Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday warned of “harsh” reprisals after the Crimea bridge attack on Saturday.
In a television appearance on Monday, Putin said Russia had struck military and infrastructure targets across Ukraine following the Crimea bridge blast. Putin threatened further “harsh” responses that correspond to “to the level of threat to the Russian Federation, have no doubt about it,” while accusing Kyiv of “terrorism.”
In what appears to be the heaviest wave of missile and rocket attacks since the opening week of the war, Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities were rocked by deadly Russian strikes on Monday.
Officials said they targeted critical energy infrastructure and several regions of Ukraine are now suffering power outages.
The Kremlin said today that a huge missile salvo across Ukraine launched by its forces was within the framework of what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack on the Kerch bridge, a key link between the Russian mainland and Crimea.
Eleven sites of critical infrastructure have been struck in Kyiv and eight other regions of Ukraine, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Andrii Yermak, head of President Zelenskyy’s office, said, “The Russians are shameful losers. Did you intend to scare us? “ “There will be a harsh response to every hit. You will be held responsible for every death and suffering. And not only you. Entire generations of Russians will answer, “he added further.
Further south, a Ukrainian official also confirmed that Russian missiles are targeting power infrastructure in the Mykolaiv region. “They are hitting the infrastructure, trying to leave us without electricity,” Vitalii Kim, head of Mykolaiv regional military administration, said on Telegram.
After reports of Russian missile attacks across Ukraine on Monday morning, Kyiv’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter that Russian President Vladimir Putin “will not break Ukraine down.”
Multiple European political figures roundly condemned Russia’s spate of attacks on Ukrainian cities on Monday, including European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel etc., among others.
