TOP HEADLINES

· Several regions of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, were experiencing power cuts after multiple strikes targeted energy facilities, local officials and agencies said. Many settlements in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, and parts of Dnipro city in central Ukraine were without electricity, while power was restored to the southern city of Mykolaiv after strikes overnight. 

· Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces had "destroyed" a third of Ukraine's power stations in repeated strikes that targeted energy infrastructure and caused blackouts across the country. "There were three strikes on a power supply facility on the left bank of Kyiv," Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office, said on social media.

· Russia said four Ukrainian regions whose integration it proclaimed last month are under the protection of its nuclear arsenal. Asked by reporters if the regions were under Moscow's nuclear umbrella, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "All these territories are inalienable parts of the Russian Federation and they are all protected. Their security is provided for at the same level as [it is for] the rest of Russia's territory." The UN General Assembly has called on Russia to reverse its "attempted illegal annexation" of the regions.

· Ukraine's state nuclear energy agency accused Russia of detaining two senior employees at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Energoatom said Russian forces "kidnapped" the head of information technology Oleg Kostyukov and the plant's assistant general director Oleg Osheka and "took them to an unknown destination". READ MORE BELOW

· At least 13 people, including three children, were killed after a Russian military plane crashed into a residential area of Yeysk, a town in southwest Russia near the border with Ukraine, Moscow authorities said. The ministry of emergency situations said in a statement that rescuers had completed the search of the rubble. Russia said a "technical malfunction" probably caused a military jet to crash.

· Moscow stepped up attacks across Ukraine, cutting electricity and killing eight people, including in drone strikes on the capital.

· Underwater images show at least 50 meters of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline has been destroyed or buried under the seafloor, following an explosion assumed to be from sabotage. In videos published by newspaper Expressen, a massive tear can be seen in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline 80 meters down. The Kremlin said on the investigations into blasts that damaged the gas pipelines appeared to have been set up with the intention of falsely blaming Russia.

· The United States warned it would take action against companies and nations working with Iran's drone program after Russia used the imports for deadly kamikaze strikes in Kyiv. "Anyone doing business with Iran that could have any link to UAVs or ballistic missile developments or the flow of arms from Iran to Russia should be very careful and do their due diligence - the U.S. will not hesitate to use sanctions or take actions against perpetrators," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters. The Kremlin denied its forces had used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.

· Canada announced new sanctions against 34 Russian journalists, actors and television presenters, as well as state-owned national TV Zvezda, calling them "propaganda agents" for their government. The list includes Vladimir Mashkov, best known in the West for his work in the films "Behind Enemy Lines" and "Mission Impossible," Pavel Gusev, editor-in-chief of the Moscow daily Moskovskij Komsomolets, and Kirill Kleimyonov, head of the news division at Russia's state-owned Channel One.

· Norwegian police said they arrested four Russians suspected of violating a photography ban, as the country fears possible sabotage at critical infrastructure sites. Norway is on high alert following several reports of mysterious drone sightings close to offshore oil and gas drilling platforms run by the major energy producer.

· The West should listen carefully when Russian President Vladimir Putin talks about using nuclear weapons but should remember that it is more useful for him to threaten their use than to go ahead, the head of Norway's armed forces told Reuters.

· Moscow's mayor said military mobilization in the Russian capital was now complete while St Petersburg sacked the official in charge there. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin thanked Muscovites for their sense of patriotism and told departing soldiers in a blog post: "We will hope and pray that you return alive and healthy."

IN DETAIL

Kyiv accuses Moscow of 'kidnapping' two senior Zaporizhzhia plant officials

Ukraine's state nuclear energy agency accused Russia of detaining two senior employees at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. 

In a statement on social media, Energoatom said Russian forces on Monday "kidnapped" the head of information technology Oleg Kostyukov and the plant's assistant general director Oleg Osheka and "took them to an unknown destination". 

Energoatom called on International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi "to make every effort" to secure their release. 

Russian troops captured the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant at the beginning of March. 

Ukraine has recently accused Russia of detaining several of the plant's employees. 

Last week Energoatom said Russia detained and mistreated the plant's deputy director general for human resources, Valeriy Martyniuk.

The energy agency has not released updates on Martyniuk's situation since then. 

In late September, the agency said Russia detained the chief of the power station, Ihor Murashov, for several days before releasing him on October 3.

The nuclear plant - Europe's largest atomic facility - is located in Russian-held territory of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, which Moscow has absorbed together with three other territories in Ukraine: Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson. The UN General Assembly has called on Russia to reverse its "attempted illegal annexation" of the regions.

Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame for months over shelling near the Russian-held facility, sparking fears of a nuclear disaster and spurring calls to demilitarize areas around atomic facilities in Ukraine.