All the latest updates on the conflict in Ukraine.
Ukraine announced Wednesday that Russia had bombed more than 100 locations in the past 24 hours, the largest number in a single attack since the start of the year.
ADVERTISEMENTSince launching their offensive in February 2022, Russian forces have fired millions of artillery shells at Ukrainian towns and villages near the front lines, reducing many to rubble across the country.
“During the last 24 hours, the enemy shelled 118 localities in ten regions,” Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said in a message posted on social networks.
“This is the largest number of towns and villages to suffer an attack since the start of the year,” he added.
Ukraine and its Western allies fear that Russia will intensify its attacks on the country's energy infrastructure before the coming winter, as it did last year.
The overnight bombings killed one person in the Kharkiv region and another in the Kherson region, local officials reported.
A Russian drone attack also killed one person and injured four others in Nikopol, in the south of the country.
The Ukrainian Air Force announced on Wednesday that it had shot down 18 of the 20 Russian drones launched during the night.
The Russian Ministry of Defence also announced that it had shot down two Ukrainian drones over the regions of Bryansk and Kursk, which border Ukraine.
More than 40% of Ukrainians need humanitarian help under horrendous war conditions - UN
Russian strikes are inflicting unimaginable suffering on the people of Ukraine and more than 40% of them need humanitarian assistance, a senior UN official has told the UN Security Council.
Ramesh Rajasingham, director of coordination in the UN humanitarian office, said thousands of civilians have been killed in strikes on homes, schools, fields and markets since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. The UN human rights office has formally verified 9,900 civilians killed, but he said “the actual number is certainly higher.”
Ukrainian civilians are suffering “horrendous humanitarian consequences” and “unimaginable levels of suffering” from the Russian strikes, Rajasingham said. About 18 million Ukrainians - more than 40% of the population - need some form of humanitarian assistance, and as winter approaches “needs will be magnified," he said.
Rajasingham said significant damage and destruction of critical infrastructure continues to severely impact civilian access to electricity, heating, water and telecommunications, “a particular concern as winter fast approaches,” which will put the elderly, disabled and displaced most at risk.
The Russian military methodically targeted Ukraine’s power stations and other critical infrastructure with missile and drone strikes during the last winter season, resulting in frequent power outages.
To prepare for the freezing temperatures this winter, the U.N. official said, the humanitarian community is helping people carrying out household repairs and ensuring that water and heating systems are functional.
“The aim is to ensure that every civilian has access to somewhere both safe and warm during the winter ahead," Rajasingham said.
Ukrainians must also deal with diminished health care, he said.
Since the invasion, the UN World Health Organization has verified over 1,300 attacks on health care – more than 55% of all attacks worldwide during the same period, he said.
111 health care workers and patients have been killed, with 13 health facilities impacted by attacks since the beginning of September this year.