Russia-Ukraine crisis: Kherson shelling increased; Moscow rejects Zelensky's peace plan

Air raid sirens rang across Ukraine as Russia unleashed a barrage of more than 100 missiles on Thursday morning, according to a Ukrainian presidential advisor. Blasts were heard in several cities, including the capital Kyiv.

"A massive air raid. More than 100 missiles in several waves," presidential office adviser Oleksiy Arestovych wrote on Facebook, and the head of Ukraine's Mykolaiv region also reported Russian missiles in the air.

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

Power cuts were announced in the Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk regions, aimed at minimising potential damage to the energy infrastructure.

The blitz came hard on the heels of the Kremlin's rejection of a Ukrainian peace plan, insisting that Kyiv accept Russia's annexation of four regions.

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

On Wednesday, the shelling hit the maternity wing of a hospital, though no-one was hurt, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, President Volodymyr Zelensky's deputy chief of staff. Staff and patients were moved to a shelter, Tymoshenko said in a post on Telegram.

"It was frightening ... the explosions began abruptly, the window handle started to tear off ... oh, my hands are still shaking," Olha Prysidko, a new mother, said.

"When we came to the basement, the shelling wasn't over. Not for a minute."

Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.

Zelensky, in a video address, urged Ukrainians to hug loved ones, tell friends they appreciate them, support colleagues, thank their parents and rejoice with their children more often.

"We have not lost our humanity, although we have endured terrible months," he said.

"And we will not lose it, although there is a difficult year ahead."

The Russia-Ukraine conflict began on February 24. Kyiv and its Western allies have denounced Russia's actions as an imperialist-style land grab. Russian President Vladimir Putin calls it a "special military operation" to demilitarise its neighbour.

Sweeping sanctions have been imposed on Russia for the conflict, which has killed thousands of people, driven millions from their homes, left cities in ruins, and shaken the global economy, driving up energy and food prices.

Russian gas exports to Europe via pipelines collapsed to a post-Soviet low in 2022 as its largest customer cut imports due to the Ukraine conflict, and a major pipeline was damaged by mysterious blasts, Gazprom data and Reuters calculations show.

'Today's realities'

There is still no prospect of talks to end the conflict.

Zelensky has been vigorously pushing a 10-point peace plan that envisages Russia respecting Ukraine's territorial integrity and pulling out all its troops.

However, Moscow dismissed it on Wednesday, reiterating that Kyiv was to accept Russia's annexation of the four regions — Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south.

There can be no peace plan "that does not take into account today's realities regarding Russian territory, with the entry of four regions into Russia", Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Zelensky's idea of driving Russia out of eastern Ukraine and Crimea with Western help and getting Moscow to pay damages to Kyiv was an "illusion", the RIA news agency reported.

TASS cited Lavrov as saying that Russia would continue to build up its fighting strength and technological capabilities in Ukraine. He said that Moscow's mobilised troops had undergone "serious training" and while many were now on the ground, the majority were not yet at the front.

Zelensky told the parliament to remain united and praised Ukrainians for helping the West "find itself again".

"Our national colours are today an international symbol of courage and indomitability of the whole world," he said in an annual speech held behind closed doors.

Kherson attacks

On the battlefront, Russia shelled more than 25 settlements around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Wednesday. The Kherson region, at the mouth of the Dnipro, serves as a gateway to Russian-annexed Crimea.

Heavy fighting persisted around the Ukrainian-held city of Bakhmut — situated in the eastern province of Donetsk — and to its north (around the cities of Svatove and Kreminna in Luhansk), where Ukrainian forces are trying to break Russian defensive lines.

Britain's defence ministry says that Russia has likely reinforced the Kreminna section of the frontline as it is logistically important and relatively vulnerable, following Ukrainian advances further west.

Kyiv-based military analyst Oleh Zhdanov noted that the Kharkiv city and region had also come under heavy attacks, which damaged a regional gas pipeline.

Kharkiv's Mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a Telegram post that the city had come under attack twice — "presumably" from Iranian Shahed drones — five of which Ukraine's eastern air command separately reported downing over the city of Dnipro.

Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports.

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