war.
“Russia doesn’t have any chance on the battlefield, and it tries to compensate for its military defeats with terror,” he said. “Why this terror? To put pressure on us, on Europe, on the entire world.”