Multiple explosions rocked Kyiv and cities across Ukraine on Monday, shattering months of relative calm for civilians in the capital and beyond.
At least 8 people were killed and 24 others injured after Russian missile attacks hit the city, Ukrainian officials said.
NBC News has not verified the claims.
Air defenses were activated in what appeared to be a broad attack not seen since the very earliest days of the war, when Moscow’s troops invaded after launching a barrage of fire on civilian targets.
The blasts came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of “terrorism” after the bridge connecting Russia and annexed Crimea was severely damaged, in a huge explosion that dealt a strategic and symbolic blow to the Kremlin. Putin directly blamed Ukraine’s special services for the attack, but Kyiv has not taken responsibility for the incident.
A series of humiliating setbacks on the battlefield have piled pressure on the Russian leader, with some urging him to escalate in an effort to reverse the course of the conflict. After Putin’s comments Sunday, Ukraine was braced for retaliation that appeared to arrive early Monday.
A number of blasts were heard in the center of Kyiv at rush hour by NBC News. Smoke was seen rising off buildings, while images and videos verified by NBC News showed incinerated cars and a cratered children’s park. Residents were sent scrambling for shelter in underground subway stations, while air raid sirens sounded in other major cities across the country.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitalii Klitchko, said the explosions occurred in the central distinct of Shevchenko, where several key government offices are located. Explosions were also heard in the Solomyansky district in western Kyiv, he said.
“The capital is under attack from Russian terrorists! The rockets hit objects in the city center,” he said on Telegram.
Klitschko later said the city’s critical infrastructure was hit, and there were an unidentified number of victims. He pled with local residents to seek shelter and stay in place amid fears of further attacks.
Rostislav Smirnov, an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs, said in a Facebook post that at least 8 people had been killed and 24 injured in one of the capital’s districts.
Explosions were also reported in areas of central Ukraine and in the country’s west, as regional governors and city mayors across the nation warned people to seek shelter. Five explosions were also heard in Kharkiv, in the northeast, by NBC News.
Army chief Valerii Zaluzhny said at least 75 rockets had been launched by the Russian military Monday morning, of which 41 had been intercepted.
“On the 229th day, they are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app.
His foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, called Putin “a terrorist who talks with missiles.” Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, called for the country’s Western allies to step up their supply of anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems as the best way to respond to what he said was “Russian missile terror.”
Putin is expected to hold a meeting with Russia’s security council later on Monday.
Daryna Mayer, Mariia Ulianovska, Lawahez Jabari and Artem Grudinin contributed.
