TOP HEADLINES

• A fresh barrage of Russian strikes battered Ukraine on Thursday, wounding at least three people including a teenager in Kyiv and cutting electricity in the west.

• Ukraine's military said it had shot down 54 missiles out of 69 launched by Russia in the latest wave of air strikes. "This morning, the aggressor launched air and sea-based cruise missiles, anti-aircraft guided missiles to the S-300 ADMS at energy infrastructure facilities of our country," wrote Ukraine's top general, Valery Zaluzhny, on Telegram.

• Kyiv authorities said on Thursday that air defenses downed all 16 missiles that targeted the Ukrainian capital.

• Belarus said a Ukrainian missile fell on its territory, raising fears of the conflict spilling over, with Russia sending investigators to establish the cause of the incident. 

• Russia will not use Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's 'peace formula' as a basis for negotiations and believes Kyiv is still not ready for real peace talks, Russia's RIA news agency cited Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying. Lavrov also told RIA that Kyiv's idea of driving Russia out of eastern Ukraine and Crimea with Western help was "an illusion."

• Russia's Gazprom said it would ship 42.4 million cubic meters of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Thursday, a similar volume to that reported in recent days.

• Russian forces increased mortar and artillery attacks on the city of Kherson more than six weeks after it was retaken by Ukrainian troops, while also exerting pressure along frontlines in the east, Ukraine's military said.

• President Zelenskyy declared Ukraine a "global leader" in a speech to parliament on Wednesday, telling lawmakers to remain united in the face of Russia's military action and praising his countrymen for helping the West "find itself again."

• Fighting in Ukraine is deadlocked, the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency has said. Kyrylo Budanov told the BBC that neither Ukraine nor Russia can make significant advances, while Kyiv waits for more advanced weapons from Western allies. "The situation is just stuck. It doesn't move," he said.

• The U.S. is stepping up its efforts to stop Iran from being able to supply drones to Russia, the New York Times reports.

IN DETAIL

Russian barrage hits Ukraine 

Russia fired dozens of missiles into Ukraine on Thursday morning, targeting the capital Kyiv where three people were wounded, the northeastern city of Kharkiv, and other cities in a large-scale aerial bombardment, Ukrainian authorities said.

Ukraine's Air Force said the attacks had involved sea and air-based cruise missiles fired "from different directions" and followed an overnight assault by 'kamikaze' drones. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak put the number of missiles fired at more than 120. Air raid sirens rang out across Ukraine.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said 16 missiles were shot down over the capital.

Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said officials were clarifying what had been hit and whether there were any casualties after the Russian missiles caused a series of explosions.

Lviv's mayor Andriy Sadovyi, said on Telegram that 90 percent of his city in western Ukraine was without electricity and that electric-powered public transport was not running.

Explosions were also heard in Zhytomyr and Odesa, according to a Reuters correspondent and local media reports.

Air defense units shot down 21 missiles in the Odesa region in southwest Ukraine, its governor Maksym Marcheno said. The fragments of one missile hit a residential building, though no casualties were reported, he added.

Power cuts were announced in Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions to minimise potential damage to energy infrastructure.

Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, but Ukraine says its daily bombardment is destroying cities, towns and the country's power, medical and other infrastructure.

Russian shelling hit the maternity wing of a hospital in the southern city of Kherson on Tuesday, although no-one was hurt, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, President Zelenskyy's deputy chief of staff. Staff and patients were moved to a shelter, Tymoshenko said in a post on Telegram