UPDATE - Explosions reported in Ukrainian regions, including capital Kyiv, amid nationwide alert

CHANGES HEADLINE SPOT LEDE, UPDATES INFORMATION

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Air raid sirens sounded across all regions of Ukraine on Wednesday, including the capital Kyiv, in the wake of Russian attacks, according to officials.

Local authorities took to Telegram to urge residents to move to bomb shelters.

Kyiv Governor Vitali Klitschko said a residential building was hit by the strikes, without providing further details on casualties.

Later, Advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry Anton Gerashchenko stated that four people were killed and 21 were wounded after a Russian rocket hit the residential building.

“A few more explosions in different areas of the capital. Rescue services and medics are on the scene,” Klitschko said on his Telegram account.

He added that there is no electricity in some districts of Kyiv, with reports of emergency shutdowns.

Meanwhile, officials in the Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions have also reported sounds of explosions.

Officials have also reported that air defense systems in their respective regions are working.

No warnings were reported in the Crimea region, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Air raid alerts are sounded in the country almost on a daily basis due to possible missile and drone strikes, which have targeted the country's civilian and energy infrastructure.

The alert comes as seven people were killed by Russian strikes in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions over the past day, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​