Dozens of large explosions have been reported in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv and other major Ukrainian cities in what appears to be a wave of attacks on civilian infrastructure and population centers across the country.
The attack followed reports that Russian bombers had launched waves of cruise missiles alongside drone activity taking place on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.
Waves of attacks
The reports of explosions in Kyiv surfaced around 9:00 EEST (6:00 AM GMT) on October 10, 2022, with the majority of the reported strikes hitting streets and apartment buildings across the city.
Several explosions occurred all across Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on the morning of Oct. 10.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) October 10, 2022
Large craters caused by the explosions can be seen at central city intersections during rush hour and in front of Shevchenko National University.
Video shared by locals to social media. pic.twitter.com/YoPmRGIblN
According to reports, at least a dozen of missiles struck Kyiv, one of which landed in a park, and another one near a train station. The Glass Bridge, a pedestrian bridge over the Dnepr River and one of the city’s landmarks, also appears to have been targeted.
Russians are trying to make it “bridge for bridge”? pic.twitter.com/nwq8yqStFD
— Ukrainska Pravda in English (@pravda_eng) October 10, 2022
According to Liveuamap.com, the cities that have been shelled include Lviv, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kropyvnytskyi, Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rih, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv.
Taking to Twitter, the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadoviy said the strikes had resulted in electricity, water and mobile network connection outages across the city. Reports also indicate that the city’s thermal powerplant has been hit.
Cruise missile launches
According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, 75 missiles have been launched by Russia, 41 of which have been intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses.
A number of cruise missiles, which appear to be 3M-54 Kalibr, were filmed heading to targets in the vicinity of Odessa, while several reports from across the country state that launches of air defense rockets have been spotted.
Video of two Russian cruise missiles over Odesa Oblast. https://t.co/kvEDFNMEgK pic.twitter.com/1qEkYr8q9N
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) October 10, 2022
According to a tweet published by Nicu Popescu, the Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova, at least several cruise missiles, launched from Russian ships, have crossed Moldovan airspace on their way to Ukraine.
Other missiles appear to have been launched by aircraft. At 7:44 EEST (4:44 AM GMT) on October 10, 2022, the Governor of Mykolaiv region Vitalii Kim said in a post on his Telegram channel that two formations of Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bombers have been spotted near Astrakhan, Russia.
The region north-east of the Caspian Sea is a well-known location used by Russian forces to launch long-range missiles towards Ukraine. In September 2022 a Kinzhal hypersonic missile fell on the Russian town of Stavropol following an unsuccessful launch.
Kim also said 10 Shahed-136 suicide drones have been launched from the territory of Belarus, north of Ukraine, while more drones of this type have impacted the city of Odessa in the south of the country.
Numerous attacks by such loitering munitions, procured by Russia from Iran, have been reported in southern and Eastern Ukraine in recent weeks.
