Several explosions were reported in the Ukrainian capital on Monday morning.
According to the Ukrainian presidential office, there is talk of an attack with so-called kamikaze drones.
Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko reports that one of the blasts took place in the central Shevchenkivskyi district.
– The firefighters are working. Several residential buildings were destroyed. Medical staff are on site. We are clarifying the information on the victims, writes the mayor on Telegram just before 6.30.
An hour later, witnesses, reporters and government officials reported on social media of several new explosions in the city.
– Two more explosions in the Shevchenkivskyi district. Stay in the shelters, Klitschko writes in an update.
The Russians are preparing for urban warfare in Kherson
Russian revenge
The attack comes a week after Russia launched several airstrikes on Kiev and several other Ukrainian cities, in the biggest wave of such attacks in months.
The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, did it he called the attack as a response to “Ukrainian terrorist attacks”, including the attack that destroyed parts of the bridge from mainland Russia to the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.
– If the attacks on Russia continue, we will respond strongly. The response will be of the same magnitude as the threats against Russia, the president said.
After the attacks on 10 October, he said at a summit in Kazakhstan that he had eliminated 22 of the 29 targets designated in Ukraine and would resume attacks on the remaining seven.
– No need for massive attacks. We have other duties now, she said.
– More acute problems
Parallel to the explosions in Kiev, the British Defense Ministry reports that logistical problems for Russian forces in southern Ukraine have likely become more acute after the destruction of the Crimean bridge.
It has been partially reopened to traffic and repairs are underway, but is not expected to be completed until 2023.
British intelligence believes the Russians are likely to be increasing the flow of supplies through the port city of Mariupol to compensate for the reduced capacity on the Crimean bridge.
– With the strained Russian presence in Kherson and the deteriorated supply route through Crimea, the land line through Zaporizhzhya County becomes more important for the sustainability of the Russian occupation, writes the Ministry of Defense.
They particularly highlight the city of Melitopol as an important hub for the Russian supply lines.
– The Zaporizhzhya power plant without external power
In the morning hours, Russian forces are also said to have attacked critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian-controlled territory in Zaporizhzhya.
As a result, the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant again lost external power. Energoatom, responsible for the operation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants, reports this on Telegram.
– Russian terrorists have changed tactics and are now trying to blackmail Ukraine and the whole world with missile attacks on the remote substations powering the nuclear power plant, the company writes.
