Russia launched its eighth air attack in September on Kyiv overnight, with air defence units destroying nearly 20 drones that were heading towards the country's capital, Ukrainian military said on Monday. "Russian attack drones were heading to Kyiv from different directions and in different groups," Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on Telegram. "According to preliminary information, there were no casualties or damage in Kyiv."

The scale of the attack, which kept Kyiv under air raid alerts for about 3.5 hours, will only be known later on Monday, he added on the messaging app.

Reuters' witnesses reported a series of loud explosions in what sounded like air defence systems in operation.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow. Russia says that it targets only Ukrainian infrastructure that is key to its war efforts in its air attacks.