Russia launched a new barrage of missiles across Ukraine today, Monday, as sirens sounded and residents rushed to shelters. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the partially destroyed Crimean bridge last October.
Russian media broadcast scenes showing Putin driving a car, and reported that the president is on the bridge linking Crimea to Russian territory.
This is Putin's first visit to the peninsula - which Russia annexed in 2014 - since the start of the war in Ukraine, according to Russian media.
Last October, the Crimean Bridge was damaged by a powerful explosion, which the Russian authorities accused the Ukrainian intelligence of being behind.
Missile strikes
On the other hand, sirens sounded today in the capital, Kyiv, and throughout Ukraine, as a result of what officials described as the latest wave of Russian missile strikes since the war began on February 24.
The Reuters news agency reported that today's attacks killed at least two people and destroyed homes in the southeast of the country, causing power outages on a large scale.
Crowds of people gathered for shelter in the subway network in the Ukrainian capital, amid a cold of minus 5 degrees.
"Do not ignore the warning," said Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, as the sirens sounded.
Remains of a Russian cruise missile that Ukrainian authorities say was shot down by air defenses in Kyiv province (Reuters)
The Kiev regional administration said that missiles were fired towards the capital, calling on residents to stay in shelters and safe places.
For his part, Kyrilo Tymoshenko, deputy director of the presidential office, said that rockets landed on buildings in Zaporizhia, in the southeast of the country, destroying several houses and killing two people.
He added that 3 were wounded, including a child.