Large air attack underway in Kyiv: AFP journalist

Ukraine's capital came under heavy aerial attack early Thursday, an AFP journalist reported, as Kyiv's mayor said Russia was striking the city.

"The enemy is striking Kyiv with UAVs and ballistic missiles," the mayor, Vitali Klitschko, wrote on Telegram, adding the capital was "under heavy enemy attack".

An AFP journalist heard loud explosions in the city and reported seeing air defences in use.

Russia has pounded Ukrainian cities for more than four years, but it usually launches large-scale drone and missile attacks at night.

On Wednesday, a barrage of "at least 800 Russian drones" targeting mainly western Ukraine killed six people and wounded dozens of others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Klitschko said Thursday the attacks on Kyiv damaged a five-storey residential building and caused a vehicle to catch fire in a car park. 

He said rocket debris also fell on "a non-residential building".