Kyiv Rocked by Explosions as Russia Launches Overnight Drone Attack

Russia attacked Kyiv Region overnight with 35 kamikaze drones, causing "fairly serious" damage to infrastructure and leaving some areas without power.

 Air raid sirens and then a number of explosions woke residents in the capital in the early hours of the morning in what is Moscow's third air attack on the city in six days.

 "During the air alert, 23 enemy UAVs were recorded in the sky above the capital. Air defence destroyed 18 drones," the Kyiv city military administration said on social media.

 Two people have been reported injured. Ukrainian energy operator DTEK said there would be emergency power cuts in the capital following the attack.

 An initial air alert at 1:56 am (2356 GMT) which lasted for just over three hours was followed by a second at 5:24 am (0324 GMT).

 Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko confirmed that there had been "explosions" in the capital's central Shevchenkivsky District and Solomianskyi District in the west of it.

 Ukraine has been subjected to frequent and deadly aerial attacks in the 10 months since Russia's invasion in late February, a campaign which stepped up significantly after Moscow suffered a series of humiliating defeats on the battlefield.

 These missile and drone attacks have deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure leading to widespread power outages across the country as winter sets in.

 France and the European Union have said Russia's assault on civilian infrastructure constitutes war crimes, with the bloc's foreign policy chief calling the bombings "barbaric".

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More than a million Ukrainians were without power in freezing cold temperatures after Russia launched a barrage of almost 200 cruise missiles and drones at energy sites across the war-torn country.

 After a major assault on multiple cities involving more than 70 missiles on Friday, the national electricity operator was forced to impose emergency rolling blackouts as it raced to repair the battered energy grid.

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that as of Sunday evening, nine million people have had their energy restored.

 Elsewhere, Ukraine is keeping a close eye on the situation on its border with Belarus where the Kremlin has announced it will be holding joint military drills in the near future, AFP reports.

 Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka, who has been in power since 1994, is a long-time Kremlin ally and allowed Russian troops to use Belarusian territory as a launchpad for Moscow's invasion.

 Lukashenka is hosting Putin in the capital Minsk on Monday, in what will be the Russian leader's first visit to Belarus in over three years.

 Earlier on Monday, the Interfax news agency cited the defence ministry in Moscow as saying that Russian troops will conduct military exercises in Belarus. In October, Belarus announced the formation of a joint regional force with Moscow with several thousand Russian servicemen arriving in the ex-Soviet country.

 It did not say when and where the drills will take place and how long they will last. The deployment of Russian troops in Belarus had raised fears that Belarusian troops could join them in their offensive in Ukraine.

 In his nightly address on Sunday, Zelensky said the situation on Ukraine's border with Russia and Belarus was a "constant priority". "We are preparing for all possible defence scenarios," Zelensky said, adding that the border situation was discussed at a meeting with his military commanders.