Ukraine capital targeted by Russian kamikaze drones results in multiple explosions

Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv has been hit with at least five major explosions, supposedly from kamikaze drones.

On Monday morning (17 October), several explosions went off in the same central area of Kyiv where Russian missiles had struck just one week earlier.

The explosions were heard this morning from around 7am local time (4am GMT), according to reporters inside the city.

The most recent explosion was heard at 8.10am local time (5.10am GMT).

The mayor of Kyiv city, Vitaliy Klichko, issued an alert that the Shevchenko district of the capital had been hit, and urged residents to take shelter.

It's understood that two of this morning's drones have hit critical energy-related infrastructure. No further details were immediately known.

Across social media, photos have been shared of the massive fires and clouds of black smoke rising into the morning sky, in the aftermath of the apparent air strike.

Andrii Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president Zelensky's office, wrote in a post on the Telegram social media site that it was Russian forces who struck Kyiv again with Iranian Shahed drones.

Urging residents to stay in air raid shelters, he added that rescuers were currently on the scene.

Mr Yermak also noted that Ukraine needed more air defence systems 'as soon as possible'.

"It shows their desperation," added Yermak.

Meanwhile, Serhai Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, posted to Telegram this morning to say that 'the Russians are wiping the liberated settlements off the face of the earth with tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft fire'.

He added: "The occupiers are placing concrete cubes and digging trenches throughout Luhansk region – preparing for a long defence."

Luhansk is one of the regions of Ukraine that Russia has occupied.

In recent weeks, Russia has been using so-called suicide drones to hit urban centres, including power stations, in Ukraine.

Just last week, air strikes from Russian missiles in the same area of Shevchenkivskiy left 19 dead and over 100 injured.

Explosions had also been heard in other cities including Zhytomyr, Khmelnitsky, Dnipro, and Ternopil.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had later claimed that these strikes were retaliation for the bombing of a key bridge linking Russia to occupied Crimea, which he blamed on Ukraine.

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