Kyiv, Mar 15 (IANS): Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Tuesday announced a 35-hour curfew for people in the capital, warning "today is a difficult and dangerous moment", BBC reported.

It comes after Russian air strikes hit residential buildings and a metro station overnight. Two people were killed in an attack on an apartment block in the city, emergency services say.

A curfew is to be imposed on the Ukrainian capital after recent bombardments on the city. "It is prohibited to move around the city without special permission, except to go to bomb shelters," Klitschko said.

"The capital is the heart of Ukraine, and it will be defended. Kyiv, which is currently the symbol and forward operating base of Europe's freedom and security, will not be given up by us.

"Today is a difficult and dangerous moment. This is why I ask all Kyivites to get prepared to stay at home for two days, or if the sirens go off, in the shelters," Klitschko added.

An airport in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has been hit by Russian missiles, regional authorities say, BBC reported.

Valentyn Reznichenko, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional state administration, says there has been "massive destruction".

"At night, the enemy attacked the airport in Dnipro. Two missile strikes," he wrote on Telegram. "The runway was destroyed. The terminal was damaged. Massive destruction."