In response to the latest advances of the Ukrainian army, which had recaptured areas belonging to the regions annexed by Vladimir Putin, and the attack on the Kerch bridge in Crimea

Russia punishes Kiev

photo_camera REUTERS/VALENTYN OGIRENKO - Cars in flames after Russian missile strikes, as Russia's attack continues, in Kiev, Ukraine, 10 October 2022

Ukraine is suffering an upsurge in attacks by the Russian army. Russia is now targeting Kiev in response to the advances made by the Ukrainian armed forces in the regions illegally annexed by Vladimir Putin and the attack on the Kerch bridge in Crimea, the causes of which are still being investigated.  

The explosions in the capital of Kiev on Monday came like a heavy hammer that kept pounding the main Ukrainian city in the form of shelling. 

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The Russian missile attacks have left dozens of people dead and wounded in the Kiev city and it is the most violent offensive carried out by the Russian army, after Moscow took some decisions to change the course of the war due to the setbacks suffered lately against the Ukrainian army, such as the appointment of the controversial Sergei Surovikin, an air general known as "the butcher of Syria", as the main commander of Russian troops on Ukrainian territory, replacing Alexander Dvornikov, who had been the visible head of the Russian troops' command since April. In 2017, Surovikin led the Russian mission in Syria, receiving the title of Hero of Russia, but also being accused of allegedly employing "controversial" tactics, such as indiscriminate shelling of anti-government fighters, as reported by The Guardian. Russia's senior military commander had been exposed to the conflicts in Chechnya and Syria, and British military intelligence went so far as to claim that it was in these scenarios that his "brutality" was formed. The decorated Surovikin was in charge of commanding the southern forces in the battle over Ukrainian territory and just days ago took command of Russian troops on the Ukrainian front, just as virulent offensives such as the latest one on the Ukrainian capital are coming.  

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The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, issued a statement on his official Telegram account in which he said that, after 8:30 a.m. local time, several explosions hit the Shevchenkiv district in the centre of the capital, where the headquarters of the Ukrainian secret services, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which Moscow blames for Saturday's attack on the Crimean bridge, is located. Klitschko also recommended via social media that the population go to shelters with warm clothes, food and supplies. "Russian terrorists are not stopping. All regions of Ukraine are under attack. The threat of new attacks continues. Stay in shelters with warm clothes, water, food and phone chargers. Do not go to the city yet," said the mayor, who also noted that underground metro stations are functioning as shelters, but that there is no traffic because all services are in "emergency mode". 

The Russian shelling may have left massive losses, according to images and accounts on social media, which indicates the almost unprecedented scale of warfare on Kiev's territory in recent times.  

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The Ukrainian emergency service indicated that there were deaths and injuries as a result of the shelling, but without being able to specify specific figures at the moment. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry did say at least fourteen people were killed and another 24 injured in the explosions that rocked the capital of Kiev.

This is the first Russian missile attack on Kiev since June, a sign that Russia has stepped up its offensive following setbacks in the Donbas and after the attack on the Kerch bridge in Crimea, which destroyed both lanes of the road from Russia to the peninsula over a stretch of more than 100 metres and caused damage to the railway.

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Meanwhile, in the south of the country, the Russian offensive is also intensifying. The Russian army continues its indiscriminate shelling of Zaporiyia with new attacks on civilian buildings. Dnipro and Lviv have been other enclaves that have suffered the violence of the latest Russian attacks.  

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According to a report by Ukraine's deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar, Russia used 83 missiles and 17 Iranian-made drones in Monday's bombardment of several Ukrainian cities, as reported by EFE news agency. According to a Ukrainian air force spokesman, as quoted by the Kyviv Independent, 43 of the missiles were shot down by Ukrainian defences.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky has posted pictures on his Telegram channel of the aftermath of the attacks in Kiev, saying that "on the 229th day of this full-scale war they are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth". "They want to destroy our people who sleep at home in Zaporiyia, kill people who go to work in Dnipro and Kiev. The air attack is not decreasing all over Ukraine. There are missile hits. Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded," Zelenski stressed. 

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