Ukraine shuts nuclear plant after Russian missile strikes

A barrage of Russian missiles hit Ukraine yesterday, killing at least six civilians and forcing nuclear power plants to shut down as power was cut in Kyiv and several other regions.

- LIAM JAMES

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky called for a meeting of the United Nations security council to discuss the damage to critical infrastructure caused by the Russian strikes the latest in a relentless campaign that threatens to leave millions facing a freezing winter with severely limited access to heating and light.

“The murder of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure are acts of terror,” Mr Zelensky said. Ukraine will continue to demand a decisive response from the world to these crimes.”

Three nuclear power plants were forced to switch off their reactors, Ukraine’s national energy company Energoatom said, while officials reported blackouts in Kyiv and regions across the country including Kharkiv, where the mayor of Ukraine’s second-largest city said public transport had stopped running.

Meanwhile, electricity was cut for half of Moldova, a neighbouring country whose power grid remains linked to Ukraine’s and suffered a similar outage last Tuesday.

Strikes in Kyiv killed four and injured 34, including five children, regional governor Oleksy Kuleba said, while city mayor Vitali Klitschko said a 17-year-old girl was among the dead when a missile hit a residential block.