At least three blasts happened in downtown Kyiv in the early hours of Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that "Several explosions [have occurred] in the Shevchenkivskyi neighbourhood - in the centre of the capital,” as cited by the Ukrainska Pravda website.
“All services are at the scene. Details later," he added.
One of the Russian missiles fell in the vicinity of the statue of the Ukrainian historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky, near the campus of the Taras Shevchenko National University, the PAP news agency reported.
Plumes of smoke were rising from the strikes, Ukrainska Pravda said, adding that ambulances rushed to the scene of the blasts.
A number of people were killed and injured in the attack, Ukrainian emergency services said, according to British broadcaster the BBC.
Kyiv has been under air raid alert since 6.45 a.m. local time, with public transport, including metro, suspended, PAP reported.
This is the first time Kyiv has been hit for many months and the blasts also appear to be much more central than attacks earlier in the war, the BBC reported, adding that there were also reports of overnight strikes in the eastern city of Dnipro and the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
The strikes on Ukrainian cities took place a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of “an act of terrorism” against the Kerch Strait bridge linking Russia and Crimea, prompting calls for reprisals from top officials in Moscow, the Reuters news agency reported.
Monday is day 229 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, Reuters, pravda.com.ua, bbc.com