Sawt Falasteen - Russia targets Kyiv at rush hour, kills 3 across Ukraine

The Ukrainian air force described the rush hour barrage as an "unusual" attack of "various types of strike drones," adding that its air defence units had downed 194 Russian drones out of 211 launched overnight and into Monday.

Three people were killed in the attacks overnight, local authorities announced -- one in the Zaporizhzhia region and two more in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

AFP journalists saw charred drone remains and blackened slabs of the square in central Kyiv where pro-democracy demonstrations more than a decade ago led to the pro-Kremlin government's ouster and precipitated the invasion.

There was no immediate official comment from officials in Kyiv on what type of drone had fallen on Maidan.

Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv also came under bombardment, officials said, adding that three people were wounded and transport infrastructure was damaged.

The barrage comes as US-led efforts to bring Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table appear to have been derailed by the US-Israeli war with Iran.

- Three killed -

Russian forces have stepped up long-range drone and missile attacks over recent months in Ukraine, mainly targeting energy facilities.

The mayor of Kyiv said before the air alert was lifted that drone debris had crashed in two districts of the city but did not report any casualties.

AFP journalists saw flashes and clouds of smoke, as residents of the capital sought cover during rush hour.

The Ukrainian air force had warned of a "high-speed target" aimed at Kyiv and said that the cities of Kharkiv in the north east and Odesa on the Black Sea were also targeted.

The Russian capital has also been targeted by Ukrainian drones over recent days, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, adding that Russian air defence systems had downed around 250 drones "as they approached Moscow."

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II, forcing the displacement of millions and killing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides.

Local authorities in Zaporizhzhia said that one woman was killed and three others were wounded, adding that a teenage girl and a woman with a disability were trapped under rubble.

The remains of two killed people were pulled from the rubble after an attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region, that also left seven wounded, including three children, the governor of the region wrote on social media.

N.Shalabi--SF-PST