In anticipation of Russian missiles strikes, air raid alerts were issued throughout Ukraine. This was just one day after Putin’s largest barrage in wartime history – which killed 19 civilians and injured 105 others – had been published.
All regions of Ukraine, except occupied Crimea were warned to remain alert early Tuesday due to reports that rockets fell over Kiev and that drones were hovering near Odesa.
Zaporizhzhia is a city that lies close to Russian borderlines to the south. Officials said schools, hospitals, and homes had been bombed, with at least one victim. Vinnytsia also was targeted.
It came mere hours after Putin’s bloodthirsty war hawks appeared on state TV to praise his new no-holds-barred approach to the war while urging him to go further and bomb Ukraine ‘into a 19th century country’.
After being hit overnight by Russian missiles, firefighters extinguish the flames in Zaporizhzhia.
The emergency services reported that Russian rockets were fired at Zaporizhzhia schools, medical centers, homes, and other buildings overnight.
Firefighters extinguish the flames caused overnight by Russian missile strikes on Zaporizhzhia, killing at most one person
Firefighters cover the body of a man killed by Russian shelling on the city of Zaporizhzhia overnight with a sheet as Putin’s bombardment of Ukraine continues
Yuri Podolyak was a military analyst who spoke to Channel 1 about Russia’s ability to sustain the intensity of Monday’s attacks through the winter. He predicted that Ukraine’s consequences would be ‘catastrophic.
He stated, “A red line was crossed and this should be obvious to all.”
“All European countries have requested prompt evacuation of their embassies from Kyiv.
“They understand that this is more than a temporary event. They also realize that the winter in Ukraine could be devastating.
Meanwhile Konstantin Dolgov, former Russian commissioner for human rights, also urged Putin to keep up the bombardment, asking TV viewers: ‘Are they whining yet? Is it howling?
Alexander Artamonov (defense analyst) said that Western hopes of Russia running out missiles will never be fulfilled. They’ll never stop.
Pro-war fanatics insisted that strikes must continue as planned, since the current state of affairs in Ukraine is psychiatrically sick. People aren’t allowed to have weapons in psychiatry.
“Naturally they are treated and should receive essential benefits. But anything that could be made into a weapon (a car, knife, gun or any other item) must be taken.
“So, if railways and bridges are damaged or destroyed, there won’t be enough troops on the frontline.”
Moscow’s missile attack on Ukraine cities elicited praise from Russian officials, and pro-Kremlin pundits. They have in recent weeks criticized Russia for its embarrassing missteps on the battlefield.
Analysts and journalists praised Monday’s attack for being an appropriate and long-awaited response to Ukraine’s success in counteroffensives in the north and south, as well as a weekend attack against a bridge linking Russia and Crimea.
Crews from emergency responders search the wreckage of Zaporizhzhia (a southern Ukrainian city) that was continued to be bombarded overnight.
The Russians launched a huge missile strike on Monday in Ukraine, killing 19 people and wounding over 100. (Photo: Zaporizhzhia).
After a Russian missile strike, a sniffer dog looks for survivors in Zaporizhzhia’s ruins.
After searching for survivors of the Russian missile attack, emergency personnel from Ukraine rest in Zaporizhzhia’s rubble.
Many people argued however that Moscow must maintain its missile strikes on Monday in an effort to win the war.
Tatyana Stanovaya (founder of independent R.Politik think tank) said Monday that Putin’s initiative was weakening. He is now more dependent upon circumstances and the people who forge the victory in Ukraine for him.
Putin supporters are calling for drastic measures on Ukraine’s battlefield since weeks. This was just after an explosion at Kerch Bridge, linking Crimea with Russia, sparked shock waves across the globe.
Putin opened the bridge in 2018, making it one of the most iconic symbols of Russian military might.
‘And?’ Margarita Sinyan, the head of state-funded RT Television, wondered about Moscow’s reaction to the attack on the bridge.
Alexander Kots wrote that this was a case where the country must show it can respond. He is a war correspondent at Russia’s pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda.
“It’s time to fight!” Fiercely and sometimes even brutally. Sergei Mironov (a top Russian lawmaker and leader of the state-backed A Just Russia party), tweeted Saturday that he didn’t care about any censures coming from the West.
There won’t any more harsh sanctions. They will not use any more harsh words. Do your thing. It started, so we must finish it. There is no return. There is no time to wait.
Moscow responded on Monday morning with dozens upon dozens missiles launched at Ukrainian cities by simultaneously firing on them, killing and wounding scores of people and inflicting unprecedented destruction on the critical infrastructure.
These strikes, which affected 15 cities in Ukraine, many of them capitals regionally, cut power lines and damaged roads and railway stations, leaving cities without water supply.
Russian missiles were fired in Kyiv’s heart, near government buildings, for the first time since months.
Putin claimed Monday that the strike was in retaliation to Kyiv’s terrorist actions against the Kerch Bridge. He also promised a tough and proportionate response to any further attack by Ukraine on Russia’s security.
He stated, “Noone should doubt it”,
After at least four missiles were fired on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city, multiple victims died in the rush hour of Monday morning, many people embraced one another.
One young girl examines debris believed to be from an missile that was exploded at the spot of the explosion at the Dnipro River crossing in Kyiv.
RT’s Simonyan tweets, “Here is the answer,” on Monday following the attack. “The Crimean bridge was this very red line right from the beginning.”
Ramzan Kadyrov is the Chechnya’s strongman leader and a Russian-speaking region of the North Caucasus. He said he was ‘100% happy with’ the Kremlin’s “special military operation”.
He was one of the strongest proponents for’more drastic steps’ to be taken in Ukraine.
Sergei Aksyonov (Moscow-appointed governor of Crimea) described the strikes to be ‘good news.
However, the cheering of Kremlin supporters was accompanied by demands that Putin and the Russian Military keep up with the intensity and pace of attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure.
Aksyonov stated in his statement that, if such actions had been taken daily to demolish the enemy’s infrastructure, we would have completed everything by May and defeated the Kyiv regime.
Aksyonov stated, “I hope the speed of the operation won’t slow down now,”
Anton Krasovsky (RT) was the top host and posted a video showing him dancing on a balcony wearing a cap that had a Z. He said in another Telegram posting that it wasn’t enough to cause damage to Ukraine’s electricity lines. But it’s not enough!
Andrei Medvedev (state TV journalist) called Monday’s attack ‘a logical move, which has not been demanded by the society – but the military situation required a new approach to hostilities.
“And so it was. It does not change much. Medvedev is a Russian state television group VGTRK employee and has a seat on the Moscow City Council.
“If strike action on critical infrastructure becomes a regular occurrence, and the strikes at railways, bridges, and power stations become part our tactic, then the situation will change.”
Medvedev stated that a decision not to plunge Ukraine in medieval times is being made at the moment, but this was based on (official) statements.
Stanovaya, political analyst and Telegram poster Monday noted that Putin had been under ‘powerful pressures’ to’move onto aggressive actions, large bombings’ which prompted her to take action.
“As of today one can conclude that Putin was convinced to take a more aggressive stance. This is in line with his view of the situation. Stanovaya said that it was a slippery slope and there are no other options.