Loud blasts heard in Kyiv during missile alert: AFP journalists

KYIV: More than ten explosions rang out in Kyiv early Monday during a ballistic missile alert, according to an AFP journalist on the scene.

Russia has routinely launched waves of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities during its more than four-year invasion, Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

"The enemy is striking with ballistic missiles," Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Ukrainian capital's military administration, wrote on Telegram.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that air defenses were in operation and urged people to remain in shelters.

Ukraine has also stepped up long-range drone attacks inside Russia in recent weeks, targeting energy infrastructure and military targets.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of Russian-annexed Crimea, said Monday that electricity had been cut to Sevastopol following a Ukrainian attack on energy infrastructure near the city.

"Following an enemy attack on energy infrastructure near Sevastopol, our city was temporarily left without electricity," Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram.