Russia launched a wave of cruise missiles at hydroelectric dams and other critical infrastructure across Ukraine Monday morning, with explosions reported near the capital Kyiv and in at least 10 other cities and regions. Ukraine’s air command said it shot down 44 of 50 enemy rockets. Video footage suggests several missiles were intercepted in the skies around Kyiv, shortly after 8 a.m. local time. Air raid sirens went off nationwide as citizens were urged to take shelter.
Kyiv Governor, Oleksiy Kuleba, said that “massive shelling in the region” had damaged electricity and energy infrastructure. He said residents would face emergency power cuts. He added: “There is currently one victim. We clarify information.
The cruise missiles were fired from Russian Tu-90 and T-60 aircraft flying north of the Caspian Sea and the Rostov region. They hit targets in Kyiv, Zaporizhia and Kharkov oblasts, as well as in the regions of mikolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad and Chernivtsi. In a statement on Facebook, Herman HalushchenkoUkraine’s energy minister called Monday morning’s attacks “barbaric” and said: “Electrical substations, hydroelectric and heat-generating facilities were hit by rockets.
Fragments of a Russian rocket, shot down by Ukrainian air defense, landed in Naslavcea, Moldovadamaging homes and buildings, according to the Moldovan Interior Ministry.
Twelve grain export ships left Ukraine today, despite Russia withdraws from grain deal negotiated between Turkey and the UNaccording to the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov.
Turkey will continue efforts to support Black Sea grain export deal despite Russian hesitation, president says Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday after Russia suspended its participation in the initiative over the weekend.
France is working to allow Ukraine to export food overland rather than across the Black Sea via Poland or Romania, French agriculture minister Marc Fesneau said Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed his forces repelled a “fierce offensive” by Russian troops in the eastern Donetsk region. “Today they stopped the fierce offensive actions of the enemy,” Zelenskiy said in his Sunday Evening address. “The Russian attack has been repulsed.” The fiercest fighting in the Donetsk region took place around the towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
The Russian Black Sea flagship Admiral Makarov was damaged and possibly disabled during a Bold Ukrainian drone attack over the weekend at the Crimean port of Sevastopol, according to a review of video footage. Open source investigators said the frigate was one of three Russian vessels to be hit on Saturday. A swarm of drones hit the Russian Navy at 4:20 a.m. Zelenskiy’s aides suggested the country was behind the well-orchestrated raid, although his government did not claim responsibility.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” by Russia’s suspension of the grain export deal and delayed his departure to attend the Arab League summit in Algiers for a day in an attempt to relaunch it. Russia has requested a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday to discuss the issue. António Guterres was engaged in “intense contacts” to recover the agreement and spoke with the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell.
Kyiv’s infrastructure ministry said on Sunday that 218 ships were now “effectively stuck” in its ports – 22 loaded and blocked in ports, 95 loaded and left ports and 101 awaiting inspections.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed ‘hope’ that Joe Biden will remember the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis facing the war in Ukraine. In an interview for a Russian state television documentary on Sunday, Lavrov said there were “similarities” between the ongoing war in Ukraine and the 1962 confrontation. President Joe Biden will have more opportunities to understand who is giving orders and how,” Lavrov said. “The difference is that in the distant 1962, Khrushchev and Kennedy found the strength to show responsibility and wisdom, and now we don’t see such preparation from Washington and its satellites,” he said. he adds.