The Ukrainian capital Kyiv has been shaken by heavy explosions. There were several impacts, reported Mayor Vitali Klitschko and a correspondent for the German Press Agency. “Details will follow later,” said Klitschko. Other Ukrainian cities have also come under heavy fire, said the Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko. At least two more explosions could be heard in Kyiv after a first series of explosions in the morning, according to reporters from the AFP news agency.
Clouds of smoke could be seen on social networks. Other eyewitnesses reported three to four impacts. The exact number was unclear.
Earlier, the Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, threatened Ukraine with retaliation for the explosion on the Crimean bridge, which is strategic for Russia, on Saturday. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin spoke of a “terrorist attack” on the bridge on Sunday and – like the media in Kyiv – blamed the Ukrainian secret service SBU. However, the SBU had not confirmed an involvement.
The SBU headquarters is located in the city center in Kyiv. The power center in Moscow has repeatedly threatened to target command posts in the Ukrainian capital if the shelling of Russian territory does not stop. 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.
“One of the rockets landed near the Grushevsky monument on Volodymyr Street. Rescuers are at work,” Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said. Volodymyr Street is right in the center of Kiev.
Medvedev said on Sunday: “All reports and conclusions have been made. Russia’s answer to this crime can only be the direct annihilation of the terrorists.” He expressed himself in an interview with the Kremlin journalist Nadana Friedrichson. “This is what the citizens of Russia are waiting for,” he said ahead of a scheduled Security Council meeting this Monday that Putin will chair.
On Saturday morning, an explosion shook the 19-kilometer bridge that connects Russia and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014. Around seven and a half months after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the building, which is strategically and symbolically important for Russia, was severely damaged. According to official information from Moscow, three people died.
