Explosions have been reported in multiple key cities and regions across Ukraine, shortly after the Kremlin vowed to take revenge in response to a blast on the only bridge connecting the annexed Crimean Peninsula with Russia.
Massive blasts tore through the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, during rush hour on Monday morning, sending residents fleeing for bomb shelters.
Explosions were also reported in the southern Kharkiv region, where Ukraine conducted a successful counteroffensive in September, as well as in Dnipro in central Ukraine, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr region, Khmelnytskyi region, Ternopil, Obukhiv, Kryvyi Rih, and the Poltava and Vinnytsia regions.
It isn’t clear how many were killed and wounded by the blasts, which came shortly after Russia’s Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would respond to the blast on the Kerch Bridge “by directly killing terrorists.”
The explosion over the Kerch Strait damaged a key supply route for Russia’s forces amid the Kremlin’s flagging war effort in Ukraine. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministries for comment.
This is a developing story, and it will be updated.