Russia-Ukraine war live: several blasts hit central Kyiv; conflict has pushed four million children into poverty, says UN

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The head of Ukraine’s state railway, Alexander Kamyshin, says that the shelling occurred near Kyiv central station – confirming what the Guardian’s Daniel Boffey, who is at the station, said a few moments ago.

So far there are no known casualties from the strikes near the station, though residential buildings were also damaged in the attacks.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko says that “several residential buildings” have been damaged in the strikes on Kyiv this morning, and that medics are on site.

In a post on Telegram, Kitschko wrote:

As a result of the drone attack, a fire broke out in a non-residential building in the Shevchenkiv district of Kyiv. Fire departments are working. Several residential buildings were damaged. Medics are on the spot. We are clarifying the information about the victims.

Andriy Yermak, the head of the President’s Office, said in a post on Telegram confirming the Kamikaze drone attack on Kyiv this morning, “We need more air defense systems and as soon as possible. We have no time for slow actions. More weapons to defend the sky and destroy the enemy. So be it.”

At around 6.30 am, Guardian correspondents in Kyiv heard two blasts followed moments later by a third.

Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko confirmed two blasts in the city centre’s Shevchenkiv district on his Telegram channel.

Citing Andriy Yermak, the head of the President’s Office, the Kyiv post confirms that Kyiv was hit by kamikaze drones.

According to Ukrainian military officials, “kamikaze drones” are cheaper and less sophisticated than missiles but have proved effective at causing damage to targets on the ground. The Shahed-136 drones are able to remain airborne for several hours and circle over potential targets before being flown into enemy troops, armour or buildings and exploding on impact.

The Guardian’s Daniel Boffey is in Kyiv train station and heard three drone strikes nearby:

The Guardian’s Charlotte Higgins is in Kyiv, where she has heard at least three explosions this morning.

On Telegram, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote:

“The explosion in the Shevchenkiv district – in the center of the capital. All services follow in place. Details later. The air alert continues. Stay in shelters!”

The Shevchenkivskiy district is the same area that was hit by several explosions a week ago, on 10 October. At least 19 people were killed in last week’s attacks on Kyiv and more than 100 were injured.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be taking you through the latest for the next few hours.

The Guardian’s Charlotte Higgins is in Kyiv, where she has heard at least three explosions this morning.

Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting economic fallout have thrown four million children into poverty across eastern Europe and Central Asia, Unicef said Monday.

“Children are bearing the heaviest burden of the economic crisis caused by the war in Ukraine,” Unicef said.

The conflict “and rising inflation have driven an additional four million children across eastern Europe and Central Asia into poverty, a 19 percent increase since 2021”, it said.

Unicef drew its conclusions from a study of data from 22 countries.

More on these developments shortly. In the meantime, here is a summary of key recent news:

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said a “very severe” situation persists in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with the “most difficult” fighting near the town of Bakhmut. The attacks came as Russia’s war in Ukraine nears the eight-month mark.

Pro-Kremlin officials on Sunday blamed Ukraine for a rocket attack that struck the mayor’s office in Donetsk, a city controlled by the separatists, while Ukrainian officials said Russian rocket strikes hit a town near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, among other targets.

More than 30 settlements across Ukraine have been hit by Russian strikes in the last day, according to the Ukrainian military. Two schools in the southern Zaporizhzhia region were reportedly destroyed in the strikes, which targeted civilian areas.

The Ukrainian military said the estimated number of Russians killed since the start of the war has reached 65,000. Sunday morning’s update from the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said the death toll had risen by 300 over the last 24 hours.

In Ukraine, 423 children have been killed since the start of the invasion the office of the Ukrainian prosecutor general said. It added that a further 810 children had been injured in the conflict and that the highest number of child casualties were in the regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kyiv.

Ukraine has succeeded in maintaining its energy stability after Russian attacks last week that targeted key parts of its infrastructure, Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal said. In a post on Facebook, Shmyhal said that in the first three days of the week, Russia launched up to 130 missile and drone strikes against civilian and energy facilities, particularly in the capital, Kyiv.

Russia is “probably incapable of producing advanced munitions at the rate they are being expended”, according to the latest update from the UK Ministry of Defence.

US and allied security officials believe Iran has agreed to provide Russia with surface-to-surface missiles and attack drones intended for use in Ukraine. The topic is due to be discussed by EU foreign ministers in a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.

The Belarusian defence ministry has said just under 9,000 Russian troops will be stationed in Belarus as part of a “regional grouping” of forces to protect its borders. Last week, the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said his troops would be deployed with Russian forces near the Ukrainian border as part of a “joint grouping”, citing what he said were threats from Ukraine and the west.

Russian soldiers have reportedly shot dead Ukrainian conductor Yuriy Kerpatenko in his home after he refused to take part in a concert in occupied Kherson. The concert was “intended by the occupiers to demonstrate the so-called ‘improvement of peaceful life’ in Kherson”, Kyiv’s culture ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page.

US-based thinktank The Institute for the Study of War has said Russia continues to conduct “massive, forced deportations” of Ukrainians that “likely amount to a deliberate ethnic cleansing campaign”. In its latest assessment of the conflict, the Institute for the Study of War notes that Russian officials have “openly admitted to placing children from occupied areas of Ukraine up for adoption with Russian families”.

Poverty in Ukraine has increased tenfold since the start of the war, a top World Bank official has said. Arup Banerji, the bank’s regional director for eastern Europe, said Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure away from the frontlines of the conflict have complicated the already dire economic situation.