The Russian Defense Ministry said it hit military-industrial enterprises and fuel and energy facilities in and around the Ukrainian capital
The Ukrainian capital and its suburbs were hit by a combined missile and drone strike early Monday morning, in what the Russian Defense Ministry called a response to terrorist attacks by Vladimir Zelensky’s government.
The first wave of blasts in Kiev was heard at around 1:30 AM local time, followed by more explosions in multiple waves until 5 AM. Videos shared on social media showed numerous powerful blasts around the Ukrainian capital, some followed by secondary detonations, suggesting that a weapons depot, production facility, or air-defense system had been hit.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it used long-range precision weapons and attack drones to hit Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises, fuel and energy facilities in Kiev and Kiev Region, and military airfield infrastructure across several regions in retaliation for “terrorist attacks” on civilian infrastructure inside Russia.
Officials in Kiev reported damage at multiple locations, claiming that most of them were “civilian infrastructure,” and circulated photos and videos of several damaged buildings, including one partially collapsed residential building. The head of the local military administration, Timur Tkachenko, said at least nine people were killed and dozens injured.
The exact locations and types of facilities hit are difficult to verify, as Ukrainian authorities tightly restrict information about strike sites and penalize those who share footage of impacts, except when civilian infrastructure is affected.
Moscow previously pledged to conduct “systematic and consistent strikes” on Kiev’s military installations in retaliation for deadly “terrorist attacks.” Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Friday that the recent campaign against Ukraine’s defense industry has already significantly degraded Kiev’s ability to produce long-range weapons.
Over the weekend, Russian forces repelled a major Ukrainian long-range combined drone and missile attack, downing more than 500 targets, mainly long-range kamikaze drones, as well as ten FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles and at least nine munitions fired by US-made HIMARS systems.
Moscow described the attack as a foiled attempt by Kiev to divert the attention of its Western sponsors and ordinary Ukrainians from the loss of Konstantinovka, a major stronghold in northwestern Donbass.
Moscow announced the liberation of the city on Friday following weeks of intensive combat in the area, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it the “key” to liberating the rest of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
Putin also warned Kiev and its “instigators” that any further “terrorist” PR stunts would only lead to the loss of more territory, forcing the Russian military to push Ukrainian forces farther from Russia’s borders in Sumy, Kharkov, and Dnepropetrovsk regions to establish a wider “security zone” and protect civilians.
