• Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia has launched a “new massive strike” against Ukraine’s energy grid.
• He claims the attacks are on a “very large” scale, affecting Ukraine’s west, centre, south, and east.
• According to Kyiv, nearly 1.5 million households were without power.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia has launched a “new massive strike” against Ukraine’s energy grid.

He claimed the attacks were on a “very large” scale, affecting Ukraine’s west, centre, south, and east.

According to Kyiv, nearly 1.5 million households were without power.

However, Mr Zelensky stated that the majority of Russian missiles and drones were being shot down, and that such strikes would not halt a Ukrainian military advance.

“Of course, we do not yet have the technical ability to shoot down 100% of Russian missiles and attack drones. We will gradually come to this – with the help of our partners, I’m confident of this,” the Ukrainian leader said in his video address late on Saturday.

Since Monday last week, nearly a third of Ukraine’s power stations and other energy-generating facilities have been destroyed in a wave of air strikes.

The latest attacks have targeted the Cherkasy region, south-east of Kyiv, and the city of Khmelnytskyi, further west.

There were also reports of air strikes and power outages from Odesa in the south to Rivne and Lutsk in the north-west.

According to Ukrenergo, the national electricity operator, the strikes may have caused more damage than the intense bombardment earlier this month.

President Zelensky stated that 36 rockets were launched on Saturday, with the majority of them being shot down.

Later, in his evening address, he stated that officials had restored power to multiple regions of the country that had been cut off as a result of the attack.