Three killed after Moscow targets Kyiv with a mass drone attack

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack near Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, March 23 (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

At least three people were killed, including a five-year-old child, after Russia launched a barrage of drones targeting Kyiv on Sunday, according to local Ukrainian officials and emergency services.

The attack on the Ukrainian capital came ahead of ceasefire negotiations in Saudi Arabia in which Ukraine and Russia are expected to hold indirect US-mediated talks on Monday to discuss a pause in long-range attacks targeting energy facilities and civilian infrastructure.

Extended sounds of explosions were heard in the early hours of the night as the air raid siren blared for over five hours.

Russian drones and debris from shot-down drones, which were flying at lower altitudes to evade air defences, fell on residential buildings.

Ukraine’s Kyiv City Military Administration said three people were killed and 10 others were injured.

Two residential buildings in the district of Dnipro caught fire due to falling drone debris, according to Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko.

A fire broke out on the top floors of a nine-storey building, killing one woman, the State Emergency Service said.

In the district of Podil, a fire broke out on the 20th floor of a 25-storey building. In Holosiivskyi, fires broke out in a warehouse and office building, killing one person, according to the State Emergency Service.