(UTV | KIEV) – Massive explosions have rung out in several Ukrainian cities, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens more in Russian strikes that President Vladimir Putin says is retaliation for what he describes as “terrorist attacks” by Kiev.
Several Ukrainian cities were left without power or water supplies after dozens of missiles rained down across the country on Monday, in what was seen as revenge for an explosion on a key bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula.
While Ukraine said the rush-hour strikes in eight regions — including Kiev — appeared to have been deliberately timed to kill people, Russia’s Putin asserted that “it was not possible to leave” Ukrainian attacks unanswered.
“As of now, 10 people have died and about 60 have been injured across the country as a result of missile strikes by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine,” Ukraine’s police service said in a statement on Facebook in the afternoon.
It added that work was underway to collect evidence of “Russian atrocities”, after one of the largest coordinated Russian attacks against Ukraine since the first weeks of the conflict that erupted on February 24.