Russia Ukraine war latest: Putin ‘fearing for life’ after Kherson retreat, says Kyiv aide

The entire Kyiv region is without electricity after Russian air strikes targeted critical infrastructure, according to Oleksii Kuleba, head of the regional military administration.

And Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on the Telegram messaging app that water supply had been cut off.

Russia‘s parliament has passed a first reading of a bill to extend Moscow’s package of anti-sanctions regulation, the TASS news agency reported.

The bill needs to pass three readings in the State Duma before going to Russia‘s upper house and to president Vladimir Putin for final approval.

A nude effigy of Russian president Vladimir Putin perched on top of an ornate golden toilet has been put up for auction by a group of Czech activists who plan to use the proceeds from the sale to buy and send a combat drone to Ukraine’s forces.

Parodying a monarch holding an orb and sceptre, the Russian leader grips a glided toilet brush and minature washing machine pouring with what appears to be fake blood.

“Naked Killers”, which also features Mr Putin’s close ally and Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, was initially created to critique the Russian leader’s opulent lifestyle, and has been adorned with several different props to reflect the changing circumstance of his rule since it was unveiled last year.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed a decision by the European Parliament on Wednesday to designate Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism.”

“Russia must be isolated at all levels and held accountable in order to end its long-standing policy of terrorism in Ukraine and across the globe,” Mr Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that one of the capital’s “infrastructure objects” had been struck during a Russian missile strike on Wednesday.

Witnesses also reported hearing explosions on the outskirts of Kyiv, Reuters says.

The European Parliament has overwhelmingly backed a resolution calling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism for its invasion of and actions in Ukraine.

In a 494-58 vote with 48 abstentions, the EU legislature sought to increase pressure on Moscow to bring anyone responsible for war crimes committed from the start of the invasion before an international court.

The 27-nation EU has condemned in the harshest terms the invasion and repeatedly said that several Russian actions over the past 10 months have amounted to war crimes.

An air-raid alert was issued across all Ukraine on Wednesday and Interfax Ukraine news agency reported explosions in several regions of southern and southeastern Ukraine, citing local channels in the Telegram messaging app.

Russian forces have increasingly targeted Ukrainian critical infrastructure in recent weeks as they faced setbacks on the battlefield following their invasion.

The former prime minister risked deeply offending European allies in his assessment of their attitudes to the impending war in an interview with CNN.

While acknowledging the EU is now providing staunch support to Kyiv, Mr Johnson claimed that there were deep rifts between their approaches as Vladimir Putin massed Russian troops near the Ukrainian border last winter.

Political editor Andrew Woodcock reports:

A two-day-old baby boy has been killed after a Russian missile struck a hospital in southern Ukraine, the region’s governor has said.

The artillery fire hit a maternity ward in the city of Vilniansk, Zaporizhzhia, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Oleksandr Starukh posted on Telegram.

“At night, Russian monsters launched huge rockets at the small maternity ward of the hospital in Vilniansk,” Mr Starukh said. “Grief fills our hearts,” he added. “A baby who has just appeared in the world has been killed.”

The newborn’s mother was, however, rescued from the rubble, reports say.

Pope Francis has likened the suffering of Ukrainians now to the 1930s “genocide artificially caused by Stalin,” when the Soviet leader was blamed for creating a man-made famine in the country believed to have killed more than 3 million people.

In comments at the end of his weekly Wednesday general audience, Francis renewed calls for prayers for the “terrible suffering for the dear and martyred Ukrainian people.”

He recalled that Saturday marks the 90th anniversary of the start of the famine, which Ukraine commemorates every fourth Saturday of November with a Day of Memory.

“Saturday begins the anniversary of the terrible genocide of the Holodomor, the extermination by starvation artificially caused by Stalin between 1932-1933,” Francis said.

“Let us pray for the victims of this genocide and let us pray for so many Ukrainians — children, women, elderly, babies — who today are suffering the martyrdom of aggression.”