Further Russian air raids on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have been described as “exceptional in density” by one official.

Ukraine said that all 18 missiles had been shot down, and video showed air defenses destroying targets over the city.

Russia, on the other hand, claimed that its attack, which included drones and missiles, had struck all of its objectives.

Moscow has increased its bombing campaign in recent weeks in preparation for an expected Ukrainian onslaught.

The air raid siren went off about 02:30 local time (23:30 GMT Monday) and was lifted two hours later, marking the capital’s seventh attack this month.

Authorities informed citizens via online messaging that air defense had been activated, prompting an unusually high number of loud explosions in the city center.

Valerii Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, said Russia assaulted Kyiv from the north, south, and east, employing 18 air, sea, and land-based missiles.

The barrage was defined as the “maximum number of attack missiles in the shortest period of time” by Serhiy Popko, chief of the Ukrainian capital’s military administration.

“According to preliminary information, the vast majority of enemy targets in Kyiv’s airspace were detected and destroyed,” he continued.

Gen Zaluzhny stated that this included nine Kalibr cruise missiles launched from ships in the Black Sea, as well as three land-based missiles.

He went on to say that Kyiv also destroyed six Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, which can reach speeds of more than 11,000kmh (7,000mph).

Russia has previously stated that they could not be destroyed by any of the world’s air defense systems.

Because of their speed, hypersonic weapons are more difficult to defend against, as are the fact that they fly at low altitudes, outside the range of ground-based radars, and can maneuver in mid-flight.