Vladimir Putin has described Russia’s massive airstrikes in Ukraine, the most extensive since the first weeks of its seven-month invasion, as retaliation for the bombing of the bridge linking Russia with the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
At a meeting of his security council on Monday, the Russian president accused Kyiv of a “terrorist attack” on the Kerch bridge, which was damaged by an explosion on Saturday, and said that “leaving this crime unanswered is simply impossible.”
Although Putin claimed the targets were military, energy and communications assets, early images and evidence of damage showed that a children’s playground and a bridge in central Kyiv were hit, as well as civilian infrastructure across the country Russia’s defense ministry said its strikes “hit all assigned targets.”
The Russian military has been losing ground in regions of southeastern Ukraine that Putin unilaterally claimed as part of Russia last month. On Saturday, Moscow suffered a blow to its prestige after the attack on the bridge, a symbol of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, which it had claimed was well guarded.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said on Twitter: “Russia had also been constantly hitting Ukraine with missiles before the bridge. Putin is desperate for battlefield defeats and is using missile terror to try change the pace of the war in their favor.”
Ukraine’s air force said more than 80 Russian missiles had been fired at targets across the country by late afternoon local time. “High-precision land-based, sea-based and air-to-air cruise missiles” were used, the air force wrote on Facebook. Air defenses managed to intercept at least 41 of the missiles, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, said in the morning. Ukraine also said it destroyed nine of 12 Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drones.
Missiles also hit Lviv in western Ukraine; Dnipro, in the center of the country; and several other cities, including Zaporizhzhia and Mykolayiv in the south, which are close to the front line.
There were reports of explosions in the Black Sea port of Odesa, and air raid alerts went off in all parts of Ukraine except occupied Crimea.
Putin warned that he was ready to repeat the attacks if Ukraine continued to target Russian infrastructure. On Sunday, he accused Ukrainian intelligence services of hitting the Kerch bridge.
“If the attempted terrorist attacks on our territory continue, Russia’s response will be severe and at the level of the threats it faces. No one should have any doubts,” Putin said on Monday.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack on the Kerch bridge, although senior officials gloated on social media and the post office issued a stamp commemorating the explosion.
Three cruise missiles fired from Russian ships in the Black Sea had crossed Moldovan airspace on Monday, Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said, adding that he had summoned Russia’s ambassador to Chisinau, the capital
The attacks killed at least 10 people and wounded at least 60, Ukrainian police spokeswoman Maryanna Reva told state television, citing preliminary details.
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Russia’s missile attacks on Ukrainian cities on Monday “amount to war crimes”, the EU said. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called them “horrific and indiscriminate,” and vowed the alliance would support Ukraine against Russia “for as long as it takes.”
NATO will host a meeting of Western countries supplying arms to Ukraine on Wednesday and a meeting of defense ministers from the 30 allied countries on Thursday.
The attacks came two days after Russia named Sergei Surovikin, a former air force general known for his ruthlessness in leading Russia’s operations in Syria, as commander of its invasion operations.
Hard-line Russian war supporters, who had criticized the military for its mishaps on the battlefield and called on Putin to step up Russia’s war effort, applauded Surovikin’s appointment and the strikes.
“There is the answer for you,” Margarita Simonyan, editor of the Kremlin-funded news channel RT, wrote on the Telegram social media app. “The Crimean bridge was the red line from the beginning. It was obvious,” he added.
In Kyiv, missiles or rockets hit the central intersection of Volodymyrska Street and Shevchenko Boulevard, at the northwestern entrance to Shevchenko Park, one of the busiest intersections in the Ukrainian capital during the morning rush hour.
Images showed damage to a children’s playground in Shevchenko Park and a pedestrian bridge nicknamed the “Klitschko” bridge after the city’s mayor.
Photos and videos sent to the Financial Times by government officials showed first responders and ambulances at the scene.
Telegram footage showed damage to a skyscraper near Kyiv’s main train station, which houses the offices of DTEK, a major electricity producer owned by Rinat Akhmetov, one of Ukraine’s richest men.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a short video saying Russia had used suicide missiles and drones to target “critical infrastructure” and ordinary citizens. “They want panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy system. They have no hope,” he said, standing outside his office in central Kyiv.
Separately, Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko said he and Putin had agreed to create a joint group of troops “due to the escalation on the western borders” of both countries, according to the state news agency Belarus Belta Monday. His remarks after a meeting with Putin last week.
Belarus, Moscow’s closest ally, has allowed Russia to use its territory to attack Ukraine since Putin’s invasion began in February, but has resisted letting its troops and equipment join the conflict .
Additional reporting by Henry Foy in Brussels