Kyiv says Russia launched 75 missiles on Ukraine Monday morning.
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.
Here are the Live Updates on the developing situation in Ukraine:
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UN Chief Slams Russia Strikes On Ukraine As "Unacceptable Escalation"UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday condemned Russia for launching a barrage of fatal bombardments across Ukraine, describing it as an "unacceptable escalation of the war," his spokesman said.
"The Secretary-General is deeply shocked by today's large-scale missile attacks by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on cities across Ukraine that reportedly resulted in widespread damage to civilian areas and led to dozens of people being killed and injured," Guterres's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
"This constitutes another unacceptable escalation of the war and, as always, civilians are paying the highest price."
Russian Strikes Signal "Profound Change" In Ukraine War: French PresidentFrench President Emmanuel Macron said that Russian air strikes across Ukraine and against civilians on Monday signalled a "profound change" in the conduct of the war.
The "deliberate strikes by Russia over the whole of Ukraine's territory and against civilians, it's a profound change in the nature of this war," Macron told reporters during a trip to the Mayenne region of France, adding that he would convene his diplomatic and military advisors when he returned to Paris.
Russia Targeting Civilians "Amounts To A War Crime": European UnionThe EU believes Russia's missile attacks on civilians in Ukraine "amounts to a war crime," a spokesman for the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.
"Indiscriminately targeting people in a cowardly, heinous hail of missiles on civilian targets is indeed a further escalation," the spokesman, Peter Stano, said.
"The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms these heinous attacks on the civilians and civilian infrastructure... This is something which is against international humanitarian law and this indiscriminate targeting of civilians amounts to a war crime," he said.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called the attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities "vicious".
"Russia once again has shown to the world what it stands for -- it is terror and brutality. Those who are responsible have to be held accountable," she said in a statement.
Red Cross Halts Ukraine Operations For "Security Reasons" The International Committee of the Red Cross has temporarily halted its work in Ukraine for security reasons, a spokesperson told Reuters on Monday, after Russia fired missiles at cities across Ukraine. "For security reasons, our teams have paused operations today," a spokesperson said in an emailed response to a Reuters question.
The Norwegian Refugee Council also said that it had halted its aid operations there until it is safe to resume.
NATO Condemns "Horrific" Russian Attacks On UkraineNATO condemns the attacks by Russia on civilian targets in Ukraine, the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.
"Spoke with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and condemned Russia's horrific and indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine," Stoltenberg said in a tweet. "NATO will continue supporting the brave Ukrainian people to fight back against the Kremlin's aggression for as long as it takes."
"Only The First Episode": Russia Ex President Says More Strikes On Ukraine To ComeRussia's former president Dmitry Medvedev said Monday Russia's retaliatory mass strikes across Ukraine were only the "first episode".
"The first episode has been played. There will be others," Medvedev, now deputy head of the Security Council, said on social media, adding that the future goal should be "the complete dismantling of Ukraine's political regime".
Germany Delivers First Of 4 Air Defense Systems To Ukraine
At Least 10 Killed, 60 Injured In Russian Missile Attacks: Ukraine PoliceRussian missile strikes across Ukraine killed at least 10 civilians and wounded 60, Ukrainian police said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the missile strikes were revenge for Ukrainian attacks.
"War Crime": France On Russian Targeting Of Ukraine CiviliansFrench Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna condemned Russia's "indiscriminate" air strikes on Ukraine on Monday, saying that intentionally targeting civilians was a war crime.
"I condemn in the strongest possible terms indiscriminate Russian strikes today against Ukrainian cities," Colonna wrote on Twitter. "Intentionally targeting civilian populations constitutes a war crime."
"Goal Achieved": All Targets Hit In Massive Missile Strikes On Ukraine, Says RussiaRussia's defence ministry said it hit "all designated targets" in a massive missile attack on Ukrainian military, communications and energy infrastructure on Monday.
Russia said the goals of the missile strikes had been achieved, in one of the largest coordinated Russian attacks against Ukraine since the first weeks of the war. Ukraine said the rush-hour attacks in eight regions appeared to have been deliberately timed to kill people, accusing Russia of terrorism.
"Today, Russia's armed forces have inflicted a massive strike with high-precision long-range weapons against Ukrainian military, communications and energy targets," the Russian defence ministry said in its daily briefing.
"The goal of the strike has been achieved. All designated targets were hit," it added.
Building That Houses German Consulate Hit By Russian Strike In KyivThe building that houses a German consulate in Kyiv was hit during Russian missile strikes, though it has not been in use since war broke out, the foreign ministry said on Monday.
Separately at the same government briefing, the defence ministry spokesperson said Germany expected to deliver an air defence system to Ukraine very soon and deliver three more next year, without giving exact timelines.
Ukraine Seeks "Resolute Response" From UN After Russian AttacksThe Ukrainian government is seeking a "resolute response" from the United Nations to Russian missile strikes across Ukraine on Monday, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
After a telephone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, he wrote on Twitter: "We coordinated efforts on mobilizing a resolute response within the UN General Assembly."
He provided no further details, but also said on Twitter that Russian President Vladimir Putin had not been "provoked" into Monday's strikes, saying blame should not be shifted to "the victim of aggression."
Moscow Will Respond Forcefully To Ukrainian Attacks, Warns PutinRussian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Ukraine had carried out "terrorist acts" against Russia and pledged to react forcefully if they continued.
In televised remarks, Putin said Moscow had launched long-range missile attacks against Ukraine's energy, military and communications infrastructure on Monday in retaliation for an attack on a vital bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula over the weekend.
"It is obvious that the Ukrainian secret services ordered, organised and carried out the terrorist attack aimed at destroying Russia's critical civilian infrastructure," Putin said of the bridge explosion.
Belarus, Russia To Form Joint Military GroupBelarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus and Russia will deploy a joint military task force in response to what he called an aggravation of tension on the country's western borders, the state-run Belta news agency reported on Monday.
Mr Lukashenko said the two countries would deploy a regional military group, and had started pulling forces together two days ago, apparently after the explosion on Russia's bridge to Crimea.
Ukraine Says It Shot Down At Least 43 Russian MissilesUkrainian forces shot down at least 43 of the missiles fired at Ukraine by Russia on Monday morning, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said. General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, had earlier said on Twitter that Russia had fired 75 missiles at Ukraine and that 41 of them had been intercepted.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, claimed today that Ukraine was preparing an attack on his country's territory, news agency AFP reported.
"I've said already that today Ukraine is not just discussing but planning strikes on the territory of Belarus," state news agency Belta quoted Lukashenko as saying.
Moldova said Monday that Russian cruise missiles targeting Ukraine had crossed its airspace, and summoned Moscow's envoy to demand an explanation.
"Three cruise missiles launched on Ukraine this morning from Russian ships in the Black Sea crossed Moldova's airspace," Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said on Twitter.
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used Iranian drones in the attack.
Read here. Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia timed its strikes on Ukraine on Monday to inflict the greatest possible losses among people and had also targeted the country's energy infrastructure.
"They want panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy system," President Zelensky said.
Videos Of Blasts In Ukraine Capital Capture Panic, MayhemAs 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.
Read here. "Russia Trying To Wipe Us Off The Face Of Earth": Zelensky On Strikes"They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth...destroy our people who are sleeping at home in (the city of) Zaporizhzhia. Kill people who go to work in Dnipro and Kyiv," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today.
Read here.
Ukraine said today there were strikes on "many" cities in Ukraine, a day after Moscow blamed Kyiv for an explosion on the Kerch bridge connecting Crimea to the Russian mainland.
Read here.