Recap
At least 11 people are reported to have been killed and scores more injured after Russia launched a massive wave of strikes targeting cities across Ukraine. Many of the locations hit by cruise missiles and kamikaze drones in the midst of the morning rush hour appeared to be solely civilian sites or key pieces of infrastructure, including the country’s electric grid, apparently chosen to terrorise Ukrainians. Six people were killed and 51 more were injured in Monday’s strikes on Kyiv, according to city officials.
President Vladimir Putin said the wave of strikes on Ukraine was a response to an attack on the Kerch bridge linking Russia and Crimea. The Russian leader warned of even more “severe retaliation” in the event of further Ukrainian attacks. “Let there be no doubt,” Putin said in televised comments addressed to his security council, “if attempts at terrorist attacks continue, the response from Russia will be severe.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country was “dealing with terrorists” and accused Russia of targeting power facilities and civilians following the missile attacks. “They deliberately chose such a time, such goals, in order to cause as much harm as possible,” the Ukrainian leader said.
President Joe Biden said the US “strongly condemns” Russian missile strikes on cities across Ukraine, which demonstrate Vladimir Putin’s “utter brutality” against the Ukrainian people. In a separate statement, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the international community “has a responsibility” to make clear that Putin’s actions are “completely unacceptable”. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy was pictured holding talks with the US ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, in Kyiv just hours after Russian missiles struck the centre of the capital.
The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, said he was “deeply shocked” by the Russian air strikes. This morning’s attacks “constitute another unacceptable escalation of the war and, as always, civilians are paying the highest price,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, condemned the “horrific and indiscriminate” missile attacks by Russia on civilian targets in Ukraine. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was “shocked and appalled” by the Russian attack on Ukraine. Her European Council counterpart, Charles Michel, unequivocally labelled today’s actions by Russia as war crimes.
Members of the Group of Seven and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will hold emergency talks on the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday, a German government spokesperson has confirmed. President Zelenskiy confirmed he would address G7 leaders, adding that he had spoken with Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, about increasing pressure on Russia as well as aid for Ukraine.
In an emergency meeting of the UN general assembly, Ukraine’s ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Russia was a “terrorist state” and that its annexation of Ukrainian regions are an “existential threat” to the UN charter“Russia has proven once again, that this is a terrorist state that must be deterred in the strongest possible ways,” Kyslytsya said
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said Belarus and Russia would deploy a joint military task force on the country’s western borders in response to what he called an aggravation of tension. The two countries had started pulling forces together two days ago, apparently after the explosion on Russia’s bridge to Crimea, Lukashenko was quoted as saying. Poland has released guidance advising its citizens in Belarus to leave the country.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed its teams have paused their field work in Ukraine for security reasons. The Norwegian Refugee Council have also said that it has paused its aid operations in Ukraine until it is safe to resume. “Our aid workers are hiding from a barrage of bombs and in fear of repeated attacks,” it said.
The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, will visit Moscow tomorrow to meet Vladimir Putin, UAE state media reported. Mohamed “will discuss with President Putin the friendly relations between the UAE and Russia along with a number of regional and international issues and developments of common interest”, the UAE’s state-owned news agency WAM said.
Vladimir Putin may meet Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at a summit in Kazakhstan this week, the Kremlin said. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters it was “possible” the pair could discuss a Turkish proposal to host talks between Russia and the west on Ukraine.
President Zelenskiy said Ukraine “counts on Britain’s leadership” after a phone call with the UK prime minister, Liz Truss, on Monday. Zelenskiy’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he also spoke with his UK counterpart, James Cleverly, who assured him of Britain’s unwavering support of Ukraine.
The European Union has announced it will extend a bloc-wide protection scheme for Ukrainian refugees into 2024. Ukrainians in the EU who choose to return to their country will still be able to maintain their refugee status, as long as they notify the relevant EU country of their move, according to the EU’s home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson.
Websites for more than a dozen US airports were temporarily brought offline by cyberattacks on Monday morning, with Russian-speaking hackers claiming responsibility for the disruption. About 14 public-facing websites for a number of sizable airports, including LaGuardia airport in New York City, were targeted and inaccessible to the public. Most have since been brought back online.
– Léonie Chao-Fong, Gloria Oladipo, Maanvi Singh
Updated
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke with Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, reiterating that the US “will continue to provide vital economic, humanitarian, and security assistance so Ukraine can defend itself and take care of its people”, a state department spokesperson said.
“The secretary commended Ukraine for not allowing President Putin to break Ukraine’s spirit,” said spokesperson Ned Price. “The secretary reaffirmed the steadfast support of the United States for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Updated
In an emergency meeting of the UN general assembly, Ukraine’s ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Russia was a “terrorist state” and that its annexation of Ukrainian regions are an “existential threat” to the UN charter.
“Russia has proven once again, that this is a terrorist state that must be deterred in the strongest possible ways,” Kyslytsya said.
Updated
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said today that he spoke to US president Joe Biden about Ukraine’s air defense after Russia fired a number of missiles on several Ukrainian cities, reported Reuters.
In a message on Telegram, Zelenskiy wrote: “Had a productive conversation with US President Joe Biden … The main topic of discussion was air defense. Currently, this is the number one priority in our defense cooperation.”
Updated
A number of websites for US airports were targeted earlier today in a cyberattack done by pro-Russia hackers.
Here’s the full report on what happened from the Guardian’s Gloria Oladipo:
Websites for more than a dozen US airports were temporarily brought offline by cyberattacks on Monday morning, with Russian-speaking hackers claiming responsibility for the disruption.
About 14 public-facing websites for a number of sizable airports, including LaGuardia airport in New York City, were targeted and inaccessible to the public. Most have since been brought back online.
A senior official told ABC News that the attacks did not affect air traffic control, internal airport communication or other key operations. But the official said that the interruption caused an “inconvenience” for travelers attempting to access information.
“It’s an inconvenience,” said the unnamed source, adding that the cyberattacks caused a “denial of public access” to public websites that report airport wait times and capacity information.
Read the full article here.
Updated
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreign ministry said today that UAE president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan’s visit to Russia is to help bridge “effective political solutions” to the Ukrainian crisis, reported Reuters, citing the state news agency WAM.
The foreign ministry added that UAE “seeks to achieve positive results to reduce military escalation, reduce humanitarian repercussions and reach a political settlement to achieve global peace and security”.
The UAE president will visit Russia on Tuesday.
Updated
The former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has been included on a list of wanted persons put together by Ukraine security officials, reported Reuters.
The statement said Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security, was wanted under a section of the criminal code dealing with attempts to undermine Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the inviolability of its borders. Most of the Russian Security Council’s members are on the list.
It was not immediately clear why the Ukrainian authorities have not released the information sooner or why they made it public now.
The statement said other prominent Russians figured on the wanted list, including Sergei Shoigu, the defence minister, Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the lower house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, the chairman of the upper house, and Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Security Council.
“The Security Service of Ukraine confirms that Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council and former president of the aggressor state, is declared a wanted person,” the SBU said in a statement.
“This occurred in March 2022 at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression.”
Medvedev was seen as something of a moderate when he served as president from 2008 to 2012, when he swapped jobs with Vladimir Putin, who became prime minister. In recent years, he has voiced some of Russia’s most hardline views on Ukraine.
Updated
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine today, calling it a “profound moral issue”, reports Reuters.
Blinken said the attacks were “unacceptable” and called on the international community to speak up in support of Ukraine:
The international community has a responsibility to make clear that President Putin’s actions are completely unacceptable …
Now is the time to speak out in support for Ukraine; it is not the time for abstentions, placating words, or equivocations under claims of neutrality. The core principles of the UN Charter are at stake.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
At least 11 people are reported to have been killed and scores more injured after Russia launched a massive wave of strikes targeting cities across Ukraine. Many of the locations hit by cruise missiles and kamikaze drones in the midst of the morning rush hour appeared to be solely civilian sites or key pieces of infrastructure, including the country’s electric grid, apparently chosen to terrorise Ukrainians. Six people were killed and 51 more were injured in Monday’s strikes on Kyiv, according to city officials.
President Vladimir Putin said the wave of strikes on Ukraine was a response to an attack on the Kerch bridge linking Russia and Crimea. The Russian leader warned of even more “severe retaliation” in the event of further Ukrainian attacks. “Let there be no doubt,” Putin said in televised comments addressed to his security council, “if attempts at terrorist attacks continue, the response from Russia will be severe.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country was “dealing with terrorists” and accused Russia of targeting power facilities and civilians following the missile attacks. “They deliberately chose such a time, such goals, in order to cause as much harm as possible,” the Ukrainian leader said.
President Joe Biden said the US “strongly condemns” Russian missile strikes on cities across Ukraine, which demonstrate Vladimir Putin’s “utter brutality” against the Ukrainian people. In a separate statement, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the international community “has a responsibility” to make clear that Putin’s actions are “completely unacceptable”. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy was pictured holding talks with the US ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, in Kyiv just hours after Russian missiles struck the centre of the capital.
The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, said he was “deeply shocked” by the Russian air strikes. This morning’s attacks “constitute another unacceptable escalation of the war and, as always, civilians are paying the highest price,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, condemned the “horrific and indiscriminate” missile attacks by Russia on civilian targets in Ukraine. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was “shocked and appalled” by the Russian attack on Ukraine. Her European Council counterpart, Charles Michel, unequivocally labelled today’s actions by Russia as war crimes.
Members of the Group of Seven and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will hold emergency talks on the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday, a German government spokesperson has confirmed. President Zelenskiy confirmed he would address G7 leaders, adding that he had spoken with Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, about increasing pressure on Russia as well as aid for Ukraine.
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said Belarus and Russia would deploy a joint military task force on the country’s western borders in response to what he called an aggravation of tension. The two countries had started pulling forces together two days ago, apparently after the explosion on Russia’s bridge to Crimea, Lukashenko was quoted as saying. Poland has released guidance advising its citizens in Belarus to leave the country.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed its teams have paused their field work in Ukraine for security reasons. The Norwegian Refugee Council have also said that it has paused its aid operations in Ukraine until it is safe to resume. “Our aid workers are hiding from a barrage of bombs and in fear of repeated attacks,” it said.
The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, will visit Moscow tomorrow to meet Vladimir Putin, UAE state media reported. Mohamed “will discuss with President Putin the friendly relations between the UAE and Russia along with a number of regional and international issues and developments of common interest”, the UAE’s state-owned news agency WAM said.
Vladimir Putin may meet Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at a summit in Kazakhstan this week, the Kremlin said. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters it was “possible” the pair could discuss a Turkish proposal to host talks between Russia and the west on Ukraine.
