Russian strikes knock out power across Ukraine

Reuters correspondents in and around the capital said they heard several loud explosions and that air defence missiles were flying overhead.

Russia knocked out electricity in the whole of the Kyiv region on Wednesday in missile strikes that pummelled energy facilities across Ukraine and caused blackouts in neighbouring Moldova.

At least one person was killed and 20 wounded in the Kyiv region, where water supplies were also badly disrupted after critical infrastructure was hit, local officials said.

"(Missiles) hit one of the capital's infrastructure facilities. Stay in shelters! The air alert continues," Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The regional administration later said: "The Kyiv region is completely without electricity. There is also a partial lack of heating and water supply."

Ukraine's power grid operator said it had deliberately shut off power in every district, and the authorities from cities across the eastern European nation reported blackouts and halted mass transport lines.

Russian strikes also killed a newborn baby at a maternity ward in Vilniansk, a town in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.