Russia has launched a fresh wave of missile strikes on several regions of Ukraine, a day after bombing multiple cities, including Kyiv, and killing at least 19 people as reprisals for a blast at the weekend that destroyed the only bridge between Moscow-annexed Crimea and mainland Russia.
Following the latest escalation in Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialized countries in a video meeting to urgently provide Kyiv with anti-aircraft weapons to defend itself from Russian missiles.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on October 11 that its forces had renewed strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities.
The Russian military "continued to deliver mass strikes with high-precision, long-rage... weapons against military command facilities and the energy system of Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement adding that "all assigned targets were hit."
Ukrainian media reported that 20 rockets landed on the morning of October 11.
The authorities in Ukraine's southern region of Zaporizhzhya reported 12 rocket attacks, while blasts were also reported near Kyiv and the western city of Khmelnytskiy.
In Kyiv, air-raid sirens went off again, prompting people to seek safety in emergency shelters.
Areas of the Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsya, Mykolayiv, and Rivne regions were also under fire.
In the Vinnytsya region, southwest of Kyiv, a thermal power station was attacked with combat drones. There were no casualties, the power plant's press office said.
Explosions were heard in Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovy reported on October 11. "Explosions are heard in Lviv. There are problems with electricity," he said.
On October 10, Ukrainian authorities counted more than 80 Russian attacks by land, sea, and air. Many were averted by air defenses.
Ahead of the G7 meeting, U.S. President Joe Biden pledged continued support for Kyiv in a call with Zelenskiy on October 10 and vowed to hold Russia accountable for what he called "its war crimes and atrocities."
"President Biden pledged to continue providing Ukraine with the support needed to defend itself, including advanced air-defense systems," the White House said in a statement on October 10.
WATCH: Ukraine reported dozens of missile strikes across its territory, including the capital, Kyiv, in a significant escalation of Russian attacks on October 10.
In an earlier statement, Biden said that the strikes demonstrated the "utter brutality" of the war started by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The strikes "may have violated the principles of the conduct of hostilities under international humanitarian law," Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN human rights office, told reporters in Geneva on October 11.
"Intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, that is objects which are not military objectives, amounts to a war crime," she added.
During an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly that came just hours after the Russian strikes, Ukraine's ambassador on October 10 denounced Russia as a "terrorist state."
"Russia has proven once again that it is a terrorist state that must be deterred in the strongest possible ways," Ambassador Serhiy Kyslytsya said.
Missile Strikes Target At Least 10 Ukrainian Cities As Zelenskiy Accuses Russia Of 'Terrorism'
The 193-member UN General Assembly decided on October 10 to hold a public vote, rather than a secret ballot, on a draft resolution that would condemn Russia's "illegal so-called referenda" held in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya regions, as well as Russia's "attempted illegal annexation" of the territories.
Diplomats said the vote on the resolution would likely be held on October 12.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on October 11 that Moscow was open to talks with the West on the Ukraine war but had yet to receive any serious proposal to negotiate.
In an interview on state TV, Lavrov said officials, including White House national-security spokesman John Kirby, had said that the United States was open to talks but that Russia had refused.
"This is a lie," Lavrov said. "We have not received any serious offers to make contact."
Lavrov added that Russia would not turn down a meeting between Putin and Biden at a forthcoming G20 meeting and would consider the proposal if it receives one.
Kyiv, which has retaken large swaths of Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine's south and east in recent weeks, has ruled out negotiations with Putin, saying that Russia is making unacceptable demands and that Putin's actions have made talks impossible.
