As explosions hit Ukraine's capital Kyiv today, videos capturing the massive destruction in the city started doing the rounds on social media.
The visuals, shared by journalists, showed smoke billowing out of destroyed buildings and huge craters caused by missiles.
One of the videos, shared by Kyiv Independent reporter Illia Ponomarenko, shows the bombing of the famous Bridge of Glass in the heart of the city. The bridge looks deserted, but the sheer suddenness of the impact is spine-chilling.
Another clip, tweeted by Matthew Luxmoore, a reporter of The Wall Street Journal currently in Ukraine, captures the destruction in Shevchenko Park in central Kyiv. The journalist says in his caption that the park is the city's "busiest park, usually packed with people and street musicians". The video shows a huge crater, charred branches and smoke. In the background, an enclosure for children with various rides can be seen, a painful reminder of the cost of war.
Another video shared by Luxmoore and several others captures a girl's narrow escape while she was recording a video.
The clip shows the girl's horrified face as she walks through the streets after the bombing began. At one point, a missile lands at a short distance from her. The fear on her face and her muffled screams as she quickly gathers herself and starts walking again reflect the destruction and horror caused by the explosions.
Several other videos shot from inside cars showed clouds of smoke rising to the sky from the sites of explosions.
Ukraine said Russia launched as many as 75 missiles and the explosions left five people dead and many others injured, news agency AFP reported.
The explosions come a day after Moscow blamed Ukraine for a blast on the bridge linking Crimea to Russia that killed three people.
"The authors, perpetrators and sponsors are the Ukrainian secret services," Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday, terming the bombing a "terrorist act".
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his night address, did not directly mention the incident, and officials in Kyiv have made no direct claim of responsibility.
This morning, Ukraine's presidency said there were strikes on "many" cities in Ukraine.
"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".
Russia's last strike on Kyiv took place on June 26.
