Russian Missiles Batter Ukraine, Zelensky To Address Urgent G7 Meet On Tuesday. Key Points

Russia-Ukraine War: Ukraine's army said Russia launched 84 cruise missiles, targeting energy facilities and busy intersections in Kyiv.

Police experts examine destroyed cars in the center of Ukrainian capital of Kyiv after several Russian strikes on October 10

Source : AFP

In one of its most lethal airstrikes since the start of the Ukraine war in February, Russia rained missiles in multiple Ukrainian cities, including capital Kyiv, killing at least 10 people and leaving scores injured. Ukraine's army said Russia launched 84 cruise missiles, targeting energy facilities and busy intersections in Kyiv, in what President Vladimir Putin called a retaliation for an attack on a key bridge between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

The Russian move drew condemnation from the West and the European Union, with India expressing "deep concern" at the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and urged an "immediate cessation of hostilities".

Meanwhile, G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Zelensky will hold emergency talks on Tuesday to discuss the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine.

Russia-Ukraine War: Top 10 Developments Of The Day

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian attacks were deliberately timed to kill people and knock out Ukraine's power grid. The strikes have left swaths of the country with no electricity, water or heat. "They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth," Zelensky said.
• Ukraine's prime minister said 11 major infrastructure targets were hit in eight regions -- Lviv, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Kyiv.
• Germany said a building housing its consulate in Kyiv had been hit in Monday's strike. However, it had not been used since the war started nearly eight months ago, Reuters reported.
• Images from Ukraine told a grim tale, with residents seen on the streets with blood on their clothes and hands. Several cars were damaged or completely destroyed.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes were in retaliation for what he called Ukraine's "terrorist" actions, referring to the huge blast on Russia's only bridge to Crimea. Putin has vowed a "tough" and "proportionate" response should Ukraine carry out further attacks that threaten Russia's security.
• India called for immediate cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and urgent return to the path of "diplomacy and dialogue". The MEA said India was ready to support all such efforts aimed at de-escalation of the situation.
• The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Monday advised Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine in view of the conflict escalation. The embassy also asked Indians to keep the mission informed about the status of their presence in Ukraine.
• In another related escalation, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Putin, said he had ordered troops to be deployed jointly with Russian forces near Ukraine. He alleged Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine were training Belarusian "radicals" for terror attacks.
• The European Union condemned the "barbaric and cowardly attacks" on Ukraine. "Russia once again has shown to the world what it stands for. It is terror and brutality," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
• Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the series of strikes showed Putin was "desperate because of battlefield defeats" after recent gains by Ukrainian forces.

(With inputs from Reuters, AP)