Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Russian missiles strike Ukrainian cities

Russia launched a huge wave of missile strikes across Ukraine while people slept on Thursday, killing at least six civilians and forcing a nuclear power plant off the grid. * The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to Ukraine's energy grid on Thursday, grid operator Ukrenergo said.

Russia launched a huge wave of missile strikes across Ukraine while people slept on Thursday, killing at least six civilians and forcing a nuclear power plant off the grid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the strikes and said Moscow "won't avoid responsibility". FIGHTING

* Russia said its forces had carried out a "massive retaliatory strike" on Ukrainian infrastructure after what it called a terrorist attack in Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, last week. * The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to Ukraine's energy grid on Thursday, grid operator Ukrenergo said. State nuclear energy company Energoatom had said earlier that power was lost during the Russian air strikes. * Ukraine's military said its forces had managed to push back intense Russian attacks on the eastern mining town of Bakhmut, despite a Russian claim of control of its eastern half.

Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports. ECONOMY/DIPLOMACY

* The Ukrainian grain harvest may fall 37% to 34 million tonnes in 2023 because of a smaller grain sowing area and lower yield, the national academy of agricultural science said. * Western allies warned against reaching premature conclusions on who was responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, with Germany suggesting the attack could also have been a "false flag" operation to blame Ukraine.

* European Union countries agreed to speed up supplies of artillery rounds and buy more shells to help Ukraine but still have to work out how to turn these aims into reality. (Compiled by Reuters editors)