A settlement near Kyiv has been hit by air strikes, according to the region's governor and his administration, as Russia intensifies its attacks on Ukraine.
Three drones operated by Russian forces attacked the town of Makariv, 55 kilometres west of Ukraine's capital, early on Thursday with officials saying critical infrastructure facilities were struck by what they said were Iran-made suicide drones.
"There was an overnight drones bombardment by invaders on the Makariv community," Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv region police, said on the Telegram messaging app.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The governor of the Kyiv region, Oleksiy Kuleba, said on the Telegram messaging app that, based on preliminary information, the strikes were caused by Iranian-made loitering munitions.
These weapons are often known as "kamikaze drones".
Mr Kuleba said that emergency services were working at the site.
Ukraine has reported a spate of Russian attacks with Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks.
Iran denies supplying the drones to Russia, while the Kremlin has not commented.
In one day, 40 Ukrainian targets hit
In the past 24 hours, Russian missiles hit more than 40 settlements, while Ukraine's air force carried out 32 strikes on 25 Russian targets, Ukraine's Armed Forces General Staff said.
Mayor of the port city of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Senkevich, said in a social media post that the southern city had been "massively shelled".
"A five-storey residential building was hit, the two upper floors were completely destroyed, the rest is under rubble. Rescuers are working on the site," he said.
A shipbuilding centre and a port on the Southern Bug River, off the Black Sea, Mykolaiv has suffered heavy Russian bombardments throughout the war.
The latest attacks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kazakhstan to attend the meetings of several regional bodies.
Mr Putin is set to attend the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) on Thursday, alongside a number of Asian leaders, including Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan.
He is expected to have two-way meetings with Mr Erdogan and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
'Third world war' if Ukraine joins NATO
The deputy secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Alexander Venediktov, has warned that the admission of Ukraine to NATO could result in a third world war.
Mr Venediktov made the startling claim in an interview with the state TASS news agency on Thursday.
"Kyiv is well aware that such a step would mean a guaranteed escalation to a World War III," TASS cited Venediktov as saying.
"Apparently, that's what they are counting on — to create informational noise and draw attention to themselves once again."
Mr Venediktov also repeated a Russian position that the West, by helping Ukraine, indicated that "they are a direct party to the conflict".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a surprise bid for fast-track membership of the NATO military alliance at the end of September, after Mr Putin held a ceremony in Moscow to proclaim the four partially occupied regions as annexed Russian land.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainians continue to suffer hardship due to the Russian invasion, which began in February.
The residents of Izium, in eastern Ukraine, have been living with no gas, electricity or running water supply since the beginning of September.
Russian nuclear fuel to power plant
TASS also reported that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant would switch to Russian nuclear fuel after it has used up its current reserve, citing an official with Russia's nuclear power operator, Rosenergoatom.
"The fuel that is in operation will be used up … ours will be used in the future," Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the general director of Rosenergoatom, told TASS.
Earlier, three-quarters of the 193-member General Assembly — 143 countries — voted in favour of a resolution that called Moscow's move illegal, deepening Russia's international isolation.
Only four countries joined Russia in voting against the resolution: Syria, Nicaragua, North Korea and Belarus.
Of the remaining countries, 35 abstained from the vote — including Russia's strategic partner, China — while the rest did not vote.
Wires/ABC
