President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes, which he said could cause an electricity shortage, „but not the shortage of our defiance.“
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday people were killed and injured in multiple missile strikes on cities across Ukraine, including the first bombardment of the capital in months. The strikes could signal a major escalation in the .
„Air raid sirens are not subsiding around Ukraine… Unfortunately there are dead and wounded. Please do not leave the shelters,“ Zelensky said on social media, accusing Russia of wanting to „wipe us from the face of the Earth.“
The blasts came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Kyiv for massive a with Russia. Crimea is a large Ukrainian peninsula that Russia eight years ago during a previous invasion. The annexation of that territory, like that he declared Russian soil last week, have been condemned as illegitimate and illegal by Ukraine, the United Nations, the U.S. and other Ukrainian partners.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said on social media Monday that, „Ukraine is under missile attack. There is information about strikes in many cities of our country.“
General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said on Twitter that Russia had launched 75 missiles at Ukraine but that „41 of them were neutralized by our air defence.“
Zelenskyy later emerged onto a street in Kyiv to record a selfie video with a message to his people and the world, denouncing Russia for the barrage of missiles which he said had targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and its civilians.
„They have specifically chosen such a time and such targets to cause as much damage as possible,“ the president said. „But we Ukrainians, we help each other, believe in ourselves, rebuild everything. Now the shortages of electricity may occur, but not the shortage of our defiance and our confidence in our victory.“
In Kyiv, reporters for the French news agency AFP heard at least five explosions in two salvos Monday morning, and a BBC News reporter ducked for cover as a massive explosion struck while he was on the air.
