Russian strikes hit Kyiv on Monday, killing at least five people and injuring 12 in an apparent retaliation for a weekend explosion on a bridge connecting Russia to annexed Ukrainian territory in Crimea, The Washington Post and The Associated Press report.
The explosions were the first in months in Ukraine's capital; Russian strikes also hit Kharkiv in the northeast, Lviv in the west, and Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro in central Ukraine, per the Post. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strikes and accused the Kremlin of trying to wipe Ukrainians "off the face of the earth."
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called the attack on the bridge a "terrorist act" by Ukrainian special services. One of Zelensky's advisers called Putin's claim of victimhood "too cynical even for Russia."