“For now, we know of one dead and four injured,” mayor Oleksandr Symchyshyn said.

The victim was a firefighter who died on duty, Symchyshyn said.

The Ukrainian armed forces meanwhile said it had shot down 11 out of 14 “Shahed” unmanned aerial vehicles deployed by Moscow’s forces overnight.

Nine drones were downed over the capital, the head of the city’s military administration said, and there were no reported casualties or damage to infrastructure.

The official, Sergiy Popko, said Russian forces were trying “to exhaust our air defences”, and said the attack had come in two separate waves, leaving the air raid sirens ringing for more than five hours.

Since October, Russia has been launching systematic missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructures.

The attacks have plunged millions into the cold and dark in the middle of winter.