Russia has attacked Kyiv and a host of other Ukrainian cities, sending residents back to the bomb shelters after a long time.
According to Vladimir Putin, the attacks were a result of Crimea’s explosion branded as terrorism facilitated by the Ukrainian government.
Russia unleashed a lethal barrage of strikes against multiple Ukrainian cities Monday, smashing civilian targets including downtown Kyiv where at least eight people were killed amid burnt-out cars and shattered buildings that brought back into focus the grim reality of war after months of easing tensions in the capital.
The intense, hours-long attack on Kyiv and other cities marked a sudden military escalation by Moscow in its attack on Ukraine.
Rostyslav Smirnov, an adviser to the Ukrainian ministry of internal affairs said that at least eight people were killed and 24 were injured in just one of the Kyiv strikes, according to preliminary information.
The missile strikes marked the biggest and most widespread Russian attacks in months. Putin, whose partial mobilization order earlier this month triggered an exodus of hundreds of thousands of men of fighting age from Russia, stopped short of declaring martial law or a counterterrorism operation as many had expected.
Moscow’s war in Ukraine is approaching its eight-month milestone, and the Kremlin has been reeling from humiliating battlefield setbacks in areas of eastern Ukraine it is trying to annex.
Some of the strikes hit near the government quarter in the symbolic heart of the capital, where the Parliament and other major landmarks are located. A glass tower housing offices were significantly damaged, most of its blue-tinted windows blown out.
Residents were seen on the streets with blood on their clothes and hands. A young man wearing a blue jacket sat on the ground as a medic wrapped a bandage around his head.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces launched dozens of missiles and Iranian-built drones against Ukraine.
The General Staff of the Ukraine Armed Forces said 75 missiles were fired against Ukrainian targets, with 41 of them neutralized by air defenses.
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.
