Russia repeatedly attacks Ukrainian citizens. There is always an excuse.

Since late February, when Russia began attacking Ukraine with missiles and cannons of a scale not seen in Europe for decades, civilian deaths have been as inevitable as Russia’s subsequent excuses.

The attacks struck people in rows of bread, playgrounds, blocks of apartments, theaters and hospitals. After each, Russia denied or distracted responsibility, often accusing Ukraine of attacking its people to shake domestic and global views on Moscow.

Russia claims that it is only aiming for military-worthy targets, even if there are hundreds of thousands from the front lines, and whenever civilian facilities are attacked, Ukrainian troops are commanding and foreign. Shelter for fighters or storage for weapons.

Still, journalists, independent organizations and Ukrainian authorities have recorded Russian attacks on thousands of private buildings, structures and vehicles. In some cases, Russia put civilians at risk by using old weapons that they might have aimed at industrial facilities but missed. But in many other cases, the Russian explanation has not been scrutinized.

Here are some of the biggest attacks, along with the way Russia explained its responsibilities.

A missile attacked the hotel overnight. All sections of the 9-story residential tower where more than 100 people lived. According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the recreation center is about 50 miles southwest of Odesa, killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens.

Russian response: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskoff said Russia was trained based on ammunition and arsenals, factories that manufacture and repair military equipment, and “foreign mercenaries” and “nationalist elements.” He said he was targeting the location. “I would like to remind you once again of the words of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Federation. The troops of the Russian Federation have not opposed civilian targets in the course of special military operations,” he said. To President Vladimir Putin.

Russian response: The Russian Defense Ministry said it attacked the Kremenchuk with what is called a “precision missile.” According to the ministry, the goal was an industrial facility next to the mall, which served as an arsenal and contained ammunition for systems supplied by the United States and European countries. The ministry said the strike had exploded ammunition, which caused a fire in the store.

Separately, Russia’s UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, said: Suggestions on Twitter The explosion was caused by Ukraine as a “provocation”.

Rocket attacks on crowded stations full of civilians trying to flee to safer areas killed at least 50 people and injured more. The wreckage of a rocket identified by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a Tochka-U short-range ballistic missile had the words “for our children” in Russian. It was unknown who wrote the message.

Russian response: Russia did not have a Tochka-U missile in its arsenal, but the Ukrainian army denied any liability, saying it used such a missile. It later accused Ukraine of attacking.

At least 12 people (estimated to be hundreds) were killed in an attack on a theater that people used as a bomb shelter in Mariupol, according to local officials. The word “children” was written in Russian in large white letters on the ground in front of and behind the building.

Russian response: Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Ukraine was trying to assemble Russia and that it was a “lie” to say that Russia bombed the theater, according to Reuters. “It is well known to everyone that Russian troops do not bomb cities,” she said. “No matter how many videos are processed by NATO’s structure and how many video clips and fake photos are sent out, the truth is revealed.”

The Russian Defense Ministry refused to carry out the attack and accused the Ukrainian National Guard of Ukraine’s Azov Regiment of blasting the theater with a “bloody provocation.”

At least 18 people were killed and 26 were injured when ammunition hit a row of bread outside the Chernihiv supermarket, according to Human Rights Watch.

Russian response: The Russian Defense Ministry denied responsibility, saying that the army was not in Chernihiv at the time of the attack. The ministry said that “Ukrainian nationalists” did it or was staged by Ukrainian security forces.

A missile strike in Mariupol struck a maternity hospital that was already operating in dire conditions. Pictures of pregnant women being carried through the rubble have become one of the lasting images of the war. The woman died a few days later.

Russian response: Officials said the hospital was commanded as a base by Ukrainian troops. Mr. Poliansky, the UN deputy ambassador to Moscow, dismissed the accusation as “fake news.”

Dozens of bodies were scattered in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, after Russian troops withdrew from the Ukrainian capital at the end of March. According to a New York Times investigation, Russian troops in Bucha executed a group of Ukrainian men together on March 4, involving these troops directly in the possibility of war crimes. The Times also found video evidence that Russian troops had deadly shot a civilian cyclist on March 5.

Kindergarten classrooms, pubs and playgrounds are one of many devastated scenes in Kharkiv, where relentless artillery campaigns continued for months. Hundreds of people were killed and hundreds of buildings were destroyed after Russians used cannons, rockets, cluster munitions, and guided missiles in residential areas. The bombardment was temporarily stopped, but was summarized in June.

Russian response: The Russian government has denied targeting Kharkiv and other civilian facilities, alleging that Ukrainian troops and “neonazis” used locals as “human shields.”

Malassie Brown Report that contributed.