When Ukraine war: Russian missile strikes force emergency power shutdowns

He said many regions were affected, and the local authorities warned that about half of the Kyiv region would remain without electricity in the coming days Overnight, more missiles hit critical infrastructure and residential houses near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, regional officials said No casualties were reported Four people were killed in Monday's attacks Ukraine is now seeing snow and sub-zero temperatures in many regions, and millions are without electricity and running water. There are fears that a number of people may die of hypothermia In a separate development on Tuesday, the governor of Russia's Kursk region said a drone attack on an airfield set ablaze an oil storage tank There were no casualties, said Roman Starovoyt  two local schools were closed for the day. He did not say who could be behind the attack in the region that borders Ukraine In his video address late on Monday, President Zelensky said 70 Russian missiles were fired on Monday, and most of them were shot down The Russian  ministry said it hit all 17 of its intended targets during its massive strike using high-precision weapons He said "the biggest number of shutdowns is in Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Zhytomyr,  Odesa, Khmelnytskyi and Cherkasy regions", referring to the regions spanning the length and breadth of the country But he pledged that the authorities "will do everything to restore stability" Mr Zelensky said electricity supplies were also affected in  Moldova, proving that Russia's actions were "a threat not only to Ukraine, but also to our entire region" Monday's strikes were Russia's eighth massive missile attack in eight weeks Warnings that Russia was planning a fresh wave of hits been circulating for several days. They eventually arrived just hours after a series of explosions at two military airfields deep inside Russia, which Moscow blamed on Ukrainian drones intercepted by Russian air defences Three servicemen were killed two aircraft were lightly damaged at the airfields in the ryazan and Saratov region, the Russian ministry said Ukraine has not publicly commented on the issue Before the latest Russian strikes, officials in Kyiv were talking about moving from highly disruptive emergency blackouts, which often last for many hours, to more manageable scheduled power cuts which offer civilians some badly needed predictability Moscow has been battering Ukraine's power grid since 10 October, following a string of heavy military defeats on the battlefield Some Western leaders have called the strategy a war crime, because of the huge amount of damage caused to civilian infrastructure Experts have told the BBC that Russia's tactic of hitting energy infrastructure is most likely designed to  the population, rather than gain any concrete military advantage Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations After facing setbacks on the battlefield, Russian forces have concentrated on attacking Ukrainian power facilities, fuel storage depots and water works Ukraine's national power company, Ukrenergo says damage to electricity installations is so great that 50% of demand cannot be met About six million people have been left without electricity, according to Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky.