At least 8 killed by shelling in Kyiv's Podil district, say authorities

"According to the information we have at the moment, several homes and one of the shopping centres [were hit]," city mayor Vitali Klitschko said on his Telegram channel.

Shelling hit residential houses and a shopping district in Kyiv's Podil district late on Sunday, killing at least eight people, according to Ukraine's Prosecutor General.

Destroyed cars are seen at the site of a military strike on a shopping center in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv on March 21, 2022.  (Reuters photo)

"According to the information we have at the moment, several homes and one of the shopping centres [were hit]," city mayor Vitali Klitschko said on his Telegram channel.

He said rescue teams were putting out a large fire at the shopping centre, while other details were still to be confirmed. The Kyiv department of the state emergency service said four people had been killed.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the reports on the ground.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands of people, displaced more than 3 million and raised fears of a wider confrontation between Russia and the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the "special military operation", which started on Feb. 24, is aimed at disarming Ukraine and rooting out dangerous nationalists.