Ukrainian media said that several explosions have been heard in Kyiv, and information about the blasts was confirmed by the city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
"Four explosions were heard in Kyiv. There are also reports of air defenses operating in the Kyiv region ... After the explosions, smoke was noticed in the city," the UNIAN news agency reports on its Telegram channel.
According to Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, explosions were heard in the city's center.
"Several explosions in the Shevchenko district -- in the center of the capital," Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media.
Several explosions were recorded targeting the critical infrastructure of Kyiv, Klitschko said on Monday, Sputnik reported.
"Several hits [were registered] on the city's critical infrastructure. There are people injured. All local services are working".
Videos posted on social media show black smoke rising from several areas in Kyiv.
Anton Gerashchenko - the adviser to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs - wrote on Twitter that one of the rockets in Kyiv fell near the monument to Mikhail Grushevsky in Vladimirskaya Street. Ukraine's security services are in this street and the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky is nearby.
The adviser added that subway service has been partially suspended in Kyiv, and all underground stations are now serving as shelters, RT reported.
Gerashchenko later said that five civilians were killed and 12 injured in the capital.
According to local media, multiple missiles are descending on different regions of Ukraine. Strikes were also reported in the eastern city of Dnepr, and explosions in Lviv, western Ukraine.
Several districts of Lviv and Ternopil were left without electricity after missile strikes, Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs says, Sputnik reported.
Energy infrastructure was attacked in the Lviv region, Ukrainian media reports citing authorities.
Ukraine’s presidency says strikes have been reported in “many” cities in Ukraine, a day after Moscow blamed Kyiv for an explosion on a bridge connecting Crimea to Russia.
“Ukraine is under missile attack. There is information about strikes in many cities of our country,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said on social media, calling on the population to “stay in shelters”.
The spokesperson for Emergency Service in Kyiv told AP that there were reports of casualties but the number was not yet known, Al Jazeera reported.
Rescuers were at work in different locations, Svitlana Vodolaga said.
In a post on his Telegram channel, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that there had been missile strikes across Ukraine. “Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded,” he wrote.
According to Sputnik, Zelensky said that air sirens are working non-stop throughout Ukraine on Monday after blasts were reported in Kyiv and other cities in the country's west.
"The air alarm does not stop throughout Ukraine. There are missiles hitting. Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded. Please do not leave shelters. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Let's hold on and be strong," Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
New explosions were reported in Kyiv, Lviv, and Dnepropetrovsk, according to Ukrainian media.
Meanwhile, a loud explosion was heard in Russia's Belgorod region, according to Reuters citing a witness.
Explosions in Belgorod and its suburbs are the result of ammunition at the training ground being destroyed, according to reports from regional operational headquarters.
Ukrainian media has published footage allegedly showing the bridge in Kyiv being hit by a missile.
Ukraine’s national police service said that at least 10 people were killed and 60 others wounded across the country in the Russian missile strikes, Al Jazeera reported.
Police spokeswoman Maryana Reva said authorities were appealing to citizens to heed “warning signals” in the wake of the attacks.
“This morning showed how important it is to follow the discipline and all the recommendations given by the authorities. Therefore, at the first signal of an air alarm, you should go down to the shelter, because this is a matter of your life and health,” she said.
Meanwhile, Russian news agencies have quoted the country’s defence ministry as saying Moscow’s forces have hit “all designated targets” in a wave of missile attacks on Ukraine.
The ministry said the strikes were carried out with precision-guided weapons and had successfully hit Ukrainian military sites, as well as communications and energy facilities, according to the news agencies’ reports.
ZZ/
Your Comment