President Zelenskiy said Ukraine “counts on Britain’s leadership” after a phone call with the UK prime minister, Liz Truss, on Monday. Zelenskiy’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he also spoke with his UK counterpart, James Cleverly, who assured him of Britain’s unwavering support of Ukraine.
The European Union has announced it will extend a bloc-wide protection scheme for Ukrainian refugees into 2024. Ukrainians in the EU who choose to return to their country will still be able to maintain their refugee status, as long as they notify the relevant EU country of their move, according to the EU’s home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson.
Updated
The European Union “should and could do more” to help Ukraine by providing more military equipment in light of Russia’s recent escalation of aggression, the president of the European parliament, Roberta Metsola, has said.
Speaking to CNN, Metsola said:
What we’ve seen today shows that Russia will continue to escalate further … How are we going to respond? If our response is not proportionate to the escalation, then we’re just going to keep seeing him killing more people.
EU sanctions were “clearly not enough”, she said, calling on member states to come together and provide more weaponry, specifically tanks, which the Ukrainians have requested.
Ukraine is asking for them, and the European Union has the facility to coordinate what it gives to Ukraine. I know the high representatives are very much working on this. I know from the military perspective we can do more.
Updated
The head of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, which last week was awarded the Nobel Peace prize, has shared a video of the aftermath of Russia’s missile strike on a children’s playground in Kyiv.
Oleksandra Matviichuk said many children and their parents visited the playground every day, while just opposite was the university she attended for years.
Matviichuk said:
There is no military necessity in hitting these sites. Russia did these things because they could.
She called on the international community to recognise Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, and to provide Ukraine with modern air defence systems to “stop this circle of impunity” and hold Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart, Aleksandr Lukashenko, and other alleged war criminals accountable.
I am standing next to the children playground which was hit by the Russian missile in the morning in Kyiv center. Putin, Lukashenko and other war criminals must be accountable. Help Ukraine to bring them to justice#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/xBr8zjGgpz
— Oleksandra Matviichuk (@avalaina) October 10, 2022
Updated
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the international community “has a responsibility” to make clear that President Vladimir Putin’s actions are “completely unacceptable”.
In a statement, Blinken said Russia’s attacks on Ukraine present a “profound moral issue”.
He said:
Now is the time to speak out in support for Ukraine; it is not the time for abstentions, placating words, or equivocations under claims of neutrality. The core principles of the UN Charter are at stake.
Meanwhile, the US secretary of the army, Christine Wormuth, said Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine were an “extension” of the kinds of “tactics” Putin has been using throughout the conflict with Ukraine.
Updated
Kyiv attacks killed six people and injured 51, say officials
Six people were killed and 51 more were injured in Russia’s missile strike on Kyiv on Monday morning, according to the city’s officials.
In an update on Telegram, it said:
As a result of today’s shelling, six people were killed, 51 were injured, 12 were rescued and 24 were evacuated.
Overall, at least 11 people died and 89 were injured by the missile attacks across Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s police.
Four people died in Dnipropetrovsk region, and one person each was killed in Poltava region and Kyiv region, officials added.
Updated
Germany’s cybersecurity chief may face the sack over alleged ties with Russian intelligence services, AFP cited government sources as saying.
Arne Schönbohm, the head of the BSI federal information security agency, was accused in a recent investigation by the broadcaster ZDF of contacts with Russia through the Cyber Security Council of Germany.
Schönbohm was a co-founder of the association, whose members include a German company that is a subsidiary of a Russian cybersecurity firm founded by a former KGB employee, the report said.
The interior ministry said it was “taking the facts that have been reported seriously and investigating them comprehensively” and was “examining all options on how to deal with the situation”.
A planned joint appearance by Schönbohm and Germany’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, to present a report on German cyber security has been cancelled as the ministry seeks to clarify the allegations.
Updated
“When performing combat missions in Syria, not for a minute did we forget that we were defending Russia,” Sergei Surovikin, the new unified Russian battlefield commander in Ukraine, told an assembled crowd of elite army personnel at a ceremony in Moscow back in 2017.
Surovikin’s “defending” of Moscow’s interests in Syria involved dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure, according to a 2020 Human Rights Watch report, which said Russian forces under his command struck Syrian “homes, schools, healthcare facilities, and markets – the places where people live, work, and study”.
On Monday morning, just two days after being appointed as the first overall commander for the war in Ukraine, Surovikin brought his violent Syria playbook closer to home, with a flurry of rocket attacks against civilian targets across Ukraine, which included a major road junction next to a university and a children’s playground in a park.
“I am not surprised to see what happened this morning in Kyiv. Surovikin is absolutely ruthless, with little regard for human life,” a former defence ministry official, who has worked with Surovikin, told the Guardian.
I am afraid his hands will be completely covered in Ukrainian blood.
Surovikin first gained notoriety during the 1991 coup d’état attempt launched by Soviet hardliners, when he led a rifle division that drove through barricades erected by pro-democracy protesters. Three men were killed in the clash, including one who was crushed.
His ruthless reputation grew in 2004 when Russian media reported that a colonel serving under him had killed himself after he received a heated reprimand from Surovikin.
His colleagues have since given him the grim nickname “General Armageddon” for his hardline and unorthodox approach to waging war.
Polish authorities are checking the condition of the country’s bomb shelters in preparation for a worst-case scenario, a deputy minister said.
Reuters reports that Poland’s deputy interior minister, Maciej Wąsik, was cited by the broadcaster Polsat News as saying:
We have 62,000 such facilities across the country. Firefighters are checking their condition, whether they are equipped, and whether they are fit for use. If not, we will take steps to adapt them.
Poland was not under threat but was preparing for the worst-case scenario, he added.
Updated
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy held talks with the US ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, in Kyiv just hours after Russian missiles struck the centre of the capital.
Zelenskiy thanked the US for its support in an update on his Telegram account, while Brink shared photos of the meeting on her Twitter feed.
🇺🇸 Undaunted. Слава Україні!
— Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) October 10, 2022
🇺🇦 Непохитні. Слава Україні! pic.twitter.com/z2hiIVrhiE
Updated
The UN’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, said he is “reasonably confident” that a deal allowing Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports will be renewed.
The four-month UN-brokered deal is due to expire in late November and officials have been working to expand and extend the initiative for a year.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, Griffiths said:
The farmers need to know soon whether it is worth planting for the harvest that will come next year. And for that reason, we need to have a kind of certainty on the Black Sea operation.
On Friday, the UN’s spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said officials were also working to facilitate Russian grain and fertiliser exports.
The Russian pop singer Alla Pugacheva has said she is in Israel, three weeks after she publicly criticised Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine when Moscow declared her husband a “foreign agent”.
“I thank my multimillion army of fans for their love and support, for the ability to distinguish truth from lies,” the 73-year-old, known as the “queen of Soviet pop music”, said in an Instagram post on Monday.
“From the Holy Land, I pray for you and for peace,” she told her 3.4 million followers. “I am happy!”
Pugacheva, who has sold more than 250m records, became hugely popular during the Soviet era and has remained so over a career spanning more than 55 years. She is among the most famous people in the Russian-speaking world for hits such as the 1982 song Million Scarlet Roses and the 1978 film The Woman Who Sings.
Her husband, the television presenter and comedian Maxim Galkin, joined journalists, human rights activists and Kremlin opponents in September in being labelled a “foreign agent” for opposing the invasion.
Biden condemns Putin's 'utter brutality' after Russian missile strikes
President Joe Biden said the US “strongly condemns” Russian missile strikes on cities across Ukraine, which demonstrate Vladimir Putin’s “utter brutality” against the Ukrainian people.
In a statement, Biden added:
These attacks killed and injured civilians and destroyed targets with no military purpose. They once again demonstrate the utter brutality of Mr Putin’s illegal war on the Ukrainian people.
We offer our condolences to the familes and loved ones of those who were senselessly killed today, as well as our best wishes for the recovery of those who were wounded.
Today’s attacks only further reinforce the US’s commitment to stand with the people of Ukraine “for as long as it takes”, Biden continued.
We will continue to impose costs on Russia for its aggression, hold Putin and Russia accountable for its atrocities and war crimes, and provide the support necessary for Ukrainian forces to defend their country and their freedom.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images to be sent to us from the site of Russia’s strikes on Kyiv this morning.
Poland has advised its citizens in Belarus to leave the country as relations between the two countries have become increasingly tense.
In guidance for travellers published on its website, the Polish government said:
We recommend that Polish citizens staying on the territory of the Republic of Belarus leave its territory with available commercial and private means.
Bellingcat’s Christo Grozev has shared a video showing the aftermath of a Russian missile attack on a children’s playground in central Kyiv this morning.
A precision missiles hit on a kids' playground. pic.twitter.com/3sfaYWOPOF
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) October 10, 2022
Updated
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has condemned Russia’s “horrific” missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and pledged “unwavering” support to Ukraine.
Blinken said he had spoken to Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, “to reiterate US support for Ukraine following the Kremlin’s horrific strikes”.
I just spoke with @DmytroKuleba to reiterate U.S. support for Ukraine following the Kremlin’s horrific strikes this morning. We will continue to provide unwavering economic, humanitarian, and security assistance so Ukraine can defend itself and take care of its people.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) October 10, 2022
The European Union has announced it will extend a bloc-wide protection scheme for Ukrainian refugees into 2024.
Ukrainians in the EU who choose to return to their country will still be able to maintain their refugee status, as long as they notify the relevant EU country of their move, according to the EU’s home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson.
About 4.2 million Ukrainians currently held temporary protection status under the EU scheme, Johansson said.
The programme, which first came into effect on 4 March, gives them the right to live and work in any EU country and benefit from housing and schooling help.
Updated
Russia’s defence ministry has said it hit “all designated targets” in a massive wave of missile attacks on Ukrainian military, communications and energy infrastructure.
The goals of the missile strikes had been achieved, it said. According to Ukraine’s state emergency service, at least 11 people have been killed as a result of today’s strikes.
In its daily briefing, Russia’s defence ministry said:
Today, Russia’s armed forces have inflicted a massive strike with high-precision long-range weapons against Ukrainian military, communications and energy target.
It added:
The goal of the strike has been achieved. All designated targets were hit.
Among the targets hit in Kyiv were a popular pedestrian and cycle bridge, a major road junction next to a university and a children’s playground in a park.
Updated
The International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed its teams have paused their field work in Ukraine for security reasons after Russia fired missiles at cities across Ukraine.
CLARIFICATION: Given the security situation in #Ukraine today, our teams momentarily paused movements, sheltered and continued to work in place.
— ICRC (@ICRC) October 10, 2022
Our full schedule of humanitarian assistance will resume immediately as the security situation allows.
The Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk writes for us today about how the latest Russian missile strikes on Kyiv have made her people scared, but practical.
