KYIV (Reuters) -Blasts boomed across Kyiv on Wednesday morning after officials said Russia launched its first missile attack on the Ukrainian capital since August, forcing elderly women and small children to take shelter in an underground metro station.

Russia has struck Kyiv with a sophisticated missile and drone attack for the first time in 73 days. The top official in the Ukrainian said Wednesday that capital defense forces destroyed several cruise and ballistic missiles and up to a dozen drones.

Russia is the dominant power in the war - and Ukraine is in trouble, reports international correspondent Stuart Ramsay from eastern Ukraine. Overnight, residents in Kyiv were urged to head to shelters as Russia launched missile attacks.