A series of powerful explosions shook the capital around 2.30pm as local officials said air defences were working to thwart the attacks.

“This Russian terror against Ukraine will not stop on its own,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the attack, urging unity among partners for a just end to the war.

“Putin is not preparing for peace – he continues to kill Ukrainians and destroy cities.”

Prospects for renewed peace negotiations to end the war that Russia launched on Ukraine nearly three years ago have increased after US President Donald Trump said that he had been in contact with Kyiv and Putin.

Zelensky also said yesterday that Kyiv would soon hold talks with US officials.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down six out of seven ballistic missiles launched in the attack.

Out of 123 drones, the military shot down 71 and likely used electronic counter-measures against 40 more.

Local officials on the Telegram app said that at least one person was killed and four injured, including a 9-year-old child, in the attack on Kyiv.

Photos shared by the state emergency services showed rescuers putting out flames engulfing a carcass of a non-residential building in the region surrounding Kyiv where no casualties were reported.

The overnight attack also damaged critical infrastructure and injured two people in the northern region of Chernihiv, local officials said.