Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

The US, the EU and the head of NATO strongly condemned the Russian missile strikes against Ukraine

The United States, the European Union and NATO's secretary general strongly condemned Russia's massive missile strikes against Ukraine and stressed that aid to Kyiv would not be cut. G7 leaders will hold a video conference today to decide what further sanctions to take against Moscow.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side reports new Russian attacks, including on the Ladyzhyn TPP in the Vinnytsia region with kamikaze drones. Again, rocket strikes were carried out in the Zaporizhzhia region against infrastructure objects.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accused Russia of an "unacceptable escalation of war".

Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, called Russia a "terrorist state" during an emergency meeting of the organization. The general assembly was called over Moscow's annexation of four Ukrainian regions and took place hours after massive Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities.

"A bloody trail remains after the entry of the Russian delegation to this general assembly. The targeted hitting of civilian objects is a war crime. Russia once again proves that it is a terrorist state that must be deterred in the most categorical way," Kyslytsya pointed out.

In response, the representative of Russia did not touch on the missile strikes, but defended the annexation of Ukrainian regions by his country. The UN General Assembly rejected Russia's proposal for a secret vote on the prepared condemnation resolution for the annexation of Ukrainian territories. It is possible that the document will be voted on this evening by the 193 countries of the organization.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made no mention of the strikes in Ukraine with civilian casualties, but made it clear that yesterday's airstrikes were in retaliation for the Crimean bridge explosion, which he described as an act of terrorism.

The spokesperson of the High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security of the European Union, Peter Stano, defined the Russian claims about Bulgaria and the explosion of the Crimean bridge as "deprived of even the slightest credibility".

Before that, the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, announced that the truck that blew up the facility had left from Burgas, Bulgaria.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the United States of obstructing the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. According to her, Washington only aims to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, which is ready for diplomacy, but only if its conditions are met.

Ukraine cannot be intimidated by missile strikes, President Volodymyr Zelensky said:

"Why were such strikes made? The enemy wants us to be afraid, to make people run, but for us there is only one direction - forward, and we show this on the battlefield."

Zelensky announced that he spoke with US President Joe Biden. The two discussed Ukraine's air defense, with Zelensky saying it is now the No. 1 priority in defense cooperation between Ukraine and the United States.

New rocket strikes on Zaporizhzhia last night

Russian forces again attacked Zaporizhzhia with rockets.

"Targets of the enemy are infrastructural objects," announced the chairman of the Zaporizhzhia OVA Alexander Starukh in Telegram. The information about the destruction and the injured is being clarified. "Stay in the shelters!" urged Starukh. The airstrike in the area continues.

The victims of the missile strikes in Ukraine are now 14. In his midnight message, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that electricity has been restored to the affected areas.

"Recovery work continues throughout the country. We will restore everything destroyed in the attack of the Russian terrorists. It is only a matter of time. I have given instructions to all services to proceed as quickly as possible. Ukraine cannot be intimidated. We are even becoming more united. Ukraine cannot be stopped. Now we are even more convinced that the terrorists must be neutralized," Zelensky said.

EU plans EUR 1.5 billion monthly aid to Ukraine in 2023

The European Commission is working on a way to provide Ukraine with budget support in the amount of about 1.5 billion euros per month next year, Politico reported, citing its sources.

In May, the EU promised 9 billion euros for the so-called macro-financial assistance for Ukraine, but only 6 billion euros of them received the support of the EU countries. So far, only 1 billion euros have been paid out. It is still being discussed how to provide the remaining 3 billion euros.

"The provision of short-term relief under macro-financial assistance to Ukraine has so far been ad hoc," said EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn.

"In view of the continued need for assistance, a more structured solution could be considered for a higher degree of predictability and I am working hard with [EU countries in a way] to allow us to have more structured, predictable and automated support at least for the next year," Khan added.

According to Kyiv's calculations, the deficit in the country's budget will be about 3.5 billion dollars per month next year. The US pledged to cover $1.5 billion a month, but asked its allies to provide support as well.

The EC is discussing with EU finance ministries how support can be provided. The total amount is still being discussed, the sources added. The details of how much of it will be grants or loans are also being discussed.

The proposals could be presented as early as next week or before the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference in Berlin on October 25.

Ukraine, Russia clash at UNGA ahead of vote on condemning Moscow's annexation of Ukrainian regions

Ukraine and Russia clashed in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday ahead of a likely vote on a resolution on whether to condemn Moscow's annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

A resolution condemning Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions was up for adoption at the UNGA, where the 193 UN members vote and no one wields a veto. The vote will now likely take place this week, CNN said.

Speaking first at the emergency meeting, Ukraine's envoy Sergiy Kyslytsya told members states that he had already lost family members to Russian aggression. He said that around 84 missiles and around two dozen drones had deliberately targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure during Monday's multiple attacks on Ukrainian cities, including schools and universities.

"The entire world has once again, seen the true face of the terrorist State that kills our people. Suffering defeats on the battlefield, Russia takes it out on the peaceful residents of Ukrainian cities," he said.

