Fresh attacks as Ukraine braces for brutal winter

Fresh Russian strikes hit cities across Ukraine yesterday, officials said, the latest in a wave of attacks that have crippled the country's energy infrastructure after officials warned of "difficult" days as winter sets in.

The salvos of Russian missiles came as snow fell for the first time this season and officials announced an agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea, with the aim of helping the global supply of food.

"Two cruise missiles were shot down over Kyiv," the city administration announced, adding that information on casualties are yet to be clarified.

The head of the central region of Dnipropetrovsk, Valentyn Reznichenko, said Russian strikes hit the administrative center of Dnipro.

"An industrial enterprise has been hit," he said, later announcing that 14 people were injured, including a 15-year-old girl.

In the southern Odessa region, a strike targeted infrastructure and the governor warned residents of a missile attack on the Black Sea territory.

"I ask the residents of the region to stay in shelters," Maksym Marchenko said.

The eastern region of Kharkiv was also struck, governor Oleg Synegubov said, leaving three people injured.

President Volodymyr Zelensky published an amateur footage of the strike on Dnipro, calling Moscow a "terrorist state."

The Russian missiles cut power to seven million homes but were largely restored within hours.

Ukrainian energy company Ukrenergo, however, said that "a cold snap" had brought increased demand in regions where it was restored. "This has further complicated the already difficult situation," the company said.

Ukraine celebrated the recapture of Kherson, which was followed by the announcement from Russia that they were pulling out officials as Kyiv was bearing down.

Kyiv was fiercely critical of Russia a day after Western leaders said a missile hit Poland, and that it was likely an accident involving Ukrainian air defenses.

The missile killed two people in the village of Przewodow near the Ukrainian border on Tuesday, shocking NATO member Poland.

Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, however, appeared to roll back Kyiv's position that it was a Russian missile that struck Poland following a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "We share the view that Russia bears full responsibility for its missile terror," Kuleba said on Twitter.

Russia said images from the impact site showed a missile fired by Kyiv and it had targeted sites 35 kilometers from Poland's border.