Multiple explosions shook the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Monday morning, according to local media, which also quoted the city’s mayor.
Several locations in Kyiv were seen to be emitting smoke plumes. Lviv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Dnipro, and Ternopil were among the other cities with explosion reports. There have been several explosions reported in cities around the nation. According to the local media, The Kyiv Independent, witnesses have reported loud explosions and power disruptions in Kyiv.
As explosions could be heard in the Ukrainian city of Kyiv, a dramatic video of BBC correspondent Hugo Bachega hiding while reporting from the scene quickly spread on social media. Suddenly, many explosions could be heard coming from behind, and the reporting was interrupted.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko was quoted by Ukraine’s local media outlet Kyiv Independent as saying that there had been several explosions and that emergency personnel were on the scene. More information would be provided, according to Klitschko, the portal claimed.
The explosions followed a truck-explosive attack on the Kerch bridge on Saturday that ignited seven gasoline tanks on a train en route to the Crimean Peninsula.
According to news accounts, the explosion resulted in the deaths of three people and the partial collapse of two spans of the road bridge.
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, CNN said.