Russia launched another brutal attack on Kyiv on Monday morning with multiple explosions using Iranian drones hitting residential buildings, for the second time in a week during the city's busy morning hours.
Blasts could be heard in the Shevchenkivskiy district at around 7 am local time (5 am UK time) on Monday morning, with one of them coming near a train station.
A further two loud explosions were reported after 8 am.
The explosions are believed to have resulted from a hit by Iranian 'kamikaze' drones. Writing on social media, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said several residential properties had been damaged in the blasts and rescue teams had been deployed.
He wrote on the Telegram messaging app: “The explosion in the Shevchenkiv district - in the centre of the capital. All services follow in place. Details later. The air alert continues. Stay in shelters!”
Officials in Kyiv say that by 9 am local time a total of four strikes had hit the city, with the potential for more strikes to hit.
Power outages were reported in the surrounding area shortly after and a high-rise residential building was also reported to have suffered damage from a Shahed-136 drone hit.
Ukraine's first deputy minister of foreign affairs, Emine Dzheppar, shared an image of the debris from one of the Shahed-136 drones that hit Kyiv today.
The blasts were followed around an hour later by what was thought to be Ukrainian defence trying to shoot down more incoming drones or missiles with surface-to-air defences.
“At the scene of the first attack. Could hear the incoming roar and then an explosion. Ukrainian air defence was firing on it. Incredibly tense moment, sending police scattering and people running for shelter,” Christopher Miller, a correspondent for the Financial Times, wrote on Twitter from Kyiv.
The Shevchenkivskiy district, a popular student area, was also damaged last week in the most intense bombings of the Ukrainian capital since the early days of the war.
Russia ordered a huge aerial offensive against cities across Ukraine in retaliation for a blast on a bridge linking mainland Russia to Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
A total of 19 people were reported to have died following the explosions.
Ukraine has reported a number of Russian attacks with Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks.
The drones are 11ft-long, can travel at speeds of 100mph and carry an explosive warhead in the nose which can inflict devastating damage on settlements.
Reports of a deal with Russia have been denied by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who said his country “has not and will not” supply weapons for either side in the Ukraine conflict.
The topic is due to be discussed by European Union foreign ministers in a meeting in Luxembourg today.
Elsewhere, Russian and Ukrainian forces continued to fight heavily around Ukraine's eastern Donbas region over the weekend.
Donetsk and Luhansk, which are now claimed by Russia following their annexation claim last month, saw scenes of gunfire as enemy forces faced off.
