New bombardments launched by Russia on a scale not seen in months hit at least 11 points on Ukrainian territory on Monday, October 10, attacks that preliminarily left 11 fatalities. While the EU rejects the actions, Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised a “severe response” to any Ukrainian attack.
At least 11 people were killed and more than 60 were injured after a series of Russian bombardments that hit kyiv and other cities in the country on the morning of this Monday, October 10.
The missiles hit busy intersections, parks and tourist spots in the center of the capital while explosions were also reported in Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in the west, Nipro and Kremenchuck in the center, Zaporizhia in the south and Kharkiv in the east.
The attacks are considered a retaliation of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, after the bombing of the Crimean bridge on October 8, for which the Kremlin chief blames kyiv.
This new series of bombings threatens to become the biggest escalation of the war that began on February 24.
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The Government of Bulgaria announced that it is carrying out an investigation that will seek to determine if Russia’s accusations are true and the truck that caused the explosion on the Crimean bridge left this Balkan country, a member of the European Union.
In a statement, the State Agency for National Security indicated that “the investigation began immediately after the disclosure of this information and at the request of the interim Prime Minister, Galab Donev.”
Boyko Borisov, winner of the parliamentary elections on October 2, pointed out that “if I were in the place of the Russian services, I would be more interested in where the truck was loaded and what was the cause of the explosion. That is the important thing. No it may have been uploaded in Bulgaria.”
According to the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrikin, the vehicle that caused the October 8 attack left Bulgaria and passed through Georgia, Armenia and North Ossetia.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, condemned the “profound change in the nature” of the war in Ukraine after the bombings that affected numerous cities in the country on Monday and left more than a dozen dead.
“These deliberate attacks by Russia on the whole of the Ukrainian territory and against civilians mean a profound change in the nature of this war,” said the French head of state.
At the same time, he indicated that he will hold a meeting with his diplomatic and military advisers upon his return to Paris to determine how France will proceed in the face of the situation.
Previously, in a telephone call, the president spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodímir Zelenski and reiterated his commitment to increase aid, including military equipment.
The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that it temporarily stopped its work in Ukraine for security reasons. This was reported by a spokesman to the Reuters agency, given the difficult situation facing the country this Monday.
Previously, the Ukrainian delegation of the organization had denounced the attacks through Twitter and had indicated that it would continue to provide assistance to those affected.
Ukraine is under massive missile fire. Explosions are heard in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv and other regions. Objects of critical infrastructure were affected, there were dead and wounded.
the @RedCrossUkraine provides assistance to the victims. Stay in shelters! pic.twitter.com/FPvUh4N3Ci— Ukrainian Red Cross (@RedCrossUkraine) October 10, 2022
For its part, the Norwegian Refugee Council stressed that it was also forced to stop its operations until it is safe to resume them.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, assured that attacks against Russian civilians “have no place in the 21st century.”
The official condemned the events “in the strongest terms” and added that additional European aid “is already on the way.”
Deeply shocked by Russia’s attacks on civilians in #kyiv and other cities in Ukraine.
Such acts have no place in the 21st century. I condemn them in the strongest possible terms.
We stand with Ukraine. Additional military support from the EU is on its way.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) October 10, 2022
For his part, Peter Stano, the bloc’s foreign spokesman, stressed that they are “barbaric and cowardly attacks that target innocent civilians on their way to work or school.”
The official pointed out that the bombings are a violation of International Humanitarian Law and assured that those responsible will be held accountable for these war crimes. Similarly, he urged Belarus to refrain from getting involved in what he called Russia’s “brutal illegitimate” act, which violates the UN Charter and international law.
Specifically, he asked Minsk to immediately stop allowing Belarusian territory to serve as a launch pad for missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian civilians.
“Any other action and, in particular, the direct participation of the Belarusian Army in this war, against the will of the vast majority of the Belarusian people, will be met with new and strong restrictive measures,” he said.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced he has ordered the deployment of troops alongside Russian forces near his border with Ukraine, in response to what he said is a threat from kyiv and its supporters in the West.
“Bombings against the territory of Belarus are not yet discussed in Ukraine, but they are being planned,” he said in the middle of a security meeting in which he did not present evidence in this regard. At the time, he defended that “we have been preparing for this for decades. If necessary, we will respond.”
The president said that he agreed with his Russian counterpart on the deployment of a regional military group and began moving his troops two days ago, after the attack on the Crimean bridge.
According to Lukashenko, an alert was delivered to Belarus through unofficial channels that Ukraine is allegedly planning a similar attack against Belarusian infrastructure.
The Russian Defense Ministry indicated that “all designated objectives” were hit in the attacks launched this morning against kyiv and several Ukrainian cities, including communications and energy infrastructure.
In their daily report, the ministry representatives stressed that “Today, the Russian armed forces carried out a massive attack with long-range and high-precision weapons against the Ukrainian Army and communication and energy targets. The objective of the bombing was achieved.” .
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the Russian bombardments affected at least 11 infrastructure considered critical for the country.
In a televised message, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that “with its actions, the kyiv regime has placed itself at the level of the most abominable international terrorist groups. Crimes of this type are impossible without a response.”
“If attempts to carry out terrorist attacks on our territory continue, Russia’s response will be strong and scaled with the level of threat created for the Russian Federation. No one should have any doubts about it.”
The president stated that “according to forensic experts and intelligence information, the explosion on October 8 was a terrorist attack. An attack that sought to destroy critical civilian infrastructure in Russia. It is obvious that the Ukrainian secret services ordered, organized and carried out the terrorist attack.”
This is how the head of the Kremlin referred to the bombing of the Crimean bridge last Saturday while warning that “other terrorist attacks and attempted attacks have been made against energy and gas transportation facilities in our country.”
Following the recent bombings, the Group of Seven called an emergency meeting which is scheduled for Tuesday. At the meeting, President Zelensky will address the leaders of the group’s seven main economies virtually.
This was announced by the spokesman for the German government, who also stressed that Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated his support for Zelensky in a phone call.
In turn, the Ukrainian head of state stressed that “my speech is scheduled, in which I will tell about the terrorist attacks of the Russian Federation. We also discussed the issue of increasing pressure against Russia and help to restore the affected infrastructure.”
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
The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, also spoke by telephone with Zelenski and, through a statement, the Elysée Palace reported that the French president reiterated his commitment to increase aid, including military equipment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of trying to wipe his country “off the face of the Earth.” In a video message, the president indicated that “we are dealing with terrorists (…). They are looking for panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy system. They have no hope.”
The head of state assured that the Russian forces have two objectives, the country’s energy facilities and the people. “They deliberately choose their goals to cause as much damage as possible, but we are Ukrainians, we help each other.”
According to the top general of the Ukrainian Army, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the kyiv troops managed to shoot down about fifty missiles of the nearly 90 launched.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s senior adviser, said the attacks are a signal to the civilized world that “the situation with Russia must be resolved by force.”
In turn, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry posted on its Facebook page that “the enemy will be punished for the pain and death brought to our land! We will take revenge!”
With Reuters, AP and EFE