Russia Hammers Ukraine With Air Strikes After Bridge Explosion

Russia rained cruise missiles down on Ukrainian cities Monday following the destruction of a bridge spanning Ukraine and Crimea over the weekend.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday accused Ukraine’s security services of perpetuating the attack on the bridge and said it would be met with a significant military response.

“If there are further attempts to conduct terrorist attacks on our soil, Russia will respond firmly and on a scale corresponding to the threats created against Russia,” Putin added, according to state-run media. There will be “massive strikes with long-range precision weapons on Ukrainian objects of energy, and military control and communications,” he said.

Putin then said that the Kyiv government “has put itself on par with international terrorist groups, the most odious of them” and “leaving such crimes without a response has become impossible.” He confirmed Russia attacked Ukrainian infrastructure on Monday.

A blast damaged the bridge it built after seizing Crimea in 2014. Ukraine, which views the bridge as a military target sustaining Russia’s war effort, celebrated the blast without officially claiming responsibility.

More volleys of missiles struck the capital again later in the morning. Pedestrians huddled for shelter at the entrance of Metro stations and inside parking garages, Reuters reported.