Russian strikes killed at least eight people in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and wounded dozens, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday morning, writes The Guardian.

"These Russian missiles and attack drones today are a clear response to everyone in the world who, for weeks and months, has been calling for a ceasefire and for real diplomacy," he said in a post on X. "Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table".

The head of Kyiv`s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said earlier that a 14-year-old girl and another child were among the dead. The mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said 38 people were injured.

A 5-storey residential building in the Darnytskyi district was hit directly. "Everything is destroyed", Tkachenko said. A strike in central Kyiv left a major road strewn with shattered glass.

The attack affected more than 20 locations across the capital, local authorities said. Rescue teams were on site to pull people from the rubble.

Powerful explosions were heard by Agence France-Presse journalists in Kyiv on Thursday as the attack place, the news agency reported. Ukrainian officials warned of a "massive" Russian attack. According to the Associated Press, it was the first major combined Russian mass drone and missile attack on Kyiv since Donald Trump met with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on 15 August.