Russia fired 75 missiles at various cities across Ukraine on Monday, according to a top official in Kiev as of midday.

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, who gave the figure on Telegram, said 41 of them were shot down air defence systems.

He called the rain of missiles that fell on the country “the death twitches of a wounded animal.”

The attacks on the centres of Ukrainian cities had once again shown the “terrorist nature of the Russian regime,” he continued.

“The masks have fallen: This is targeted mass killing of civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure.”

He added that the struggling Russian army has no idea how to fight on the battlefield and is therefore firing rockets at people.

There were series of rocket attacks on the centre of Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, on Monday morning. Explosions were also reported in several other major cities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said energy infrastructure was among the targets.

He urged residents to take shelter as an air raid alert was in effect across much of the country.