Ukraine is "maximizing [its] efforts to thwart Russia's plans against Kharkiv," President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as his military draws up plans to boost protection for the north-eastern city they believe could be the target of a new offensive.
"Together with our partners, we're working to bolster air defence," Zelensky said in his daily video address on Monday evening.
The focus was "now on Kharkiv: on the energy situation and support for people and businesses in the city and the region."
Zelensky met top military officials in Kiev earlier on Monday to discuss further measures to protect Kharkiv, which has been the target of a constant barrage of Russian airstrikes recently.
"The main topic was Kharkiv, the defence of the city against Russian attacks and the possibility of strengthening our air defence and electronic warfare in the Kharkiv region," Zelensky wrote on Telegram after the meeting of the Stavka, the Ukrainian army's high command.
According to the Ukrainian military, the next major Russian offensive could be directed against Kharkiv.
Russia attacks its neighbouring country with drones and missiles on a daily basis. Kiev is asking for more air defence systems from the West in order to better protect its cities.
In addition to the airstrikes, there are also massive artillery battles in the east and south of Ukraine.
"We are holding our positions, the main thing now is efficient logistics," Zelensky said after the meeting with the high command, outlining the situation on the front.
In addition to military measures, diplomatic steps, such as the procurement of new air defence systems, were also discussed, the president said.
In recent weeks, Zelensky has repeatedly asked Western partners for additional air defence systems. In a television interview on Sunday, he said that his country needs at least 25 US Patriot air defence systems to adequately protect Ukrainian cities.
Earlier, a barrage of Russian drone attacks caused damage in the southern Ukrainian regions of Odessa and Mykolaiv, according to authorities.
Debris from an intercepted drone wrecked a transport logistics facility and a petrol station in Odessa, while an electrical line was damaged by drone shrapnel, causing power outages in 14 villages in the Mykolaiv region to the east of Odessa. There were no casualties in the attacks.
A total of 17 out of 24 drones launched by Russia were shot down, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
In the Zaporizhzhya region further east, Ukrainian authorities reported three dead and three injured after artillery fire.
Later on Monday, officials reported at least another three killed in a Russian missile attack on the city of Zaporizhzhya.
Another eight people were injured when Russian missiles hit an industrial complex, military Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.
Fourteen buildings were damaged in the attack, including a health facility, Fedorov said.
It was not possible to independently verify the claims.
Zaporizhzhya is partially occupied by Russian troops and remains hotly contested more than two years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The region is also the location of Ukraine's biggest nuclear plant, which was damaged in an attack on Sunday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it is holding Kiev fully responsible for recent drone attacks on the Russian-occupied plant.
"With its criminal actions, Ukraine, supported by the US and its Western satellites, is making it clear that it has embarked on the path of nuclear terror," it said in a statement published by the ministry in Moscow on Monday.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said on Sunday that the the protective shell of the sixth reactor at the Zaporizhzhya plant had been hit three times in a drone attack.
According to the IAEA, nuclear safety was not jeopardized.
Following the attack, the six Soviet-designed pressurized water reactors at the Zaporizhzhya plant have been shut down and are no longer producing energy.
The reactors themselves are each located in a concrete cube with concrete walls 1 metre thick. The reactors are located at the centre, inside containment vessels covered by another 20-centimetre-thick layer of steel.
According to experts, several targeted hits with large-calibre grenades or special bunker-busting ammunition would be necessary to destroy the concrete walls alone.
According to Russian state news agency TASS, Moscow's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, announced that he would raise the incident at one of the next UN Security Council meetings. Ukraine has so far not commented on the incident.
