Kyiv rocked by predawn explosions

Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, was rocked by a series of loud explosions early Wednesday.

The blasts occurred after air raid sirens had been blaring for about 30 minutes starting about 6 am. Two government buildings in Kyiv and a home in the region surrounding the capital had been damaged in a drone attack, Anton Gerashchenko, a deputy interior minister, said in a statement.

Oleksiy Kuleba, the head of the Kyiv region, said the air defense system had hit several targets in the region and urged residents to remain in shelters.

Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s mayor, said 10 Iranian-made Shahed drones had been shot down in the capital and surrounding areas. He said the explosions were in the Shevchenkivskyi district.

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Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine have been subject to Russian missile attacks in recent weeks that have taken out power and other infrastructure as the country heads into the coldest winter months.

As the sun rose Wednesday, residents were covering blown-out windows with sheets and blankets to protect against the bitter cold.

Yaroslav Vinokurov, 24, was inspecting his car, which he said was destroyed by Wednesday’s blasts. The roof was shorn off a building near his home, and windows throughout his neighborhood had shattered.

The Ukrainian Air Force has warned in recent days that the Russian military was launching more drone attacks under cover of night to deplete Ukraine’s limited stock of radar-based air defense missiles. In daylight, Ukrainian soldiers are able to use large-caliber machine guns or other small arms to target drones.