A barrage of Russian strikes has hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities in apparent retaliation for what Moscow alleged was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea Fleet over the weekend.

Loud explosions were heard across the Ukrainian capital in the early morning as residents prepared to go to work.

Some of them received text messages from the emergency services about the threat of a missile attack, and air raid sirens wailed for three straight hours.

The mayor of Ukraine's capital said that 80 per cent of consumers in Kyiv were left without water supplies "due to the damage to a power facility" near the city. 

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces carried out “strikes with long-range high-precision air and sea-based weapons against the military command and energy systems of Ukraine".

"The goals of the strikes were achieved. All designated targets were hit,” the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 44 of more than 50 cruise missiles that were launched by Russia.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Russian missiles and drones hit 10 Ukrainian regions and damaged 18 sites, most of which are energy facilities.

Hundreds of localities in seven Ukrainian regions have been left without power, he said in a Facebook post, adding that “the consequences could have been much worse” if the Ukrainian forces hadn’t shot down most of the Russian missiles.

Local authorities are working on restoring the supplies as soon as possible, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, telling Kyiv residents in the meantime to "stock up on water from the nearest pump rooms and points of sale".

In a separate Telegram post, Mr Klitschko added that water supplies in some areas of Kyiv will be restored in "three to four hours" while power has already been restored in one of city's districts.

In the outlying region, authorities warned people to be prepared for a long power outage because of the emergency cuts.

Kyiv region Governor Oleksii Kuleba also said that one person was wounded and a number of houses were damaged as a result of this morning's attack.

In Kharkiv, two strikes hit critical infrastructure facilities, according to the authorities, and the subway ceased operating.

Officials also warned about possible power outages in the city of Zaporizhzhia resulting from the strikes there.

Critical infrastructure sites were also hit in the Cherkasy region, south-east of Kyiv, and explosions were reported in other regions of Ukraine.

In the Kirovohrad region of central Ukraine, an energy facility was hit, according to local authorities.

In Vinnytsia, a missile that was shot down landed on civilian buildings, resulting in damage but no casualties, according to regional Governor Serhii Borzov.

Some parts of the country's railways were also cut off from power, the Ukrainian Railways reported.

The attacks come two days after Russia accused Ukraine of a drone attack against Russia's Black Sea Fleet off the coast of the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Ukraine has denied the attacks, saying that Russia mishandled its own weapons, but Moscow still announced halting its participation in a UN-brokered deal to allow safe passage of ships carrying grain from Ukraine.