Explosions on Monday rocked multiple cities across Ukraine, including missile strikes on the capital Kyiv for the first time in months. This comes hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin called a Saturday explosion on the huge bridge connecting Russia to its annexed territory of Crimea a “terrorist act” masterminded by Ukrainian special services.
At least eight people were killed and 24 were injured in just one of the Kyiv strikes, stated Rostyslav Smirnov, an adviser to the Ukrainian ministry of internal affairs.
People have been taking to social media, sharing videos of plumes of smoke and fire rising from sites where the Russian missiles hit.
Blasts were reported in the city’s Shevchenko district, a large area in the center of Kyiv that includes the historic old town as well as several government offices, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Lesia Vasylenko, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, posted a photo on Twitter showing that at least one explosion occurred near the main building of the Kyiv National University in central Kyiv.
In Kyiv, attacks struck in the heart of the busy city centre. The body of a man in jeans lay in a street at a major intersection, surrounded by flaming cars. In a park, a soldier cut through the clothes of a woman who lay in the grass to try to treat her wounds. Another woman was bleeding nearby.
City police said at least five people had been killed and 12 wounded.
"They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app. "The air raid sirens do not subside throughout Ukraine. There are missiles hitting. Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded."
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted: "Putin's only tactic is terror on peaceful Ukrainian cities, but he will not break Ukraine down. This is also his response to all appeasers who want to talk with him about peace: Putin is a terrorist who talks with missiles."
Read more: Strikes reported in 'many' cities of Ukraine: Presidency
Elsewhere, Russia targeted civilian areas and energy infrastructure as air raid sirens sounded in every region of Ukraine, except Russia-annexed Crimea, for four straight hours.
The multiple strikes came a few hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to hold a meeting with his security council, as Moscow’s war in Ukraine approaches its eight-month milestone and the Kremlin reels from humiliating battlefield setbacks in areas it is trying to annex amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive in recent weeks.
(With inputs from agencies)
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