An alarming clip of a young woman trying to flee from Russia’s latest air strikes has gone viral, as it shows how close she was to the missile.
The video was originally shared on Twitter by the Russian version of The Insider news outlet. The caption reads: “A resident of Kyiv was [impacted] by an explosive wave after hitting the city centre while she was filming a video message.”
In the 23-second clip, the woman’s words are drowned out by the sound of a missile landing so close to her that the background of her video flashes red and orange.
She appears to duck in the footage, putting her hand over her head. When she looks around to see the wreckage, the sound of falling infrastructure can be heard. She then seems to start running away from the scene.
It’s just one of many alarming clips circulating on social media after a flurry of air strikes were launched to cities all over Ukraine on Monday morning.
Ukraine’s air force claims that Russia sent 83 in total – more than 43 were reportedly struck down by troops, but the total number of fatalities and injured is yet to be confirmed.
Russia has mainly been focusing its attacks on the south-east of Ukraine in recent weeks, which is why the sudden targeting of the capital Kyiv was such a shock on Monday.
Kyiv wasn’t the only city under attack either. Missile strikes were reported all over Ukraine, including in the west, an area which has been mainly left out of the fighting over the seven-month war so far.
Dnipro, Lviv, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr and Kropyvnytskyi were just some of the regions affected by the aggression on Monday.
Russian president Vladimir Putin took responsibility for the attacks a few hours later on Monday, telling the public that long-range missiles had targeted energy, military and communications facilities.
They had also targeted civilians, leading many western leaders to condemn the attacks instantly.
He promised a “harsh” response to any other “terrorist” attacks on Russian territory – presumably a reference to the attacks on the Crimea-Russia bridge on Saturday, which Ukraine has not actually taken responsibility for.
Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said it was wrong to suggest Putin was “provoked” by the attacks on the Crimean Bridge, claiming the Russian president was “desperate because of battlefield defeats”.
The UK’s security minister Tom Tugendhat dubbed the strikes on Ukrainian cities “war crimes” while foreign secretary James Cleverly said the attacks were “unacceptable”.
Other videos were heartbreaking. Short clips from a range of bomb shelters in the capital (including metro stations) show huge crowds singing together in an effort to keep spirits high.
Footage of people receiving medical aid has also been widely shared as a sign of Ukrainian resilience amid Russia’s ongoing aggression.