For the first time since the war began in February, missile strikes hit the very centre of the Ukrainian capital, killing at least five people and leaving dozens wounded. The Kremlin targeted all major Ukrainian towns, including Dnipro and Kharkiv, and also Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk in the relatively safe west of the country.
And so, civilians who had enjoyed some small amount of peace are on high alert again. Today, schoolchildren are moved to basements. Businesses are closed down, and meetings cancelled. Kyiv subway – which started operating in the spring – again served as the bomb shelter. After a few months enjoying life in Kyiv, many again might consider leaving.
She writes:
We are scared at the moment, but that is different than being always afraid. Ukrainian defiance doesn’t mean bravado or idealising the war. While sitting in a basement, looking at the air raid warning map, we see that threats and attacks across the entirety of our state for five hours and 37 minutes makes us practical most of all. We think not about grand ideas, but electricity and water supplies, documents and daily rations, and contingency plans. You’re also pragmatic about what is working to protect you.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
At least 11 people are reported to have been killed and scores more injured after Russia launched a massive wave of strikes targeting cities across Ukraine. Many of the locations hit by cruise missiles and kamikaze drones in the midst of the morning rush hour appeared to be solely civilian sites or key pieces of infrastructure, including the country’s electric grid, apparently chosen to terrorise Ukrainians.
President Vladimir Putin said the wave of strikes on Ukraine was a response to an attack on the Kerch bridge linking Russia and Crimea. The Russian leader warned of even more “severe retaliation” in the event of further Ukrainian attacks. “Let there be no doubt,” Putin said in televised comments addressed to his security council, “if attempts at terrorist attacks continue, the response from Russia will be severe.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country was “dealing with terrorists” and accused Russia of targeting power facilities and civilians following the missile attacks. “They deliberately chose such a time, such goals, in order to cause as much harm as possible,” the Ukrainian leader said.
The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, said he was “deeply shocked” by the Russian air strikes. This morning’s attacks “constitute another unacceptable escalation of the war and, as always, civilians are paying the highest price,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, condemned the “horrific and indiscriminate” missile attacks by Russia on civilian targets in Ukraine. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was “shocked and appalled” by the Russian attack on Ukraine. Her European Council counterpart, Charles Michel, unequivocally labelled today’s actions by Russia as war crimes.
Members of the Group of Seven and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will hold emergency talks on the situation in Ukraine on Tuesday, a German government spokesperson has confirmed. President Zelenskiy confirmed he would address G7 leaders, adding that he had spoken with Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, about increasing pressure on Russia as well as aid for Ukraine.
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said Belarus and Russia would deploy a joint military task force on the country’s western borders in response to what he called an aggravation of tension. The two countries will deploy a regional military group, and had started pulling forces together two days ago, apparently after the explosion on Russia’s bridge to Crimea, Lukashenko was quoted as saying.
The Red Cross has paused its operations in Ukraine for security reasons, according to an International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson. The Norwegian Refugee Council have also said that it has paused its aid operations in Ukraine until it is safe to resume. “Our aid workers are hiding from a barrage of bombs and in fear of repeated attacks,” it said.
The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, will visit Moscow tomorrow to meet Vladimir Putin, UAE state media reported. Mohamed “will discuss with President Putin the friendly relations between the UAE and Russia along with a number of regional and international issues and developments of common interest”, the UAE’s state-owned news agency WAM said.
Vladimir Putin may meet Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at a summit in Kazakhstan this week, the Kremlin said. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters it was “possible” the pair could discuss a Turkish proposal to host talks between Russia and the west on Ukraine.
President Zelenskiy said Ukraine “counts on Britain’s leadership” after a phone call with the UK prime minister, Liz Truss, on Monday. Zelenskiy’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he also spoke with his UK counterpart, James Cleverly, who assured him of Britain’s unwavering support of Ukraine.
The Council of Europe has awarded the detained Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza the Vaclav Havel human rights prize. Kara-Murza, who is now in pre-trial detention on suspicion of spreading false information about the armed forces, was praised by the Council for what it called his bravery in standing up to Russia’s leaders.
Hello everyone, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong still here on today’s Russia-Ukraine live blog. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Ukraine 'counts on Britain's leadership', says Zelenskiy
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he has spoken with the UK prime minister, Liz Truss, today following a wave of Russian strikes across the country.
I've had a phone call with Prime Minister @trussliz. We count on 🇬🇧's leadership in consolidating international political and defense support for Ukraine, in particular regarding the protection of our skies. And also in the further isolation of Russia.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 10, 2022
UN chief says Russian air strikes are 'unacceptable escalation'
The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, said he was “deeply shocked” by Russia’s most widespread air strikes since the start of the Ukraine war, a spokesperson said.
In a statement, the UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said:
This constitutes another unacceptable escalation of the war and, as always, civilians are paying the highest price.
Updated
The Economist’s Oliver Carroll cites a Ukrainian military source as saying that the wave of Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities this morning was not out of the blue.
President Vladimir Putin is waiting for a signal to see if western leaders will stand up and lead, the source says:
Where is leadership? It’s as if people are waiting on Biden.
Ukr military source: “We were expecting it. Europeans should have been expecting it. It’s not February + out of blue. Where’s the reaction? Putin is looking for signal. Looking to see if someone will stand up + lead. Where is leadership? It’s as if people are waiting on Biden.”
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) October 10, 2022
Updated
Von der Leyen 'shocked and appalled' by 'vicious attack on Kyiv'
The prime minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, have posted a joint video from the Narva border crossing between Estonia and Russia. In the clip, Von der Leyen says:
I am shocked and appalled by the vicious attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Russia once again has shown to the world what it stands for – it is terror and brutality. Those who are responsible have to be held accountable. We are mourning the victims, and I send my heartfelt condolences to our Ukrainian friends. I know Ukrainians will not be intimidated, and Ukrainians know that we will stand by their side as long as it takes.
Kallas then adds:
We are standing here at the eastern border of European Union. In the background is Russia. We send a clear message to all Ukrainians – we are supporting you every possible way.
What we have to do is definitely deliver air defence from the allied side, so that the Ukrainians can protect their cities, their civilians. Because Russia is definitely escalating to harm to civilians. We are with the victims. We stand by Ukraine.
My message with @vonderleyen at the Narva border crossing, with Russia on the other side:
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) October 10, 2022
The best way to be with #Ukraine right now is to speed up our support.
Russia's targets are civilians. Ukraine needs air defence systems to protect its people.
We #StandWithUkraine. pic.twitter.com/yk7HxhwZZY
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Here is a map showing the latest information we have on the locations that have been struck in Ukraine by Russia during today’s series of missile and rocket strikes.
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Here is the latest report for the Guardian from Peter Beaumont, Charlotte Higgins and Artem Mazhulin in Kyiv:
Russia has launched a massive wave of strikes targeting cities across Ukraine, including key civilian infrastructure, in what the Kremlin said was a response to an attack on the Kerch bridge linking Russia and Crimea.
At least 11 people were reported killed and scores more injured, with Russian President Vladimir Putin warning of even more “severe retaliation” in the event of further Ukrainian attacks.
“Let there be no doubt,” Putin said in televised comments addressed to his security council, “if attempts at terrorist attacks continue, the response from Russia will be severe.”
As the scale of Monday morning’s assault emerged, Russia faced a chorus of international condemnation with EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, saying such acts have “no place” in the 21st century”.
Many of the locations hit by cruise missiles and kamikaze drones in the midst of the morning rush hour appeared to be solely civilian sites or key infrastructure, including the country’s electric grid, apparently chosen to terrorise Ukrainians.
The strikes, launched from warships and strategic bombers, came barely hours after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, denounced the bridge attack on Saturday as an “act of terrorism” which he blamed on Ukraine’s secret services.
Among targets hit in the capital including a popular pedestrian and cycle bridge and a major road junction next to a major university and a children’s playground in a park. According to Ukraine’s military, by mid-morning on Monday, 75 missiles had been launched, of which it claimed more than 40 had been intercepted.
As Ukraine counted its dead, a Russian official – Dmitry Medvedev – said that Moscow would try to oust Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government even as hardline bloggers and media in Russia celebrated what they hoped would mark the beginning of a widening of the Kremlin’s war.
Read more of Peter Beaumont, Charlotte Higgins and Artem Mazhulin’s report from Kyiv here: Multiple explosions hit central Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities
Updated
Maksym Kozytskyi, the governor of Lviv, has also made an appeal to residents in his region to try and conserve electricity supplies. He has posted to Telegram to say:
Due to the morning rocket attack of the Russian Federation in Lviv region, interruptions with mobile communication continue, and some settlements remain without electricity. Specialists are working to restore power as quickly as possible. But recovery could take more than 24 hours.
With this in mind, we ask residents of those settlements that have electricity to use it only for urgent needs. I ask you to reduce electricity consumption as much as possible from 5pm to 11pm – this will help to avoid critical loads on our power system. Try not to use electric heaters, boilers, dishwashers, microwaves – they are among the most energy-consuming appliances.
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The Council of Europe awarded detained Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza the Vaclav Havel human rights prize on Monday for what it called his bravery in standing up to Russia’s leaders.
Reuters reports Kara-Murza, who holds both British and Russian citizenship and was a pallbearer at the 2018 funeral of US Senator John McCain, worked as a close aide to opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead in central Moscow in 2015.
Twice, in 2015 and 2017, Kara-Murza became suddenly ill and fell into a coma in what he said were poisonings by the Russian security services. Moscow denied involvement.
He is now in pre-trial detention on suspicion of spreading false information about the armed forces under new laws passed eight days after the 24 February invasion of Ukraine began.
“It takes incredible courage in today’s Russia to stand against the power in place,” Tiny Kox, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said in a statement. “Today, Kara-Murza is showing this courage, from his prison cell.”
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The New York Times has had a reporter in Moscow today asking for people’s reactions on the street to the news of the attacks on Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine. Valerie Hopkins writes:
Most people who were asked by a reporter for The New York Times for a reaction to the strikes said they didn’t follow the news and didn’t know what had happened.
One man, who like many of those interviewed declined to share even his first name, said he had heard there was “some shelling” in Ukraine but hadn’t sought out more information.
Vladimir, a 37-year old army veteran who works in construction, cheered the destruction in Ukraine, calling it “just a little warning shot,” and said he hoped it would escalate further.
Some younger Russians expressed sadness about the missile strikes in civilian areas, but were not ready to put the blame squarely on the Kremlin. “It is bad when people are killed for any reason,” said Sasha, 19, a university student in psychology. Still, she went on, “In any fight, both sides are responsible.”
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Oleksandr Syenkevych, mayor of Mykolaiv, has announced via Telegram that the city is taking moves to conserve electric supplies. He writes:
Today we do not turn on the street lights in Mykolaiv. We also turn off all traffic lights at 5pm. I ask drivers to obey the traffic rules. After 5pm, we reduce the number of electric vehicles on the streets of the city. Also, a request to everyone: limit electricity consumption.
