There were multiple explosions and fires across the Ukrainian capital, according to local officials and censored footage from the scene
The Ukrainian capital was hit by a combined drone and missile strike early Monday morning, according to local officials and media reports. The Russian Ministry of Defense has yet to comment, while footage from the scene showed powerful secondary detonations.
The first wave of blasts in Kiev was heard around 1:30am local time, followed by more explosions in multiple waves until 5am. Mayor Vitaly Klitschko urged residents to seek shelter as the capital’s air defenses engaged incoming targets.
Videos shared on social media showed numerous powerful blasts around the Ukrainian capital, some followed by secondary detonations, suggesting that an explosives warehouse, weapons depot, or production facility had been hit.
Officials in Kiev reported damage at multiple locations, claiming that most of them were “civilian infrastructure,” and circulated photos and videos of several damaged buildings, including one partially collapsed residential building. The head of the local military administration, Timur Tkachenko, said five people were killed.
The exact locations and types of facilities hit are difficult to verify, as Ukrainian authorities tightly restrict information about strike sites and penalize those who share footage of impacts, except when civilian infrastructure is affected.
The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet issued a statement on the latest reported attack. Moscow previously pledged to conduct “systematic and consistent strikes” on Kiev’s military installations in retaliation for deadly “terrorist attacks.” Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Friday that the recent campaign against Ukraine’s defense industry has already significantly weakened Kiev’s ability to produce long-range weapons.
Over the weekend, Russian forces repelled a major Ukrainian long-range combined drone and missile attack, downing more than 500 targets, mainly long-range kamikaze drones, as well as ten FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles and at least nine munitions fired by US-made HIMARS systems.
Moscow described the attack as a foiled attempt by Kiev to divert the attention of its Western sponsors and ordinary Ukrainians from the loss of Konstantinovka, a major stronghold in northwestern Donbass. Moscow announced the liberation of the city on Friday following weeks of intensive combat in the area, with President Vladimir Putin calling it the “key” to liberating the rest of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
Putin also warned Kiev and its “instigators” that any further “terrorist” PR stunts would only lead to the loss of more territory, forcing the Russian military to push Ukrainian forces farther from Russia’s borders in Sumy, Kharkov, and Dnepropetrovsk regions to establish a wider “security zone” and protect Russian civilians.
