October 10, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

China has expressed hope that the situation in Ukraine will be “de-escalated soon,” following apparent Russian strikes on the capital Kyiv on Monday. 

Speaking during the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs daily briefing in Beijing on Monday, Chinese MOFA spokesperson Mao Ning said China had noted reports of both the explosion on the Kerch bridge linking Crimea with mainland Russia on Saturday and Monday’s strikes on Kyiv. 

Mao reiterated China’s position on the situation in Ukraine, stressing China has “always maintained that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected.” 

India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar declined on Monday to say whether New Delhi will vote to condemn Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory in a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session this week.

“As a matter of prudence and policy, we don’t predict our votes in advance,” Jaishankar said at a news conference with Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong in Canberra. Jaishankar is visiting Australia for the annual Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue.

The UNGA is expected to vote on Wednesday on a resolution that condemns Russia's recent annexation of Ukrainian provinces, which it says violates international law

Some context: Although Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin last month that “today’s era is not of war,” India has repeatedly abstained from votes condemning Russia at the United Nations.

India has kept buying Russian oil, coal and fertilizer throughout the conflict and in August, took part in Russia’s large-scale Vostok military exercises alongside China, Belarus, Mongolia and Tajikistan, where Moscow paraded its vast arsenal.

Authorities in Sumy, in the northeast of Ukraine, say there are power outages across the region following missile attacks Monday.

Power cuts were reported in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Monday following an explosion "at a critical infrastructure facility," Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi posted on Telegram.

Standby power generators at several pumping stations were started to restore the water supply, he added.

Sadovyi urged residents to stay in shelters.

The wave of missile and rocket attacks Monday across Ukraine appears to have been in part directed at power plants, bridges and other civilian infrastructure. In addition to Lviv, attacks were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk.

Train traffic on all subway lines is suspended in Kyiv, the city’s official Telegram account said on Monday morning. 

Underground stations are working as shelters, the post said.

Earlier, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister said the red line of Kyiv’s metro system is being used as a bomb shelter.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has advised residents to take shelter after explosions were reported in the capital. At least five people are dead and 12 injured, officials said.

Authorities in several Ukrainian cities are reporting rocket and missile attacks Monday morning.

In central Dnipropetrovsk, Valentyn Reznichenko, head of the regional military administration, said there had been a "massive rocket attack on the region. There are dead and wounded."

Authorities in northeastern Kharkiv also reported attacks. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv military administration, said there were explosions in the city.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said "initial reports indicate three strikes on Kharkiv."

"The impact was at an energy infrastructure facility. Some areas of the city lost power, there is no water supply," he said.

In the south, Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv region civil military administration, said Tu-95 bombers had launched waves of missile attacks, with 47 "projectiles" fired.  

Air defenses had shot down three rockets, he said. The Russians were also using Iranian-made attack drones, he added.

Explosions were also reported early Monday in the western city of Lviv and the capital, Kyiv, where at least five people were killed. Casualties were also reported in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia after a Russian missile strike destroyed an apartment block.

Explosions have been heard in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv this morning, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi posted on Telegram. 

Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv regional military administration, posted on Telegram to say “energy infrastructure facilities” had been hit. 

“Strikes on energy infrastructure facilities in the Lviv region were recorded,” he wrote. He asked residents to stay in shelters and warned there was a “threat of new missile attacks.”

It comes as Ukrainian officials report around five people were killed in apparent Russian strikes on Kyiv on Monday morning and as further casualties were reported following a Russian strike on a residential building in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

“Around five” people are dead after four apparent Russian strikes hit Ukraine’s capital Kyiv Monday morning, according to a Ukrainian official.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, also noted that 12 people were injured in the attacks.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has confirmed that strikes hit the Shevchenkivskyi and Solomianskyi districts of the city and advised residents to take shelter. CNN's teams on the ground have heard at least four explosions on Monday morning.

Amid multiple explosions in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities early Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was trying to annihilate Ukraine.

"They are trying to slaughter our people who are sleeping in their homes in Zaporizhzhia. They are trying to kill people who are on their way to work in Dnipro and Kyiv.

"All over Ukraine, the air raid sirens will not abate. Rockets continue to strike. Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded. I ask you: do not leave your shelters. Stay safe and take care of your families. Let's hang in there and be strong."

Some context: Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that strikes hit the Shevchenkivskyi and Solomianskyi districts of the city and advised residents to take shelter. CNN's teams on the ground have heard at least four explosions in the city on Monday morning.