Russia launched a large-scale missile attack on Wednesday, some slamming into energy facilities that caused power losses in several regions of the country, officials said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned allies that the defense of his nation is a litmus test for broader Western resolve.

The Russian missiles sought out targets from the Lviv region in western Ukraine near Poland to Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine bordering Russia. The state energy company Ukrenergo reported emergency power outages in six regions. It often shuts down production during attacks as a precaution.

Ukraine introduced emergency power cuts in six regions amid what authorities described as a "massive" Russian missile strike, the national grid operator said on Wednesday.

Ukrainian officials say Russia has launched a major ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine

Russia launched dozens of missiles and drones at the Ukrainian energy sector, Kyiv said Wednesday, ramping up a months-long bombing campaign at a precarious moment of the war for Ukraine.The barrage came just one day after Kyiv said it had carried out its largest aerial attack of the war on Russian army factories and energy hubs hundreds of kilometres from the front line.

Russia said on Monday it had downed nine Ukrainian drones that tried to attack part of the infrastructure of the TurkStream gas pipeline, through which Russian gas flows to Turkey and Europe, and called the attack an "act of energy terrorism".

A massive Russian attack on Ukraine is underway. The Operational Command of the Armed Forces announced that standby pairs of fighter jets have been scrambled, and ground air defence and radar systems have reached the highest state of readiness.

A massive Russian attack on Ukraine is underway. The Operational Command of the Armed Forces has announced that standby pairs of fighter jets have been scrambled, and ground air defense and radar systems have been placed on high alert.