Russia rained cruise missiles on busy Ukrainian cities on Monday, knocking out power and heat in its most widespread air attacks since the start of the war, and which the US described as “horrific strikes”.
Missiles tore into busy intersections, parks and tourist sites in the centre of the capital Kyiv.
Explosions were also reported in Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in western Ukraine, Dnipro and Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia in the south and Kharkiv in the east. Ukrainian officials said at least 11 people were killed and scores injured, with swathes of the country left without power.
Thousands of residents raced to bomb shelters as air raid sirens rang out through the day. The barrage of dozens of cruise missiles fired from air, land and sea was the biggest wave of air strikes to hit locations away from the front line, at least since the initial volleys on the war’s first day, February 24.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian attacks were deliberately timed to kill people, as well as to knock out Ukraine’s power grid. “They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth,” he said.
By mid-morning, Ukraine's defence ministry said Russia had fired 81 cruise missiles, and Ukraine's air defences had shot down 43 of them. Russia's defence ministry said it had hit all its intended targets.
The Ukrainian General Staff said 84 cruise missiles and 24 drones were used. Ukrainian forces shot down 56 aerial targets, it said.
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