Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, alleged that Russia is attempting to “destroy” Ukrainians and eradicate them “from the face of the planet” after reports of numerous explosions on Monday morning throughout the country, including in Kyiv.
In the strikes on Kyiv, at least five people were killed, while authorities in the towns of Kharkiv, Lviv, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk also reported missile and rocket attacks, according to the media. Explosions were also reported in Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Dnipro, and Ternopil.
According to Rostyslav Smirnov, an assistant to Ukraine’s interior minister, the attack on central Kyiv resulted in the deaths of eight people and the injuries of 24 more. As of 8:45 am, the attack on Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district resulted in over 15 automobiles being destroyed and six cars catching fire.
The recent attack on the Crimean bridge, which is believed to have killed three people, and Russia’s weekend attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia, which left at least 70 people injured and killed citizens as they slept in their homes, serve as a backdrop to this one.
The explosions on Monday were the first significant assaults on Kyiv’s capital since June. According to the Washington Post, social media videos showed burning cars in the middle of a Kyiv downtown thoroughfare.
A train travelling to the Crimean Peninsula’s seven fuel tanks caught fire on Saturday after a truck explosion on Kerch Bridge. According to media sources, this caused two of the road bridge’s spans to partially collapse.
The Kremlin reported shortly after that President Vladimir Putin had approved a directive boosting security for the Crimea bridge. Putin also demanded that the gas pipeline and energy bridge that connect the peninsula to the Russian mainland be secured in the proclamation.
According to news reports, Putin wants to meet his Security Council operationally today. Putin officially opened the bridge in 2018, four years after Moscow annexed Crimea. It was built to connect the peninsula to Russia’s transportation system.
The 19-kilometer bridge, which spans the Kerch Strait and links Crimea with Russia’s mainland, is made up of portions for cars and trains. In 2020, it was completely functional.
At least 40 people were hurt and at least 17 people died after a rocket blasted the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine on Saturday. According to Anatoly Kurtev, the acting mayor of Zaporizhzhia, five homes were burned and apartment complexes were damaged in the incident.