Monday marked another turning point into darkness in Ukraine

Monday morning, Ukrainians woke up to the haunting blare of air raid sirens: a depressingly normal occurrence these days. But this time, volleys of missiles rained down across the country in what was likely Russia’s largest salvo since the start of the war. In total, 19 people were killed and dozens wounded, as wave after wave of rockets tore into playgrounds, parks, tourist sites and intersections as well as vital energy infrastructure knocking out power supplies.

More than 300 cities and towns were apparently plunged into darkness, from the Ukrainian capital all the way to Lviv on the border with Poland.

Explosions, meanwhile, were reported in Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in western Ukraine, Dnipro in the centre, Zaporizhzhia in the south and Kharkiv in the east.

Many of the missiles and drones struck areas far away from military targets. This morning, more missiles came. Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Monday’s “precision” assaults were in retaliation for what he claimed were Kyiv’s “terrorist” actions – a reference to a Saturday explosion that tore up parts of Kerch bridge between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, that Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.

Ukraine has been making significant advances against Russia’s positions in the east. It also came after Putin’s appointment of Sergei Surovikin as overall commander of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, a man whose involvement in Russia’s intervention in Syria has earned him the moniker “the butcher” and “General Armageddon”. A playbook that he is perhaps re-engaging now.

Shortly after the salvos, Belarus and Russia announced a joint military task force with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko ordering troops to deploy with Russian forces near Ukraine. Putin separately has vowed further attacks.

His deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov pointedly warned that if the US and Europe continued to support Ukraine “Russia will be forced to take adequate countermeasures, including asymmetrical ones”.

Asymmetrical, in this context, is an ominous word. And so all of this feels like the war has stepped into a new and more bloody chapter. One where no matter how many thousands of kilometres from the front line no one is safe from the sky.

Where there appears to be an utter disregard for the laws of war. Where – judging from the locations of Monday’s attacks – there is no care if they are indiscriminate or, worse still, civilians are the intended targets. It feels like in some sense the gloves are off. Monday marked another turning point into more darkness.

Yours,

David Harding

International editor