Kyiv, Ukraine - A Russian missile barrage on Kyiv early on Thursday killed at least three people, including two children, according to Ukrainian authorities.

"In the districts of Dniprovskyi and Desnianskyi there are now 14 injured according to the doctors; 9 had to be hospitalized," Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on his Telegram channel on Thursday morning.

According to the military administration in Kyiv, the city was attacked with ground-launched cruise missiles overnight on Thursday. They were shot down by anti-aircraft fire, but Klitschko said the debris resulted in several casualties and damage.

"It is Children's Day. And the 'Rashists' are carrying out another attack on our capital and killing. Killing Ukrainian children," wrote the head of Kiev's military administration, Serhiy Popko, on his Telegram channel.

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The word "Rashist" is a compound of "Russia" and "fascist." It has been used in Ukraine to describe the Russian occupiers since the beginning of the war.

Meanwhile, Russia said "uninterrupted shelling" hit a town in the Russian region of Belgorod bordering Ukraine on Thursday and injured eight people.

"Shebekino is facing uninterrupted shelling" with rocket launchers, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram, accusing Ukrainian forces of bombarding "the center and periphery" of the town.

"Eight people were injured. There were no fatalities," he said, revising his earlier toll of five.

"Of course, the life of civilians and of the population is threatened," he said, adding that evacuations would commence "once the situation is calmer".

Belgorod has faced intensifying attacks over the past weeks as Ukraine's response to the invasion stretches deeper into Russian territory.