12 killed in Russian airstrikes across Ukraine's capital

A Russian missile barrage overnight Thursday has killed at least 12 people in Kyiv as explosions echoed across Ukraine's capital throughout the night,

local authorities said.

This as the intensifying use of drones against civilians and humanitarian workers has become a dangerous challenge for aid operations in Ukraine,

the UN's humanitarian chief said.

A Russian missile strike hit this apartment block in Kyiv damaging the exterior People outside the residential block had been rescued from it.

This as at least 12 people were killed in strikes across 12 locations in Kyiv and wounding around 33.

The strikes also hit a medical facility and an educational institute. United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs

and Emergency Relief Coordinator, (OCHA) Tom Fletcher spoke about witnessing how communities are coping while living under the constant threat of Russian drones.

"So it's quite chilling and for me in particular, experiencing and hearing what it's like for those communities who are living with drones constantly.

This is an area, Kherson, which is more saturated by drones right now than any other and so I think it really gives us an insight into the dangers ahead of us.

We have people going out who are clearly humanitarian organisations and they're being hit and so that does restrict what we can do."

This as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked lawmakers Wednesday for approving Major General Yevhenii Khmara as the

country's new defense minister. Lawmakers approved Khmara as the new defense minister during a parliamentary session in a move that effectively closes the door

on former minister Mykhailo Fedorov's return.

Meanwhile Ukraine's strikes on Russian oil refineries, depots and other oil infrastructure led to a fuel crisis earlier in the summer

with gasoline shortages spreading across the country and authorities and gas station chains introducing restrictions on gasoline sales.

The situation improved by early August but the shortages have since returned according to Russian media with long queues seen at gas stations in Moscow.