Russian Retaliatory Bombings Thump Ukrainian Cities

Kyiv: Russia started an extensive sequence of missile strikes at cities around Ukraine, on Monday, striking the cities of Kyiv and Lviv in places far from the front lines and the centre of the city in its widest assault against civilians and vital infrastructure since the early stages of its invasion.

The strikes, which apparently served as payback for a blast that destroyed a crucial Russian bridge over the weekend, left at least eight people dead, over 30 wounded, and disrupted power and other essential services, according to the Ukrainian police.

From Lviv in the west to Mykolaiv in the south and Kharkiv in the northeast, a barrage of strikes appeared to be launched with the intention of hitting civilian targets and crippling energy facilities as winter approached. At a time when many people were leaving for work or school. The explosions in central Kyiv caused vehicles to catch fire, blew out the windows of buildings, and forced occupants to seek refuge.

Even as Moscow’s forces struggle on the battlefield in the eighth month of its invasion, the attacks showed that Moscow still has the capability of striking deeply into Ukraine and terrorising people. In recent weeks, Ukrainian troops have recaptured more than 1,200 kilometres of land in the east and south, and President Vladimir V. Putin has come under increasing pressure for the conduct of his army as well as building resistance to his decision to enlist hundreds of thousands of people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram Monday that people have been killed and wounded in explosions across Ukraine, adding that Russia is trying to wipe the country “off the face of the earth.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitchko said multiple blasts hit a central district in the Ukrainian capital on Monday morning.

“Several explosions in the Shevchenkivskyi district — in the capital’s center. All services are going to the places,” he wrote on Telegram.

The district houses a university, several government offices, and foreign consular buildings, and includes the historic old town.