Russian missile strikes wound six in Kyiv

Ukraine said Russian missile strikes on Kyiv wounded six people on Saturday, as Moscow escalates attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

Moscow has been firing missiles and drones at Kyiv almost daily since launching its invasion in February 2022.

But a spate of deadly attacks using dozens of ultra-fast ballistic missiles have recently challenged Ukraine's air defences.

"The number of injured in the capital has risen to six," Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, wrote on Telegram.

Tkachenko confirmed earlier that Russia was "attacking the capital with missiles" and urged residents to seek shelter.

Three people were treated in hospital and three at the scene, he said, without providing further details.

AFP journalists in Kyiv heard two series of explosions in the early hours of Saturday, with an air alert siren sounding minutes after the first blast.

The late alert was reminiscent of a Russian attack earlier this week, when the blast of a missile over the Kyiv skyline rocked sleeping residents even before the city's air alert sirens managed to sound.

The attacks on Saturday came one day after Ukrainian drone strikes hit oil refineries in southern Russia, as Kyiv targets its foe's energy infrastructure.