Russia responds to the destruction of the Kerch bridge with bombings against kyiv and other Ukrainian cities

Ukraine denounces "war crimes" and asks for more military aid to deal with the Russian offensive

MADRID, 10 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Russia has responded this Monday to the destruction of the Kerch bridge, which connects mainland Russia with the Crimean peninsula - annexed in 2014 -, with a series of bombings and projectile attacks against the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, and other cities of the European country, incidents that have so far left more than ten dead and dozens injured.

The attacks come hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the Ukrainian secret services of the "terrorist attack" perpetrated on the bridge on Saturday, which left it partially disabled and left at least three dead. "There is no doubt that this is a terrorist attack aimed at destroying a civil infrastructure of vital importance to the Russian Federation," Putin said after the incident.

The event was a serious setback for Russia as it is an important logistics supply route for Russian forces in Crimea and southern Russian-occupied Ukraine. Likewise, it was a severe blow to the image of Putin, who inaugurated the bridge in 2018, one of the main infrastructures built on the peninsula since its annexation and for Ukraine it is a symbol of the occupation.

Just a few hours later, several Ukrainian cities have been attacked with missiles, as part of an apparent Russian response to what happened. In recent months, Moscow had focused its operations on the eastern part of the country, trying to consolidate territories in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, as well as areas in Kherson and Zaporizhia that would allow Moscow to connect these territories with Crimea. In fact, last week Putin signed a decree annexing these areas, despite the fact that in recent weeks he has suffered blows at the military level and has had to withdraw from several areas.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeri Zaluzhni, has indicated that "the terrorist country, Russia, is carrying out a massive attack with missiles and bombardments against Ukraine, also using drones" and has detailed that "the aggressor has launched 75 projectiles, 41 of which have been neutralized by anti-aircraft defense systems." "The Armed Forces do everything possible to protect citizens. However, the enemy's attack continues. I ask everyone to stay in shelters," Zaluzhni said in a message on his Telegram account.

One of the hardest hit cities has been kyiv, where at least eight people have died and about 25 have been injured, as indicated by Rostislav Smirnov, adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior. Although kyiv has been the target of several attacks since the beginning of the invasion, unleashed on February 24 by order of Putin, those of this Monday are the most serious attacks in recent months and have also reached more central points of the capital than in the past.

Thus, the mayor of the city, Vitali Klitschko, has denounced that "the capital is under attack by Russian terrorists" and has added that the attacks have reached "critical infrastructure", while the authorities have suspended the Metro service . Both Klitschko and the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, have asked the population to remain in the shelters in the face of the threat of bombing.

Zelenski has also denounced that Russia "tries to destroy and eliminate from the face of the earth" the Ukrainians. "Totally. They destroyed our people while they slept in Zaporizhia. They killed people when they went to their jobs in Dnipro and kyiv," he said, while stressing that "raid alarms do not stop sounding throughout Ukraine" .

In addition to the victims in kyiv, there are four dead in Sloviansk, while cities such as Mikolaiv, Zaporizhia -where one person has died-, Dnipro and Khmelnitski have also been attacked. Another of the cities attacked is Lviv, where the bombings have caused cuts in electricity and hot water services.

The president of the Local Council of Lviv, Andrii Sadovyi, has highlighted that the attacks have reached "critical infrastructure" and explained that "due to the lack of electricity, the operations of the thermal power plants have been temporarily suspended". "Generators at several pumping stations have started to restore the city's water supply," he stressed.

The situation is similar in Yitomir, where the head of the Regional Military Administration, Vitali Bunechko, has confirmed that the attacks have reached "energy infrastructure". "Some consumers receive service from backup sources. Work continues to eliminate the consequences (of the bombings)," he said.

Likewise, the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ruslan Martsinkiv, has indicated that "all traffic" has been suspended in the city and has called on the population to telecommute. "I ask all companies and institutions to work 'online' as much as possible during the day," he said through his account on the social network Facebook, according to the Ukrinform news agency.

The Kharkov region has been another of the areas attacked and has also suffered electricity and water cuts. "The attack has reached an energy infrastructure facility. In some areas of the city the power supply has been lost and there is no water," said the mayor of Kharkov, Igor Terejov.

Oleg Sinegubov, head of the Kharkov Regional Military Administration, has acknowledged that "the morning is difficult." "We are facing terrorists. Dozens of Iranian missiles and drones. They have two objectives: the country's energy facilities (...) and the population," he denounced, before accusing the Russians of "seeking panic and chaos and destroy the entire energy system" in Ukraine.

In response to the attacks, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has denounced "war crimes" by Russia. "Our enemy believes that missile attacks are effective means of intimidation. They are not. They are war crimes. Civilians are killed and injured. Ukraine, with the support of the civilized world, must bring missile terrorists to justice, and we will," he said.

"Our courage will never be destroyed by the missiles of the terrorists, even if they hit the heart of our capital. They will not affect the resolve of our allies. The only thing they irreversibly demolish is the future of Russia, a future of a rogue terrorist state." globally despised," he said.

Reznikov has stated that "the best response to Russian missile terrorism is the supply of anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems to Ukraine." "Protect the sky over Ukraine. This will protect our cities and our people. This will protect the future of Europe. Evil must be punished," he has said in a series of messages on Twitter.

Mijailo Podoliak, one of the advisers to the Presidency of Ukraine, has expressed himself along these lines, stressing that "the massive attacks against Ukrainian cities is a large-scale and direct war crime." "There is only one possible answer: anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems for Ukraine, expulsion of Russia from all international forums and a special court, with immediate arrest warrants against the Russian authorities," he argued.

Podoliak has also pointed out that "the deliberate attacks against the center of kyiv, Zaporizhia and Dnipro are another proof of the inadequacy of the Kremlin's terrorism." "Russia is not capable of fighting on the battlefield, but it is capable of killing civilians. Instead of talking, we need anti-aircraft defense systems, multiple rocket launchers and longer-range projectiles," he concluded.