Editor’s Note: This is a developing story.

Explosions rocked Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight on Oct. 22 as Russia launched a large-scale aerial attack against Ukraine.

The attack comes shortly after Ukraine launched Storm Shadow missiles in a mass strike on Russia, according to the General Staff. The attack allegedly struck Russia’s Bryansk Chemical Plant, which produces key components for Russian missiles.

Kyiv residents heard explosions in the city at around 1:10 a.m. local time, shortly after the Air Force issued a ballistic missile warning, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. Several more rounds of explosions kicked off about 30 minutes later.

Explosions have also been reported in Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and the port city of Izmail. Attacks remain ongoing at the time of publication and the consequences are still being determined.

Air defense units are working to repel the attack against Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported. At least one fire has broken out in the city and medics have been dispatched to attack sites.

The attacks in Izmail, Odesa Oblast, reportedly caused power outages in the city. Recent attacks on the region’s energy facilities have left thousands of households without power.

Russia’s latest mass attack comes amid an intensified assault against Ukraine’s energy facilities ahead of winter. President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Oct. 21 that Russia would only escalate attacks on Ukraine’s power grid as international pressure — and the threat of U.S.-supplied Tomahawk missiles — fades.

Read also: Russia’s children’s commissioner shamelessly describes kidnapping a Ukrainian child

From The Kyiv Independent - News from Ukraine, Eastern Europe via this RSS feed