President Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed a vote by Ukraine's parliament to ban the Russia-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as Kyiv cuts religious, social and institutional ties with bodies it considers to be aligned with Moscow.
Ukraine has been trying to curb links with religious institutions in Russia for years, a process that was accelerated by Moscow's 2022 invasion, which the powerful Russian Orthodox Church endorsed.
A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church condemned the vote as "the grossest violation of the basic principles of freedom of conscience and human rights".
Overnight, Russia hit energy infrastructure in northern Ukraine in a missile and drone attack and caused a big fire in the west of the country.
Ukrainian forces shot down three ballistic missiles and 25 of the 26 drones launched in the attack on nine regions across the country, Ukraine's air force commander said.
Regional officials in the northeastern Sumy region bordering Russia said an energy facility was hit, causing blackouts for 72 settlements and more than 18,500 people.
Energy workers rushed to repair the damage, the regional administration said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian energy facilities have come under nearly daily bombardment over the past six months as the war grinds on following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine buys electricity from its neighbours in the European Union but not enough to make up the deficit. Power cuts are regularly announced during peak evening consumption hours.
An industrial facility was attacked in the western region of Ternopil region during the latest bombardments, and a fuel reservoir was hit, officials said.
Ukrainian television showed huge columns of black smoke rising over Ternopil, and regional authorities urged people to stay indoors.
Viktor Ustenko, a deputy head of the Ternopil regional administration, said over 90 firefighters were involved in efforts to extinguish the fire.
"The situation is fully under control," Mr Ustenko said.
An attack on Kyiv was repelled without major damage or casualties, city officials said.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow about the attacks. Both sides say they target facilities key to the military and not civilian infrastructure, but many civilians have been killed in the war.
Moscow has continued airstrikes since Ukrainian forces began an incursion into Russia's Kursk region on 6 August, and Russian forces have been gradually advancing in parts of eastern Ukraine.
Russia says captured key hub of Niu-York in east Ukraine
Russian forces have said they have captured the key hub of Niu-York in eastern Ukraine, as Moscow - under pressure by a Ukrainian counterattack on its territory - presses on with its offensive.
The defence ministry said its troops had captured "one of the largest settlements of the Toretsk agglomeration and the strategically important logistics hub (of) Novgorodskoye", referring to the town in Ukraine's Donetsk region by its former name.
The capture of the town, which had a population of around 10,000 before Russia launched its offensive, is the latest in a string of Russian advances in the region.
Yesterday, Russia said it had captured the town of Zalizne, close to Niu-York.
Donetsk was one of four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022, despite not having full control over any of them.
The region has seen the most intense combat of the two-and-a-half year conflict.
Kyiv has struggled to hold the front line there, facing manpower and ammunition shortages after months of attritional fighting.
Ukraine launched a border incursion into Russia's western Kursk region two weeks ago, a move it hoped could relieve pressure in other parts of the battlefield.
But the Russian advance in Donetsk has continued.
Niu-York first found itself on the front line in 2014, when Moscow-backed separatists in the east tried to breakaway from Kyiv, triggering an armed conflict.
The origin of the town's name is a mystery, with theories including possible American connections among its founders.
It was renamed "Novgorodskoye" - New City - by Soviet authorities in 1951 for ideological reasons, before Ukrainian MPs voted to switch it back to Niu-York in 2021.
