The international community reacted with outrage on Monday after Russia conducted deadly air strikes on Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine.
The president of the European Parliament called the attacks in Kyiv “sickening”.
“It shows the world, again, the regime we are faced with: One that targets indiscriminately. One that rains terror and death down on children,” Roberta Metsola tweeted.
A spokesman for the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the EU believes Russia’s missile attack on civilians in Ukraine “amounts to a war crime”.
“Indiscriminately targeting people in a cowardly, heinous hail of missiles on civilian targets is indeed a further escalation,” spokesman Peter Stano said.
“The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms these heinous attacks on the civilians and civilian infrastructure … This is something which is against international humanitarian law and this indiscriminate targeting of civilians amounts to a war crime,” he said.
The UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, described the strikes as “shocking”.
“People on their way to work, parents taking their children to school. There is no excuse for this violence. Stop!” she said.
“Russia escalates its barrage of attacks on Ukrainian civilians,” Bridget A Brink, the US ambassador to Ukraine, tweeted.
The Group of Seven (G7) countries will hold talks on Tuesday after Russia’s missile strikes, the German government said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address the G7 leaders at the start of the virtual talks, it said. Ahead of that meeting, Zelenskyy accused Russia of “trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth”.
A government spokesperson said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had assured Zelenskyy of support in a phone call.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg described the attacks as “horrific”.
“Spoke with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and condemned Russia’s horrific and indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said in a tweet.
“NATO will continue supporting the brave Ukrainian people to fight back against the Kremlin’s aggression for as long as it takes.”
The strikes are “unacceptable”, UK foreign secretary James Cleverly said.
“This is a demonstration of weakness by Putin, not strength,” he tweeted.
China’s foreign ministry said it wants the violence to subside.
“We hope the situation will de-escalate soon,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “extreme concern” during a call with Zelenskyy and promised that Paris would increase its military aid.
“The president spoke of his extreme concern about strikes that have caused civilian victims,” Macron’s office said in a statement.
“He reaffirmed his full and complete support for President Zelensky and the commitment of France to increase its support for Ukraine in line with the needs expressed by Kyiv, including in terms of military equipment,” it said.
Moldova’s foreign minister said several Russian cruise missiles targeting Ukraine had crossed its airspace and Moscow’s envoy was summoned to give an explanation.
“Our thoughts are with the victims of the brutal strikes,” Nicu Popescu said on Twitter.
India is “deeply concerned” by the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, a spokesman for its foreign ministry said.
“We reiterate that escalation of hostilities is in no one’s interest. We urge immediate cessation of hostilities and the urgent return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue,” Arindam Bagchi said.
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly called the strikes “shocking and horrifying” and said targeting civilians was a “war crime”.
“Canada stands with the people of Ukraine,” she tweeted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes were in retaliation for what he said was a Ukrainian attack on a bridge linking Crimea to Russia. He called it an act of “terrorism”. Kyiv has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack.
Putin said the Russian military launched precision weapons from the air, sea and ground to target key energy and military command facilities.
“It was not possible to leave [Ukrainian attacks] unanswered,” Putin said. “If they continue, the response from Russia will be severe and correspond to the level of threat.”
Zelenskyy said Russia had targeted civilians on their way to work.
“They have two targets,” he said. “Energy facilities throughout the country, … the second target is people.”
