According to Ukrainian sources, Russia carried out large-scale air strikes on Kyiv and all of Ukraine early on Monday. For hours, air raid alarms sounded in about two-thirds of the country. According to media reports, explosions were heard in the Kherson region and in the Zaporizhzhia region, and in Odessa, according to official data, a food warehouse caught fire after Russian shelling. In embattled Bakhmut, Russia intensified its actions at the front. Eight other towns in the Sumy region in the northeast were also under increased Russian shelling, according to the military.

At least five people have been injured in the Russian air strikes on Kyiv, according to the city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko. Three people were wounded in explosions in the Solomyansky district, two more people were wounded by drone wreckage that fell on a two-story building in the Svyatoshyn district. The attacks continued, with eyewitnesses reporting numerous explosions in the city. Local authorities say the air defense systems repelled the attacks. It was not immediately clear how many drones were shot down on Kyiv.

The Kyiv military administration said that drone wreckage fell on a runway at Shulyany Airport, one of the Ukrainian capital's two passenger airports, and rescue workers were deployed on the ground. Initially, there was no information about deaths or injuries.

In the Black Sea port city of Odessa, a food warehouse caught fire as a result of Russian rocket fire, Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the military administration of the region, wrote on his Telegram channel to photos of a large building that was completely engulfed in flames. Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne also reported a fire following an explosion in Odessa. Explosions were also heard in Kherson.

Ukraine announces further counteroffensive

The offensive of the Ukrainian military to recapture occupied territories, which is expected in the near future, will "panic" Russia, in the words of Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Havrylov. The Russians have still not understood that their propaganda shows them a false picture of the situation, said Havrylov on Sunday in an interview with the British newspaper "The Independent". "This war will be won on the ground, not on TV screens or on the Internet." Havrylov did not want to name a date for the long-announced and expected offensive. "We will launch our counteroffensive – when and where is not important at the moment."

The Kremlin has long concealed the truth about Russian losses in this war from its own people. However, the offensive will change this. "You can't fool your own people for years, especially when they see a difference on the fronts, when they see the dead and wounded, when they see the families who have lost their roof over their heads," he said. "You can't hide the death of your son, husband or brother." Moscow will bear the consequences.

Havrylov saw the months-long battles for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut as proof of the increasing weakness of the Russian war machine. Russia will inevitably experience a disaster with Bakhmut "sooner or later".