In response to the Crimean Bridge blast on Saturday, Russia on Monday launched a “massive strike” on 14 Ukrainian regions, including the capital Kyiv, that killed at least 14 people, injured nearly 100, and damaged water and power supply across the country.
In a meeting with the Security Council on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted, “It is simply no longer possible to leave crimes of this kind without retaliation.” Though he said the attacks targeted the Ukrainian energy, military, and communication facilities, some missiles struck a playground in Kyiv and a university.
Russia's defense ministry posted this video of a ship launching missiles on Ukraine and said it hit "all the assigned targets."
— max seddon (@maxseddon) October 10, 2022
Guess that must include the children's playground, park, sidewalks, cars, and pedestrian bridges they bombed today pic.twitter.com/QxJMZSnQNG
According to the Ukrainian Prime Minister (PM) Denys Shmyhal, about 11 “crucial infrastructure facilities” in eight regions were damaged. Residents of Kyiv and Kharkiv were sent to bomb shelters, including subway stations, and most schools and colleges returned to online schooling.
Pro-Russian Crimea head Sergey Aksyonov said the Crimean bridge blast had “changed” the Russian strategy. “I have been saying from the first day of the special military operation that if such actions to destroy the enemy’s infrastructure had been taken every day, we would have finished everything in May and the Kyiv regime would have been defeated,” he remarked.
Multiple Russian missile strikes across Ukraine. Putin’s only tactic is terror on peaceful Ukrainian cities, but he will not break Ukraine down. This is also his response to all appeasers who want to talk with him about peace: Putin is a terrorist who talks with missiles.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 10, 2022
The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, noted that the attacks did not serve any “practical military purpose” and would not hamper the progress of the Ukrainian forces in any way. Claiming that the goal was to trigger a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Ukraine, he affirmed, “What they are doing now is a strategy of forcing negotiations on Russian terms. We will not give in, because the existence of Ukraine as a state depends on our victory.”
In a similar vein, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the strikes were carried out “during the morning rush hour on purpose.” “This is a typical terrorist tactic. They wanted to incite more fear and affect more people. They affected. They affected the whole world,” he stressed.
Zelensky further revealed that the Ukrainian forces had shot down 43 of the 84 Russian missiles and 13 of the 24 Iranian ‘Shahed’ drones being used by Russia. He also said that electricity had been restored in most of the regions impacted, except for Chernihiv, Sumy, Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil, and Dnipropetrovsk as of Monday night.
Russia's drone and cruise missile strikes today cost between $400-700 million. All for no strategic purpose.
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) October 10, 2022
Meanwhile, Moldovan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicu Popescu said that three Russian missiles launched at Ukraine had violated its airspace. He thus summoned the Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov “to explain the launch of three cruise missiles from Russian warships located in the Black Sea and their passing through our country.”
Following the attacks, the Group of Seven (G7) made plans to hold an urgent meeting, wherein President Zelensky is expected to push back against Russian terrorism against Ukrainian energy infrastructure and people. He will thus demand anti-aircraft systems and longer-range missiles and once again urge them to declare Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Russian missiles massively hit Ukrainian cities and our children must hide in the subway once again. They are trying to intimidate and break us – but Ukrainians sing. Truth is on the side of our nation. Ukrainians are not afraid, they know: enemy is mad because we are winning.🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/OlqQAh1xFa
— Олена Зеленська (@ZelenskaUA) October 10, 2022
United States (US) President Joe Biden condemned the “utter brutality” of the Russian missile strikes in a statement, vowing to supply Ukraine with advanced air defence systems. Similarly, Germany announced that it would deliver an Iris-T infrared-guided air defence system within days and “will do everything in its power to mobilise additional aid and, in particular, to help repair and restore [Ukraine’s] damaged and destroyed civilian infrastructure, such as the electricity and heating supply.”
Against this backdrop, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced the deployment of a joint regional group made up of Belarusian and Russian troops in light of the “worsening of the situation on the western borders.” Lukashenko once again accused Ukraine of “planning strikes” on Belarus.