Explosions across Ukraine as strikes hit Kyiv and other cities

 Attacks may have been expected - but this is a shock

The past three hours have seen wave after wave of explosions, not just here in Kyiv but all across this vast country, from Lviv in the west to Kharkiv in the east, from here in the capital to Odesa in the south.

For those of us who were here when Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February, there’s an element of deja vu. We’ve been told to spend as much time as we can in the basement, as further attacks, using missiles and drones, are expected.

But this is also different. The explosions here in Kyiv are much closer to the centre. Not distant thumps from the suburbs, but loud reverberations close to streets and locations we’ve come to know well in the past eight months.

It’s hard to tell what’s being targeted, but a statement from Ukraine’s ministry of culture said museums and the Philharmonic building had been hit.

One video circulating on social media showed a huge crater in a children’s playground. Another showed a missile slamming into Mayor Klitschko’s glass bridge, a popular tourist spot and viewpoint above the Dnipro River.

Symbolic targets? It’s hard, this early, to discern the logic. Meanwhile, President Zelensky says energy facilities are being hit all over the country.

Two days ago, social media was flooded with videos and memes as Ukrainians wildly celebrated the attack on the bridge linking Russia with the Crimean peninsula.

FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-63193124