"Russia Launched 75 Missiles": Ukraine As Multiple Blasts Leave 5 Dead

Ukraine's presidency said on Monday there were strikes on "many" cities in Ukraine, a day after Moscow blamed Kyiv for an explosion on a bridge connecting Crimea to Russia. 

"Ukraine is under missile attack. There is information about strikes in many cities of our country," Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president's office, said on social media, calling on the population to "stay in shelters". Kyiv says Russia launched 75 missiles on Ukraine Monday morning.

The explosions hit Kyiv around 8:15 am local time (0515 GMT), and an AFP journalist in the city saw numerous ambulances appearing to head towards the scene of the blasts. Kyiv heard at least five blasts on Monday morning. "Several explosions in the Shevchenkivskyi district -- in the centre of the capital," Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media.

Russian strikes targeted Ukraine energy infrastructure: ZelenskyVideos posted on social media showed black smoke rising above several areas in the city.

Russia's last strike on Kyiv took place on June 26.

The explosions came a day after Moscow blamed Ukraine for the explosion on a bridge linking Crimea to Russia, leaving three people dead.

"The authors, perpetrators and sponsors are the Ukrainian secret services," Russian President Vladimir Putin said of Saturday's Crimea bridge bombing, which he described as a "terrorist act".

Vladimir Putin was speaking during a meeting with the head of the investigation committee he has set up to look into the bombing, Russian news agencies reported.

The Russian leader is gearing up for a meeting with his Security Council later Monday, the Kremlin told local news agencies.

"Tomorrow the president has a planned meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The blast that hit the bridge sparked celebrations from Ukrainians and others on social media.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his nightly address on Saturday, did not directly mention the incident, and officials in Kyiv have made no direct claim of responsibility.

On Saturday, Russia said some road and rail traffic had resumed over the strategic link, a symbol of the Kremlin's 2014 annexation of Crimea.

The 19-kilometre (12-mile) bridge is a vital supply link between Russia and the annexed Crimean peninsula.

Some military analysts argue that the blast could have a major impact if Moscow sees the need to shift already hard-pressed troops to Crimea from other regions -- or if it prompts a rush by residents to leave.

Mick Ryan, a retired Australian senior officer now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that even if Kyiv was not behind the blast, it constituted "a massive influence operation win for Ukraine.

"It is a demonstration to Russians, and the rest of the world, that Russia's military cannot protect any of the provinces it recently annexed," he said on Twitter.

'Merciless strikes'

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that people had been killed and injured following multiple strikes on cities across Ukraine, including the first bombardment on the capital for months.

"Air raid sirens are not subsiding around Ukraine... Unfortunately there are dead and wounded. Please do not leave the shelters," President Zelensky said on social media, accusing Russia of wanting to "wipe us from the face of the Earth".

President Zelensky meanwhile denounced a Russian missile strike on Sunday that killed at least 13 people, one of them a child, in Zaporizhzhia -- the latest deadly bombardment of the southern Ukrainian city.

The attack also wounded 89 people, including 11 children, according to a statement from the president's office.

Volodymyr Zelensky described the "merciless strikes on peaceful people" and residential buildings as "absolute evil" perpetrated by "savages and terrorists".

Regional official Oleksandr Starukh posted pictures of heavily damaged apartment blocks on Telegram and said a rescue operation had been launched to find victims under the rubble.

Russian officials meanwhile denounced on Sunday what they said was a surge in Ukrainian fire into its territory that had hit homes, administrative buildings and a monastery.

One AFP journalist in the city said one of the projectiles landed near a children's playground, and that smoke was rising from a large crater at the impact site.

Several trees and benches nearby were charred from the blast, while several ambulances had arrived in the area.

"The capital is under Russian terrorists' attack!" Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media, adding that the strikes had hit the city centre.

"If there is no urgent need, it is better not to go to the city today. I am also asking the residents of the suburbs about this -- do not go to the capital today."

Videos posted on social media showed black smoke rising above several areas in the city.

Russia's FBS, which is responsible for border security, said on Sunday: "Since the start of October, the number of attacks from Ukrainian armed formations on Russia's border territory has considerably increased."

More than a hundred artillery attacks, concentrated on the western border regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk, had hit housing and administrative buildings, said the statement.

The attacks had killed one person and wounded five others.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)