Explosions rock multiple Ukrainian cities — including Kyiv

Massive explosions have rocked Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in what appears to be the result of missile strikes.

The attack happened on Monday morning following months of relative calm in Kyiv. It is said to be the most intense in the city since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Explosions have also been heard in other cities like Lviv, Ternopil, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, and Zaporizhzhia.

According to Reuters, one of Kyiv’s busiest road junctions was affected by the explosion while cars and buildings were destroyed in parts of the city.

The attack comes days after Russian president Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of attacking the only bridge linking Russia and annexed Crimea.

“This was devised, carried out and ordered by the Ukrainian special services,” Putin had said.

Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defence minister, in a tweet on Monday, said his country’s “courage will never be destroyed by terrorist’s missiles, even when they hit the heart of our capital”.

Our courage will never be destroyed by terrorist's missiles, even when they hit the heart of our capital. Nor will they shake the determination of our allies. The only thing they demolish irriversibly is the future of 🇷🇺 – a future of a globally despised rogue terrorist state.

— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) October 10, 2022

Following calls from the international community for peace, China has asked that the crisis in Ukraine be de-escalated.

“We hope the situation will deescalate soon,” Mao Ning, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Monday.

Putin had, earlier in September, ordered troops mobilisation for Ukraine, and called up 300,000 extra reservists.

He also threatened nuclear retaliation should the West continue to “intervene”.

Putin had said his goal was to “demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine” and to protect people subjected to what he called eight years of bullying and genocide by Ukraine’s government, adding that the war would not end till his goals were met.