KYIV: In retaliation for what Moscow alleged was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea Fleet, a massive barrage of Russian cruise missiles and drones struck Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other Ukrainian cities early on Monday.
Major infrastructures in the affected areas were destroyed. Electricity and irrigation were disrupted in these areas.
Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine's power plants and other key infrastructure as the war enters its ninth month, forcing rolling power cuts.
"The Kremlin is taking revenge for military failures on peaceful people who are left without electricity and heat before the winter," Kyiv region Gov. Oleksii Kuleba said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that Monday's bombardment was meant to retaliate for what he said was Saturday's unsuccessful Ukrainian aerial and underwater drone attack on Russia's Sevastopol-based Black Sea Fleet on the Russian-annexed Crimea Peninsula.
“Partly, yes. But it's not all we could have done,” Putin responded, regarding retaliation, at a press conference in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.
He claimed Ukrainian drones had travelled to their targets through an internationally agreed zone meant to ensure the safety of ships exporting grain from Ukrainian ports.
Putin justified the attack by saying that Ukrainian cargo ships had endangered the ships by entering Russian-controlled territory, where cargo movement has been temporarily suspended since the war.
Meanwhile, 12 ships with grain left Ukrainian ports on Monday despite a Russian threat to reimpose a blockade that threatened hunger across the world, Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure said.
But the grain transport was thrown into doubt after Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement late Monday that "traffic along the security corridor defined by the Black Sea Initiative has been suspended" over allegations that Ukraine has been using the zone to strike Russian forces.
In Monday's ground attacks, Ukraine's air force said it shot down 44 of more than 50 cruise missiles that Russia launched.
Across Kyiv, hundreds lined up, often for more than an hour, to pump water by hand from wells to fill plastic bottles and cans.
Prime Minister Shmyhal said that in the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions, emergency power shutdowns were underway.
In the eastern city of Kharkiv, two strikes hit critical infrastructure facilities, according to authorities, and the subway ceased operating.
Critical infrastructure sites were also hit in the Cherkasy region southeast of Kyiv. In the Kirovohrad region of central Ukraine, an energy facility was hit.
Power was cut to parts of Ukraine's train network, the Ukrainian Railways reported.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar urged his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, in a phone call Monday to "reconsider" Moscow's suspension of its participation in the grain deal, which has allowed more than 9 million tons of grain to be exported from Ukraine.
At the United Nations in New York, Martin Griffiths, who leads the U.N. The team facilitating the deal told the Security Council that Monday's ship movements and inspections were undertaken as emergency measures.
UN trade chief Rebecca Grinspan said wheat exports from Russia tripled from July to September and wheat exports from Ukraine quadrupled.
Monday's strikes were the third time this month that Russia unleashed massive attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. On Oct. 10, a similar attack rocked the war-torn country following an explosion on the Kerch Bridge linking Crimea to mainland Russia — an incident Moscow blamed on Kyiv.