Kyiv Center Rocked by Explosions After Months of Calm

Explosions rocked Kyiv early Monday morning following months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital.

Missile attacks rained down from the skies, tearing through the city as commuters were heading to work.

Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitchko said the blasts hit the city's Shevchenko district, a large area in the center of Kyiv that includes several government offices. Video footage shared online showed a huge plume of smoke above the neighborhood, while photos showed burning cars and buildings.

The Kyiv attack was orchestrated to coincide with simultaneous attacks on other Ukrainian cities overnight and on Monday morning. There are no official reports on casualty numbers yet, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that there had been deaths and injuries.

Zelensky posted video footage of the aftermath of the Kyiv attack on his Telegram social media site, showing ruined buildings with shattered windows, burned-out cars and fires raging in the street.

His caption read: "The 229th day of full-scale war. On the 229th day, they are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth. Completely. Destroy our people who are sleeping at home in Zaporizhzhia. Kill people on their way to work in Dnipro and Kyiv. The air alarm does not stop throughout Ukraine. There are missiles hitting. Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded. Please do not leave shelters. Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Let's hold on and be strong."

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted: "Our courage will never be destroyed by terrorist's missiles, even when they hit the heart of our capital. Nor will they shake the determination of our allies. The only thing they demolish irriversibly [sic] is the future of [Russia]—a future of a globally despised rogue terrorist state."

Newsweek has reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry, which has not yet commented on the attacks.

The latest explosions in Kyiv come two days after a blast damaged a key bridge linking Russia to occupied Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed Ukrainian special forces, accusing them of a "terrorist act", although Ukraine has not claimed responsibility.

Kyiv suffered multiple attacks in the weeks after Russia's full-scale invasion in late February, but has been relatively calm in recent months as hostilities continued in the east and south of Ukraine.

Recent fighting has been concentrated in the regions just north of Crimea, including Zaporizhzhia, where six missiles were launched overnight Saturday from Russian-occupied areas killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens more. The city is under Ukrainian control, but is part of a region that Russia claimed it annexed in September. Zelensky condemned the Zaporizhzhia attacks as "absolute evil," vowing to bring those responsible to justice.

Update 10/10/22 4:33 a.m. EDT: This article was updated to include comments from Volodymyr Zelensky and Oleksii Reznikov plus additional background information.