KIEV

- Four huge explosions shook the buildings of the capital, Kiev, and the sounds and news of most of the residents woke up, before smoke covered the city again, in a scene reminiscent of the first weeks of Russia's war on Ukraine, when Kiev was the first and biggest target of the Russians.

Two apartment buildings and an adjacent kindergarten in the Lukyanovska district of the Shevchinsky district in the center of the city, were targets of 5 Russian long-range missiles, before one of them was intercepted.

The shock of the news stopped hundreds of residents in astonishment in front of the area of ​​the explosions, which were cordoned off by security teams, and the extent of the destruction prompted relief teams to work long hours in the place to retrieve the victims, and restore water and electricity supplies to the neighborhood and other nearby neighborhoods.

As a result of this targeting, a man was killed and the body of a 36-year-old woman of Russian citizenship was found, according to Anton Herashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, while her 8-year-old daughter was taken to hospital, and 6 others were injured.

Demolished buildings in the Ukrainian capital (Reuters)

Messages and intimidation

According to Ukrainian intelligence, the missiles used were "X101", which have a range of 5.5 thousand kilometers, and were launched towards Kyiv by two Tu-95 and Tu-160 aircraft, over the Caspian Sea.

What Anton Herashchenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, considered as confirmation of "terrorism and intimidation" practiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukrainians, and messages he was sending to Ukraine and the world.

He added - sarcastically - in an interview with the media in front of one of the targeted buildings, "They (the Russians) will say that they bombed military sites with "high-precision missiles"... These are their goals again, residential in a residential neighborhood, and this is Putin's message to the Ukrainians and the G7 summit."

In turn, Oleksiy Aristovich, an advisor to the Ukrainian president, considered that "President Vladimir Putin wants to spread panic and sorrow among Ukrainian civilians," stressing that "the country will respond to the bombing operations with similar bombing, but it does not affect residential buildings, but rather headquarters from which military operations are conducted." limit saying.

The Russian war on Ukraine has entered its fifth month (Al-Jazeera)

Invasion fears

And between a promise and reassurance, the explosions cast a shadow over the people’s usual movement on the second day of their weekly holiday, and their conversations that delve into the possibility of a repetition of the scenario of the threat of bombing, or even an invasion.

For example, the number of pedestrians on Independence Square in the center of Kyiv has decreased, especially since the sites of the explosions are only a few kilometers away from it;

And she returned to some neighborhoods, a habit witnessed in the first weeks of the war, which was playing the tunes of the Ukrainian national anthem from some balconies.

Fears reinforced by information revealed by the Ukrainian intelligence, about Russia's intention - again - to send and deploy forces on the lands adjacent to the border with the Belarusian neighbor, including 10 strategic bombers;

With the possibility of "subversive terrorist groups" infiltrating those territories.

This is in addition to a previous announcement by President Putin, in which he pledged to deploy "Iskander-M" missiles in Belarus, and to modernize the Belarusian Air Force.


Expectations and fears

Serhiy Bulba, head of the "White Legion" for military analysis, expected - in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that the bombing operations on Kyiv and all other regions of Ukraine would increase during the next two months, just as the operations of the Ukrainian forces against the Russians on the fronts would increase, after Kyiv obtained the Western quality heavy weapons.

He added, "We are facing months of broken bones. It is naive to think that Kyiv has moved away from the scene of the war. The matter is just reordering priorities, and I think that Kyiv itself is aware of this and is preparing well for it, which may shock the population who felt that the war has moved away from them."

Indeed, the Ukrainian presidential office has announced that the country will strengthen its defenses on the entire border with Russia and Belarus, as civilians are now not allowed to approach the border;

However, the Interior Minister renewed his country's recognition that "Russia's artillery and missile superiority prevents stopping the war and achieving victory over it," he said.