Multiple blasts rock Ukrainian Capital Kyiv in first attack on Capital in months; 5 dead, 12 injured

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Kyiv, Oct 10, 2022: Three loud blasts were heard in central Kyiv on Monday morning, news agency AFP reported. The blasts occurred a day after Russian president Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of terrorism following the blast on Kerch Strait Bridge which links Crimea to Russian mainland.

 

The AFP later informed that their journalists heard two more separate blasts following the three blasts taking the total number of blasts to five.

It is unclear on how many people were dead or injured but casualties are expected because the blast occurred when people were rushing to their workplaces. It was later revealed that five people died in the blasts, and twelve people were injured.

 

Two groups of rockets (believed to be Kh 101s) were launched towards kyiv, just after 8. 3 or 5 rockets in the first group, another 2 or 3 in the second group (numbers vary on reporting)pic.twitter.com/0vlXR5YUti

— andy milburn (@andymilburn8) October 10, 2022

Andriy Tsapliyenko, prominent Ukrainian journalist, according to the BBC, said that at least one civilian was killed in the attack.

“On the 229th day, they are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth. Completely. Destroy our people who are sleeping at home in Zaporizhzhia. Kill people on their way to work in Dnipro and Kyiv. The air alarm does not stop throughout Ukraine. There are missiles hitting. Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded. Please do not leave shelters," Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said in a message on his Telegram page.

The explosions took place around 8:15pm local time and were preceded by air raid sirens being sounded. The air raid sirens were being sounded an hour before the blasts.

“Several explosions in the Shevchenkivskyi district — in the centre of the capital,” Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said in his Telegram channel. Videos posted on social media showed smoke billowing from a site in central Kyiv. He later said that four explosions were reported. He said one of the blasts hit Shevchenkivskyy district

This is the first time in more than three months that Kyiv has faced an attack. The last time explosions were reported from Kyiv was on June 26.

News agencies AFP and the BBC could independently confirm that more than one location in Kyiv were attacked. AFP citing its own reporters said several ambulances were rushed to the spot to cater to the number of casualties caused due to the strike.

Strikes were reported from the city of Dnipro in Ukraine. The attacks on Ukrainian cities are seen as a response to the blast on the Kerch Strait Bridge, now popularly known as Crimean Bridge as it connects Crimea to Russia.

“The authors, perpetrators and sponsors are the Ukrainian secret services,” Putin warned after he set up a committee to look into the blast.

The Kyiv Independent said Kyiv, Khmelnytsky, Zhytomyr, Lviv, and Dnipro were among the cities from where explosions were reported.