President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that a Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv showed Russia does "not want to end the war".
Zelensky made the comments ahead of his departure for talks in the United States with President Donald Trump on a plan to halt the Russian invasion.
The Russians "do not want to end the war and seek to use every opportunity to cause Ukraine even greater suffering and increase their pressure on others around the world," Zelensky said after the Russian barrage pummelled the capital killing at least one person.
Several powerful explosions rocked Kyiv as authorities warned that the Ukrainian capital was under threat of missile attack.
"Explosions in the capital. Air defense forces are operating. Stay in shelters!" Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
Ukraine's air force also announced a countrywide air alert in the early hours of Saturday and said on social media that drones and missiles were moving over several Ukrainian regions, including the capital.
AFP journalists in Kyiv heard loud explosions at several loud explosions, some accompanied by bright flashes that lit the horizon orange.
Nearly three hours later, Kyiv's regional military administration said that air defences had been activated due to the approach of a drone.