Russia fires 83 missiles at Ukrainian cities;

Moscow/Kyiv: Russia responded strongly to the terrorist attacks by Ukraine on the bridge connecting Crimea and Russia. On Monday, Russian forces rained as many as 83 missiles on cities in Ukraine, wreaking havoc. Russian President Putin has warned that this is revenge for the attack on the Kerch Bridge. President Zelensky had to move to a bunker for safety after missiles fell in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. President Putin has issued a warning saying that Russia will not sit back after this attack and that such attacks will continue in the future.

83 missiles

In the early hours of Saturday, Ukraine launched a terrorist attack on the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia and Crimea. After this attack, the European countries, including Ukraine, gave victorious and inciteful reactions. Russia had threatened to retaliate by calling the attack a terrorist incident. In just 48 hours, Russia made its warning come true by launching missiles into the whole of Ukraine. Monday’s missile strikes are believed to demonstrate Russia’s military power to Ukraine and the Western alliance.

On Monday morning, air raid sirens started sounding in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. It is said that more than 25 missiles were fired in Ukraine in just one hour. The attacks included areas near the headquarters of Ukraine’s intelligence services and those near foreign embassies. Apart from this, infrastructure facilities like electricity, water supply and bridges were also heavily attacked.

Apart from the capital Kyiv, more than ten major cities in Ukraine were targeted. It includes Dnipro, Sumy, Kharkiv, Odesa, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kropyvnytskyi, Khmelnytskyi and Zaporizhzhia, along with Lviv in western Ukraine. There have been reports of heavy casualties in Russia’s missile strikes, although concrete figures have not yet been released. Electricity and water supply have been disrupted in most regions of Ukraine, and blackouts are reported in many leading cities. The local administration has again issued an ‘alert’ to Ukrainian citizens and instructed them to take refuge in safe shelters.

Monday’s missile strikes were revealed to have been ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. President Putin issued a message following the attacks. In this, he openly warned that the attacks on Ukraine were retaliation for the attacks in Crimea. At the same time, Putin also sternly warned that every terrorist attack by Ukraine would be retaliated. After the attacks, a National Security Council meeting was said to have been held in Russia, and Putin chaired the meeting.

A strong reaction has emerged on the world stage to Russia’s missile attacks. Ukrainian President Zelensky alleged that Russia is trying to destroy their existence, and Ukraine is being destroyed. NATO has called the attacks on Ukraine “horrific and unfortunate”. The European Union responded that Russia’s attacks were reprehensible. The UK has said Russia’s attacks are a sign of Putin’s weakness and are unacceptable. France expressed deep concern over Monday’s attacks.

Western analysts claim that Monday’s attacks signalled Russia’s strategic escalation of the conflict in Ukraine. Further, Russia was found to have used drones and ‘Caliber Cruise Missiles’ for the attacks. Analysts also say that eight months into the conflict, Russia has shown a glimpse of its military might by carrying out a series of jolting strikes against Ukraine. Therefore, the Western alliance, which has been beating the drum of Russia’s defeat after it was forced to retreat successively in the last few days, is considered to have received a significant blow.

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