Russian forces began a new wave of missile attacks across Ukraine on Monday, with strikes hitting all across the country and even reaching as far west as Lviv.
Russia appears to be heavily focusing its attacks on critical civilian infrastructure, aiming to knock out key power plants, water supplies, roads and bridges.
One video showed multiple explosions near a power plant in the Ukrainian capitol city of Kyiv on Monday.
Another video showed the aftermath from the strike on the power plant in Kyiv from a different angle.
Another video showed debris scattered around a pedestrian bridge in Kyiv on Monday after a nearby Russian Kh-101 cruise missile strike.
The wave of Russian missile strikes come after Ukrainian forces have managed to claw back hundreds of miles of territory Russian forces had captured earlier in the war. The Russian strikes could also be a retaliatory show of force after someone detonated a truck bomb on the Kerch bridge, which connected Russia to Russian-held Crimea.
This new wave of Russian attacks also comes after Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu appointed Gen. Sergey Surovikin — who previously led Russia’s air war in Syria — to now lead Russia’s operations in Ukraine. The Guardian reported Surovikin earned a reputation for ruthlessness in Syria.
Monday’s strikes indicate Russia still has the ability to inflict heavy costs on Ukraine.
One video showed a pair of massive explosions along a roadway.
Multiple Russian missile strikes landed in Lviv, which is about 40 miles east of Ukraine’s western border with Poland, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
One video, taken by a commuter, showed a missile impacting on an electrical plant right as they were driving by.
A Twitter user shared another video of smoke rising from a missile strike in Lviv. According to Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, around 30 percent of the city was left without electricity after the Russian strikes, Reuters reported.
Another video purported to show dozens of civilians in Lviv gathering near the city’s Polish consulate where internet services were still available.
Another video purpotedly showed smoke rising from a thermal power plant in Krivoy Rog after a missile strike. The Twitter user said power was lost in the area and there were problems for the local water supply.
Journalist Dimitri Alexander Simes shared footage of rubble from an explosion on Monday and said explosions had been reported throughout the Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zaporozhia, Mykolaiv, Lviv, Rovno, Odessa, and Khmelnytsky regions in Ukraine on Monday.
Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs, tweeted a video from inside a Ukrainian woman’s apartment, showing a gaping whole in her wall from a nearby missile blast.
Ukraine world shared more footage from Ukrainian TV presenter Dmytro Komarov showing debris, smashed cars and damaged residential buildings in Kyiv.
The Russian missile strikes reportedly began around 8 a.m. local time and carried on for hours. Maria Avdeeva, a Ukrainian disinformation and security expert shared a video of a Russian cruise missile flying overhead.
“This is how the sky over Ukraine looks like today,” Avdeeva tweeted. “Mass reports throughout the country about missile launches from Russia and air defense activities. The air raid in Kyiv started at 8 am and is going on for 4 hours already.”
While Russian forces marked Monday with a massive wave of missiles, they had been carrying out smaller missile barrages for several days.
On Sunday, Avdeeva shared a video appearing to show fire and ruble around an apartment complex in Zaporizhzhia.
“Horrible night in Zaporizhzhia. Massive attack with 12 missiles. At least 12 dead and 49 injured, including 6 children,” Avdeeva tweeted. “Last attack on Zaporizhzhia three days ago killed 19 innocent people. Terrorists who take revenge on civilians.”
