Blasts hit Kyiv after Putin accuses Ukraine of Crimea bridge assault

A number of explosions rocked Kyiv on Monday, shattering months of relative calm within the Ukrainian capital.

At the least 8 individuals had been killed and 24 others injured after Russian missile assaults hit town, Ukrainian officers mentioned.

NBC Information has not verified the claims.

The blasts got here hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of “terrorism” after the bridge connecting Russia and annexed Crimea was severely broken in an enormous explosion that dealt a strategic and symbolic blow to the Kremlin.

After Putin’s feedback Sunday, Ukraine was braced for retaliation that appeared to reach early Monday.

Quite a few blasts had been heard within the heart of Kyiv at rush hour by NBC Information. Smoke was seen rising off buildings, whereas native officers shared photographs displaying incinerated automobiles and a cratered youngsters’s park. Residents had been despatched scrambling for shelter in underground subway stations, whereas air raid sirens sounded in different main cities throughout the nation.

“On the 229th day, they’re making an attempt to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth,” mentioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Telegram.

Town’s mayor, Vitalii Klitchko, mentioned the explosions occurred within the central distinct of Shevchenko, the place a number of key authorities places of work are situated. Explosions had been additionally heard in Solomyansky district in western Kyiv, he mentioned.

“The capital is below assault from Russian terrorists! The rockets hit objects within the metropolis heart,” he mentioned on Telegram.

“The air alert, and due to this fact the menace, continues,” he mentioned, advising residents to stay within the shelters. Central streets of town had been blocked by regulation enforcement officers and rescue providers had been deployed, he mentioned.

Rostislav Smirnov, an adviser to the Minister of Inside Affairs, mentioned on Telegram that at the very least 8 individuals had been killed and 24 injured.

Explosions had been additionally reported in areas of central Ukraine and within the nation’s west. 5 explosions had been additionally heard in Kharkiv, within the northeast, by NBC Information.

Air defenses had been additionally working in Lviv, head of the native administration Maksym Kozytskyi mentioned on Telegram. Earlier, in a single day shelling had destroyed a multi-story residential constructing in Zaporizhzhia, reported the regional administrative head Oleksandr Starukh.

Daryna Mayer, Mariia Ulianovska, Lawahez Jabari and Artem Grudinin contributed.