Ukraine denounces Russia as a 'terrorist state' in urgent UN meeting following missile attacks

Ukraine will do everything to beef up its military, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed after Russia's biggest air attack since it invaded seven months ago.

Injured civilians are seen after several explosions rocked the Shevchenkivskyi district of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv on 10 October, 2022. Source: Getty / Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Key Points

• Ukraine denounced Russia as a "terrorist state" at an urgent United Nations General Assembly meeting.
• The UN called the debate to discuss Russia's declared annexation of four partly occupied Ukrainian regions.

Ukraine denounced Russia as a "terrorist state" at an urgent United Nations General Assembly meeting Monday following its neighbour's latest attacks, as Western powers sought to underscore Moscow's isolation.

The UN called the debate to discuss Russia's declared annexation of four partly occupied Ukrainian regions, but the debate was overshadowed by strikes on Kyiv and other cities in one of the most punishing assaults on Ukraine in months.

"Russia has proven once again that this is a terrorist state that must be deterred in the strongest possible ways," said Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine's ambassador to the UN in his opening remarks, adding his own immediate family had come under attack.

"Unfortunately, you can hardly call for a stable and sane peace as long as an unstable and insane dictatorship exists in your vicinity," he added.

The head of the Ukrainian military said that Russian forces launched at least 75 missiles at Ukraine on Monday morning, with fatal strikes targeting the capital Kyiv, and cities in the south and west. Source: Getty / SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images

Responding, Vasily Nebenzya of Russia did not directly address the missile strikes, but defended his country's annexation of Ukrainian regions.

"We are being accused when we are trying to protect our brothers and sisters in eastern Ukraine," he said.

Earlier, Ukraine vowed to strengthen its armed forces after Russia's aerial assaults.

The barrage of dozens of cruise missiles fired from air, land and sea was the most widespread wave of air strikes to hit away from the front line, at least since the initial volleys on the war's first day, 24 February.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered "massive" long-range strikes after an attack on the bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula at the weekend, and threatened more strikes in future if Ukraine hit Russian territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to US President Joe Biden on Monday and wrote on Telegram afterwards that air defence was the "number one priority in our defence co-operation".

"We will do everything to strengthen our armed forces," he said in a Monday night address.

"We will make the battlefield more painful for the enemy."

Mr Biden told Mr Zelenskyy the US will provide advanced air defence systems. The Pentagon said on 27 September it would start delivering the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System during the next two months or so.

Moscow's attacks caused thousands of Ukrainians to race to bomb shelters as air raid sirens rang out.

Mr Zelenskyy said 12 people were killed and officials have reported scores of injured after the assaults.

The attacks were deliberately timed to kill people and knock out Ukraine's power grid, he said. His prime minister reported 11 major infrastructure targets were hit in eight regions, leaving parts of the country with no electricity, water or heat.

A fireman helps injured civilians after several explosions rocked the Shevchenkivskyi district of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv on 10 October , 2022. Source: Getty / Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

As it tried to end blackouts, Ukraine halted electricity exports to the European Union, at a time when the continent already faces surging power prices that have stoked inflation, hampered industrial activity and caused sky-high consumer bills.

The Kremlin's air strikes come three days after a blast damaged the bridge it built after seizing Crimea in 2014. Russia blamed Ukraine and called the deadly explosion "terrorism".

"To leave such acts without a response is simply impossible," said Mr Putin, alleging other, unspecified attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.

Ukraine, which views the bridge as a military target sustaining Russia's war effort, celebrated the blast without claiming responsibility.

With troops suffering weeks of setbacks on the battlefield, Russian authorities have been facing the first sustained public criticism at home of the war, with commentators on state television demanding ever tougher measures.

Since early September, Ukrainian forces have burst through front lines and recaptured territory.

Mr Putin responded by ordering a mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of reservists, proclaiming the annexation of occupied territory and threatening repeatedly to use nuclear weapons.

On Saturday, Russia's defence ministry named General Sergei Surovikin, who won acclaim in Syria, as commander of Russian forces in Ukraine. A Russian air campaign in Syria helped the government crush its enemies.

Russia says it is waging a "special military operation" in Ukraine to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and the West describe Russia's actions as an unprovoked war of aggression.

Ukraine's defence ministry said Russia had staged at least 84 missile and air strikes, and Ukraine's air defences had destroyed 43 cruise missiles and 13 drones.

In another sign of possible escalation, Mr Putin's closest ally, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, said he had ordered troops to deploy jointly with Russian forces near Ukraine, which he accused of planning attacks on Belarus with its Western backers.

Russia used Belarus as a staging ground early in the war but Mr Lukashenko has not sent in his troops.