It marks the third large-scale combined strike in October on energy facilities in civilian areas – leading the major power outages.

At least two more civilians were killed – with 23 injured, including six children – in Zaporizhzhia, which was reportedly hit by over eight ballistic missiles and 20 drones.

A seven-year-old girl is among those killed in the central region of Vinnytsia.

Over 700 strikes

Thursday’s strikes were among the largest barrage since Russia’s invasion began in 2022, with 705 munitions reportedly deployed.

Danielle Belle, who heads the UN monitoring team, highlighted that if the pattern of attacks continues it would have “dangerous consequences” for civilians during the harsh winter months.

Ms Belle reiterated that these disruptions would disproportionately affect vulnerable groups – including elderly people, people with disabilities and families with younger children.

Ukrainian armed forces reportedly responded to Russian-long-range attacks with its own drone and missile strikes.

Nuclear testing ‘can never be permitted under any circumstances,’ UN reiterates

Responding to a statement from the United States President that his administration should start testing nuclear weapons again, the UN warned against proliferation on Thursday calling for a moratorium to remain in place.

The risk of nuclear war is “already alarmingly high,” Deputy UN Spokesperson Farhan Haq said in response to a question at the regular noon briefing in New York.

President Donald Trump said on social media that he had instructed the Pentagon “to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis,” in response to the testing by Russia of new nuclear delivery systems and the deployment by China of new ballistic missile silos, according to news reports.

China has reportedly not carried out a nuclear weapons test since 1996. The last confirmed test by Russia was in 1990.

Miscalculation and escalation

Mr. Haq said that any nuclear activity that “could lead to miscalculation or escalation with catastrophic consequences must be avoided. We shouldn't forget the disastrous legacy of over 2,000 nuclear weapons tests that have been carried out over the last 80 years.”

He added that from the Secretary-General's standpoint “nuclear testing can never be permitted under any circumstances.”

Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), said in a statement the treaty bans all nuclear explosions, while his agency “can and will detect any nuclear weapon test explosion anywhere on the planet and has successfully detected all six declared nuclear tests conducted this century.”

Mr. Floyd added that in this challenging moment there was “an opportunity for world leaders to step forward and work together, on an equal basis, towards the ratification of the CTBT and the shared goal of a world free from nuclear weapons testing.”

UN experts warn of rights violations in Nicaragua, urge protection for exiled citizens

A group of independent human rights experts are urging the international community to hold Nicaragua’s Government accountable for grave rights violations and international crimes, as they presented their findings to the General Assembly for the first time.

Jan-Michael Simon, Chair of the Group, noted that Nicaragua once stood for peace, freedom, and democracy in Central America – but now faces allegations of dismantling the rule of law and democratic institutions.

Silencing dissent, home and abroad

The experts’ report to the General Assembly in New York describes a deliberate State policy to silence dissent and consolidate absolute power through violence, fear, and the systematic erosion of rights.

Some human rights violations documented, they said, amount to crimes against humanity.

The group also condemned the rising number of enforced disappearances, calling them an act of cruelty that torments both victims and their families.

The independent experts also warned the Government has extended repression overseas by depriving some exiles of their nationality – as a tool to punish dissenters.