Explosions in Ukrainian capital Kiev

The Ukrainian capital Kiev has been rocked by violent explosions today. «Several explosions in the Darnytsky and Dniprovsky districts,» Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced on the Telegram messenger service. «Emergency services are in the process of extinguishing.» An eyewitness told Reuters there was also smoke in the city after the explosions. Earlier, air-raid sirens could be heard across much of Ukraine, including the Kiev region.

In light of the mass destruction of cultural heritage caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the latter’s president, Volodymyr Selenskyy, has strongly called for Moscow’s expulsion from Unesco. «Unesco is no place for barbarians,» Selenskyj said in his video address yesterday in Kiev.

He said Russian troops were destroying cultural monuments, churches and other religious sites en masse. That is reason enough to expel the country from the United Nations cultural and educational organization, he said.