Explosions rock Kyiv a day after Putin accused Ukraine of terrorism

Ukraine’s capital and other major cities came under sustained rocket fire on Monday, a day after President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of terrorism over an attack on a bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia.

At least one of the alleged strikes took place in downtown Kyiv as large explosions were heard across the city in the first attack on the Ukrainian capital in months.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote in a Telegram channel post: “Several explosions in Shevchenkivsky district – in the center of the capital. . . Details later.”

Sources reported that rockets or rockets hit the central intersection of Volodymyrska Street and Shevchenko Boulevard at the north-west entrance of Shevchenko Park, one of the busiest intersections in Kyiv during the morning rush hour.

Photos and video sent to the Financial Times by government officials show first responders and ambulances at the scene. According to first responders, injuries are expected.

Social media users reported a large plume of smoke rising from central Kyiv and explosions in the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia and in Dnipro, both closer to the front line of invading Russian forces.

It was not clear whether missile defenses were activated in Kyiv. Air raid sirens warning of possible strikes went off in the city and all regions of Ukraine except occupied Crimea about an hour before the blasts.

The blasts came a day after Putin accused Ukraine of terrorism after attacking the Kerch Bridge, a critical military supply route for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and a symbol of Russian prestige.

A strike in Zaporizhia on Sunday had already killed 20 people and injured dozens while several blocks of flats lay in ruins.

In a video released by the Kremlin on Sunday, Putin accused “Ukrainian intelligence agencies” of orchestrating the attack on the Kerch Bridge, which he described as a “terrorist attack aimed at destroying critical Russian civilian infrastructure.”

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack, although officials posted several comments on social media mocking Russia and the Ukrainian Post Office issued a commemorative stamp.