Russian TV Excuses for Ukraine Strikes Jar With Images of Civilian Assaults

Justifications made by a guest on Russian state TV for the Kremlin's missile strikes on Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities on Monday were played against the backdrop of civilian assaults.

"These strikes are not against civilian infrastructure. In my opinion, it's very important to understand, these are strikes against the military infrastructure—the infrastructure of war," Konstantin Dolgov, former Russian commissioner for human rights, said on TV channel Russia-1 in a clip shared on Twitter by The Daily Beast reporter Julia Davis.

Dolgov was repeating Putin's line that the coordinated strikes on Monday that killed at least 19 people and injured 105, were attacks against Ukraine's energy, military and communications infrastructure in retaliation for an explosion on a key bridge to the annexed Crimea Peninsula.

Kyiv hasn't claimed responsibility for the attack.

As Dolgov made his remarks, the state TV team showed images and videos of the strikes hitting bridges, residential areas, and roads. At one point, as Dolgov said the strikes weren't against civilian infrastructure, a burning car could be seen in the background.

"Incredible frames. It nearly feels like the backstage team is trying to mock him on purpose, showing the strikes on random streets in the middle of cities and the pedestrian bridge while he condemns Kyiv as a 'terrorist regime,'" a Twitter user observed.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on Monday that Russia had launched 83 missiles, 45 of which were shot down by air defenses.

Explosions were reported in Kyiv, as well as in the southern Kharkiv region, where Ukraine conducted a successful counteroffensive in September, Dnipro in central Ukraine, Lviv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Obukhiv, Kryvyi Rih, Poltava and Vinnytsia.

Some of the blasts were the work of Ukraine's air defenses, Ukrainian authorities said.

The United States said the "brutal" attacks had struck non-military targets, including a university and children's playground.

The strikes have been condemned by human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, which released a statement saying that Russia's ultimate goal was to "spread terror among the entire civilian population."

"This is yet another day of petrifying news from Ukraine, with Russia launching multiple strikes that hit residential areas, city centers and civilian infrastructure. The crater left by a Russian missile in the middle of a children's playground in central Kyiv is a stark symbol of the complete disregard for human life that has characterized Russia's invasion," Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's Secretary General, said.

Meanwhile, new missile strikes have been reported across Ukraine on Tuesday in Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaivska, Odesa and Vinnytsia.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's foreign ministry for comment.