Air raid alerts were declared throughout the territory of Ukraine early on Thursday and the military warned of possible Russian missile strikes in a wide arc extending from Kyiv to central regions and the south.
An hour after the warnings were issued, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Telegram channel told residents of the capital to remain in shelters. Warnings were issued for a range of other regions, including Zhytomyr west of the capital and Kirovohrad, Cherkassy and Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine.
The warnings also extended north of Kyiv and to the south and west to Vinnystia, Khmelnitskyi and Chernivtsi regions.
Other Telegram channels warned of possible strikes in the central region of Poltava and further south in Mykolaiv region.
A Reuters witness in Kyiv heard anti-aircraft units in action. There were also reports of explosions in other major cities, but it was uncertain whether these were from missile impacts or anti-aircraft activity.
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