The Ukrainian envoy said that voting for the draft resolution would be "for each country, for each of our citizens, for your families, for our children - a vote for justice".

The resolution on the Russian annexation comes days after Moscow vetoed a similar proposal in the UN Security Council. The draft resolution condemns Russia's "attempted illegal annexations" of the four Ukrainian regions following "so-called referendums".

The General Assembly meeting began with a procedural vote on a measure which Russia had flagged, proposing that the Ukrainian draft resolution being debated, be voted on by secret ballot, not through an open recorded vote.

The Albanian proposal received 107 votes in favor, with 13 against, and 39 abstentions.

Russia's ambassador Vassily Nebenzya said that the Albanian resolution, which confirmed that a recorded vote would take place following debate, had been a violation of the rules of procedure.

He said Russia had been deprived of the ability to present its case and all aspects of the Ukraine crisis that did not suit Western powers, had been conveniently overlooked.

"Ukraine was chosen by these countries for that purpose, was brought under their control and today is a platform for the testing of NATO weaponry and for combat against Russia, using other people," he said.

He accused Ukraine of an act of terrorism in "sabotaging" Russia's bridge to Crimea, adding that Russia could not stand by and let Ukraine act "with impunity".

This vote comes after Russia conducted that large-scale strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other locations on Monday, which drew condemnation from several countries. UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was deeply shocked and represented "another unacceptable escalation" of the war.

The strikes which have reportedly caused widespread damage to civilian areas and led to dozens of deaths and injuries showed that "as always", civilians were paying the highest price for Russia's invasion of February 24, the statement released by the UN Spokesperson added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday warned of "harsh" reprisals after the Crimea bridge attack on Saturday. In a television appearance, Putin said Russia had struck military and infrastructure targets across Ukraine following the Crimea bridge blast.

He threatened further "harsh" responses that correspond "to the level of threat to the Russian Federation, have no doubt about it," while accusing Kyiv of "terrorism."

The total sanctions of the EU against Russia - 123 billion euros or 40% of the turnover of goods and services

After the EU agreed on the eighth package of sanctions against Russia, the value of all trade restrictions amounted to about 123 billion euros, according to documents of the European Commission (EC).

According to calculations, this amount is equal to 40% of the total turnover of goods and services between Moscow and the European Union last year.

"Under this amount, the EC understands the volume of bilateral trade between Russia and EU countries, which existed in 2021, but is now impossible due to official sanctions," the publication says.

According to the EC, the new sanctions will affect Russian imports into the EU worth 7 billion euros. In total, restrictions on supplies from Russia are estimated at nearly 90 billion euros.

"Before the new round of sanctions, the European Commission estimated the volume of restrictions on the export of goods and technologies to Russia at 24.8 billion euros, and now - at almost 30 billion euros," the publication claims.

The European Commission also states that losses due to the embargo on EU services exports to Russia amount to €3 billion.

Last week, the EU agreed on the eighth package of sanctions. It envisages, among other things, an extension of the period of personal sanctions, as well as a ban on the transportation of oil to third countries by sea at a price exceeding an as-yet-undetermined limit. The measure will come into effect from December, and for petroleum products - from February.

In addition, restrictions apply to the import of finished steel products, machinery, vehicles, chemicals and materials for the manufacture of jewelry that are not made of gold. Also prohibited are the provision of consulting, legal and IT services to Russian companies, the export to Russia of electronic components suitable for weapons and technical products used in aviation, as well as the provision of online cryptocurrency wallets to Russian individuals and legal entities.

Russia threatens to respond to increasing Western aid to Ukraine

Ukraine turned the tide of the war and successfully resisted the Russian troops, who were exhausted.

This was stated in a statement by the head of the British intelligence agency, Jeremy Fleming, the BBC reported.

According to the agency, the Russians are running out of ammunition, and the Russian president's decision to bomb was wrong. Russian military losses in men and equipment are staggering, and all successes of Russian troops since the first months of the war have been reduced to zero, the statement added.

Direct conflict with the United States and NATO is not in Moscow's interest, but it will respond to the West's growing interference in the Ukrainian conflict, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said, as quoted by RIA Novosti and Reuters.

"It is obvious that a direct confrontation with the US and NATO is not in Russia's interest. We warn and hope that Washington and other Western capitals realize the danger of uncontrolled escalation," Ryabkov warned, adding that Moscow would have to take "adequate countermeasures, including asymmetric," due to the increasing involvement of the United States and Europe in the "conflict with Ukraine."

A similar threat was made by the Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov. “We urge the US and its allies not to cross the red lines they have come close to. Stop pumping the regime with lethal weapons. This will only lead to new casualties and destruction and further prolong the conflict,” Antonov warned.

Ryabkov noted that Moscow is concerned about the "continuous large-scale aid" that Kyiv receives. His words come after United States President Joe Biden said Washington would supply Ukraine with advanced air defense systems.

Last night, Joe Biden promised that Washington would provide Ukraine with advanced air defense systems, among other forms of "support" that Kyiv needs "to defend itself."

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