Russian strikes have caused mass blackouts in various regions of Ukraine, with more than a million people affected.
Officials in multiple areas on Saturday reported attacks on energy facilities and outages as engineers struggled to restore the network. Residents were advised by governors to stock up on water.
Moscow has since October 10 pummelled Ukraine's energy infrastructure, hitting at least half of the country’s thermal power generation and up to 40 per cent of the entire system.
Moscow has acknowledged targeting energy infrastructure but denies targeting civilians.
The latest round of missile attacks cut off power for more than a million people, presidential adviser Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.
Parts of Kyiv suffered power cuts into the evening, and a city official warned strikes could leave the capital without power and heat for “several days or weeks”.
As the war threatens to push into its ninth month, with winter fast approaching, there are fears people in Ukraine could freeze to death if energy supplies are severed.
In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian attacks had struck on a “very wide” scale. He pledged his military would improve on an already good record of downing missiles with help from its partners.
Moscow fears 'dirty bomb'
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday for the second time in three days and held a flurry of calls with three other counterparts from Nato countries.
Moscow provided no details on the conversation with Mr Austin, which came after the two men spoke on Friday for the first time since May. According to a Pentagon readout, the call came at the request of Mr Shoigu.
"Secretary Austin rejected any pretext for Russian escalation and reaffirmed the value of continued communication amid Russia’s unlawful and unjustified war against Ukraine,” the Pentagon said.
Mr Austin spoke with Mr Shoigu on Friday to "emphasize" the need for "maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine," the Pentagon said in a release.
The Russian defence ministry said of Mr Shoigu's call with French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu: "They discussed the situation in Ukraine which is rapidly deteriorating".
"It is trending towards further uncontrolled escalation," it said.
Mr Lecornu also said he spoke to Mr Shoigu on Sunday. Mr Shoigu told him of the Kremlin’s fears that Ukraine may use a “dirty bomb” on Russian territory.
He said he told Mr Shoigu that France will not get drawn into any form of escalation in Ukraine, especially regarding nuclear options. He said France is keen to see a peaceful resolution to the war and he plans to hold talks with his Ukrainian counterpart soon.
Previous Russian assertions that Ukraine might resort to using banned weapons such as biological arms have stirred concerns in the West that Moscow might be preparing to stage "false flag" attacks and blame them on Kyiv.
Mr Shoigu also spoke to Turkey's defence minister Hulusi Akar and the UK's defence minister Ben Wallace.
Britain said Mr Wallace had "refuted" claims by Mr Shoigu that Western countries were facilitating a plan by Kyiv to escalate the conflict.
Kherson residents told 'hang in there'
Civilians on Sunday continued to flee the Russian-occupied city of Kherson.
Footage filmed secretly showed people carrying bags preparing to board a passenger boat on the Dnipro river.
Russian-installed authorities in the area have urged people to leave the city.
In a message posted on Telegram, occupation authorities said “due to the tense situation at the front, the increased danger of massive shelling of the city and the threat of terrorist attacks, all civilians must immediately leave the city and cross to the [east] bank of the Dnipro!”
Residents have been arriving in the town of Oleshky on the opposite side of the river, laden down with boxes, bags and pets.
One woman said she “really didn't want to” leave Kherson where she had been working, but said the situation had changed her mind.
“We wanted to stay here in the region, but now we don't know,” she added.
The Ukrainian military said it was continuing to make gains on the battlefield, as its troops moved south through the Kherson region. The army said it had retaken at least two villages it claimed had been abandoned by Russian soldiers.
Kherson links Ukraine to the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram: “Kherson region! Just a little bit more. Hang in there. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are at work.”
Russian fighter jet crashes
A Russian military jet crashed into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk on Sunday, killing the two pilots, officials said.
It was the second such fatal incident in six days involving a Sukhoi fighter plane.
In a post on Telegram, Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev said the plane crashed into a two-storey house in the city. He published a video showing firefighters clambering over the wreckage and directing jets of water at the still smouldering rubble.
No one on the ground was hurt, the governor said.
Officials said the plane was a Sukhoi Su-30 fighter on a test flight. Last Monday, a Sukhoi Su-34 crashed into an apartment block in the southern city of Yeysk, near Ukraine, and at least 15 people were killed.
Videos of Sunday's incident shared on social media showed the plane dived almost vertically before crashing in a fireball, sending dense black smoke into the sky.
Russia's state Investigative Committee said it had launched a criminal investigation into violations of air safety rules.
Ukraine war latest — in pictures
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Smoke rises on the outskirts of the city during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters -
Workers surround the Monument to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred with sandbags against damage from shelling in Mykolaiv. EPA -
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for talks before a meeting between the Russian president and the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Russia. AFP -
People take water from a water pump in Kyiv. EPA -
A woman walks past a damaged building in the town of Nova Kakhovka. Reuters -
A woman outside her home, which was destroyed during battles at the start of the conflict, in Yahidne, Chernihiv. Getty Images -
People shelter inside a subway station during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters -
Firefighters at the site of a drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A woman walks past the site of a Russian missile strike in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. Reuters -
Rescuer workers at a building destroyed in an attack in Mykolaiv. Reuters -
Parts of a drone lie on a street in Kyiv. Reuters -
A drone flies over the Ukrainian capital during an attack. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen tow a captured Russian armoured vehicle in Rudneve village, Kharkiv. EPA -
A partially destroyed residential building in Saltivka, in Kharkiv. AP -
Ukrainian servicemen fire a captured Russian howitzer on a front line near Kupyansk city, Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen near the recently retaken town of Lyman in Donetsk region. AFP -
An officer from a Ukrainian national police emergency demining team prepares to detonate collected anti-tank mines and explosives near Lyman, in the Donetsk region. AFP -
A boy playing on a destroyed Russian tank on display in Kyiv. AFP -
A young couple hiding underground during an air alert in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
Ukrainian firefighters looking for survivors after a strike in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
Workers fix a banner reading 'Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson - Russia!' to the State Historical Museum near Red Square in Moscow. AFP -
Residents try to cross a destroyed bridge in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. AFP -
Alyona Kishinskaya helps to clean up a shop as it prepares to reopen in Balakiya, Ukraine, after a six-month Russian occupation. Getty Images -
Alla, 12, has a swinging time in Balakiya, Ukraine, as life goes on despite the war. Getty Images -
Ukrainian flags in the town square in Balakiya. Getty Images -
A destroyed Russian command centre in Izium, Ukraine. Getty Images -
In what may be a final farewell, young Russian recruits - escorted by their wives - walk to a train station in Volgograd before being sent to war in Ukraine. AP -
Russian recruits board the train to Ukraine in Volgograd. AP -
Ukrainian soliders drive a tank at the recently retaken eastern side of the Oskil River in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. AFP -
Volunteers pass boxes of food aid on a destroyed bridge over the Oskil River. AFP -
Ukrainian soliders rest on an armoured personnel carrier. AFP -
A sign warns of landmines in Izyum, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
This crater was left after a missile strike in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. AFP
