Ukraine claims gains near Kherson as Nato allies send air defence systems

After 48 hours of Ukrainian cities coming under heavy fire, the government in Kyiv could celebrate positive news from both the frontlines and its diplomatic efforts to secure ground-to-air systems.

Russia fired more than 80 cruise missiles and 24 drones into Ukraine during the morning rush hour on Monday and continued to attack cities and critical infrastructure across the country on Tuesday.

Vladimir Putin had suggested in remarks following the mass strikes that the attacks were a response to the explosions on the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by the Kremlin in 2014.

He called for people to reduce power consumption from 5pm to 10pm across Ukraine by 25% in order to stabilise the power system.

Western sources suggested, however, that there was a shortage of equipment among allies to offer to Ukraine.

The continued progress of Ukrainian forces in the Kherson region is nevertheless a major boost, although the government said the Russians were continuing to hammer the southern frontlines hard.

A senior Nato official claimed that Russia had depleted a significant proportion of its precision-guided ammunition in its invasion and that its industry could not produce a number of key types of ammunition and weapon systems due to western sanctions.

The official, quoted by Reuters, said he did not know how long it would take for Russia to mobilise the 300,000 troops Moscow is aiming for, and suggested it could take a few months.

Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk are four regions that Putin recently announced to some fanfare had been annexed by Russia, a move condemned as illegal under international law. The fighting in those regions continues, however.

At least seven people were killed and eight injured in a Russian strike on a crowded market in the town of Avdiivka, the governor of the eastern Donetsk region said on Wednesday.