Deadly Russian missile strikes hit Ukraine’s capital Monday, part of a barrage of what the Ukrainian military said was 75 missiles launched at the country.
Kyiv police said most of the strikes hit the center of the city, killing at least five people and wounding 12 others. Missiles struck busy areas, including parks and tourist sites.
Explosions were also reported in multiple other areas, including the western city of Lviv, the central city of Dnipro and the eastern city of Kharkiv. Ukraine’s military said it shot down 41 of the Russian missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia targeted civilian areas as well as power systems throughout the country, seeking “panic and chaos” and to destroy Ukraine’s energy system.
He said he would be addressing an urgent meeting of the G-7 and discussed the situation with both German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron. Germany said the meeting will take place Tuesday.
“We discussed the strengthening of our air defense, the need for a tough European and international reaction, as well as increased pressure on the Russian Federation,” Zelenskyy tweeted after his talks with Macron.
Macron’s office said he reaffirmed France’s commitment to increase support for Ukraine, including military aid.
Putin told a meeting of his security council that the strikes targeted Ukraine’s energy, military and communications infrastructure, and that they were in response to an attack Saturday on a bridge linking Russia to Crimea.
"It is obvious that the Ukrainian secret services ordered, organized and carried out the terrorist attack aimed at destroying Russia's critical civilian infrastructure," Putin said.
Ukrainian officials did not claim responsibility for the attack that caused the partial collapse of the Kerch Bridge, which has been a major supply route for Russian operations in southern Ukraine.
Putin said any continued “terrorist attacks” by Ukraine on Russia would be met with a “tough and proportionate” response.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the bridge attack did not provoke Putin “to unleash missile terror.”
“Russia had been constantly hitting Ukraine with missiles before the bridge, too,” Kuleba tweeted. “Putin is desperate because of battlefield defeats and uses missile terror to try to change the pace of war in his favor.”
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “deeply shocked” by Russia’s attack on Kyiv and other cities.
“Such acts have no place in 21st century. I condemn them in the strongest possible terms,” Borrell tweeted. “We stand with Ukraine. Additional military support from the EU is on its way.”
Kyiv was last attacked in June. Once under pressure from advancing Russian forces in the early part of the invasion, Kyiv had been relatively calm as fighting focused in eastern and southern Ukraine.
“Massive shelling of Ukrainian cities is a large-scale live war crime and a no-rules war,” Mykhailo Podolyak, a Zelenskyy adviser, tweeted. He said the only possible response is for Ukraine to receive missiles defense systems, expelling Russia from international forums and issuing immediate arrest warrants for Russian authorities.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Monday that Belarus and Russia will deploy a regional military grouping in response to what he said was escalated tensions on their borders. A report from the state-run Belta news agency did not specify where the group would be deployed.
In the lead-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Belarus hosted Russian troops for what the two countries insisted were just military drills before Russia sent its forces over the border into Ukraine.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.