Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv, was hit early this morning, with “explosions” recorded in the city’s eastern outskirts, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko in an online post.

Thick smoke could be seen rising from the location in Kyiv’s eastern outskirts all the way downtown, near the Dnipro River.

Klitschko has encouraged those who have fled the capital to stay away for the time being for their own safety.

Rescuers and paramedics were on the site, and the identities of the victims will be announced later, he said.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have been said to be ‘digging up graves’ in the beleaguered Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

Mariupol City Council stated, based on testimonials from local people, that “a watchman has been posted to each courtyard and is not allowing Mariupol citizens to put to rest dead relatives or friends.”

Russians strike empty refinery in east

Serhiy Haidai, the regional governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk area, claimed Russian soldiers bombarded an oil refinery in the city of Lysychansk this morning, and a major fire broke out on its grounds.

According to Haidai, this is not the first time the refinery has been targeted, and the Russians are attempting to exhaust local emergency services.

He emphasised that there was no fuel in the refinery at the time of the attack, and that the remaining oil sludge was burning.