Blackouts hit Kiev as Russia targets Ukrainian war infrastructure (VIDEOS)
Multiple videos have been published on social media showing explosions rocking Kiev and other Ukrainian cities amid Russian airstrikes. The Defense Ministry in Moscow confirmed carrying out a major raid on military-related targets across Ukraine in response to terror attacks by Vladimir Zelensky’s government.
The first wave of blasts in the Ukrainian capital was heard at around 1:30 AM local time, followed by more explosions in early morning hours, according to Ukrainian officials and media.
In one clip, a powerful blast is followed by the lights going out, plunging much of Kiev into darkness.
Mayor Vitaly Klitschko confirmed partial blackouts, urging residents to seek shelter.
Other footage captured the sounds of repeated secondary explosions. The exact locations and types of facilities hit are difficult to verify as Ukrainian authorities tightly restrict information about strike sites and penalize those who share footage of impacts, except when civilian infrastructure is affected.
Multiple blasts were also reported in parts of Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye still under Ukrainian control, as well as in Sumy and Kharkov regions.
Later on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its bombardment targeted defense industry facilities, fuel and transport infrastructure facilities used by Ukrainian forces, and military airfields across the country.
Land- and sea-based precision weapons, including hypersonic missiles and drones, were deployed during the attack, it said.
Moscow previously pledged to conduct “systematic and consistent strikes” on Kiev’s military installations, drone manufacturing sites, command posts, and “decision-making centers” in retaliation for the deadly “terrorist attack” in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) on May 22.
The attack on the Starobelsk college dormitory, conducted in several waves late at night while students were sleeping inside, left 21 people dead, mainly teenage girls.
With the Starobelsk massacre, “the Kiev leadership has decided to open a new chapter in its crime spree, to add a new dimension to the conflict as a whole,” President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, adding that the perpetrators will suffer a “well-deserved and inevitable punishment.”
