Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities early Thursday morning, according to officials and media outlets who said the air defense had taken action.

The head of the Kyiv military command said in a Telegram message: “Another air strike on Kyiv. It’s already the third of four days of May for the capital! Our city has not experienced such a dense intensity of strikes since the beginning of this year! In the evening, the attacker again carried out a comprehensive air raid on the capital, where the combat alert lasted more than 3.5 hours.

He added that the Russians “attacked Kyiv using shahid ammunition and missiles, possibly ballistic missiles.”

Russia has been conducting a campaign of intense missile and UAV attacks since October 2022, targeting both military installations and civilian infrastructure. Thursday’s strikes came less than 24 hours after a strike in Kherson killed 21 people, Kiev said.

Air defense systems operated in the Kyiv region, the local military command reports on Telegram. A Reuters correspondent in the capital heard at least one loud explosion.

Mr. Popko added that according to operational data, there were no casualties among the civilian population, no destruction of residential facilities and infrastructure facilities. The fall of debris was recorded in some areas of the capital, but it did not cause damage to the life and health of people and serious damage to the buildings of the city.

Ukrainian state television also reported on the explosions in Zaporozhye. The head of the regional military command, Yuriy Malasko, said on Telegram that air defense systems were also activated there.

Ukrainian media also reported on explosions in Odessa. Air defense sirens sounded in most of the eastern regions of the country.

Source: APE-MPE, Ukrinform