Russia-Ukraine war – live: UN warns against escalation after drones hit Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Below are some of the latest photos from Ukraine

Russia launched more than two dozen attack drones on Ukraine, hitting critical infrastructure in the central Zhytomyr region and damaging logistics facilities in the south, officials said on Monday.

The Zvyahel city council in Ukraine‘s Zhytomyr region urged people to stay indoors after Russia’s air attack on the critical infrastructure object resulted in air pollution.

“Russia struck an infrastructure object of the community overnight,” the city council said on the Telegram messaging app. “There are no casualties among the civilian population. Currently, there is a direct threat of air pollution, so it is recommended to stay indoors with closed windows.”

Officials provided no further details. Russia has intensified its drone and missile strikes against Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks, causing significant damage and threatening Ukrainians with a repeat of the blackouts they experienced in the first year after Russia invaded in February 2022.

The Ukrainian air defence downed 17 out of 24 Iranian-produced Shahed drones Russia used in its attack, over the regions of Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Khmelnytskyi and Zhytomyr, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app.

A Russia-launched Kh-59 guided air missile was destroyed over the Dnipropetrovsk region, it added.

Four drones were destroyed over the southern region of Odesa, said Oleh Kiper, the regional governor, adding that a logistics and transport facility and a gas station were damaged. There were no casualties in the attack, he added. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Mr Stoltenberg has described growing links between the three countries and North Korea, as he warned the world has become “much more dangerous”.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Stoltenberg said: “China is propping up the Russian war economy, delivering key parts to the defence industry, and in return Moscow is mortgaging its future to Beijing.”

He also accused Russia of giving technology to Iran and North Korea in return for ammunition and other military supplies.

Russian officials have blamed Ukraine for the attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on Sunday.

Ukraine has denied having anything to do with any strikes on the station and blamed Moscow for the strikes.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called the attack “reckless” after an explosion near the reactor building and a hit on the dome of the plant’s sixth power unit.

At least one casualty is also suspected as blood stains were found by an IAEA team outside a laboratory next to a damaged military logistics vehicle.

Russian forces took control of the plant in 2022 shortly after their full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Both Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of risking a nuclear accident by attacking the plant.

The Zvyahel city council in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region urged people early today to stay indoors after Russia’s air attack on an infrastructure object resulted in air pollution.

“Russia struck an infrastructure object of the community overnight,” the city council said on Telegram.

“There are no casualties among the civilian population. Currently, there is a direct threat of air pollution, so it is recommended to stay indoors with closed windows.”

Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov arrived in China today for talks on the war in Ukraine, bilateral ties, and the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian foreign ministry said.

The Russian foreign minister will talk with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on a series of “hot topics” that will also include joint cooperation in international organisations, such as the United Nations and the Group of 20 (G20), Moscow had said earlier.

Earlier, Russian president Vladimir Putin was expected to travel to China in May for talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping, in what could be the Kremlin chief’s first overseas trip of his new presidential term.

Speaking to The Independent from an undisclosed location in Donetsk, deputy commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade, Maksym Zhorin, issued a troubling warning to Kyiv’s Western partners.

The West, he said, must urgently prepare. “Create serious defence systems that could counteract Russia because it will undoubtedly open its mouth and try to swallow the rest of Europe,” he warned.

At least two dozen Russian drones attacked Ukraine overnight, targeting chiefly critical infrastructure in the country’s south and east, Ukraine’s air force said today.

Of these, the air force destroyed 17 of the Iranian-produced Shahed drones Russia used in its attack, over the regions of Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Khmelnytskyi and Zhytomyr, the air force said.

Ukrainian Air Force also destroyed a Russia-launched Kh-59 guided air missile over the Dnipropetrovsk region, it said.

Another four drones were destroyed over the southern region of Odesa, said Oleh Kiper, the regional governor.

“A logistics and transport facility was damaged,” Mr Kiper added on Telegram. “A gas station was also damaged by the wreckage of a downed Shahed.”

There were no casualties in the attack, he added.