Three people were killed in a Russian plane crash in Kyiv overnight, Ukrainian officials said.

An explosive missile landed just before the alarm sounded 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT), after the previous warning has expired.

Windows were broken in the central district of Shevchenkivskyi, including at the metro station, and a fire broke out in an empty building, said the Mayor of the city, Vitali Klitschko. It is unclear what his motive was.

In the event, there is a large valley in the street outside the business center – a tall glass tower that was only badly damaged by either a second missile or a larger piece.

Officials said four people were killed in the attack.

Near the large crater, a Ukrainian forensics expert was examining missile fragments collected in a pile of gray twisted metal at the site.

Andriy Kulchytskyy, head of the Military Research Laboratory of the Kyiv Institute of Scientific Expertise, told the BBC that the crater was directly hit by an Iskander-M missile.

“This website shows one conviction,” he said. “There are additional shifts, and we have collected debris. Here, the missile hit the road.”

“The cannon pieces have specific characteristics and markings. By their number, you can identify their origin.”

The projectile landed before the warning sirens because ballistic missiles move so fast that the sirens cannot act in time, Mr. Kulchytskyy said.

The business center was empty when the missile hit, and it was brand new before 2022 and no one had moved in.

Everything around – including the local McDonald’s – has been similarly damaged.

A nearby dental clinic was damaged in the blast. Inside, workers are picking up broken glass and chaos, recovering what they can.

A woman was removing trash from a plastic Christmas tree that was still there.

“It happened before,” he told me, “but not as bad as this”.

When asked how he felt, he shuddered: “We got used to it.”

A young man coming out of a house near the house described the explosion this morning.

“There were three explosions in a row, then a huge fire burned in the air – and the building shook. It was very loud,” said Oleksandr.

“I woke up immediately – I even heard the wall shaking. When the third strike came, it was very scary.”

On Saturday morning, emergency teams and police were everywhere and the main road was cordoned off.

A man in military fatigues was collecting gray, bent pieces of metal that looked like pieces of cannon.

Videos posted online showed a car on fire with water rushing down a flooded road shortly after.

Air defense was working around the Ukrainian capital, Klitschko said.

It is the second deadly attack in Kyiv this month, following a strike in the city on New Year’s Day that killed two people.

Meanwhile, in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, authorities said six people were injured in the strike in Russia on Saturday. A woman says she is in dire straits.

This is the latest in a war that began after Russia annexed Ukraine in February 2022.

They follow several Ukraine’s invasion of Russian territory earlier in the week.

The latest strikes come just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration in the US, with many Ukrainians concerned about Trump’s promise to cut US military aid and funding to the embattled country.

The president-elect said during the campaign He will resolve the conflict on the first day of his presidencyalthough he has said that he may need six months.

In recent days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the country is dependent on US aid as Russian jets fly and strike the front line.