Russia kills 4 in Kyiv with hypersonic missile

Russia pounded Ukraine's capital Kyiv with a massive bombardment that killed four people, authorities said Sunday, with Moscow unleashing its nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik missile in one of the largest barrages in the more than four-year-long war.

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A rescue worker stands near a crater caused by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv.

(REUTERS)

Multiple rounds of loud explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital throughout the early hours of the morning, AFP journalists reported, as residents took shelter in underground stations.

Daytime scenes across the capital showed rescue workers extinguishing fires and sifting through debris of heavily damaged buildings -- houses, shop-ping centres, museums, theatres, schools and universities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier threatened retaliation for Ukrainian strikes in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine that killed 21 people in a vocational school.

Sofia Melnychenko, 21, thought she was safe in the subway, “but then there were three loud explosions, and after the fourth one the ceiling in the metro started crumbling,” she told AFP.

“There was complete chaos. Children started screaming, people were panicking,” she added. “It was a very frightening night.”

The Ukrainian air force said the raid involved 600 drones and 90 missiles, of which 549 drones and 55 missiles were intercepted.