Kiev: Two days after Crimean Bridge attack, the Ukrainian capital Kiev and other cities have been targeted by missile strikes, with central areas struck for the first time in months, the media reported on Monday.
Explosions were reported in many other places across the country in what appears to be the most widespread set of Russian attacks since the early weeks of the war, says the BBC.
At least two blasts were heard in central Kiev shortly after 8 a.m., and more have followed since.
The rare blasts in the capital follow further strikes overnight in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia and in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the BBC reported.
"A multi-storey residential building was destroyed again. There are victims," posted Zaporizhzhia regional governor Oleksandr Starukh on the Telegram messaging app.
"Emergency services attended the scene", he added.
Ukrainian officials say a number of people have been wounded in further missile attacks on Zaporizhzhia overnight.
Zaporizhzhia has been hit repeatedly in recent weeks, with dozens of people killed.
Meanwhile, it was a "night of massive attacks" in Dnipropetrovsk, according to an update from the region's own governor Valentyn Reznichenko, who accuses Russia of shelling multiple regions.
Ukraine's Defence Minister says Russian attacks will not deter Ukrainians from the fight.
There are reports that Ukrainian President Zelensky’s office has been destroyed in the missile strikes on Kiev. Reports said the new commander of Russian armed forces in Ukraine has launched attacks on Kiev and major cities across the country.
The wave of attacks comes two days after the only bridge linking Russia with occupied Crimea was damaged in a blast.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to chair a meeting of his security council on Monday to discuss the explosion on the Crimean bridge.
On Saturday, a deadly blast hit the 19-km Crimean Bridge, which consists of two parallel routes for automobiles and trains over the Kerch Strait.
A truck exploded on the road bridge, causing seven fuel tanks of a train heading to the Crimean Peninsula to catch fire. Three people were killed in the blast, which also led to the partial collapse of two spans of the road bridge.
The incident on the Crimean Bridge was a special operation carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), the Interfax-Ukraine news agency cited its source in Ukraine's law enforcement agencies as saying. Russian President Putin called it a terrorist attack.
"The explosion on the Crimean bridge was no doubt a terrorist act aimed at destroying Russia's critical civilian infrastructure", Putin had said.
"Ukraine's special services were the initiators, performers and masterminds," Putin said when meeting with Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, Xinhua news agency reported.
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