Russia bombs Ukraine cities including pedestrian bridge near People’s Friendship Arch | Video

Kyiv, Oct 10: Multiple explosions rocked Kyiv early Monday following months of relative calm in the Ukrainian capital. At least eight people were killed and 24 others were injured.

The site- symbolic- includes a monument dedicated to the friendship between Russia and Ukraine and is called the People's Friendship Arch. It was not clear if the arch was damaged, the report further said. The Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian people is a monument in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It was opened on 7 November 1982, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Union (USSR) and the celebration of the 1,500th Anniversary of Kyiv.

Eleven important infrastructure facilities in eight regions and in Kyiv were damaged, Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said in a Telegram post. "Parts of those regions have been de-energized," he said. Among the cities hit in the volley of strikes on Monday was Dnipro, a central Ukrainian city that had been seen as a relatively safe haven for internally displaced people fleeing frontline areas in the ground war in the country's southeast.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday called the attack that damaged the huge bridge connecting Russia to its annexed territory of Crimea."There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure. This was devised, carried out and ordered by the Ukrainian special services," Putin said in a video on the Kremlin's Telegram channel.

The Kerch Bridge is a key link between Russia and Crimea, built after Moscow illegally annexed the territory in 2014. It is also an artery for the port of Sevastopol, where the Russian Black Sea fleet is based.