Russia Seeks Revenge for Crimea Bridge by Bombing Ukrainian Cities

Russia launched missile strikes against cities in Ukraine on Monday following the explosion on the main bridge that links Crimea and Russia on Saturday.

At least eight civilians have been killed and twenty-four wounded as a result of missile strikes on Kyiv this morning, an aide to the Ukrainian interior minister has said.

Strikes across Ukraine this morning show that Russia is “trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the Earth,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

In a Telegram post, Zelensky highlights blasts in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro, saying “the air alarm does not subside throughout Ukraine.”

“Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded,” he added before urging his compatriots to stay in shelters.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko says missiles have hit “critical infrastructure” in the city.

Several missile strikes in the center of Kyiv. Burning cars with people who were commuting to work. The strike was deliberately carried out during rush hour on a busy street to inflict maximum losses and intimidate. A pure act of terrorism. pic.twitter.com/KaOwUSMZio

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) October 10, 2022

“The capital is under attack from Russian terrorists!” Klitschko added in a Telegram post.

Shevchenko Park in central Kyiv now. Probably the city’s busiest park, usually packed with people and street musicians pic.twitter.com/9kIS4rBiKq

— Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore) October 10, 2022

Russia launches missile strikes against Ukraine

Russian missile strikes in Kharkiv have hit an energy infrastructure site, causing outages to electricity and water supplies in some areas of the city, Kharkiv mayor, Ihor Terekhov, has reported.

Three flights of missiles were seen over Kharkiv and “specialists and utility workers are doing everything they can to restore normal life in Kharkiv,” Terekhov wrote on Telegram.

Regional head of Kharkiv, Oleg Sinegubov, also confirmed the strikes, posting on Telegram that “The enemy is striking Kharkiv. There are explosions in the city.”

Thirteen people have died, and the injury count has risen to eighty-nine people—among them eleven children—in the rocket attack by Russian forces on the city of Zaporizhzhia, a top Ukrainian official reported on Sunday.

Ukraine’s Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, shared the updated toll in a Telegram post.

“The number of dead and wounded has increased,” Tymoshenko wrote. “Among them are many children! As a result of the rocket attack on the city, 13 people died, including 1 child. 89 civilians were injured, including 11 children.”

Russia calls Crimean Bridge explosion a “terrorist attack”

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Saturday’s explosion on the Crimean Bridge a “terrorist attack” and claimed Ukrainian special services organized and executed the blast.

Putin made his remarks during a meeting with Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin on Sunday.

“We have no doubts that this is a terrorist attack aimed at the destruction of the critical infrastructure of Russian Federation,” Putin maintained. “And authors, executors, and masterminds are the secret services of Ukraine.”

“Secret services of Ukraine and citizens of Russia from foreign countries are the ones who helped to execute this terrorist attack,” Bastrykin said.

Bastrykin also said that Russians “have already established the route of the truck where the explosion occurred.” In addition, “carriers have been identified—persons who participated in organizing the movement of this truck.”