The Ukrainian capital Kyiv was rocked by several explosions on Monday morning, following the Crimea bridge blast over the weekend.

The bridge which links the annexed region to Russia was damaged over the weekend when it appeared a truck exploded, igniting a fuel train and causing parts of the structure to collapse.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the blast, but Russian president Vladimir Putin branded it "an act of terrorism" perpetrated by the state security services.

In an apparent act of retaliation, a number of explosions were heard in Kyiv on Monday morning.

Read More: Crimea bridge partially collapses after 'bombing'

Mayor Vitali Klitschko spoke of "several" blasts in the Shevchenkivskyi district of the city, which has been largely free of fighting since the early days of the war when Russian forces retreated from the outskirts of the city.

The apparent missile strikes also appear to be targeted more centrally than previous hits on the capital.

Ukraine's defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said: "Our courage will never be destroyed by terrorist's missiles, even when they hit the heart of our capital. Nor will they shake the determination of our allies. The only thing they demolish irriversibly is the future of Russia - a future of a globally despised rogue terrorist state."

Russia has not commented on the blasts in Kyiv, with strikes also reported in Zaporizhzhia in the south and Dnipro in central Ukraine.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: "The morning is difficult. We are dealing with terrorists. Dozens of missiles, Iranian 'Shahids'. They have two targets. Energy facilities – throughout the country. Kyiv region and Khmelnytsky region, Lviv and Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Frankiv region, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy region, Kharkiv region, Zhytormyr region, Kirovohrad region, the south. They want panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy system.

"The second target is people. Such a time and such targets were specially chosen to cause as much damage as possible. Stay in shelters today. Always follow the safety rules. And always remember: Ukraine was here before this enemy appeared, Ukraine will be here after him."

On the frontline, the UK Ministry of Defence said Russian forces had advanced up to 2km toward of Bakhmut and were "close to breaking into" the Donbas town.