Russian strikes in Kyiv region kill 14, damage warehouses

Russian strikes around Ukraine's capital of Kyiv killed 14 people, injured 27 and damaged warehouses overnight, emergency service officials said on the Telegram messaging app.

Air raid alerts lasted for more than an hour across the capital of 3 million, where the military administration said seven sites were pummelled in an assault that began after midnight.

"There may still be people under the rubble," Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram after rescuers pulled two people from the ruins of a warehouse near the city centre that was destroyed in the attack. "Search and rescue operations are proceeding."

An ambulance driver was among the injured, four of them still in critical condition, he added.

On Wednesday, the Russian defence ministry said it had hit logistic hubs and supply centers in Kyiv and surrounding areas, accusing them of being used for military purposes.

Klitschko said the attack set off fires in warehouses and storage areas, but initial reports that a 20-storey apartment building was ablaze proved inaccurate.

A large fire broke out on the city's outskirts, he said, and debris from a fallen missile landed beside a residential building.

The Kyiv military administration said the attack caused an ammonia leak that emergency crews were tackling.

Reuters witnesses heard explosions throughout the city. Klitschko said air defence units scrambled to repel the assault.

Russia has stepped up attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks, with several in the past month. In Russia, Ukraine hit a logistics hub of Russian online retailer Wildberries, adding to more than a dozen it has damaged recently.

Reuters could not independently verify all the reports. Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.