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, has unequivocally labelled today’s actions by Russia as war crimes. He has tweeted:
Russia’s horrendous attacks against Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine show the desperation of the Kremlin. These indiscriminate attacks on civilians are war crimes. [We are] committed to supporting Ukraine and holding [the] Russian regime accountable. We’ll address this with our G7 partners.
Russia’s horrendous attacks against Kyiv and other cities across #Ukraine show the desperation of the Kremlin.
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) October 10, 2022
These indiscriminate attacks on civilians are war crimes.
Committed to supporting Ukraine & holding Russian regime accountable – we’ll address this with @G7 partners.
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Ukrainian journalist Svitlana Morenets has called today’s attacks “a new phase in the war” in the Spectator’s lunchtime newsletter. She writes:
At any point until now, Putin could have switched to a blitz strategy of destroying cities. But at the beginning of the conflict, he had envisaged an easy conquest and a narrative of somehow “uniting’”the Russian world.
Ukrainians have made efforts to show confidence this morning – there are videos of people singing Ukrainian national songs in Kyiv’s metro. For some time, talk in Kyiv has turned to what to do should the war graduate to missile attacks, even nuclear deployment. With Putin so visibly losing to a far-smaller neighbour, he is a wounded beast. We will see what that beast is capable of.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has tweeted to say that he has spoken to the UK’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly. Kuleba invoked the “Blitz” on the UK during the second world war, saying:
Cleverly assured me the UK will strengthen its unwavering support. I stressed we need air defence systems; Russia must be recognised a terrorist state. Just like the UK withstood the Nazi Blitz, Ukraine will withstand Russia’s missile blitz. Nothing will break us down.
.@JamesCleverly assured me the U.K. will strengthen its unwavering support. I stressed we need air defense systems; Russia must be recognized a terrorist state. Just like the U.K. withstood the Nazi Blitz, Ukraine will withstand Russia’s missile blitz. Nothing will break us down.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 10, 2022
Updated
Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, assured his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, of the UK’s “unwavering” support during a phone call, Kuleba said.
Earlier today, Cleverly described Russia’s missile attacks on Ukrainian cities as “unacceptable” and a “demonstration of weakness by Putin, not strength”.
.@JamesCleverly assured me the U.K. will strengthen its unwavering support. I stressed we need air defense systems; Russia must be recognized a terrorist state. Just like the U.K. withstood the Nazi Blitz, Ukraine will withstand Russia’s missile blitz. Nothing will break us down.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 10, 2022
Vladimir Putin may meet Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, at a summit in Kazakhstan this week, the Kremlin said.
Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters it was “possible” the pair could discuss a Turkish proposal to host talks between Russia and the west on Ukraine.
Germany will deliver the first of four IRIS-T SLM air defence systems to Ukraine within days, defence minister Christine Lambrecht said.
In a statement, Lambrecht said:
The renewed missile fire on Kyiv and the many other cities show how important it is to supply Ukraine with air defence systems quickly.
Russia’s attacks with missiles and drones terrorize the civilian population in particular. That is why we are now providing support especially with air defence weapons.
Death toll from Russian missile strikes in Ukraine rises to 11
The death toll from today’s Russian missile strikes targeting cities across Ukraine has risen to at least 11, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service.
Ukrainian police had earlier said at least 10 people and 60 people were injured as a result of Russian attacks. In Kyiv, authorities said a missile strike on the capital’s Shevchenkivskyi district left eight people dead.
The number of wounded has risen to 64, Ukraine’s state emergency service said in a Telegram update.
It added that four regions in Ukraine – Lviv, Poltava, Sumy and Ternopil – had no electricity following the attacks and that the electricity supply had been partially disrupted in other parts of the country.
Updated
Red Cross has paused its operations in Ukraine for security reasons, according to a spokesperson, after Russia launched a massive wave of strikes across the country.
An International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson told Reuters that their teams in Ukraine have temporarily halted work today.
The Norwegian Refugee Council have also said that it has paused its aid operations in Ukraine until it is safe to resume.
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the NRC, said:
We cannot aid vulnerable communities when our aid workers are hiding from a barrage of bombs and in fear of repeated attacks.
Updated
Vladimir Putin said missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday were a response to what he called “terrorist action”, referring to the attack on Kerch bridge on Saturday, which connects Russian-occupied Crimea to Russia.
“It is simply impossible to leave crimes of this kind unanswered,” he said, adding that the decision was taken to strike various Ukrainian cities after the Russian defence ministry put forward a proposal.
Speaking at a Russian security council meeting, Putin also said Russia would respond harshly to any continued threats. “Russia’s response will be harsh and its scale will correspond to that of the threat made against the Russian Federation,” he said.
Updated
Air raid sirens reported again in Kyiv
Air raid sirens are being reported in Kyiv once again.
From the Kyiv Independent’s Illia Ponomarenko:
Aaaaaand yet another air raid siren in Kyiv.
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) October 10, 2022
The Missile Day continues.
Ukraine World’s Volodymyr Yermolenko also reported hearing air raid sirens:
Air raid siren again. The previous one lasted 5-6 hours. In Kyiv people have used not to take air raid sirens seriously, as for many months there were no missile strikes. Today's morning changed that..
— Volodymyr Yermolenko (@yermolenko_v) October 10, 2022
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Our correspondent, Peter Beaumont, reports for us from Kyiv:
Outside Taras Schevchenko University in the centre of Kyiv, the main junction was cratered by a blast from a rocket that destroyed three cars, killing several occupants, with images from the immediate aftermath of the attack showing burning cars and first aiders treating the wounded.
Seconds later another missile struck a neighbouring park and children’s playground, opposite the university, ploughing up paving stones, bending the play furniture and snapping a nearby tree.
Watching the clean-up outside the university, Viktoria Morozova, aged 17, said she had been walking to her own nearby college when the attack took place.
I was just leaving home for university when I heard the explosions. I went back to where I live and went up to the roof of my apartment block to see what was going on.
My father lives very close to the park with my brother but luckily they weren’t home. It’s an atrocity. A terrorist act. This should not be happening. I don’t know what the point is of all this. Maybe it’s their answer for the Crimean bridge.
Why the university and a park? Students were walking to classes. People were walking their dogs or going to work. Kids going to school. Senseless.
— petersbeaumont (@petersbeaumont1) October 10, 2022
Tetiana Kononir, aged 58, who lives nearby, was also watching the clean-up.
It’s terrible. I don’t know what to say. Who can know what Putin is thinking? I can’t even say whether he’s sick or whether he’s trying to frighten us or not.
I don’t know what’s in his head, what’s in his heart. This happened right in the middle of the rush hour. And other places were hit too. They also hit a business centre not far from my home, by the train station. We cannot be frightened. This only unites us even more. He will never defeat us. He will never put us on our knees.
A short walk away, across the nearby park with its plane trees and now damaged coffee kiosks, Dmytro Olyzko and his daughter Kamila, eight, had been visiting a nearby children’s hospital when the missiles struck.
The parents there told me that all children at the hospital come here to play. If it happened two hours later the playground would have been full of children. I don’t know where were they aiming or what were they targeting here.
They are just trying to scare people. As far as I know, they didn’t strike any military objects.
As extraordinary as the evidence of the destruction, however, was how quickly Kyiv returned to normal life after the attack.
Within a handful of hours and within 200 metres from the site of the attack near the university, a boy was doing tricks on his skateboard on the plinth of a sandbagged statue outside the opera house, shops and restaurants were opening again, and in the park people walked their dogs.
Even at the height of the waves of missiles and drones, residents of Kyiv, who survived the weeks of Russian onslaught at the beginning of the war, seemed largely unphased by the latest assault, singing songs in the metro stations where they took cover, while cafe workers handed out drinks.
Updated
NATO chief condemns Russia’s 'horrific and indiscriminate' attacks in Ukraine
Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has condemned the “horrific and indiscriminate” missile attacks by Russia on civilian targets in Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said he had spoken with Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, and pledged Nato’s continued support for Ukraine against Russian aggression “for as long as it takes”.
Spoke with Foreign Minister @DmytroKuleba & condemned #Russia's horrific & indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure in #Ukraine. #NATO will continue supporting the brave Ukrainian people to fight back against the Kremlin's aggression for as long as it takes.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) October 10, 2022
Updated
Ukrainian military intelligence has said that Russia had been planning Monday’s missile strikes on Ukrainian cities since the start of October.
Russian troops “received instructions from the Kremlin to prepare massive missile strikes on the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine on October 2 and 3”, the intelligence arm of the Ukrainian defence ministry said in a statement.
The statement continued:
The military units of the strategic and long-range aviation received orders to prepare for the task of massive missile attacks. The objects of critical civil infrastructure and the central areas of densely populated Ukrainian cities were identified as targets.
The head of Ukraine’s railways expressed his regret that some of the trains on his network faced delays as a result of Russian missile attacks across the country.
Alexander Kamyshin, chief executive of state-owned Ukrainian Railways, tweeted this morning:
37 trains delay. Don’t like it.
— Alexander Kamyshin (@AKamyshin) October 10, 2022
Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to President Zelenskiy, shared a video of staff at Kyiv’s main train station clearing up hours after the city centre was shelled.
The central railway station in Kyiv right now, 2 hours after the entire city center was badly shelled. We are cleaning up the station after the cruise missiles attack in a few blocks from here. The main hall of the train station is opened again after the end of the air raid alert pic.twitter.com/6L3QZi4knN
— Serhiy Leshchenko (@Leshchenkos) October 10, 2022
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country was “dealing with terrorists” after several Ukrainian cities, including the capital, were hit by Russian missiles on Monday.
Speaking outside the presidential office near where some of the missiles hit, Zelenskiy accused Russia of targeting power facilities and civilians. “They deliberately chose such a time, such goals, in order to cause as much harm as possible,” he said.
At least 10 people killed and 60 wounded in Russian missile strikes across Ukraine
At least 10 people have died and 60 have been wounded in a wave of Russian missile strikes across Ukraine, according to Ukrainian police.
Earlier, authorities in Kyiv said eight people had died and 24 were injured in Russia’s missile strike on the capital’s Shevchenkivskyi district this morning.
In a statement, Ukrainian interior affairs adviser, Rostyslav Smirnov, said:
Kyiv. As of 08:45 a.m., eight people were killed and 24 injured in Russia’s shelling of the capital city’s Shevchenkivskyi district. Six cars caught fire, and over 15 cars were damaged.
Updated
Residents in Kyiv are returning to the streets of the Ukrainian capital after the air raid alert ended after nearly six hours.
