Eleven people have died and 64 are hurt after Russia launched 75 missiles toward Ukraine on Monday morning (about 8 a.m. local time) hitting at least 10 Ukrainian cities.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, described the hit as revenge for an attack on a key Russian bridge on Saturday.
Putin ordered a far-reaching series of missile strikes against cities across Ukraine, hitting the heart of Kyiv, the capital, and other areas far from the front line in the broadest aerial assault against civilians and critical infrastructure since the early days of Moscow’s invasion.
Tagging the hit on the Russian bridge a “terrorist attack” Putin threatened further strikes if Ukraine continued to hit Russian targets.
“To leave without an answer to a crime of such a type is already simply impossible. This morning, at the proposal of Russia’s ministry of defense and general staff, a massive strike of high precision, long-range weapons have been delivered from air, land and sea, on Ukraine’s energy facilities, military command and communication,” Putin said.
He added, “In the case of continuing terrorist attack on our territory, the answers from Russia will be severe and by their scale correspond to the level of threat created for the Russian Federation. No one should have any doubts about that.”
Russia did not succeed in hitting any military targets, according to an advisor to Ukraine’s president.
“With all these strikes across all the territory of Ukraine, they did not hit one military target only civilian ones,” Oleksiy Arestovych said in an interview.
Russia launched 75 missiles toward Ukraine, Forty-one of those missiles were struck down by air defenses
Most of the targets, Mr. Aresovych said, were civilian critical infrastructure responsible for providing heat and electricity.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose forces began an offensive in August, has vowed to take back all Russian-occupied territory.
However, Putin, in September, announced a mobilization of reservists, which is expected to call up as many as 300,000 additional troops.
Ukrainian President said Russia’s missile assault on civilian targets across Ukraine showed Russia’s “true face.”
He said: “The world once again saw the true face of a terrorist state that is killing our people,” Zelenksyy said on Twitter. “On the battlefield & in peaceful cities. A country that covers its true bloody essence & goal with talks about peace. It proves that the liberation of is the only basis of peace & security.”
Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine on Monday morning, as a series of Russian missiles struck civilian targets in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and other cities.
Russia launched 75 missiles toward Ukraine, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said. Forty-one of those missiles were struck down by air defenses, Zaluzhnyi said.
Missiles hit the capital’s central Shevchenkiv District, with explosions near Parliament and other government buildings. Samsung’s Ukraine headquarters, which is next to Kyiv’s main train station, was damaged. Photos showed smashed glass windows and what appeared to be significant damage.
Power was out in much of Lviv, in western Ukraine, where several explosions were also reported. The mayor said “critical infrastructure” was damaged.
At least six explosions were heard in Kharkiv, where the regional governor urged residents to shelter in place.
FOLLOWING Russia’s launch of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Nigerian Embassy in Kiev Thursday issued an advisory to its citizens to “remain calm but be very vigilant and be responsible for their personal security and safety”.