October 10, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Russian forces used missiles, air strikes and drones in a "massive attack" on multiple Ukrainian cities Monday, according to Ukrainian officials.

"Since the morning, the aggressor launched 75 rockets. 41 of them were neutralized by our air defenses," Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military, said.

Powerful explosions rang across Kyiv on Monday morning, leaving multiple people dead. At the same time, regional authorities also reported missile and rocket attacks in Kharkiv, Lviv, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk, partly aimed at critical civilian infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the missile strikes targeted Ukraine's energy facilities and its people.

"They have especially chosen the time and the targets to create the most damage,” he said while standing outside his office in the center of Kyiv.

Moscow wanted to destroy Ukraine’s “energy system," Zelensky said, adding that the Ukrainians shot down 38 incoming projectiles. He urged people to stay in shelters on Monday.

Further south, a Ukrainian official also confirmed that Russian missiles are targeting power infrastructure in the Mykolaiv region.

"They are hitting the infrastructure, trying to leave us without electricity," Vitalii Kim, head of Mykolaiv regional military administration, said on Telegram.

Kim added that the Russians had claimed they are advancing "in all directions," but the opposite is true: "In fact we are advancing and they are panicking."

After reports of Russian missile attacks across Ukraine on Monday morning, Kyiv's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter that Russian President Vladimir Putin "will not break Ukraine down."

Some context: Amid multiple explosions in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities early Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was trying to annihilate Ukraine.

In further comments on the waves of missile attacks across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday:

"The morning has been difficult. We are dealing with terrorists. Tens of missiles and Iranian shahids (drones). They have two targets. Energy facilities all over the country. Kiev and Khmelnitsk regions, Lviv and Dnipro, Lviv and Frankivsk regions, Zaporizhzhy and Sumy regions, Zhytomy and Kirovograd regions, south of the country," he added.

At least five people were killed in the attacks on Kyiv. Regional authorities also reported missile and rocket attacks in Kharkiv, Lviv, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk Monday morning.

Multiple explosions shook Kyiv on Monday morning following weeks of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital. Other cities in Ukraine have also been hit by a large-scale Russian bombardment. Here are the latest developments:

China has expressed hope that the situation in Ukraine will be “de-escalated soon,” following apparent Russian strikes on the capital Kyiv on Monday. 

Speaking during the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs daily briefing in Beijing on Monday, Chinese MOFA spokesperson Mao Ning said China had noted reports of both the explosion on the Kerch bridge linking Crimea with mainland Russia on Saturday and Monday’s strikes on Kyiv. 

Mao reiterated China’s position on the situation in Ukraine, stressing China has “always maintained that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected.” 

India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar declined on Monday to say whether New Delhi will vote to condemn Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory in a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session this week.

“As a matter of prudence and policy, we don’t predict our votes in advance,” Jaishankar said at a news conference with Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong in Canberra. Jaishankar is visiting Australia for the annual Foreign Ministers' Framework Dialogue.

The UNGA is expected to vote on Wednesday on a resolution that condemns Russia's recent annexation of Ukrainian provinces, which it says violates international law

Some context: Although Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin last month that “today’s era is not of war,” India has repeatedly abstained from votes condemning Russia at the United Nations.

India has kept buying Russian oil, coal and fertilizer throughout the conflict and in August, took part in Russia’s large-scale Vostok military exercises alongside China, Belarus, Mongolia and Tajikistan, where Moscow paraded its vast arsenal.

Authorities in Sumy, in the northeast of Ukraine, say there are power outages across the region following missile attacks Monday.

Power cuts were reported in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Monday following an explosion "at a critical infrastructure facility," Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi posted on Telegram.

Standby power generators at several pumping stations were started to restore the water supply, he added.

Sadovyi urged residents to stay in shelters.

The wave of missile and rocket attacks Monday across Ukraine appears to have been in part directed at power plants, bridges and other civilian infrastructure. In addition to Lviv, attacks were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk.

Train traffic on all subway lines is suspended in Kyiv, the city’s official Telegram account said on Monday morning. 

Underground stations are working as shelters, the post said.

Earlier, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister said the red line of Kyiv’s metro system is being used as a bomb shelter.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has advised residents to take shelter after explosions were reported in the capital. At least five people are dead and 12 injured, officials said.

Authorities in several Ukrainian cities are reporting rocket and missile attacks Monday morning.

In central Dnipropetrovsk, Valentyn Reznichenko, head of the regional military administration, said there had been a "massive rocket attack on the region. There are dead and wounded."

Authorities in northeastern Kharkiv also reported attacks. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv military administration, said there were explosions in the city.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said "initial reports indicate three strikes on Kharkiv."

"The impact was at an energy infrastructure facility. Some areas of the city lost power, there is no water supply," he said.

In the south, Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv region civil military administration, said Tu-95 bombers had launched waves of missile attacks, with 47 "projectiles" fired.  

Air defenses had shot down three rockets, he said. The Russians were also using Iranian-made attack drones, he added.

Explosions were also reported early Monday in the western city of Lviv and the capital, Kyiv, where at least five people were killed. Casualties were also reported in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia after a Russian missile strike destroyed an apartment block.