Ukrainian warfare expert Liubov Tsybulska shared an image of people sitting outside a cafe after the air raid alert was lifted:
I just can’t get enough of my people here in Kyiv. 15 minutes after the air raid siren ended. Queues to cafes and barber shops in my neighborhood pic.twitter.com/AJ7SB2FWLg
— Liubov Tsybulska (@TsybulskaLiubov) October 10, 2022
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said train services on all metro lines had resumed after they were suspended due to Russian missile strikes across the city.
The New York Times’ Megan Specia tweeted images of people back on the Kyiv metro.
Residents of Kyiv are emerging from shelters as the air raid alerted lifted a short time ago and the metro began operation again. Several roads in the city center are blocked by police and signs of the recent strikes are scattered around the city. pic.twitter.com/NQDGPripKg
— Megan Specia (@meganspecia) October 10, 2022
The Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko also shared photos of the streets of Kyiv after the air raid alert ended, vowing that the resilience of people will only grow because “Ukraine just wants to live and live it shall”.
Resilience of Ukrainians will only grow. Photos from post air raid #Kyiv. From @dkaleniuk and @TsybulskaLiubov and I have many more like this. Because #Ukraine just wants to live and live it shall pic.twitter.com/w5lGB7nO8w
— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) October 10, 2022
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The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, will visit Moscow tomorrow to meet Vladimir Putin, UAE state media reported.
Mohamed “will discuss with President Putin the friendly relations between the UAE and Russia along with a number of regional and international issues and developments of common interest”, the UAE’s state-owned news agency WAM said.
The UAE leader’s visit comes days after the Saudi-led Opec oil cartel and its allies, including Russia, agreed to lower their oil output in an attempt to raise prices, despite appeals from the US to increase production.
Updated
Romania’s foreign minister, Bogdan Aurescu, said a Russian missile strike on Kyiv landed 850 metres from the Romanian embassy in the Ukrainian capital this morning.
I strongly condemn RU missile strikes against civilian objectives in #Kyiv's centre &other 🇺🇦cities, in blatant violation of int'l humanitarian law, resulting in loss of human lives. Glad that the personnel of RO🇹🇩 Embassy is safe, even if one strike hit only 850m away of its HQ.
— Bogdan Aurescu (@BogdanAurescu) October 10, 2022
Ukrainian journalist Olga Tokariuk writes that it is important not to equate the attack on the Kerch bridge on Saturday with Russian missile attacks on civilian targets this morning.
It comes after President Vladimir Putin said Russia had struck military and infrastructure targets across Ukraine in retaliation for the bridge attack.
Important not to engage in victim-blaming by equating an attack on Crimea bridge, a legitimate military target used to transport reinforcements for Russian occupiers in Ukraine, with Russia's attacks on civilian targets in Kyiv and elsewhere. https://t.co/qTkfkLZUn2
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) October 10, 2022
Here are some of the latest images we have received from the scene of the attacks on central Kyiv.
The European Union has condemned Russia’s “heinous attacks” on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities earlier today, and said Russian missile attacks on civilians in Ukraine “amounts to a war crime”.
The attacks were “barbaric and cowardly” and a contravention of international humanitarian law, Peter Stano, a spokesperson for the European Commission, told reporters.
He said:
Indiscriminately targeting people in a cowardly, heinous hail of missiles on civilian targets is indeed a further escalation.
The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms these heinous attacks on the civilians and civilian infrastructure.... This is something which is against international humanitarian law and this indiscriminate targeting of civilians amounts to a war crime.
Asked about Belarus agreeing to deploy a joint military task force of Russian and Belarusian troops on the country’s western borders, Stano warned Minsk to “refrain” from further helping Moscow in Ukraine.
He said:
We don’t have the details [on the joint deployment] but if this proceeds, this will be yet another escalation” of the “illegal war” in Ukraine.
Belarus’s actions “will not be unanswered from the side of the European Union”, he warned.
Updated
The air raid alert in Kyiv has ended after nearly six hours, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The alert began at 6.47am local time and was over at 12.25pm.
From the Ukrainian MP Roman Hryshchuk:
Air raid alert has been going on in Kyiv for 5 hours.
— Roman Hryshchuk (@grishchukroma) October 10, 2022
This is the longest in my memory since the beginning of the war. pic.twitter.com/KSq6PkVXOg
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German consulate in Kyiv hit by Russian missile strike
The building housing the German consulate in Kyiv was hit by a Russian missile strike, according to a German foreign ministry spokesperson.
Mezha.Media’s Taras Mishchenko writes that although the consulate was housed in the building, it has not been working since February.
In fact, the German consulate was located in this office, but it has not been working since February, and there is no office of the EU mission to Ukraine near the pedestrian bridge, there are no offices there at all, only the philharmonic.
— Taras (@tarasmi) October 10, 2022
Updated
Members of the Group of Seven and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will hold emergency talks on the situation in Ukraine tomorrow, a German government spokesperson has confirmed.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has already spoken by phone with Zelenskiy and assured him “of the solidarity of Germany and the other G7 states”, they said.
The G7 will begin talks via video link at 2pm local time (1200 GMT) on Tuesday, they added.
President Zelenskiy confirmed he had spoken with Scholz about increasing pressure on Russia as well as aid for Ukraine.
Agreed with Chancellor @OlafScholz of 🇩🇪 holding presidency of #G7 on an urgent meeting of the Group. My speech is scheduled, in which I'll tell about the terrorist attacks by RF. We also discussed the issue of increasing pressure on RF & aid in restoring damaged infrastructure.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 10, 2022
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has hit back at Vladimir Putin’s latest remarks and said the Russian president was not “provoked” into launching long-range missile attacks against Ukraine.
Putin is attacking Ukraine because he is “desperate” and is using “missile terror to try to change the pace of war in his favour”, Kuleba said in a series of tweets.
No, Putin was not “provoked” to unleash missile terror by “Crimea Bridge”. Russia had been constantly hitting Ukraine with missiles before the bridge, too. Putin is desperate because of battlefield defeats and uses missile terror to try to change the pace of war in his favor 1/2
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 10, 2022
This nonsense about Putin being “provoked” must stop. He does not need anything to “provoke” him in order to commit heinous crimes. I ask international media to stop shifting the blame on the victim of aggression by suggesting that Putin “responds” or is being “provoked” 2/2
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 10, 2022
Putin threatens ‘harsh response' to what he called 'terrorist attacks' against Russia
President Vladimir Putin has threatened a “harsh response” if attacks continue against Russia, hours after his troops launched a massive wave of strikes targeting cities across Ukraine in response to an attack on the Kerch bridge linking Russia and Crimea.
In televised remarks, Putin once again blamed Ukraine for the Kerch bridge attack, describing it as a “terrorist attack aimed at the destruction of civil critical important infrastructure of Russia”.
Russia had launched long-range missile attacks against Ukraine’s energy, military and communications infrastructure today in retaliation for the bridge attack, he said.
Speaking at a security council meeting this morning, Putin said:
If acts of terrorism continue against Russia, we will respond in a very harsh manner. The responses will be of the same scale as the threats to Russia. Nobody should have any doubts about this.
Putin presents strikes on ordinary Ukrainians and infrastructure that gives homes electricity and heat as ‘Russia demands action’ moment. “Impossible not to respond” after Crimean Bridge, he claims. Transparent that main audience for strikes are nationalist critics at home. pic.twitter.com/btzifcQZsP
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) October 10, 2022
Hello. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here, taking over the live blog from Martin Belam to bring you all the latest developments from Ukraine. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
Russia has launched a massive wave of strikes targeting cities across Ukraine in response to an attack on the Kerch bridge linking Russia and Crimea.
Barely hours after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, denounced the bridge attack on Saturday as an “act of terrorism” that he blamed on Ukraine’s secret services, missiles slammed into the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, during morning rush-hour, striking targets including a popular tourist bridge and a major road junction. Early reports said at least eight people had been killed.
According to Ukraine’s military, by mid-morning on Monday, 75 missiles had been launched, of which it claimed over 40 had been intercepted.
In an update in the midst of the attack, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia had fired dozens of missiles as well as Iranian-made kamikaze drones, adding that Russia’s main targets appeared to be energy infrastructure and civilians.
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said 11 infrastructure facilities in eight regions and in the capital, Kyiv, had been damaged in the Russian strikes.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba made an immediate appeal to the west for the supply of increased air defence systems. Zelenskiy said he had agreed with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an urgent meeting of G7 leaders in response. Kuleba has cut short a tour of African nations to return to Kyiv.
In an urgent round of diplomatic calls, Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and the UK’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, all reiterated their support for Ukraine. Alexander De Croo said the bombardment of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and of civilian targets in other Ukrainian cities on Monday was “a reprehensible act by Russia”.
The BBC’s Hugo Bachega ducked for cover during a live broadcast which was interrupted as rockets rained down on Kyiv.
Belarus leader, Alexander Lukashenko, said Belarus and Russia would deploy a joint military task force on the country’s western borders in response to what he called an aggravation of tension.
Moldova’s foreign minister Nicu Popescu summoned Russia’s ambassador to explain why missiles launched from the Black Sea into Ukraine crossed Moldova’s airspace.
Poland’s border guard said that the electricity has failed on Ukraine’s side of border crossings at Medyka and Korczowa, but that they are still working normally. The crossings border Ukraine’s Lviv region, where there are reported power outages after Russian strikes on critical infrastructure earlier this morning.
A power line that was cut by shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been restored, according to the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Engineers restored external power to Zaporizhzhya NPP today, a day after the facility lost the connection to this last remaining operating power line due to shelling — enabling ZNPP to start switching off its emergency diesel generators,” the IAEA said.
Denmark’s Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, located near the presumed sabotage attack on Nord Stream’s gas pipelines, on Monday suffered an unexplained power outage, electricity operator Energinet said.
Latvia’s prime minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, has called on EU leaders to stop all tourist visas for Russians, reigniting the debate about further tightening sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. Léonie Chao-Fong will be with you for the next few hours.
Updated
Reuters reports Poland’s border guard has said that the electricity has failed on Ukraine’s side of border crossing at Medyka and Korczowa, but that the crossings are working normally. The crossings border Ukraine’s Lviv region, where there are reported power outages after Russian strikes on critical infrastructure earlier this morning.
In more diplomatic developments across Europe as a result of this morning’s attacks in Ukraine, Belgian prime minister, Alexander De Croo, said the bombardment of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and of civilian targets in other Ukrainian cities on Monday was “a reprehensible act by Russia”.
“It is an unaccepted escalation,” Reuters report he said on Twitter, adding that the attacks would strengthen Belgium’s resolve to support Ukraine.
There was also a diplomatic read-out from France over Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s call with Emmanuel Macron. Macron reaffirmed his full support for Ukraine in the call, and expressed France’s commitment to step up help, including military equipment, the Elysee said.
