KYIV: A three-storey building in central Kyiv was badly damaged in a Russian missile attack on Monday morning that saw missile debris fall in three other districts of the city, officials said.

A string of explosions rang out across the Ukrainian capital and a Reuters reporter saw a column of smoke rising in the east of the city.

“In the (central) Pechersk district, a multi-story non-residential building was damaged,” the city’s military administration wrote on the Telegram messenger.

It had described the building as residential in an earlier statement. Two people were hurt, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Debris also came down in the Solomyansky, Holosiyvsky and Dnipro districts, the administration said.

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US ambassador to Kyiv Bridget Brink said Russia had used hypersonic missiles to attack the Ukrainian capital.

“Over the last five days, Russia has launched hundreds of missiles and drones against a sovereign country,” she said.

Ukraine’s air force had warned in a Telegram message moments before the explosions that a missile was flying towards the city.

“Explosions in the capital. Urgently to the shelter!” Kyiv city mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messenger. Russia has dramatically stepped up its missile strikes on Ukraine in recent days.