36 rockets launched in a ‘massive attack’ on Ukraine, says Zelenskiy; Russia targets energy facilities in western Ukraine

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The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that Russia launched 36 rockets in a “massive attack” on Ukraine. In a post on Telegram he said that most of the missiles fired overnight were shot down by the country’s air defence systems.

Russian military forces carried out another missile attack targeting energy facilities in western Ukraine, the country’s power grid operator said today. In a message on Telegram, Ukrenergo said that the “scale of damage is comparable or may exceed the consequences of the attack on October 10-12”. It said that crews are starting to repair the facilities after the rocket attack, but that restrictions are in place as they try to restore the electricity supply.

Hundreds of thousands of people in central and western Ukraine woke up today to power outages and periodic bursts of gunfire, as Ukrainian air defence tried to shoot down drones and incoming missiles. Kira Rudik, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, says 1.5 million people are without electricity after Russian strikes against power stations on Saturday.

Iran’s foreign ministry has strongly condemned a call by France, Germany and Britain for the UN to probe accusations that Russia has used drones from Iran to attack Ukraine. Ukraine says that Russia has used Iranian-made Shahed-136 attack drones. If true, the allegations would mark a breach of UN security council resolution 2231.

Ukrainian forces have bombarded Russian positions in the occupied Kherson region, targeting resupply routes across a major river while inching closer on Friday to a full assault on the key city. Associated Press reported that Russian-installed officials were said to be desperately trying to turn Kherson city – a prime objective for both sides because of its key industries and major river and seaport – into a “fortress” while attempting to evacuate tens of thousands of residents.

The Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, warned today that Russia using nuclear weapons would be seen as an “act of hostility against humanity”. Kishida, who leads the only country ever hit with a nuclear bomb, described President Vladimir Putin’s sabre rattling as “deeply disturbing”.

Spain on Saturday said it would send 14 fighter jets to Bulgaria and Romania to bolster NATO’s eastern flank as the defence alliance strengthens its deterrence capacity following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Iranian advisers helping Russia on the ground in Crimea, says US; Moscow-backed officials ‘evacuate’ people from Kherson

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UK implements new sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with drones; Ukrainians prepare for hours-long power outages. This live blog is now closed

• At a glance: what we know on day 239 of the invasion

Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, has posted a status update for Thursday which says that yesterday two people died and four more were injured when “a car with employees of the state emergency service was blown up by a mine” in the Izium district.

He also said “a 78-year-old resident of Izium district was hospitalised with injuries during the day”.

It is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com

It likely indicates that the Russian authorities are seriously considering a major withdrawal of their forces from the area west of the Dnipro river.

A key challenge of any Russian withdrawal operation would be extracting troops and their equipment across the 1000m wide river in good order.

Russian president says four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia will be put under martial law

• What we know on day 238 of the invasion

If you look hard enough, you’ll spot faded yellow signs proclaiming “fallout shelter” around New York City. They are remnants of a cold war programme that signalled spaces within ordinary buildings – from schools to banks to the Brooklyn Bridge – with adequate supplies and walls thick enough for riding out a nuclear blast safely.

Many of these windowless shelters housed little more than rats and sewage before the practice was terminated in 1979. In 2017, the city’s department of education ordered the “misleading” signs removed from its buildings, but many others remain – vestiges of nuclear fears that never materialised.