Manufacturing

At least four explosions were reported in Kiev on Thursday as Russia continued its assault on Ukraine for the eighth day. Air raid sirens were heard in the capital city following the explosions -- two reportedly went off in the city centre, and the two others near a metro station, the BBC reported. Footage of the blasts that took place at around 3 a.m. shared on social media showed a huge fireball lighting up the night sky in the capital. The targets of the explosions however remained unknown, while there were no confirmation on any casualties or injuries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is likely to increase Covid-19 transmission and in turn increase the risk of large numbers of people developing severe disease. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, some 1 million people had left Ukraine, and that number is expected to increase rapidly, the WHO chief said.

The sudden surge in 'Deepfake' videos amid Russia-Ukraine war has put US authorities on alert that are being used to push anti-Ukraine misinformation. According to a report in The Guardian, a Russian propaganda campaign called 'Ukraine Today' has been using fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to promote fake news around the war. US intelligence officials were on the watch for manipulated video and audio that could result in multiple cases of misinformation.

In his latest video message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the citizens of his country to keep up the fight against Russia as Moscow's invasion of Kiev has entered its seventh day. Addressing the citizens from an undisclosed location, Zelensky said the Russian servicemen who have been captured in Ukraine "do not know why they are here", and that the "enemy soldiers are fleeing back to Russia", the BBC reported.

The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement on Thursday clarifying that there was no hostage crisis in Ukraine as the Russian invasion of Kiev entered the seventh day. The statement came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which they reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck.

The Russian forces are preparing for a provocation at the Belarus-Ukraine border from the territory of Ukraine, as per sources in the Security Service of Ukraine. Several options are being considered, including a potential shelling of border points by saboteurs wearing Ukrainian army uniforms, missile strikes on Belarusian cities, and blowing up the oil refinery in Mozyr, in Gomel Oblast, the Ukraine Security Service sources said, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

The Mayor of Kherson, a key port city in southern Ukraine, on Thursday claimed that Russian troops have seized control, making it the first major city to be taken by Moscow as it continued to wage it war on Kiev for a seventh straight day. In a Facebook post, Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said that Russian forces were now in control of Kherson and that the troops had forced their way into the city council building and imposed a curfew on residents, reports the BBC.

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to censure Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while India abstained on the vote "in view the totality of the evolving situation". The 141 votes that the resolution -- more than two-thirds of those voting -- received was a diplomatic blow to Moscow. Only five countries voted against the resolution, while 35 abstained and 12 absented themselves.

Several videos purportedly filmed in the city captured thick black smoke billowing from the area around the tower after what appears to have been a missile strike, RT reported.Lisichansk is located in the western part of Ukraine's Lugansk region. According to 2019 data, the city, which is currently under Kiev's control, is populated by more than 97,000. On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that it had hit a TV tower in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev a day earlier.

In a thinly veiled threat for NATO not to get involved in Ukraine, Lavrov said that any future world war would be fought with nuclear weapons- a statement that comes just days after President Vladimir Putin warned that any country sending troops to Ukraine would be met with severe consequences, the report said.