Kyiv warns of disaster over Moscow's attacks on energy facilities

Russia's escalating attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure could spark a major "humanitarian catastrophe" as the war-battered country braces for the arrival of snow and cold, the government in Kyiv said on Saturday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had fired another 36 missiles at Ukraine on Saturday. "The aggressor continues to terrorize our country," he said in remarks from Kyiv.

Many of them were shot down by air defences but others managed to strike energy facilities, he said, urging world powers to help "stop this terror."

He thanked energy service providers and grid operators who were in the process of rebuilding critical sites despite the risks. Some 40% of the country's energy infrastructure has already been destroyed, according to Kiev.

Some 1.5 million customers of the Ukrenergo power company were without electricity in the country, Zelensky's office said.

Ukrenergo spoke of severe damage caused by Russian attacks in the west of the country on Saturday. An energy facility in Luzk was hit hard and the supply failed, authorities said.

"By striking Ukraine's critical infrastructure, the Kremlin wants to provoke new refugees to flee to Europe," tweeted Zelensky adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.

"The only way to stop the humanitarian catastrophe," he wrote, is "to transfer air defence and additional missiles fast."

The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed a large number of missile attacks on several parts of Ukraine, sparking air raid alarms nationwide on Saturday.

Ukrainian authorities and media reported explosions in the north-western city of Rivne, in the greater Kyiv area and Odessa, among other regions.

Five missiles directed at Kiev had been intercepted, said the adviser to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Oleksii Arestovych.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal also warned of a new wave of refugees in light of the intensifying missile and drone strikes.

"If there is no more electricity, no more heating, no more water in Ukraine, this can trigger a new migration tsunami," he told the Sunday edition of Germany's broadsheet Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in comments seen in advance by DPA.

Shmyhal accused Russia of wanting to "plunge Ukraine into a humanitarian catastrophe" by attacking its civilian infrastructure.

In view of this, he asked for "mobile equipment to generate electricity and heat" as well as equipment for water treatment. Fuel for the generators is still available "at the moment ... but if there are large-scale power and heating failures, [Ukraine] will need more," including "electricity imports" from the West.