<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Russia has fired a barrage of missiles at targets across Ukraine for the eighth time in eight weeks.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Significant disruption to the power grid was reported, mainly in the east. In the south, Odesa was without power. Ukraine says four people were killed.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">But the strikes, which came nearly two weeks after the last, may have done less damage than on previous occasions.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Ukraine says it shot down 60 of the 70 missiles fired by Russia. Moscow says it hit all 17 of its targets.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In his video address late on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes had also hit electricity supplies in neighbouring Moldova.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"This once again proves that Russia's ability to carry out such massive terrorist attacks is a threat not only to Ukraine, but also to our entire region."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Previous Russian attacks have hit Ukraine's energy grid, leaving millions without electricity and heat as winter arrives.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Warnings that Russia was planning a fresh wave of attacks have been circulating for several days. They eventually arrived just hours after a series of explosions at two airbases deep inside Russia, which Moscow blamed on Ukrainian drones intercepted by Russian air-defences.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Three servicemen were killed and two aircraft were lightly damaged in the explosions, Russia's defence ministry said. Ukraine has yet to comment.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">For Ukraine's hard-pressed electrical engineers, Monday's missile strikes are likely to mean another round of emergency repairs, often to facilities hit repeatedly in recent weeks.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Before today's strikes, officials in Kyiv were talking about moving from highly disruptive emergency blackouts, which often last for many hours, to more manageable scheduled power cuts which offer civilians some badly needed predictability.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Those plans may now be on hold, but it seems Monday's damage could be less extensive than in previous attacks.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Another striking feature of the latest Russian strikes is the apparent absence of Iranian-made "kamikaze" drones.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Ukrainian officials recently said Russia had used up its supply of the unmanned vehicles. Another Ukrainian military official said cold weather had prevented Russia from deploying them.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Either way, they do not appear to have been used since mid-November.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Russia began its large-scale, co-ordinated attacks on Ukraine's power grid on 10 October. Since then, around half of the country's energy infrastructure has been damaged, leaving millions of Ukrainians disconnected from electricity just as winter temperatures dropped below zero.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Some Western leaders have called the strategy a war crime, because of the huge amount of damage caused to civilian infrastructure. Attacks on power grids are not necessarily violations of international law, but they do have to be proportionate to any military advantage gained.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Experts have told the BBC that Russia's tactic of hitting energy infrastructure is most likely designed to demoralise and terrorise the population, rather than gain any concrete military advantage. This would be a violation of international law, as set out by Addition Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>