A spokesperson for the German government said that Chancellor Olaf Scholz had also reassured Zelenskiy of support in a call, and commented that the partial mobilisation of Russia had been a mistake, while strongly condemning today’s attacks.
In the UK, the security minister, Tom Tugendhat, branded the strikes on Ukrainian cities “war crimes” while the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said they were “unacceptable”.
“Russia’s firing of missiles into civilian areas of Ukraine is unacceptable,” the foreign secretary said. “This is a demonstration of weakness by Putin, not strength.”
Updated
Russian rockets hit Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday morning, in the first time the capital has been targeted since June. Footage shared widely on social media showed rockets raining down on the Ukrainian capital, causing smoke to rise above the city and leaving debris and craters. Early reports by local police suggested at least five people had been killed and 12 injured, with the toll expected to rise. Here is our video report.
Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian’s defence and security editor, offers this analysis of today’s developments:
Russia’s wave of missile strikes aimed at Kyiv and other major cities at the time of the morning rush hour marks a depressing response to the bombing of the Kerch strait bridge to Crimea.
It is civilians that will be overwhelmingly targeted by the Russian missile and drone strikes, some of which it has been reported came from Belarus, and some which appear to have crossed Moldovan airspace from the Black Sea. It represents the first strikes on the capital since the end of June, and the number of casualties – already estimated at eight dead – will almost certainly rise grimly during the day. Power supplies in Lviv and Kharkiv have also been affected by the attacks.
On Sunday, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, described the attack on the Crimean bridge as an “act of terror”. It appears his response – and the cynical decision to target Kyiv is a political, not a military response – is clearly not in kind: the wilful or reckless targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime. But for all the chaos on Monday, and the terror it has brought to the people of Kyiv and elsewhere, the question will be whether it will endure.
Early in September, Kharkiv was targeted by a wave of missile attacks following Ukraine’s battlefield success near the country’s second city, with power and water supplies temporarily knocked out. But the intensity of the attacks subsequently subsided, and they had no major impact on the battlefield, where Russia continues to lose ground in the northern sector of the front, losing the city of Lyman in the last few days.
It is not obvious that Russia can maintain an intensification of the missile attacks for an extended period, given how much ammunition it has used in the war so far, and how much political condemnation such attacks will attract.
The military reality is that Russian missile strikes will do nothing to change the balance of power on the ground in the fighting, and whatever fear they provoke they will not impact Ukraine’s desire to resist.
As it stands, Ukraine is also gaining ground on the way to Kherson in the south as well as in the northern Donbas. The Kremlin knows its current position is weak – so no wonder, then, it appears the conflict is escalating elsewhere with Belarus, under Kremlin pressure, agreeing to a joint troop deployment which may mean that Minsk is about to join the war.
Updated
Denmark’s Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, located near the presumed sabotage attack on Nord Stream’s gas pipelines, on Monday suffered an unexplained power outage, electricity operator Energinet said.
The company said it believed the problem was linked to an underwater electricity cable linking the island’s 40,000 residents to the European continent, but the exact cause of the outage was not yet known.
“There is a supply problem and Bornholm has been without electricity since 7.50am (0550 GMT),” an Energinet spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.
“We think it could originate from the cable but it could also very well be elsewhere in the system,” they said.
Electricity was expected to return around midday thanks to local production on the island.
The attacks on Ukrainian cities this morning have sparked an urgent round of public diplomatic developments.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that he has agreed with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on the need for an urgent meeting of the G7 countries. Zelenskiy says that he also spoke with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, saying: “We discussed the strengthening of our air defence, the need for a tough European and international reaction, as well as increased pressure on the Russian Federation. France stands with Ukraine.”
Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, has called on his equivalents in G7 nations, including US democratic party House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to designate Russia as a terrorist state.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has said he has spoken to Turkey’s equivalent, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. Kuleba tweeted that the latter had “strongly condemned Russian strikes and affirmed that Turkey will continue its support for Ukraine”. Turkey had been instrumental in brokering the grain export deal between Ukraine and Russia that freed blockaded ports, but has also objected to to Sweden and Finland joining Nato.
Updated
The wave of strikes targeting cities across Ukraine comes two days after Russia appointed a notorious general as its first overall commander for the war in Ukraine.
Gen Sergei Surovikin is a veteran commander and air force general who led the Russian military campaign in Syria in 2017, where he was accused of overseeing a brutal bombardment that destroyed much of the city of Aleppo in Syria.
In the army, his colleagues reportedly gave Surovikin the nickname “General Armageddon” for his hardline and unorthodox approach to waging war.
“I am not surprised to see what is happening this morning in Kyiv. Surovikin is absolutely ruthless with little disregard for human life,” a former defence ministry official who has worked with him told the Guardian.
“I am afraid his hands will be completely covered in Ukrainian blood.”
Surovikin’s main goal in Ukraine, experts say, will be to solve the structural problems plaguing the Russian military.
Gleb Irisov, a former air force lieutenant who worked with Surovikin up to 2020, said that the new general was one of the few people in the army who “knew how to oversee and streamline different army branches”.
“He is very cruel but also a competent commander,” Irisov said.
“But he won’t be able to solve all the problems. Russia is short on weapons and manpower,” he added.
According to Irisov, Surovikin maintains a good working relationship with the Wagner group, a Kremlin-linked private military company that has been fighting in Ukraine.
Among Russians who welcomed the appointment of Surovikin were Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner group, and the Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov. Both men previously voiced rare criticism of the country’s military leadership, leading to unprecedented tensions within the Russian elite.
“Now, I am 100% satisfied with the operation,” Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel on Monday morning to describe the shelling of Kyiv where at least five civilians were killed.
Updated
The Guardian’s Moscow correspondent Andrew Roth has this quick analysis of that decision by Belarus and Russia to deploy a joint military task force. He writes on Twitter:
A potentially significant development after rumours that Belarus was going to directly join the war. But it also may mean that we’re to see Russia stage far more troops on Belarusian territory or establish a more permanent presence.
Putin earlier pledged to send Belarus the Iskander-M missile systems that would have a range of 500 miles, putting more European cities in range of a potential strike.
Lukashenko: Belarus and Russia will deploy a joint military task force
Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, said Belarus and Russia would deploy a joint military task force on the country’s western borders in response to what he called an aggravation of tension, the state-run Belta news agency reported.
Reuters reports the agency quotes Lukashenko as saying the two countries would deploy a regional military group, and had started pulling forces together two days ago, apparently after the explosion on Russia’s bridge to Crimea.
The Russian state-owned RIA Novosti agency reports Lukashenko as saying: “This is all according to our documents. If the threat level reaches the current level, as it is now, we begin to use the union state grouping.”
Updated
Ukraine PM: 11 infrastructure facilities in eight regions and Kyiv damaged by Russian strikes
Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said 11 infrastructure facilities in eight regions and in the capital, Kyiv, had been damaged in Russian strikes so far on Monday morning.
“As of 11am (0800 GMT), 11 important infrastructure facilities in eight regions and the city of Kyiv were damaged,” Reuters reports Shmyhal said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Now some areas are cut off. It is necessary to be prepared for temporary interruptions of light, water supply and communication.”
Updated
Moldova summons Russian ambassador over missiles crossing its airspace
Moldova’s foreign minister Nicu Popescu has written on Twitter that he has summoned Russia’s ambassador to explain why missiles launched from the Black Sea into Ukraine crossed Moldova’s airspace.
Three cruise missiles launched on Ukraine this morning from Russian ships in the Black Sea crossed Moldova's airspace.
— Nicu Popescu (@nicupopescu) October 10, 2022
I instructed that Russia's ambassador be summoned to provide an explanation.
This image shows smoke rising over Lviv, which is reportedly suffering from electricity and water cuts after Russian attacks hit key infrastructure.
Peter Beaumont and Artem Mazhulin are in Kyiv for the Guardian at the moment, and they have described the people there as “calm if very angry” this morning in reaction to a wave of attacks that has left at least five people dead in the centre of Ukraine’s capital.
An important thing to note, as my wonderful colleague @ArtemMazhulin just pointed out to me, is that people in Kyiv are calm if very angry.
— petersbeaumont (@petersbeaumont1) October 10, 2022
Latvia’s prime minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, has called on EU leaders to stop all tourist visas for Russians, reigniting the debate about further tightening sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Speaking to the Guardian, Kariņš rejected the idea that allowing Russians seeking to evade the draft to enter the EU would be a way to weaken the Kremlin’s armed forces. He said it was understandable that many men would not wish “to go and fight and likely die in Ukraine” and this could trigger a “potential huge immigration wave coming from Russia”, but contended that posed a security risk to Europe. “I think the political dissenters have mostly already left. Then there will be economic opportunists, many, many other reasons and people with unknown loyalties.”
Latvia, along with Poland, its two Baltic neighbours and Finland, has closed to Russian tourists and has been urging the rest of the EU to do the same – so far without success.
Read more of Jennifer Rankin’s report from Prague: Latvian PM calls on EU to end all tourist visas for Russians
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has made an immediate appeal for the supply of increased air defence systems in the wake of today’s attacks on Ukrainian cities. He has posted a tweet saying that he spoke to his Canadian counterpart, Mélanie Joly, and said she assured him “the response to Russia’s barbaric attacks will be an even more resolute practical support for Ukraine.”
I spoke to my Canadian counterpart @MelanieJoly who assured me that the response to Russia’s barbaric attacks will be an even more resolute practical support for Ukraine. I stressed: partners should join forces to immediately provide Ukraine with air and missile defense systems.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 10, 2022
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, has posted a status update on Telegram for his region, stating:
The enemy is launching missile strikes on Kharkiv and the critical infrastructure of the Kharkiv region. Objects were damaged. Electricity and water supply may be unavailable for some time. All emergency services are currently working to restore the damaged infrastructure as soon as possible.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has announced that he is cutting short his current trip to return to Ukraine following this morning’s strikes:
I am in constant contact with partners since early morning today to coordinate a resolute response to Russians attacks. I am also interrupting my Africa tour and heading back to Ukraine immediately.
Earlier he was critical of the Russian President Vladimir Putin and those urging Ukraine to come to a peace agreement with him, tweeting:
Multiple Russian missile strikes across Ukraine. Putin’s only tactic is terror on peaceful Ukrainian cities, but he will not break Ukraine down. This is also his response to all appeasers who want to talk with him about peace: Putin is a terrorist who talks with missiles.
Here are some of the latest images we have received from the scene of the attacks on central Kyiv.
Ukraine military claims it shot down 41 of 75 missiles fired by Russia
Reuters has a quick snap to say that Ukraine’s military has claimed that it shot down 41 of 75 missiles fired by Russia on Monday morning. The claim has not been independently verified.
