Watch: BBC reporter takes cover as explosions hit Kyiv
A BBC journalist was forced to take shelter when the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv was rocked by a series of explosions.
Journalist Hugo Bachega was broadcasting live Monday from the Shevchenko district – a busy urban area of the city – when what would have been a Russian missile hits capital.
As he spoke to the camera, the sound of a missile could be heard above his head and a subsequent explosion forced him out of the way.
He ducked to safety as he delivered his BBC World article, and he and his team moved to a safer area.
Bachega then broadcast from a parking lot under a hotel in Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of targeting civilians in Ukraine in what a British minister called a “despicable” attack.
The apparent strikes appear to be Putin’s retaliation for an attack on a bridge connecting Russia and Crimea.
It was the first time Russia had targeted Kyiv in months, as explosions were also reported in Dnipro, Lviv, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr and Kropyvnytskyi.
British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat called the strikes on Ukrainian cities “war crimes”.
He said: “Targeting civilians is a despicable act. Russian war crimes begin with a record of failure and shame.
Read more: British general spells out destruction if Putin launches nuclear strike in Ukraine
The timing of the attacks suggests they were a response to Ukraine’s strike on the Kerch Bridge, the passage between Russia and annexed Crimea that has both strategic and symbolic importance.
Putin called the attack “a terrorist act” which, according to him, was orchestrated by Ukrainian special services.
The attack on Kyiv caused explosions in the city’s Shevchenko district, a central area that includes the historic old town as well as several government offices.
Lesia Vasylenko, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, posted a photo on Twitter showing that at least one explosion occurred near the main building of Kyiv National University in central Kyiv.
“What is Russia trying to hit?” she asked. “The national university? The park? Or the playground?
A glass pedestrian bridge, which had been a popular attraction, was also struck.
“People would have been jogging this morning,” Vasylenko said.
Kyiv police said at least five people were killed and 12 injured.
“They are trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Air raid sirens are not going off all over Ukraine. There are missiles hitting. Unfortunately, there are dead and injured.”
Watch: Attack on bridge a ‘terrorist act’, says Vladimir Putin
Comments are closed.