At least 11 people have died and 64 have been wounded in a wave of Russian missile strikes across Ukraine, according to Ukrainian police. Authorities in Kyiv said eight people had died and 24 were injured in a Russian missile strike on the capital’s Shevchenkivskyi district this morning. Lviv, Kherson, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv were also among the areas targeted.
Barely hours after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, denounced the bridge attack on Saturday as an “act of terrorism” that he blamed on Ukraine’s secret services, missiles slammed into the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, during morning rush hour, striking targets including a popular tourist bridge and a major road junction.
According to Ukraine’s military, by mid-morning on Monday, 75 missiles had been launched, of which it claimed over 40 had been intercepted.
In an update in the midst of the attack, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia had fired dozens of missiles as well as Iranian-made kamikaze drones, adding that Russia’s main targets appeared to be energy infrastructure and civilians. He said his country was “dealing with terrorists”. Speaking outside the presidential office near where some of the missiles hit, Zelenskiy accused Russia of “deliberately choosing such a time, such goals, in order to cause as much harm as possible”, he said.
Putin has threatened a “harsh response” if attacks continue against Russia. In televised remarks after the wave of attacks, Putin once again blamed Ukraine for the Kerch bridge attack, describing it as a “terrorist attack aimed at the destruction of civil critical important infrastructure of Russia”. Russia had launched long-range missile attacks against Ukraine’s energy, military and communications infrastructure today in retaliation for the bridge attack, he said. “It is simply impossible to leave crimes of this kind unanswered,” he said.
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said 11 infrastructure facilities in eight regions and in the capital, Kyiv, had been damaged in the Russian strikes.
The building housing the German consulate in Kyiv was hit by a Russian missile strike, according to a German foreign ministry spokesperson. Although the consulate was housed in the building, it has not been operational since February. Romania’s foreign minister, Bogdan Aurescu, said a Russian missile strike on Kyiv landed 850 metres from the Romanian embassy.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, made an immediate appeal to the west for the supply of increased air defence systems. Zelenskiy said he had agreed with German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, an urgent meeting of G7 leaders in response. Kuleba has cut short a tour of African nations to return to Kyiv. The G7 will hold a call on Tuesday.
In an urgent round of diplomatic calls, Scholz, French president Emmanuel Macron, and the UK’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, all reiterated their support for Ukraine. Alexander De Croo said the bombardment of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and of civilian targets in other Ukrainian cities on Monday was “a reprehensible act by Russia”. Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, condemned the “horrific and indiscriminate” missile attacks on civilian targets. The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, said he was “deeply shocked” by the Russian air strikes.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said she was “shocked and appalled by the vicious attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Russia once again has shown to the world what it stands for – it is terror and brutality.”
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, unequivocally labelled Monday’s actions by Russia as war crimes.
President Zelenskiy said Ukraine “counts on Britain’s leadership” after a phone call with the UK prime minister, Liz Truss, on Monday. Zelenskiy’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he also spoke with his UK counterpart, James Cleverly, who assured him of Britain’s unwavering support of Ukraine.
Maksym Kozytskyi, the governor of Lviv, is among authorities in the areas struck to appeal to residents to try to limit electric consumption to preserve supplies.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has paused its operations in Ukraine for security reasons, according to a spokesperson.
The BBC’s Hugo Bachega ducked for cover during a live broadcast which was interrupted as rockets rained down on Kyiv.
Belarus leader, Alexander Lukashenko, said Belarus and Russia would deploy a joint military task force on the country’s western borders in response to what he called an aggravation of tension.
Moldova’s foreign minister, Nicu Popescu, summoned Russia’s ambassador to explain why missiles launched from the Black Sea into Ukraine crossed Moldova’s airspace.
Poland’s border guard said that the electricity has failed on Ukraine’s side of border crossings at Medyka and Korczowa, but that they are still working normally. The crossings border Ukraine’s Lviv region, where there are reported power outages after Russian strikes on critical infrastructure earlier this morning.
A power line that was cut by shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been restored, according to the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Engineers restored external power to Zaporizhzhya NPP today, a day after the facility lost the connection to this last remaining operating power line due to shelling — enabling ZNPP to start switching off its emergency diesel generators,” the IAEA said.
NEW The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, will visit Moscow on Tuesday to meet Vladimir Putin, UAE state media reported. Mohammed “will discuss with President Putin the friendly relations between the UAE and Russia along with a number of regional and international issues and developments of common interest”, the UAE’s state-owned news agency WAM said.
Vladimir Putin may meet Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at a summit in Kazakhstan this week, the Kremlin said. Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters it was “possible” the pair could discuss a Turkish proposal to host talks between Russia and the west on Ukraine.
Denmark’s Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, located near the presumed sabotage attack on Nord Stream’s gas pipelines, on Monday suffered an unexplained power outage, electricity operator Energinet said.
Latvia’s prime minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, has called on EU leaders to stop all tourist visas for Russians, reigniting the debate about further tightening sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
The Council of Europe awarded detained Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza the Vaclav Havel human rights prize on Monday for what it called his bravery in standing up to Russia’s leaders.
Russian divers are to examine the extent of the damage caused by the blast on the road-and-rail bridge. Crimea’s Russian governor, Sergei Aksyonov, told reporters that residents would manage despite the damage to the bridge. “Of course, emotions have been triggered and there is a healthy desire to seek revenge,” he said.