Zelenskiy: Russia has targeted energy supplies and people in wave of attacks
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said a wave of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities by Russian forces had targeted energy supplies and people, and were chosen to cause as much damage to civilians as possible.
In a statement after central Kyiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Lviv were hit among others, killing at least five people in the capital, Zelenskiy said:
The morning is difficult. We are dealing with terrorists. Dozens of missiles, Iranian “Shahids”. They have two targets. Energy facilities – throughout the country. Kyiv region and Khmelnytsky region, Lviv and Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Frankiv region, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy region, Kharkiv region, Zhytormyr region, Kirovohrad region, the south. They want panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy system.
The second target is people. Such a time and such targets were specially chosen to cause as much damage as possible. Stay in shelters today. Always follow the safety rules. And always remember: Ukraine was here before this enemy appeared, Ukraine will be here after him.
There were some unconfirmed reports earlier of explosions being heard in Belgorod, which is a Russian city over the border from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. The RIA Novosti news agency is now reporting that authorities in Belgorod have said the witness account reported by Reuters was the result of “Explosive experts of the Moscow region carrying out the destruction of ammunition at the training ground.”
Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, has responded to this morning’s attacks with this message:
Our courage will never be destroyed by terrorist’s missiles, even when they hit the heart of our capital. Nor will they shake the determination of our allies. The only thing they demolish irreversibly is the future of Russia – a future of a globally despised rogue terrorist state.
Multiple explosions hit central Kyiv and other cities in wave of Russian attacks
Peter Beaumont, Charlotte Higgins and Artem Mazhulin report for the Guardian from Kyiv:
Russia has launched a massive wave of strikes targeting cities across Ukraine in retaliation for an attack on the Kerch bridge linking Russia and Crimea.
Barely hours after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, denounced the bridge attack as an “act of terrorism” that he blamed on Ukraine’s secret services, missiles slammed into the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, during morning rush hour, striking a major road junction and a park. Early reports said at least eight people had been killed.
Guardian correspondents in Kyiv heard at least nine missiles fly in and half a dozen loud detonations over the course of an hour and a half.
Explosions also shook the cities of Lviv, Ternopil and Dnipro after overnight strikes hit the southern city of Zaporizhzhia for the third night in a row. According to reports, some of the targets hit in the Lviv area were parts of Ukraine’s key energy infrastructure.
The attacks follow several months in which the Ukrainian capital was not targeted, leading to a relative return to normality in the city.
The last attack on Kyiv was in June. But unlike previous attacks that mostly hit Kyiv’s outskirts, Monday’s strikes targeted several locations in the very centre of the city.
BBC correspondent Hugo Bachega was live on air as some of the missiles flew over the city.
This video being circulated on social media appears to show one person walking across the bridge by the Kyiv Arch of Freedom as a Russian strike hits nearby. The video has not been independently verified.
A morning walk by the Kyiv arch pic.twitter.com/re0vxfNRGn
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) October 10, 2022
Kyiv police: at least five killed, 12 injured in attacks this morning
Casualty figures for the strikes in Ukraine this morning are likely to be uncertain for some time, but Reuters has snapped that the Kyiv police have given a first official figure of at least five killed and 12 injured in the capital city today.
Sumy’s regional governor, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi has issued this update on the situation in his north-eastern region of Ukraine, which borders Russia. He posted to Telegram:
There are power outages in all areas of the region. In some places, because of this, there are problems with water supply. In Konotop, two missiles hit an infrastructure object. There are wounded. The alarm continues, stay in shelters.
Andrew Roth, the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, reports on reaction in Russia to this morning’s attacks on Ukraine:
Russia’s missile strikes on busy city centres in Ukraine are widely seen as Vladimir Putin’s response to the explosion on the Crimean Bridge. Unable to halt his losses on the battlefield, Putin has chosen to terrorise and kill ordinary Ukrainians as proof that Russia will not admit it is losing its seven-month-old war.
The missile strikes are being framed in Russia as attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine. In the Kremlin’s thinking, it is a response to the attack on the Crimean Bridge, which Putin called a “terrorist attack aimed at destroying the critically important civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation.”
Russia believes the strikes will terrorise the Ukrainian civilian population and likely threaten a humanitarian catastrophe, with reports that several large cities were already without water and electricity. Targets also included a popular pedestrian bridge in Kyiv. A missile also struck near a children’s playground.
In part, Putin wants to quiet anger from Russian hardliners who have accused him of failing to wage all-out war against Ukraine. The cadres of Russian war pundits, who have grown more critical of the Kremlin of late, were broadly happy to see Russia launch missiles into the heart of Ukrainian cities, often focusing on damage to infrastructure rather than the deaths of scores of civilians.
“It was a good morning in Kyiv,” wrote Colonelcassad, a Russian military blogger with nearly 800,000 subscribers on Telegram. “Look how much better Kyiv has gotten under Surovikin,” wrote another, referring to the new Russian military commander installed on Saturday to lead the invasion force.
Andriy Sadovyi, mayor of Lviv, has reported that following a Russian strike earlier today parts of the city are without electricity or hot water. He stated on Telegram that “standby power generators at several pumping stations were started to restore the water supply” and that “a third of the traffic lights do not work”. He said that after the air alarm ends, authorities will be on hand to direct traffic at key intersections.
Here are some of the latest images to be sent to us from the site of Russia’s strikes on Kyiv this morning.
A senior aide to the Ukrainian president said Russian rocket strikes on cities across Ukraine on Monday were a signal to the civilised world that “the Russia question” must be solved with force, Reuters reports.
“Cowards fighting playgrounds, children and people,” Andriy Yermak, the head of the president’s office, wrote shortly before further blasts rocked the capital following missile strikes earlier on Monday.
“This is another signal to the civilised world that the Russian question must be solved by force.”
Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv, has confirmed on Telegram that there have been “several hits on objects of the city’s critical infrastructure. There are victims. Rescue services are working on the ground.”
At the same time, Rodion Miroshnik, who prior to the recently announced “annexation” of the occupied territory of Luhansk to the Russian Federation was the self-styled ambassador of the Luhansk People’s Republic to Russia, has posted video clips of the strikes on Kyiv boasting “the process continues.”
The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont has described the attacks this morning on Kyiv as “seriously sustained”
And another. This is seriously sustained
— petersbeaumont (@petersbeaumont1) October 10, 2022
There are currently confused reports of the victim count in the capital. There is also some footage emerging which appears to show a Russian strike on the bridge in Kyiv next to the Arch of Freedom monument.
More details soon …
Zelenskiy: 'they are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth'
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has issued a response to this morning’s series of attacks on Ukrainian cities. He has posted to Telegram:
They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth. Destroy our people who are sleeping at home in Zaporizhzhia. Kill people who go to work in Dnipro and Kyiv. The air alarm does not subside throughout Ukraine. There are missiles hitting. Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded. Please do not leave shelters. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Let’s hold on and be strong.
The message was accompanied by a video clip showing the aftermath of the strike on Kyiv, showing wrecked cars, buildings with shattered windows, and fires burning in the street.
The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget A Brink, has described this morning’s attack on Kyiv as a sign of Russia escalating “its barrage of attacks on Ukrainian civilians”.
Multiple strikes in central Kyiv and across Ukraine this morning. Russia escalates its barrage of attacks on Ukrainian civilians.
— Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) October 10, 2022
Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of Kyiv, has issued the following update on the situation on Telegram, writing:
The air attack continues, I ask everyone to remain calm and stay in shelters. Air defence works in the region. There is information about downed objects. I emphasise that the air alert is still ongoing. Don’t ignore it and stay in cover. Do not photograph or film landing sites or damaged infrastructure. People’s lives depend on it. Let’s hold on.
Kyiv targeted by at least four missiles as other Ukrainian cities come under Russian attack
The Ukrainian capital was targeted by at least four missiles on Monday morning, the first strikes in several months, as other Ukrainian cities also came under Russian attack in the wake of Saturday’s huge explosion that hit a key Russian built bridge in the Crimea.
Guardian reporters in Kyiv heard several missiles pass over head with at least one striking, while a fourth detonation could be heard a little later.
Ukrainians had been bracing for a harsh Russian reprisal after the blast that brought down part of the Kerch bridge linking the occupied Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland early on Saturday.
Among the targets hit overnight were the city of Zaporizhzhia which was hit for the third night in a row and the port city of Mykolaiv.
The strikes follow reports of an uptick in activity by Russian strategic bombers with some of the missiles fired from the area of the Caspian sea.
Lviv’s mayor Andriy Sadovyi has announced on Telegram that schools will close today, and lessons take place via remote learning. He also said that there were temporary outages in mobile communications.
Matthew Luxmoore, who is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has published this video clip which he says is Shevchenko Park in central Kyiv. He said it is “probably the city’s busiest park, usually packed with people and street musicians”. The video clip shows a large crater near what appears to be children’s play equipment.
Shevchenko Park in central Kyiv now. Probably the city’s busiest park, usually packed with people and street musicians pic.twitter.com/9kIS4rBiKq
— Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore) October 10, 2022
Oliver Carroll, who is a foreign correspondent for the Economist, has shared this dashcam clip which purports to show the immediate aftermath of the strike on Ukraine’s capital.
Video showing impact of second rocket in Kyiv pic.twitter.com/PEgQoSsTVF
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) October 10, 2022
Carroll has also commented “Hard to underestimate the cynicism of targeting a capital city during Monday morning rush hour. It’s an act of desperation, of course.”
The city’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, has posted to Telegram to say that explosions have been heard in Lviv, and to caution residents to take shelter.
At the same time, Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv, has posted that his region is experiencing a second wave of rocket launches.
More details soon …
There are currently reports of explosions in several cities across Ukraine, with Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnitsky, Dnipro, and Ternopil mentioned as targets on social media and Telegram channels. A video clip circulating appears to show damage to civilian buildings in Dnipro. There are also unconfirmed reports of explosions in Lviv. If this was to be the case, it marks a significant increase this morning in Russian attacks on cities away from the front line in the occupied east of Ukraine.
One of the Guardian’s correspondents, Peter Beaumont, states that four rockets have been fired at Kyiv this morning, with “some intercepted”.
Four rockets so far this morning fired at Kyiv, some intercepted
— petersbeaumont (@petersbeaumont1) October 10, 2022
This video clip, which is being circulated on social media, appears to show that you could hear the strike on Kyiv this morning as the BBC was broadcasting live from the area.
The attacks on #Kyiv could be heard during the #BBC broadcast. pic.twitter.com/6EIMpfRSXd
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 10, 2022
The FT’s correspondent Christopher Miller confirms that there are reports of dead and wounded after Russia struck central Kyiv for the first time in many weeks with a missile attack.
