Sawt Falasteen - Seven wounded in Russian missile attack on Kyiv

AFP journalists saw emergency workers in hard helmets clearing concrete and bent metal from one building ripped open during the attack -- the third aerial bombardment of the capital in just five days.

Moscow has escalated its aerial attacks on Kyiv, targeting key infrastructure in the wake of fatal Ukrainian bombardments on Russian border regions.

AFP reporters heard several explosions and air raid sirens in Kyiv almost simultaneously at around 10:30 am (0830 GMT) as officials urged residents to take shelter.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack showed again that Ukraine needs better air defence systems from its allies.

"It means safety for our cities and saved human lives. All of us in the world who respect and protect life need to stop this terror," he wrote on social media.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on social media that seven people were wounded, including the teenage girl and two pregnant women with acute stress reactions.

"Two of them were hospitalised. The rest were treated at the scene. Rescuers continue to clear the rubble," he wrote on social media.

The head of Kyiv's military administration, Sergiy Popko, said Russia had attacked with two ballistic missiles launched from the annexed Crimean peninsula.

- Attack on Russian power plant -

He said both missiles had been shot down but falling debris crashed onto several central districts. Officials said an arts academy building and a gym were damaged.

"Again this morning Russia is attacking Ukraine with hypersonic missiles," the US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, wrote on social media.

"Ukraine needs our assistance now. There is not a moment to lose," she added, in reference to a $60 billion military aid package held up in the US Congress.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba posted footage purporting to show school children running to a shelter at the time of the attack.

"This is a reminder that Ukraine urgently requires more air defence, particularly Patriot systems and missiles capable of repelling any Russian attack," he wrote.

The Kyiv attack came after almost a dozen people were wounded in a Russian drone strike on southern Ukraine overnight, and a fire broke out at a major Russian power plant following a Ukrainian drone attack.

Kyiv said Russian drones had hit the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Odesa, leaving residents without electricity in parts of the Black Sea territory.

In Russia, a fire broke out at a power plant in the southern region of Rostov, the local governor said, after a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks in the area.

Two power units at the Novocherkassk power station -- one of the largest in southwest Russia -- were taken offline, governor Vasily Golubev said on social media.

The Rostov region borders Ukraine and the regional capital is home to Russia's military command headquarters for its offensive on Kyiv.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST