WARNING: This story contains an image of a dead person
Russia unleashed a deadly barrage of attacks on several Ukrainian cities on Monday, smashing civilian targets, including central Kyiv, where at least six people died amid burning cars and smashed buildings that put the spotlight back on the grim reality of the war after months of easing tensions in the capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose army invaded neighboring Ukraine on February 24, said the attacks were in retaliation for what he called Kyiv’s “terrorist” actions, a reference to Ukraine’s attempts to repel · defeat Moscow’s invasion forces and paralyze their supply lines.
Among the actions he refers to is an attack last weekend on a key bridge between Russia and the annexed Crimean peninsula, which is prized by the Kremlin.
Explosions were reported in Kyiv’s Shevchenko district, a large area of the city center that includes the Old Town and several government offices. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said at least 11 people were killed and at least 64 wounded in the largest series of attacks since the first days of the war.
Putin, speaking in a video call with members of Russia’s Security Council, said the Russian military launched “precision weapons” from the air, sea and land to target military command facilities and key energy sources.
Biggest Russian attacks in months
The missile attacks marked the largest and most widespread Russian attacks in months. Putin, whose partial mobilization order earlier this month triggered an exodus of hundreds of thousands of fighting-age men from Russia, stopped short of declaring martial law or an anti-terror operation as many had expected.
But the sustained shelling of major cities hit residential areas and critical infrastructure alike, heralding a major escalation in the war amid a successful Ukrainian counter-offensive in recent weeks and raising questions about the “accuracy” of targeting Russia
After the attacks, Ukraine announced plans to halt electricity exports to Europe. “Today’s missile attacks, which affected thermal generation and electrical substations, forced Ukraine to suspend electricity exports from October 11, 2022 to stabilize its own energy system,” Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said in a statement on its website.
Herman Halushchenko, Ukraine’s energy minister, said the attacks on the power system were “the biggest during the entire war.”
Explosions in the center of Kyiv
The blasts took place in the capital’s Shevchenko district, a large area in central Kyiv that includes the historic Old Town and several government offices, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Some of the strikes hit near the government quarter in the symbolic heart of the capital, home to parliament and other important landmarks. A glass tower housing the offices was badly damaged, most of its blue windows blown out.
A damaged tower block at the scene of Russian bombings in Kyiv, Ukraine on Monday. Explosions rocked Kyiv early Monday after months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital. (Efrem Lukatsky/The Associated Press)
Neighbors were seen in the street with blood on their clothes and hands. A young man wearing a blue jacket sat on the floor while a doctor wrapped a bandage around his head. A woman with bandages wrapped around her head had blood on the front of her blouse. Several cars were also damaged or completely destroyed. Air raid sirens sounded repeatedly across the country and in Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces launched dozens of Iranian-made missiles and drones at Ukraine.
Ukraine’s General Staff said 84 cruise missiles and 24 drones were used in the dam. Ukrainian forces shot down 56 air targets, he said.
Zelenskyy said the attacks were deliberately timed to kill people as well as knock out Ukraine’s power grid. Its prime minister said 11 major infrastructure targets had been met in eight regions, leaving areas of the country without electricity, water or heat.
Months of calm are over
Although air raid sirens have continued throughout the war in Ukraine’s major cities across the country, in Kyiv and other areas where there have been months of calm many Ukrainians have begun to ignore their warnings and their usual business.
LOOK | A Russian missile hits the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia:
A Russian missile hits the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia
The city of Zaporizhzhia has been the target of Russian missile attacks in recent days, the latest hitting homes and apartment complexes. Some believe it is a response to an alleged attack by Ukraine on a strategically and politically important bridge linking Crimea and Russia.
That changed Monday morning. The attacks hit Kyiv at the start of the morning rush hour, when commuter traffic was beginning to build. At least one of the vehicles hit near Kyiv National University appeared to be a commuter minibus, known as a “marshrutka,” and a popular, if often crowded, alternative to the city’s bus and subway routes.
Nearby, at least one strike fell in the popular Shevchenko Park, leaving a large hole near a children’s playground.
Lesia Vasylenko, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, posted a photo on Twitter showing at least one explosion near the main building of Kyiv National University in central Kyiv.
A few minutes from my house. Just 20 minutes ago. That is pic.twitter.com/311EHalGH6
—@lesiavasylenko
Elsewhere, Russia targeted civilian areas and energy infrastructure as air raid sirens sounded in all regions of Ukraine, except Russian-annexed Crimea, for four straight hours.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Monday that he spoke with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about Kyiv’s access to air defense systems and “equipment to deal with the challenges of electricity supply” in the wake of Russia’s latest attacks.
In our call today, NATO Secretary General
@DmytroKuleba
Several dead in the city of Dnipro
Associated Press reporters in the city of Dnipro saw the bodies of several people killed at an industrial site on the outskirts of the city. Windows in the area had been broken and glass littered the street. A telecommunications building was hit.
Ukrainian media also reported explosions elsewhere, including in the western city of Lviv, which has been a haven for many fleeing fighting in the east, as well as in Kharkiv, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr and Kropyvnytskyi .
On Sunday, Putin had called the attack on the Kerch bridge in Crimea a terrorist act carried out by Ukrainian special services. In a meeting Sunday with the chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Putin said there was “no doubt that it was a terrorist act aimed at destroying a critically important civilian infrastructure.”
The body of a dead person lies on the ground after the Russian missile attack in Kyiv on Monday. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
The Kerch Bridge is strategically important to Russia, as a military supply line to its forces in Ukraine, and symbolically, as an emblem of its claims over Crimea. No one has claimed responsibility for damaging the 19 kilometer long bridge, the longest in Europe.
Ben Hodges, a former commander of US military forces in Europe, said the scale of Monday’s attacks suggested Russia’s plan to escalate may have been drawn up before the bridge was attacked.
Russia “is trying to destroy us,” says Zelenskyy
Amid the attack, Zelenskyy said on his Telegram account that Russia “is trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the Earth.”
The attacks sparked outrage in Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed “extreme concern”. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly tweeted that “Russia’s firing of missiles into civilian areas of Ukraine is unacceptable.”
LOOK | Defense expert sees Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian cities as escalation:
The defense expert sees Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian cities as an escalation
Former Canadian defense official Andrew Rasiulis calls the latest attacks in Ukraine an escalation of Russia’s war. He says the strikes have been much closer to the everyday lives of Ukrainians than previous attacks.
US President Joe Biden said the attacks “killed and injured civilians and destroyed targets with no military purpose. They demonstrate once again the total brutality of Mr. Putin’s illegal war against the Ukrainian people.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, said the Group of Seven industrial powers will hold a video conference on the situation on Tuesday to be addressed by Zelenskyy. Germany currently chairs the G-7.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the attacks “reprehensible” and added: “We are committed to holding the Russian regime to account and to supporting Ukraine, including with continued military assistance.”
I am appalled by Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian civilians. This behavior is reprehensible and only strengthens our resolve. We are committed to holding the Russian regime to account and to supporting Ukraine, including through continued military assistance.
—@JustinTrudeau
Some feared Monday’s attacks could be just the first salvo in a renewed Russian offensive. The Ministry of Education of Ukraine announced that all schools in Ukraine must switch to online classes at least until the end of this week.
In another sign of possible escalation, Putin’s closest ally,…