Russian forces launched today at dawn airstrikes in Kyivsuch as and in the Lviv region in western Ukraine, according to local officials.

“Explosions in the capital. The anti-aircraft defense system is operational. Don’t leave the shelters,” he says in a post on Telegram the mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko.

The air defense system of the Ukrainian armed forces shot down about a dozen missiles fired by Russian forces over Kiev and near the capital, it also said in a Telegram post the head of the Kyiv military administration Serhii Popko.

Initial reports do not indicate any casualties or significant damage as a result of the attacks, he added.

THE governor of the Lviv region Maksim Kozytskyi announced on its part rocket attacks in the area of ​​Stryi, in the southern part of the city of Lviv.

The Ukrainian armed forces also announced that an air alert was sounded throughout Ukraine.

The operational command of the Polish Armed Forces (RSZ) also announced that it “observed intense activity of the long-range aviation of the Russian Federation” during the night, in connection with the attacks in Ukraine.

“All necessary procedures to guarantee the safety of Polish airspace have been activated and RSZ is constantly monitoring the situation,” he said in a related statement he issued.

Russia and Ukraine have stepped up airstrikes in recent weeks.

Ukraine, faced with a Russian invasion and daily shelling of its cities for two years, has vowed to respond by bringing the fighting to Russian soil.

Russia responded by escalating its strikes, most notably by launching dozens of missiles and drones on Friday to destroy Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.