Day 229 Roundup: Reports of Casualties, Electricity and Water Outages as Blasts Rock Kyiv and Other Ukrainian Cities

Facts

• A barrage of Russian missiles hit Kyiv and a number of other Ukrainian cities including Lviv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr, and Odesa on Monday morning – striking areas which have so far been largely unaffected by the seven-month war. Targets included thermal power plants in Kyiv, Lviv, and elsewhere in the country, leading to reports of widespread electricity and water outages.¹
• While the number of civilian casualties remains unclear and is likely to rise, eight people were reported killed and 24 more were reported injured in Kyiv. Numbers for other cities were unavailable at this stage.²
• In a video message released in the midst of the attacks, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of 'trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth.' He then urged civilians in Ukraine to remain in bomb shelters as air raid sirens rang out across the country.³
• It is widely suspected that this wave of strikes are Moscow's response to an attack on the bridge between Russia and Crimea on Saturday, which Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin described on Sunday as a 'terrorist act.' The Kremlin leader also alleged the attack was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), the headquarters of which (located in Kyiv) is believed to be among the targets of strikes on Monday.⁴
• Elsewhere, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus and Russia will deploy a joint military task force in response to what he said was an aggravation of tension on the country's western borders, according to reports on Monday. While Belarus has facilitated Russian attacks and allowed Russian troops to be stationed on its territory, it has so far not been directly involved in the conflict.⁵
• Meanwhile, following a week of deadly Russian attacks on the Zaporizhzhia region, a further overnight stike led to the death of one civilian and injured five others. Ukrainian officials also reported that three civilians were killed and seven more were injured in the Donetsk region in the last 24 hrs.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press (a), ²UKRINFORM (a), ³UKRINFORM (b), ⁴Associated Press (b), ⁵US News and ⁶Ukrayinska Pravda.

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by The Daily Beast. Russia has responded to the humiliating attack on the Crimean Bridge with total barbarity, by striking civilian infrastructure such as power grids, universities, and children's playgrounds. Putin is clearly frustrated by the destruction of a such a strategically and symbolically important piece of infrastructure as the bridge, and has reacted with rash brutality.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by TASS. Justifiably, Russian citizens expect that the terror attack on the civilian bridge between Russia and Crimea will be met with fierce response. The country's leaders owe it to the Russian people, and to the security of the nation itself, to target the terrorists responsible and hold the Kiev regime to account for the loss of innocent life in the Russian federation.