War in Ukraine: 'Kamikaze drones' strike Kyiv, heavy combat near Donetsk towns

Exactly one week after Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital, several explosions were heard in Kyiv on Monday morning, according to AFP correspondents.

Around 06:35, 06:45, and 06:58, three explosions were heard in succession (05:35, 05:45 and 05:58 CET). Prior to the initial explosion, the air raid sirens had sounded.

The head of the Ukrainian president's staff, Andriy Yermak, said on the messaging app Telegram that "kamikaze drones" had struck the city.

At least 19 people were killed and 105 were injured in Russian explosions that occurred in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Monday. These attacks sparked outrage around the world.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, fierce battle was occurring on Sunday between Russian and Ukrainian forces near the towns of Bakhmut and Soledar in the Donetsk area of eastern Ukraine.

In his nightly video message, Zelenskyy stated that Soledar and Bakhmut were the main flashpoints in Donbas. There is very intense combat going on.

Since capturing the important industrial towns of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk in June and July, Bakhmut has been a target for Russia's armed forces as they slowly advance through the area. Near Bakhmut, to the north, is Soledar.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that earlier on Sunday, Russian forces pounded Ukrainian positions on many fronts, with towns in the Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Kherson districts among the targets.

Three of the four provinces Putin annexed to Russia last month are the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, which make up the bigger industrial Donbas and the strategically significant Kherson province in the south. Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected these acts as illegal.

In the Donetsk, Kherson, and Mykolaiv districts, Russian soldiers, according to the Russian defense ministry, had repulsed attempts by Ukrainian forces to advance, suffering what it called "major losses."

Moscow further asserted that it continued to conduct airstrikes against Ukrainian military and energy targets while employing long-range, precision-guided weaponry.

A town in southern Russia called Belgorod is used as a staging area for Russian forces, according to Rybar, a pro-Russian military channel on Telegram.

The majority of the strikes were intercepted by anti-aircraft troops, although two explosions occurred close to the airport. It reported there were three injuries.

The head of the Donetsk region's Russian-backed government stated on Sunday that the administration building in the city of Donetsk, the region's capital, had been destroyed by Ukrainian forces' shelling.

The strike on Donetsk city, which along with portions of the Donbas was taken by separatists with Russian support in 2014, received no immediate response from Ukraine.

Without giving any supporting evidence, separatist leaders supported by the Kremlin have already accused Ukraine of conducting multiple strikes on residential and infrastructure targets in the seized regions.

After gunmen opened fire at a military training facility close to the Ukrainian border, killing 11 people and injuring 15, Russian authorities said on Sunday that a criminal inquiry had been launched.