French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday lamented a “profound change in the nature” of the war in Ukraine after a series of Russian strikes across Ukraine.
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These “deliberate strikes by Russia on the whole of Ukrainian territory and against civilians is a profound change in the nature of this war”, he said during a trip to Château-Gontier (Mayenne ), adding that he would bring together his diplomatic and military advisers concerned as soon as he returned to Paris to “take stock” of the situation.
Half a dozen explosions were heard in Kyiv, with strikes in several neighborhoods, including the city center.
“There are several strikes on critical infrastructure in the city,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Two missiles struck shortly after 8:00 a.m. in the center, less than a minute apart and 300 meters apart.
In Taras Shevchenko Park, a children’s playground was pulverized. In the next street, the missile created a crater, raised the asphalt and destroyed several automobiles. A lifeless body is visible under an aluminum thermal blanket. The windows of neighboring buildings are blown out.
According to Vitali Klitschko, who called on the population to take shelter in the event of a new alert, 5 people died and 51 were injured in the Ukrainian capital alone.
“I am very shocked. I arrived in kyiv this morning. I was walking in the street… when there were the explosions,” said 22-year-old Ivan Poliakov.
“There is a university, two museums, there are no military targets or the like. They just kill civilians,” said Ksenia Riazantseva, a resident of the neighborhood.
The European Union has called these Russian attacks akin to “war crimes” for which those responsible will have to “account”, also calling on Belarus to “not be a party to the brutal aggression carried out by Russia” .
“These barbaric attacks demonstrate that Russia is opting for a tactic of indiscriminate bombardment of civilians,” added Peter Stano, spokesman for the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.
NATO has condemned “horrific and indiscriminate attacks” against civilian infrastructure. The alliance will support Ukraine “as long as it takes,” said its secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.
The head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken, for his part, indicated on Monday that he spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kouleba to assure him of “United States support for Ukraine after the horrible strikes from the Kremlin this morning”.
“We will continue to provide economic, humanitarian and military assistance so that Ukraine can defend itself,” he wrote on Twitter.