WAR IN UKRAINE: October 10, 2022
A Russian missile has struck a newly built pedestrian and cycling bridge in Kyiv, known as the Klitschko bridge, which opened in 2019. The bridge is a popular tourist attraction along the bank of the Dnieper river, with sections of the flooring made of glass panelling and a busy motorway running underneath.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 224
Russia unleashed a massive missile attack in several Ukrainian cities today, striking areas of Kyiv near a key university and the government quarter. Critical infrastructure was also hit in the attack on at least half a dozen cities, including in western Ukraine near NATO’s eastern flank. In Kyiv, at least fine people were killed and several dozen injured.
The attack appears payback for the explosion at the Kerch bridge linking occupied Crimea with the Russian mainland. On Sunday, President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukrainian special forces for the bridge attack (although Kyiv has not taken responsibility).
The attacks occurred just as business and people’s confidence was starting to roar back to life. Ukrainian officials urged business to pivot to online format as much as possible; schools will be operating by distance learning format until the end of the week. I’m a video filmed Monday just outside his office, Zelensky said almost 100 rockets, along with kamikaze drones, were used in the attacks.
The building housing the German consulate in Kyiv was hit by a Russian missile strike, Reuters news agency quotes Germany's foreign ministry as saying. Up until now, areas in and around foreign embassies and consulates were regarded as off limits and among the safest places.
The Ukrainian government is asking people across the country to limit their energy use on Monday evening. As a result of Monday’s missile strikes, “we kindly ask everyone, if possible, to limit electricity consumption today from 17:00 to 22:00,” Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said in a post on Telegram. “This will help to pass the critical loads of our power grids” - CNN
Odesa seems to have been spared from the attacks: officials said several rockets as drones were successfully shot down. During lunchtime Monday normally busy streets and restaurants terraces were almost completely empty as residents stayed at home or in shelters.
Writes VOA’s Tommy Walker: “Kyiv centre was always regarded as more safe but today it once again shows that in modern warfare and the abundance of precision air weapons available nowhere in Ukraine is completely safe.”
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Twitter: “The indiscriminate Russian attacks on Kyiv and across Ukraine are horrific. Ukraine needs the latest missile and air defence systems NOW.”
Ukrainian intelligence: Putin again tries to drag Belarus into open war against Ukraine. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin frequently meets with Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko and tries to convince him to fully join Russia in its war against Ukraine, said Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence. According to Ukraine's Defense Ministry, six Belarusian battalions (about 6,000 men) are stationed near the border with Ukraine - Kyiv Independent
