Ukraine residents fleeing the cold

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities had rendered the country’s power grid a “battlefield”, spurring a new wave of Ukrainians fleeing to European Union nations.

“Russia’s leadership has given the order to turn the energy system itself into a battlefield. The consequences of this are very dangerous, again for all of us in Europe,” Mr Zelensky said in an address.

Energy-saving measures are being put in place across Ukraine after Russian missile and drone strikes destroyed more than 30 per cent of the country’s power stations.

“Russia is provoking a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to EU countries,” Mr Zelensky added.

He said Russian strikes on Ukraine energy facilities were “aimed at creating as many electricity and heat problems as possible for Ukraine this fall and winter and for as many Ukrainians as possible to go to your countries”.

As a response to the attacks, the Ukrainian leader called for European countries to supply Kyiv’s military with more and sophisticated air defences and to hit Moscow with more economic penalties to limit Russia’s ability to fund its war.

In addition, he said a Ukrainian proposal for an international monitoring mission to be deployed on Ukraine’s border with Belarus was “becoming more relevant every day,” after the Ukrainian military warned of an increasing threat of a Russian attack being staged from Belarusian territory.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin visited a training centre for mobilised Russians for the first time since announcing a partial military call-up on September 21.

Russian state television showed Mr Putin visiting a shooting centre in the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, dressed in black, shooting a newly developed sniper rifle, and hugging military personnel.

Military officials also showed Mr Putin what mobilised men are equipped with, presenting him with a line of men, some of them with their rucksacks open to show what they are carrying.