A day after Moscow accused Kyiv of being responsible for an explosion on a bridge linking Crimea to Russia, Ukraine's president said on Monday that there had been strikes on "several" locations within the country, news agency AFP reported.
Encouraging people to "remain in shelters," Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president's office, said: "Ukraine is under missile attack. There is information about strikes in many cities of our country."
According to Kyiv, Russia started firing 75 missiles at Ukraine on Monday.
Around 8:15 a.m. local time (05:15 a.m. GMT), explosions erupted in Kyiv, and an AFP reporter in the city observed a large number of ambulances moving in that direction. On Monday morning, Kyiv heard at least five explosions.
"Several explosions in the Shevchenkivskyi district -- in the centre of the capital," Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media.
Ukraine's energy infrastructure was the target of Russian attacks: Zelensky Videos shared on social media showed black smoke spouting above a number of metropolitan neighbourhoods.
Russia launched its most recent attack on Kyiv, thus killing five people.
The blasts occurred a day after Moscow attributed the explosion on the bridge connecting Crimea to Russia, which claimed the lives of three people, on Ukraine.
The Crimea bridge explosion on Saturday was referred to as a "terrorist attack" by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who added that the Ukrainian secret services were the "writers, perpetrators, and sponsors."
According to Russian news outlets, Vladimir Putin was speaking at a meeting with the chairman of the inquiry team he established to examine into the incident.
The Kremlin informed regional news organisations that the Russian president is preparing for a meeting with his Security Council later on Monday.
"Tomorrow the president has a planned meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by AFP in its report.
Zelensky Says Iranian Drones Used
Ukraine's president Zelensky said: "Russia used Iranian drones in Monday's attacks on Ukraine."
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, there have been fatalities and injuries as a result of several strikes on Ukrainian cities, including the first bombing of the capital in months.
Blaming Russia of wanting to "wipe us from the face of the Earth," President Volodymyr Zelensky stated: "Air raid sirens are not subsiding around Ukraine... Unfortunately there are dead and wounded. Please do not leave the shelters."
(With Inputs From ANI)