What we know about Putin’s mass strikes on Ukrainian cities

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to launch dozens of missiles at Ukrainian cities early Monday, an escalatory move that comes as Moscow increasingly accuses Ukrainians of terrorism and warns of Russia’s potential future response.

The missiles killed at least 11 people as they struck regions across the country, including in areas that have generally stayed out of recent fighting, like Kyiv, the nation’s capital, or Lviv in Western Ukraine.

“The morning is tough. We are dealing with terrorists,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Monday morning video address.

The strikes came two days after a massive explosion caused significant damage to a key bridge that linked the Crimean Peninsula with Russia and was seen as personally important to Putin, who suggested the missiles were in retaliation for the explosion.

Here’s what we know about Putin’s barrage of strikes:

11 people died, 64 more injured

Ukraine’s state emergency service on Monday wrote on Telegram that 11 people died and 64 more were injured during the attacks.

Many of the attacks occurred in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital that Russia unsuccessfully tried to overtake in the early days of its invasion.

The city has since remained away from the front lines for most of the war, which is now in its eighth month, as fighting mainly shifts to Ukraine’s east and south.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said officials have identified 51 victims in the city from the attacks, including five deaths.

Klitschko indicated the rockets hit several areas but in particular targeted Kyiv’s Shevchenko district, a large area located in the city’s center, and the Solomianskyi district in the west. The city’s subway temporarily stopped running but later resumed, he added.

Other strikes hit near the government quarter, where Ukraine’s Parliament and other offices are located, and blew out windows in a glass tower that houses offices.

Klitschko urged residents to obey air raid sirens, which have sounded repeatedly in Kyiv and other areas.

“We do everything for the life support of the city,” Klitschko wrote. “Thank you to all Kyivans for your understanding and patience! The enemy wants to intimidate us, but he will not succeed!”

Missiles hit at least nine cities, including places far from the front lines

Beyond Kyiv, Russia’s missile strikes landed in at least eight other cities, according to state officials.

Ukraine’s emergency service said the Kremlin attacked cities across Ukraine, including Lviv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr. Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said in his address that strikes also hit Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia in addition to other regions.

The General Staff of the Ukraine Armed Forces said in a statement that Russian forces used 84 winged missiles and 24 unmanned aircraft, roughly half of which were Iranian-made drones. Ukraine knocked out 56 Russian targets, according to the statement.

“Our courage will never be destroyed by terrorist’s missiles, even when they hit the heart of our capital,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in a statement. “Nor will they shake the determination of our allies. The only thing they demolish irreversibly is the future of Russia — a future of a globally despised rogue terrorist state.”

Zelensky said the Russians had two goals in the attacks: destroying energy facilities and targeting civilians.

“Why such strikes exactly?” he asked in his video address. “The enemy wants us to be afraid, wants to make people run. But we can only run forward — and we demonstrate this on the battlefield. It will continue to be so.”

Ukraine’s emergency service indicated the missiles hit energy facilities and critical infrastructure, causing more than 30 fires across the affected regions.

Four regions — Lviv, Poltava, Sumy and Ternopil — have no electricity, while the rest of the country’s electricity supply is partially disrupted, the agency said on Telegram.

Putin indicated attacks were response to Crimea bridge explosion

Putin accused Ukrainian forces of committing terrorism hours before the attacks, blaming Ukraine for Saturday’s explosion that partially collapsed the Kerch Strait Bridge. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility. 

The bridge critically linked Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin annexed in 2014. Putin views the bridge as both an important symbolic and physical representation of Russia’s control over the peninsula. 

“There’s no doubt it was a terrorist act directed at the destruction of critically important civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation,” Putin said in a Sunday meeting. “And the authors, perpetrators and those who ordered it are the special services of Ukraine.”

On Monday, Putin met with his Security Council, offering further warnings of the Kremlin’s future reprisal.

“In case of continuation of terrorist attacks on our territory, we will respond in a very harsh manner, and we will respond in level with the level of threats posed against Russian Federation,” Putin said. “Nobody should have any doubt about this.”

Putin in recent days has suggested his escalating threats are not a bluff, including warnings that Russia may use its nuclear arsenal. He accused Kyiv of “nuclear terrorism” in his Monday meeting.

“Leaving such crimes without response is simply impossible,” Putin said.

International community condemned strikes

Western officials expressed disgust at Russia’s strikes, with many saying they spoke with Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, as some of the country’s officials push for more military aid.

“Spoke with Foreign Minister @DmytroKuleba & condemned #Russia’s horrific & indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure in #Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted. “#NATO will continue supporting the brave Ukrainian people to fight back against the Kremlin’s aggression for as long as it takes.”

“Russia’s firing of missiles into civilian areas of Ukraine is unacceptable,” wrote James Cleverly, the U.K.’s foreign secretary, who similarly said he spoke with Kuleba.

Italy’s foreign ministry in a statement called the strikes “cowardly.”

“We reiterate our firm and convincing support for Ukraine, its people and its resilience, and at the same time express our full condemnation and utmost indignation for a gesture that aggravates Russian responsibility in the context of its unjustifiable aggression,” the statement read.