The very center of Kyiv was hit, right beside Shevchenko Park. Closest strike to the heart of Kyiv and the government quarter yet, and the first against it in many weeks. The missile struck a major intersection during morning rush hour. State Emergency spox says dead + wounded.
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) October 10, 2022
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can reach me at martin.belam@theguardian.com
A Russian rocket reportedly landed on a city street in Kyiv near the monument to Hrushevsky, according to a senior presidential advisor.
Anton Gerashchenko, senior Ukrainian advisor to the minister of internal affairs, made the claim over his Telegram account this morning alongside images purported to be from the scene.
Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko added that one rocket fell “right in the centre of the city”.
“Cars are burning, and windows have been shattered in houses. There are dead,” he tweeted this morning.
Kyiv city centre right now. pic.twitter.com/hLFFBNvYec
— Matti Maasikas (@MattiMaasikas) October 10, 2022
Kyiv. The rocket fell right in the center of the city. Cars are burning, and windows have been shattered in houses. There are dead pic.twitter.com/mhbyexsIFe
— Oleksiy Goncharenko (@GoncharenkoUa) October 10, 2022
We have some details surrounding the recent reported explosions heard in Kyiv this morning.
Local media are reporting a series of explosions were heard around 8.30am.
At least four explosions were heard with smoke reported to be seen rising from one area in the city centre, the Kyiv Independent reports.
According to public broadcaster Suspilne, an explosion was believed to have been heard near a railway station in the city.
An air alert has been declared in the city and the surrounding region.
⚡️Explosions reported in Kyiv.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) October 10, 2022
At least four explosions were heard around the city center early in the morning on Oct. 10.
Smoke was reported to be seen rising from one spot in the city center.
Meanwhile, a series of images shared by Zaporizhzhia’s administrative head Anatoly Kurtev shows the aftermath of the overnight missile attack.
Kyiv rocked by explosions, mayor says
A series of blasts have rocked Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, according to local media reports and regional officials.
Kyiv mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko, issued a statement via his official Telegram account just after 8.30am local time, saying: “Several explosions in the Shevchenkiv district - in the centre of the capital.”
Klitschko said more details would follow.
The Associated Press also reported large explosions were heard in Kyiv following sound of incoming missiles.
BREAKING: Multiple explosions rock central Kyiv pic.twitter.com/FmiEUBfPsR
— BNO News (@BNONews) October 10, 2022
Updated
A power line that was cut by shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been restored, according to the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“Engineers restored external power to Zaporizhzhya NPP today, a day after the facility lost the connection to this last remaining operating power line due to shelling — enabling ZNPP to start switching off its emergency diesel generators,” the IAEA said.
Engineers restored external power to #Zaporizhzhya NPP today, a day after the facility lost the connection to this last remaining operating power line due to shelling — enabling #ZNPP to start switching off its emergency diesel generators. https://t.co/OTZRhNCPe3 pic.twitter.com/WmGZEhD6QO
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) October 9, 2022
Our team at #Zaporizhzhya confirms the offsite power line lost yday was restored & #ZNPP is reconnected to the grid—a temporary relief in a still untenable situation. A protection zone is needed now. I will travel to 🇷🇺 & will see 🇺🇦@ZelenskyyUa thereafter to establish the zone.
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) October 9, 2022
Ukrainian officials in the assailed city of Zaporizhzhia are reporting casualties from Russia’s overnight attack.
The city’s administrative head Anatoly Kurtev claimed one civilian has died so far in the attack which struck the southeastern city just before 3am on Monday.
In a Telegram update just before 8am, Kurtev said:
This night, Russian terrorists once again took the life of a civilian.
As of six o’clock in the morning, one dead person is known.
Five more people were injured. Among the injured is one child who has cuts from glass fragments.”
Search and rescue operations are ongoing, he added.
In case you missed this dramatic video: CCTV footage shows the moment the Kerch Bridge linking Crimea and Russia was hit by a huge explosion on Saturday morning.
Footage shared on Russian Telegram channels and news agencies shows the moment of the explosion with two vehicles, a truck and a car, at the centre of the blast.
Putin calls blast on Crimea-Russia bridge an ‘act of terror’
Vladimir Putin has blamed Ukraine directly for the blast at a vital bridge linking Russia and Crimea, describing the weekend attack as “act of terror” carried out by “Ukrainian secret services” amid growing expectation that the Kremlin plans an imminent and harsh escalation of its war.
The Russian president released a video on Sunday night on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel, saying:
There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure …
This was devised, carried out and ordered by the Ukrainian special services.”
💬 President #Putin on the explosion at the #CrimeanBridge:
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) October 9, 2022
There is no doubt we're dealing with an act of terror, aimed at the destruction of Russia's critical civilian infrastructure.
❗ Ukrainian special services ordered, concocted and carried out this #terroristattack. pic.twitter.com/uSC6QuTrl7
Putin spoke after meeting Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s investigative committee, who was presenting findings into the explosion and fire on the bridge.
Bastrykin said he had opened a criminal case into an “act of terrorism” adding: “We have already established the route of the truck,” which he said included transit through Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar (a region in southern Russia) and other places.
Putin to discuss Kerch bridge attack at national security council
Putin is expected to convene his national security council on Monday to discuss the blast that hit the strategically and symbolically important Kerch bridge linking Russian-occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland.
Some believe the meeting is an ominous indication that Moscow may be planning to escalate the conflict with Ukraine – after a chorus of public demands from hardliners for retaliation.
It also comes in the context of Russia’s growing nuclear brinkmanship around the nine-month-old war.
Kremlin-installed governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said on Sunday:
The situation is manageable – it’s unpleasant, but not fatal … Of course, emotions have been triggered and there is a healthy desire to seek revenge.”
Zaporizhzhia strikes kill 43 in a week, Zelenskiy says
At least 14 people have been confirmed dead after Russian shelling in Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine’s south-east on the weekend.
The latest death toll follows repeated attacks on the city in recent days and brings the total number of those killed in the past week to 43 people, according to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Russian missile strikes on Zaporizhzhia “have killed at least 43 people since October 3 this week alone”, Zelenskiy said in his Sunday night address.
Images of the aftermath shared by Ukraine’s emergency services showed a nine-storey building burning and partially collapsed as rescue workers sought to retrieve the dead and wounded.
The regional governor, Oleksandr Starukh, warned there may be more people under the rubble as Zelenskiy said debris was still being cleared. “More than 70 people were injured, including 11 children.”
“As a result of a missile attack in the centre of Zaporizhzhia, a multi-storey residential building was destroyed again,” Starukh said on Telegram. “There are injured.”
The city council secretary, Anatoliy Kurtev, said rockets struck the city, and at least 20 private homes and 50 apartment buildings had been damaged.
Zaporizhzhia hit again overnight
Russian forces reportedly struck the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, in what appears to be latest in a string of attacks on the southeastern city over the past week.
Regional governor Oleksandr Starukh reported the news via his official Telegram account around 3am on Monday, saying a rocket attack in the city centre destroyed a multi-story residential building.
Zaporizhzhia administrative head Anatoly Kurtev added that Russian forces “again hit the residential infrastructure of the city” in a separate Telegram post.
Russia's latest strike on Zaporizhzhia on Oct. 10.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) October 10, 2022
As a result of an overnight missile attack on the center of the city, part of a multi-story residential building was completely destroyed, Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Oleksandr Starukh reported. pic.twitter.com/j6ZwEyRnbQ
The attack caused a fire to break out as authorities work to clarify the number of victims, the officials said.
The attack follows Saturday’s devastating hit on the city which saw a nine-storey building burn and partially collapse as rescue workers are believed to still be attempting to retrieve the dead and wounded trapped under the rubble.
At least 14 people were confirmed dead with “more than 70 people injured, including 11 children” Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday.
Updated
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments for the next few hours.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is due to convene his national security council later today following Saturday’s explosion that partially destroyed the Kerch Bridge, built specifically on Putin’s orders and linking Crimea to Russia. Ukraine has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack.
Another overnight strike on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia has claimed more casualties, its regional governor has said.
Vladimir Putin has called the blast on the Crimea-Russia bridge an “act of terror” and blamed Ukraine directly for the attack. The Russian president accused “Ukrainian secret services” of carrying out the explosion at the Kerch Bridge, a vital link between Russian-occupied Crimea and the Russian mainland. “There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure,” Putin said in a video released on Sunday night. “This was devised, carried out and ordered by the Ukrainian special services.” Ukraine has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack, which Russia said was carried out by a truck bomb.
Russian divers are to examine the extent of the damage caused by the blast on the road and rail bridge. Crimea’s Russian governor, Sergei Aksyonov, told reporters that residents would manage despite the damage to the bridge. “Of course, emotions have been triggered and there is a healthy desire to seek revenge,” he said.
Putin will convene his national security council on Monday to discuss the Kerch Bridge blast, according to the Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov. The meeting comes amid growing expectations that the Kremlin plans an imminent and harsh escalation of its war.
At least 14 people have been confirmed dead after Russian shelling in Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine’s south-east early on Sunday. Images showed a nine-storey building burning and partially collapsed as rescue workers sought to retrieve the dead and wounded. The Ukrainian regional governor, Oleksandr Starukh, warned there may be more people under the rubble as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said debris was still being cleared. “More than 70 people were injured, including 11 children,” he said in his Sunday evening address.
A power line that was cut by shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been restored, according to the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Authorities have exhumed the first 20 bodies from makeshift graves in the recently liberated city of Lyman in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine’s national police said on Sunday.
Air force general Sergei Surovikin has been named as the overall commander of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry announced. The change is Moscow’s third senior military appointment in a week and follows the reported sackings of the commanders of two of Russia’s five military regions, as its forces have suffered a series of dramatic reverses in north-eastern and southern Ukraine.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the US president, Joe Biden, said the Kremlin’s latest nuclear threats were “irresponsible” and its partial mobilisation “a serious mistake” during a phone call on Sunday. The call was focused on preparations for the G7 and G20 meetings that will address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the consequences, the German government said.
The US military’s top spokesperson has tamped down concerns of an imminent nuclear threat from Russia, days after Joe Biden warned of a potential nuclear “Armageddon”. “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,” the president said at a Democratic fundraiser last week. On ABC News’ This Week, the Pentagon’s John Kirby said Biden’s comments “were not based on new or fresh intelligence or new indications that Mr Putin has made a decision to use nuclear weapons”.
The world’s biggest oil-producing nations cutting production at a time of soaring energy costs is “unhelpful and unwise” for global economic growth, the US Treasury secretary has said, amid intense pressure from sky-high inflation. Ahead of meetings hosted by the International Monetary Fund in Washington this week, Janet Yellen said the move by the Opec+ oil production cartel led by Saudi Arabia risked undermining the world economy.
