Deadly missile strikes hit Kyiv as explosions reported in other cities across Ukraine

NPR ^ | October 10, 20223:22 AM ET | JULIAN HAYDA

[Red Badger]

KYIV and DNIPRO, UKRAINE, and MOSCOW — Explosions rocked several cities across Ukraine in the most extensive attack on the country since the early days of Russia's invasion in February. The attacks came only hours after Russia blamed Ukraine for a weekend explosion that partially damaged a strategic bridge that connects Russian-occupied Crimea to mainland Russia.

Ukrainian emergency services report that several people are dead across the country, including at least five people in the the capital Kyiv, which hasn't been hit since June. It's also the closest strike to the center of the city since the war began, coming just over 1,000 yards from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office.

In a video address to his Security Council, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes were a necessary response to what he argued were repeated "terrorist attacks" by Ukraine on critical Russian infrastructure — including the bridge, pipelines, and nuclear power plants.

"This morning, a massive high-precision strike was conducted on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, military command, and communications," said Putin. "In case Ukrainian terrorist attacks continue on Russian territory, our response will be tough and proportional."

First, a bridge strategic to Russia was attacked — then came the Ukrainian memes UKRAINE INVASION — EXPLAINED First, a bridge strategic to Russia was attacked — then came the Ukrainian memes Local media from the Kharkiv region in the east to the Lviv region in the west report outages and downed communications. Rescue efforts across Ukraine were slowed due to repeated volleys of explosives coming from the sky.

President Zelenskyy said in a video posted to social media that the strikes disproportionately targeted civilian infrastructure in 11 of Ukraine's 25 regions, including power plants and water heating facilities.

"It's a tough morning when you're dealing with terrorists," said Zelenskyy in the video, which recalled the selfie he took the night Russia invaded in February. "They're choosing targets to harm as many people as possible."

Damage across the country At least 16 cities sustained attacks, Ukraine's national broadcaster reported, many of which had not been fired upon since this spring.

In Kyiv, Ukraine Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko says that at least two museums and the National Philharmonic concert halls sustained heavy damage. A nearby strike damaged the country's main passenger terminal, delaying trains during this morning's rush hour, according to Ukraine's National Railway.

Thousands of Russians continue to arrive in Turkey, fleeing conscription WORLD Thousands of Russians continue to arrive in Turkey, fleeing conscription Explosions rocked civilian areas of Dnipro, a major southern city. One site hit was a bus stop, nestled between high rise apartment buildings. A missile slammed just a few feet in front of a bus on its morning route to pick up commuters, destroying the bus and blowing out the windows in the nearby apartments.

"This happened at rush hour, as lots of public transport was operating in the city," said Ihor Makovtsev, the head of the department of transport for the Dnipro city council, as he stood by the wreckage. He added that the bus driver and four passengers had been taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

The attack follows a missile strike on a bus depot in Dnipro just over a week ago, which killed two drivers and damaging dozens of buses.

"It's difficult for me to find any logic to their so-called artillery work because all our transportation is only for civilian purposes," Makovtsev said.

An injured man receives medical treatment at the scene of Russian shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 10, 2022. Efrem Lukatsky/AP 81-year-old Viktor Shevchenko looked out from what once were the windows of his first floor balcony, just next to the bus stop. Shattered glass covered the ground below. He said he had been watering the plants on his balcony just minutes before the blast, but went to his kitchen to make breakfast.

"The explosion blew open all of my cabinets, and nearly knocked me to the ground," he said. "Only five minutes before, and I would have been on the balcony, full of glass."

At least four people were confirmed dead and 19 injured in the Dnipro area, according to the region's military administration.

Strikes also hit parts of Lviv, Ukraine's westernmost city close to the Polish border, knocking out power and sending school children home.

The country's defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, writing on Twitter, said that strikes on civilian areas are "war crimes."

Our enemy believes that missile strikes are effective means of intimidation. They are not. They are war crimes. Civilians are dying and getting injured. Ukraine, with the support of the civilized world, must bring the missile terrorists to justice. And will do it. https://t.co/xXYn3okZOw

— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) October 10, 2022 Ukraine's top brass released a statement that said that the country's air defenses took down at least 40 incoming air attacks, but several dozen more got through. Ukrainian officials blamed Iranian-made suicide drones launched from Belarus and the Black sea for many of the attacks. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has allowed Russia to use his country as a staging ground for attacks on Ukraine, and after today's attacks requested further assistance from the Russian government in anticipation of Ukrainian retaliation.

The Kremlin's allies cheer the aggressive response The massive Russian response seemed intended to calm Putin allies who have grown increasingly critical of the Kremlin's military strategy as Russian forces have repeatedly ceded territory to an ongoing Ukrainian advance. Many had been openly lobbying President Putin to strike Ukraine harder.

