The Ministry Of Defense Calls All Targets For Russian Missiles, Kremlin: Special Military Operations Section

Officials evacuated residents during the Russian attack on Kyiv. (Wikimedia Commons/National Police of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - Russia's Ministry of Defense said all targets set had been hit by Monday's missile strike, with the Kremlin calling it part of a special military operation.

Russia said the missile strike's aim had been achieved, in one of Russia's largest coordinated attacks on Ukraine since the first weeks of war.

"Today, the Russian armed forces have carried out a massive offensive with high precision long-range weapons against the Ukrainian military, communications and energy targets," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily briefing.

"The aim of the attack has been achieved. All the targets set have been achieved," said the ministry.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said the explosion that rocked Kyiv today was part of what it called a "special military operation".

"Everything happened within the framework of a special military operation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked by reporters about the explosion in Kyiv and across Ukraine.

He did not comment on whether the attack was retaliation for the bridge attack, which President Vladimir Putin called a terrorist act.

Separately, Russian bombings into Ukraine were celebrated by pro-war figures in Russia. Russia's inaugurated Crimean governor said Russia would win a "special military operation" if such attacks were carried out every day.

Ramzan Kadyrov, head of theunicipal region who has openly criticized Russia's military leadership and has repeatedly called for a more aggressive campaign, said he was "100 percent satisfied" with the attack.

As previously reported, Russia fired cruise missiles at cities across Ukraine during peak hours on Monday morning, killing civilians, causing power outages and heat, in what President Vladimir Putin declared in retaliation for Ukraine's attacks, including on bridges to Crimea.

In the middle of the morning, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Russia had fired 81 cruise missiles, and Ukraine's air defenses had shot down 43 of them. Ukraine's State Emergency Service said at least 11 people were killed and 64 injured, due to Russian missile strikes in several areas.