Several explosions rock Kyiv during missile alert

Several loud explosions rang out in Kyiv early Tuesday, with air defence systems activated during an air raid alert, AFP journalists observed.

"New ballistic missiles are heading towards Kyiv," the Ukrainian Air Force warned on Telegram.

Journalists in Kyiv reported a combined drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital.

Kyiv has been hit with intensifying Russian airstrikes, day and night, for weeks. 

On Monday, a woman was killed and six people were injured when a Russian drone strike caused a fire at the Kyiv Academy of Sciences, according to a preliminary report from President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Last week, Zelensky again called on Ukraine's Western allies to increase their military aid, particularly by providing more US-made Patriot interceptors capable of shooting down powerful ballistic missiles.