Russia-Ukraine war live: explosions in Kyiv as strikes across Ukraine cause blackouts | Ukraine

Kyiv’s mayor has reported that Russia has struck Kyiv during its latest mass strikes accoss Ukraine.

“Explosions in the Holosiiv district of the capital. All services follow in place. More details later,” Kyiv’s Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said on Telegram a few minutes ago.

The Kyiv Post is reporting that one of its journalists has heard explosions in the city amid air raid warnings. The Guardian has not verified this independently.

Asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer whether the US will send Ukraine F-16 fighter jets Zelensky said, “The fighter jets issue is difficult. We’re waiting for this decision to be taken.”

“We really need this and really appeal to the president that they could start training Ukrainian pilots, and President Biden told me that it will be worked upon … I believe that the United States will give us the opportunity to defend our skies,” Zelensky said.

Zelenskiy invited top US house speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, to visit Ukraine as doubts over support for Kyiv’s war efforts simmer in Congress, particularly among conservatives.

Zelensky proposed the visit in the interview with CNN.

When told of the invitation McCarthy told CNN’s Manu Raju that he does not plan to visit Ukraine, and argued that President Joe Biden has not acted quickly enough to aid the country. McCarthy, a California Republican, has said he supports Ukraine but does not support “a blank check,” a position he repeated on Tuesday – even though there is federal oversight of all the dollars that are spent there.

Zelenskiy appeared on CNN this evening in the US, in a pre-recorded interview.

When asked by Wolf Blitzer what it would take to get him to meet with Putin, Zelenskiy said, “We don’t have any circumstances to talk to the Russian Federation president because he doesn’t hold his word”.

“We don’t have any confidence in him,” Zelensky added.

“Russia should leave our territory. And after that, we’re happy to join the diplomatic tools. In order to do that, we can find any format with our partners just after that”.

Russian strikes hit a series of Ukrainian regions early on Thursday, including the Black Sea port of Odesa and Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, knocking out power to several areas, Reuters reported, citing regional officials.

The governor of Odesa region, Maksym Marchenko, said on Telegram that a mass missile attack had hit an energy facility in the port city, triggering power cuts. Residential areas had also been hit, but no casualties were reported.

Kharkiv region governor Oleh Synehubov said the city and region had been hit by 15 strikes, with targets including infrastructure. Other strikes were reported in the central city of Dnipro and regions throughout the country.

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest.

It’s 5am local time in Kyiv, and we have reports of strikes across Ukraine, including the Black Sea port of Odesa and Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, knocking out power to several areas, regional officials said.

The governor of Odesa region, Maksym Marchenko, said on Telegram that a mass missile attack had hit an energy facility in the port city, triggering power cuts.

We’ll have more news shortly. In the meantime here are the key recent developments in the war:

• The city of Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s east, could fall in the next few days, said Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg. “What we see is that Russia is throwing more troops, more forces and what Russia lacks in quality they try to make up in quantity. They have suffered big losses, but at the same time, we cannot rule out that Bakhmut may eventually fall in the coming days,” he said.

• The founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, which has been leading the Russian assault on Bakhmut, has said Russian forces now fully control the east of the city. The claims have not been independently verified. The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in its Wednesday morning report: “The enemy, despite significant losses, continues to storm the town of Bakhmut.”

• Russia is unlikely to capture significantly more territory this year, according to the US director of national intelligence, Avril Haines. She told a Senate hearing that the military will probably be unable to carry on its current level of fighting, even with the possible capture of Bakhmut.

• The Pentagon has been accused of blocking the sharing of US intelligence with the international criminal court (ICC) about Russian war crimes in Ukraine. The defence department is said to be firmly opposed to using the Hague-based ICC, as a means of holding Russian forces accountable for widespread war crimes on the grounds that the precedent could eventually be turned against US soldiers.

• Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has invited top US house speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Ukraine as doubts over support for Kyiv’s war efforts simmer in Congress, particularly among conservatives. Zelensky proposed the visit in an interview with CNN.

• Zelensky has also called for “democratic success” in Georgia where thousands of protesters have rallied for a second day, against a controversial “foreign agent” bill, reminiscent of Russian legislation used to silence critics. “There is no Ukrainian who would not wish success to our friendly Georgia. Democratic success. European success,” he said in his evening address to the nation.

• The US obtained a warrant to seize a Boeing aircraft owned by Russian oil company Rosneft that is valued at over $25m, the Justice Department said. The District Court for the Eastern District of New York authorised the seizure, based on violations of export controls and sanctions against Russia, the Justice Department said.

• In a visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, UN secretary general, António Guterres, told journalists it was “critical” that a deal that allows safe passage for ships carrying grain out of Ukraine across the Black Sea be renewed, with Ukraine traditionally being one of the world’s largest exporters of grain. A senior UN trade official will meet Russian representatives to discuss the extension of the deal.

• European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on Wednesday he had suggested the bloc spend €1bn for the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine and to refill their own stockpiles. “I propose to mobilise another €1bn,” Reuters reported he told the media after a meeting of EU defence ministers in Stockholm.

• Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg said that it was still uncertain who carried out the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September last year, and that national investigations needed to be allowed to finish.

• German officials announced that they searched a ship in January that they believe many have been used to transport explosives used in the sabotage. Germany has the lead role in the investigation.

• Intelligence reviewed by US officials suggested a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022, the New York Times has reported. There was no evidence President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, or his top lieutenants were involved, or that the perpetrators were acting at the direction of any Ukrainian government officials, said the report, citing US officials.