Russia pounded Ukraine with missiles on Friday, hitting critical infrastructure across the country and knocking out power as people took cover in shelters, Ukrainian officials said.

Explosions were heard in the eastern city of Kharkiv and local officials said critical infrastructure had been hit. Local officials in the Black Sea region of Odesa said critical infrastructure had also been hit there.

Kharkiv, the central city of Poltava and parts of the capital Kyiv were left without electricity and the northern Sumy region suffered power outages, regional officials said.

Reuters witnesses heard explosions in Kyiv. It was not immediately clear if any were caused by missiles getting through air defences. There was no immediate word of casualties and it was not clear what critical infrastructure had been hit.