"We warned Zelenskyy that Russia hadn't really started yet," wrote Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a loyalist to Putin who repeatedly has attacked Russia's Defense Ministry for incompetence in carrying out the military campaign.

"Now I am 100% satisfied with the way the 'Special Military Operation' is being run," added Kadyrov, using the Kremlin's preferred term for the war.

In response to Monday's attacks, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv reiterated its calls for Americans to leave the country.

Gregory Warner contributed from Lviv, Ashley Westerman and Polina Lytvynova contributed from Kyiv, and Hanna Palamarenko contributed from Dnipro

[zek157]

I thought Russia ran out of these munitions?

320 missiles in a day: Russia targets short-range ballistic missiles at Ukraine; what is the result? - WION - Mar 2, 2022
Russia running short on guided missiles, firing indiscriminately - Ukraine - Jerusalem Post - March 17, 2022
Russia Running Out of Precision Munitions in Ukraine War Pentagon Official - US News - Mar 24, 2022
Russia running short of precision missiles, say western officials - Financial Times - Apr 29, 2022
SCORCHED EARTH Now humiliated Putin is running out of MISSILES in desperate bid to defeat Ukraine, UK armed forces chief tells TalkTV - Sun - May 5, 2022
Putin ‘running out of missiles’ amid claims quarter of Russian Army now lost - City A.M. - May 6, 2022
Is Russia running out of missiles? US, Russia send mixed messages - Jerusalem Post - May 16, 2022
Explainer: Is Russia Running Low on Missiles? - Moscow Times - May 17, 2022
Has Russia Run Out of Precision-Guided Missiles? - SOFREP - May 23, 2022
Russia ‘running out’ of precision weapons - UK Defense Journal - Jun 11, 2022
Russia fires five-and-a-half ton Cold War-era missiles designed to destroy aircraft carriers at Ukrainian forces in the Donbas after running out of precision rockets, MoD says - Daily Mail - Jun 12, 2022
Vladimir Putin running short of missiles as Russian forces turn to old weaponry stock - Mirror - Jul 8, 2022
Putin left scratching head as Russia RUNS OUT of missiles to make ground attacks - Express - Jul 23, 2022
Will Russia Run Out of Precision-Guided Munitions? - National Interest - Aug 11, 2022
Russia Has Run Out of Long-Range Missiles to Terrorize Ukraine - !945 - Aug 20, 2022
No more than 45% missiles that Russia had before the war remain Chief Directorate of Intelligence - Ukrainska Pravda - Aug 27, 2022
Russia ‘running out of Iskander and Kalibr missiles’ - The New Voice of Ukraine / Yahoo - Aug 27, 2022
Ukraine Situation Report: Kyiv Claims Russia Is Running Low On Missiles - The Drive - Aug 27, 2022
Russian Federation will run out of shells, artillery and armoured vehicles by year end - Ukrainska Pravda - Aug 31, 2022
Russia Might Run Out of Weapons, Ammunition By End of Year: Report - Newsweek - Aug 31, 2022
Russia Is Running Out of Missiles. That’s Bad News for Ukraine - Defense Post - Sep 1, 2022
Alexander Kovalenko: when Russia will critically run out of missiles - Odessa Journal - Sep 2, 2022
Russia Resorting to Out of Date Missiles as Weapon Stocks Run Low: Ukraine - Newsweek - Sep 4, 2022
Ukraine believes Russia has less than 50 hypersonic missiles left because it can’t get the chips needed to make more: report - Business Insider - Sep 6, 2022
Out Of Missiles! Russia Is Left With ‘Limited Stock’ Of Hypersonic Weapons Due To Microchip Shortage – Ukraine - Eurasian Times - Sep 7, 2022

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Well, the Russians supposedly launched a massive counterstrike targeting Ukrainian civilian infrastructure after the Kharkiv counter-offensive began as well. The message seems to be that if the Ukrainian resist, the Russians will start going after these kind of civilian targets.

That approach didn't work during against the British during the Battle of Britain, and it won't work against the Ukrainians. The Russians don't have enough missiles to do the job unleas they use nukes, which will result in ostracism by the entire rest of the world.

People keep talking about Russia being backed into a corner, but the truth is you Ukraine is backed into an even worse corner. If they accede to Russian demands, they will be completely absorbed as a nation within 5 years. So for Ukraine, this is literally a fight for the survival of the nation.

[DarthVader]

All propaganda and IW.

[Don Corleone]

Ramping up. Nibble,nibble,nibble. Then boom!

[popdonnelly]

Putin and his colleagues and his military are war criminals, and it says a lot about the thick-headed idiots here who support him.

