KYIV, Ukraine — Russian missile and drone strikes rocked Kyiv early Thursday, after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Moscow was preparing a "massive attack".

 

Russia's defence ministry confirmed on Thursday it had launched a "massive strike" on Kyiv "in response to the Kyiv regime's terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure".

 

The attack came after Ukraine's air force warned that ballistic missiles were headed towards the capital and Zelensky cut short a visit to Dublin on Wednesday, citing intelligence reports of an impending Russian strike.

 

AFP journalists in central and eastern Kyiv heard more than a dozen explosions and saw residents -- some with children and pets -- rushing to shelter in metro stations.

 

The strikes killed nine people and wounded 34, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said.

 

Head of the city's military administration Tymur Tkachenko decried the deliberate targeting of civilians and residential areas.

 

Five districts of the wider Kyiv region were struck in the attack, according to regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk.

 

"During the night, the enemy once again launched a massive attack on the Kyiv region using strike drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles," Kalashnyk said on Telegram.

 

He said emergency crews were battling fires at warehouses and a house in the Bucha district.

 

Hours earlier, an AFP reporter witnessed an explosion in central Kyiv during an air-raid alert, followed by a cloud of smoke and flames. Firefighters and ambulances were at the scene.

 

A second blast erupted around 50 minutes later near the initial impact site, sending debris into the air.

 

Zelensky said earlier on Wednesday that he was rushing home from a visit to Dublin due to intelligence reports that Russia was about to launch a massive attack.

 

"I urge our people to be especially careful, to protect themselves, their children, and, of course, their families; to use shelters and heed air raid alerts in Ukraine -- this is very important," he told a news conference.

 

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin "has been preparing this massive strike against Ukraine for some time now".

 

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

 

Russian officials have reported repeated strikes in border regions, while Moscow has said its air defences had intercepted hundreds of drones from Ukraine in recent days.

 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused more than two million military casualties, with Moscow's forces bearing the brunt of the losses, according to a study published Wednesday by US think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

 

US efforts to broker an end to the conflict have so far failed.

 

"Russia's head is completely refusing to end the war," Zelensky said on Wednesday in a post on X.

 

"And although through all possible official and unofficial channels -- including through people close to him -- we have conveyed that the war can and must be ended, and that we in Ukraine are ready for meetings and meaningful negotiations, he sees only further aggression against Ukraine and against other neighbors and Europe as a whole," he added.