Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.<\/p>\n
Several rounds of explosions have been reported in Kyiv overnight on Feb. 22 as authorities warn ballistic missiles are heading towards the city.<\/p>\n
Explosions first took place in Ukraine’s capital at around 4:00 a.m. local time, according to a Kyiv Independent journalist on the ground. More blasts were heard at approximately 4:30 a.m. local time.<\/p>\n
“The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic weapons. Please stay in shelters until the all-clear signal is given,” Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said<\/a>.<\/p>\n An air raid alert was first issued by authorities at 3:56 a.m. local time. The alert was later extended to all of Ukraine<\/a> at 4:47 a.m. local time as Russian bombers took off, according to<\/a> the Air Force.<\/p>\n Additional blasts were heard in Kyiv at around 5:13 a.m. local time, according to a reporter on the ground.<\/p>\n The Polish Air Force said<\/a> it deployed fighter jets to protect Polish airspace amid the Russian attack.<\/p>\n “On-duty fighter pairs and an early warning aircraft were scrambled, and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems were brought to the highest level of alert,” the statement read.<\/p>\n Russia regularly strikes Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings and energy infrastructure<\/a>, as it continues to wage its war.<\/p>\n A Russian drone attack<\/a> in northeastern Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast killed two brothers and a married couple, while a missile strike damaged a production facility belonging to U.S. multinational company Mondelez, authorities reported Feb. 21.<\/p>\n The two brothers were first injured by an explosive device dropped by a drone and taken to the hospital, Sumy Oblast Governor Oleh Hryhorov reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n “On the way to the hospital, the Russians deliberately attacked the emergency vehicle with a strike drone,” he added. The second Russian strike killed the two siblings.<\/p>\n