[NorseViking]

There are tens of thousands of old stock anti-ship missiles in the Russian arsenals they can upgrade to fire by GPS for $1500-2000 a pop.

[popdonnelly]

Did you wet yourself thinking about Ukrainians getting bombed.

[NorseViking]

War criminals? Ukraine claims 11 dead in the atracks.

[NorseViking]

And the problem is?

[jacknhoo]

“Putin and his colleagues and his military are war criminals, and it says a lot about the thick-headed idiots here who support him.”

________________________________________________

Alexander Vindman, is that you?

[cranked]

Head of Chechnya Kadyrov urged Ukrainian President Zelensky to flee to the West

https://ria.ru/20221010/kadyrov-1822753212.html?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

The problem is Putin's, and one of his own creation that he has no good way to solve. He's backed Ukraine into a corner and given it no option except to fight as long as it can, which is likely to be a long time given western support.

So, Putin's expect 3-7 day invasion and establishment of an economically productive puppet state has turned into a massive resource sink with no end in sight. It is draining his military of trained soldiers and equipment, strengthening the previously moribund NATO alliance, and alienating major European economic powers he was getting close to co-opting completely.

So that's the problem.

Not really a problem for us, though. In exchange for some mild economic discomfort we get to sit on the sidelines and watch our toys rip Russia's military apart. Pretty good view from where I'm sitting!,

I expect your view from inside Russia probably isn't as pleasant.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Head of Chechnya Kadyrov urged Ukrainian President Zelensky to flee to the West.

Well of course he did. Russia badly wants an off-ramp that lets them claim victory, and that's about the only thing that would give it to him. Unfortunately for Russia, they tried that same thing back in February/March, and it failed.

Zalensky isn't going anywhere. To defeat Ukraine, you're going to have to actually defeat Ukraine.

And good luck with that given the graft and corruption that turned the Russian military into a shell.

[NorseViking]

Do you expect me to give credit to the malicious ‘genius’ in charge of your country? They caused a tectonic shift in the world order and it is a big unknown how is it going to end. I don’t expect Europe to remain particularly pro-American for long. As for the rest of the world I think you already see it.

[DesertRhino]

Boom boom…. Out go the lights! Lol

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Do you expect me to give credit to the malicious ‘genius’ in charge of your country?

Oh hell no. Our senile cretin has done nothing deserving of even the tiniest shred of credit.

But what is strange is that you seem to be giving a lot of credit to your malicious genius that has put your country in such a terrible position. And the worse it gets, the more you praise him specifically. I can only assume that this is exactly where you hoped your country would be.

They caused a tectonic shift in the world order and it is a big unknown how is it going to end.

This is the point at which your side's analysis goes off the rails. What caused a tectonic shift in the world order was that the various nations and peoples of Central and Eastern Europe finally managed to extricate themselves from being under the Russian boot. And you guys deeply resent that people you believe are inferior to and should be ruled by you now are free to make their own choices for the benefit of themselves and their own country rather than Russia.

Putin has said and written enough over the years to make that plain. He believes Russia has the right to empire, and that if those people and nations won't submit voluntarily, then Russia has the right to force them.

The tectonic shift that happened only happened because those people hate Russia. And justifiably so.

[NorseViking]

You still see reality through the prysm of the media coverage. Once it is over the US is done as a superpower, and it is going to drag the entire West with it. Or you can admit errors and step away to preserve what has left.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

You still see reality through the prysm of the media coverage.

Really? So I'm wrong to think that Russia thought this campaign would be over in a matter of days, or a few weeks at most?

I'm wrong to think that Ukrainian resistance has been much stronger than expected, and that Russian losses have been far greater than Putin expected?

I'm wrong to think that Russia never imagined it would have to go to a mobilization 7 months into this minor "special military operation"?

I'm wrong to think that 7 months into the conflict, Russia still doesn't even control the entirety of either Luhansk or Donetsk?

I'm wrong to think that Russia lost the flagship of its Black Sea fleet, and that this too was a loss they never expected?

I'm wrong to think that Russia has lost double digits in flag officers by its own admission?

I'm wrong to think that Russian politicians and military leaders are sniping at each other publicly because the progress of the war is, to put it charitably, "less than satisfactory"?

Yes, I know - that's all lies. There is a Russian puppet currently ruling Ukraine from Kyiv, and Russian troops running the flag up the flagpole in Kharkiv. Everything to the contrary is just a lie by the Western media....

Sure it is.

[NorseViking]

Most of it is wrong indeed. We have a major war your government has forced, but I think the Russian military handles it better than a NATO military could. And of course Russia is going to win to the detriment of idiots who provoked and escalated it.