Kyiv: President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that during Monday's attacks on several Ukrainian cities, including the use of drones made in Iran, Russia had targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

"This morning is challenging. Terrorists are what we are up against. Iranian martyrs and dozens of missiles. They have two purposes. Across the country, there are energy facilities...

 In a video message posted on social media, Zelensky said that "the other target is people." He continued, "They want panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy system.

In apparent retaliation for President Vladimir Putin's announcement that an explosion on a bridge over Crimea was a terrorist attack, Russia on Monday morning bombed cities across Ukraine, killing civilians and destroying infrastructure.

Also Read: Putin: Crimea bridge attack is a "act of terrorism." by Ukraine

The most serious attacks on Kyiv since Russia gave up trying to take it in the early weeks of the war came from missiles. Eruptions also occurred in Kharkiv in the east, Dnipro and Kremenchuk in the centre, Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in the west and Zaporizhzhya in the south. An eyewitness heard an explosion from the border area in Russia's Belgorod region, close to the Ukrainian border.

The attacks took place right in the busy city center of Kyiv. A man in jeans was lying dead in the middle of a busy intersection, his body surrounded by burning vehicles. A woman was lying in the grass in a park when a soldier cut off her clothes to treat her wounds. Another woman was bleeding nearby.

According to the city police, at least five people were killed and 12 were injured. In a park in the center of Kyiv, next to a playground for children there is a large pit. In the mud, smoke debris that appeared to be a missile was discovered.

Later in the morning, the capital was once again hit by additional missile volcanoes. At the entrances of subway stations and inside parking garages, pedestrians gathered for cover.

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, "they are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth." "All over Ukraine, air strike sirens keep sounding. Missiles keep crashing. Sadly, there are wounded and dead too.

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Communication with missiles

Putin's only strategy is to use terror against peaceful Ukrainian cities, but he will not allow Ukraine to fall apart, Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba said in a tweet. He also responds to anyone who approaches him with the intention of discussing world peace: "Putin is a terrorist who talks missiles."

A huge pothole had blown up at the intersection of one of Kyiv's busiest road intersections. Buildings and cars were damaged, and emergency personnel were present. Near the crater, a van and two cars were completely destroyed, blacked out and piled up with shrapnel.

The windows of the main campus buildings of the Taras Shevchenko University in Kyiv were blown up. Outside a union building for teachers, National Guard soldiers in full combat gear and assault rifles were arranged in a row.

"Russian terrorists are attacking the nation's capital! The city center (in Shevchenkivsky district) and Solomensky district were both hit by missiles. The threat still exists as airstrike sirens are still sounding," Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said in a statement. Said in social media post.

Police officials have blocked the main roads of the city and rescue teams are at the scene. Later, he claimed that critical infrastructure had been damaged.

The attacks came two days after an explosion, which Putin described on Sunday as "an act of terrorism aimed at critically destroying critical civilian infrastructure", destroyed the Crimean peninsula's only bridge across the Kerch Strait. Gave.

In a video posted on the Kremlin's Telegram channel, he claimed, "It was planned, executed and ordered by Ukrainian special services."

Despite celebrating the explosion on the bridge, Ukraine has not blamed it for it. Ahead of Monday's meeting of Putin's Security Council, senior Russian officials urged the Kremlin to act quickly.

Also Read: Russia claims a truck bomb damaged a crucial bridge to Crimea

Killing of "Terrorists"

As the Russian military is drawn into the battlefield, commentary on Russian television has turned more and more in favor of a massive retaliation against Ukraine. The military leadership has also come under public scrutiny for the first time.

The bridge, which Putin personally inaugurated, is an important supply route for Russian forces in southern Ukraine and represents Russia's control of Crimea, the peninsula the country's troops occupied in 2014. Russia then declared Crimea as part of its territory.

Russian Security Council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Russia should kill "terrorists" accused of attack before the council meeting.

"The only way Russia can respond to this crime is by killing terrorists on the spot, as is the norm everywhere else in the world. Russian citizens anticipate this, he was quoted as saying by the official news agency TASS.

The head of Russia's Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, claimed on Sunday that a car had exploded on the bridge after passing through North Ossetia, North Georgia, Armenia, and the Krasnodar region of Russia.

Oleksandr Starukh, the regional governor for southeast Ukraine, reported early on Monday that Russian shelling overnight destroyed another apartment building in the city of Zaporizhzhia. According to a city official, the attack resulted in at least one death and five injuries.

The city, the capital of one of four partially occupied regions Russia claims to have annexed this month, is currently being held by Ukraine. The pre-dawn strikes were the third Russian missile attack against apartment buildings in the city in four days.

Since the beginning of September, Russia has experienced significant setbacks on the battlefield as Ukrainian forces have broken through the front lines and recaptured territory in the northeast and south.

In response to the losses, Putin proclaimed the annexation of occupied territory, ordered the mobilisation of hundreds of thousands of reserve soldiers, and repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons.