At least five people were killed and twelve injured in the Russian rocket attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. “As of this writing, the deaths of five and the injuries of 12 Kievans have been confirmed,” Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said on his Telegram channel. A children’s playground was also hit.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko has warned of further rocket attacks. “Russian terrorists don’t stop,” Klitschko wrote on Telegram. A reporter from the German Press Agency also reported on new explosions from the center of the metropolis.
Klitschko urged residents not to go into town and to seek shelter. “Bring warm clothes, water, a supply of food and phone chargers,” he said. The subway is currently not carrying passengers. In Kyiv, the metro stations act as shelters. The city’s emergency services are on duty, Klitschko emphasized.
Kyiv has been hit by Russian missiles several times since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression. It was the worst incident of its kind and the first attack on the city in months.
Impacts in several major cities
After heavy explosions in a number of major cities, an air alert has been issued in almost all parts of Ukraine. “A massive rocket attack on the area, there are dead and wounded,” said the military governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region around the industrial city of Dnipro, Valentin Resnichenko, on his Telegram channel. The authorities in Lviv, Khmelnytskyi and Zhytomyr also report impacts.
Resnichenko called on the residents of the area to stay in the bomb shelters. According to reports, not only the regional capital of Dnipro was hit, but also the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, which are across the Dnipro River from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. In the city of Zaporizhia there was also an air alert in the morning after the nightly rocket attacks.
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has described Moscow’s rocket attacks against numerous Ukrainian cities as a reaction to “terrorist attacks” against Russian territory. At the same time, at a Security Council meeting on Monday, Russian President Kyiv threatened an even tougher “response” if the “Ukrainian attacks” continued.
Russia has launched 75 missiles
According to official information from Kyiv, Russia has fired 75 rockets at various cities in the country invaded. 41 of them were shot down by the Ukrainian air defenses, said the adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office, Mykhailo Podoliak, in a video on his channel in the news service Telegram. After numerous defeats in its war against Ukraine, Russia is showing that it is at an end. “These are the death spasms of a wounded animal,” he said.
The attacks on the centers of Ukrainian cities have once again shown the “terrorist nature of the Russian regime”. “The masks have fallen: This is targeted mass killing of civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.” The Russian army has no idea how to fight on the battlefield, so it shoots at people with rockets.
Zelenskyj: Attack aimed at people and energy systems
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of targeting civilians and power plants in its rocket attacks on Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities. “We are dealing with terrorists,” said Zelenskyj on Telegram. “They want panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy supply system.”
Dozens of missiles and Iranian drones have been fired at energy facilities across the country, including areas in western Ukraine, Zelenskyy continued. The second goal is people. “They specifically chose such a time and targets to do as much damage as possible.” Zelenskyj called on the civilian population in his country to stay in the air raid shelters and to follow the safety rules.
Scholz phone call with Selenskyj
After the recent rocket attacks on Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the phone. The chancellor had assured Selenskyj the solidarity of Germany and the other G7 states, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin. Germany will do everything possible to mobilize additional aid and to help repair the damaged infrastructure. The federal government condemns the Russian attacks in the strongest possible terms, Hebestreit emphasized.
