Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection said that blasts were heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and in the major city of Kharkiv on Monday morning.

The Ukrainian capital had been quiet for a few hours prior, according to a brief statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.

In satellite imagery taken on Sunday, a 5-kilometer column of Russian troops and tanks could be seen "moving towards Kiev."

In a separate statement, the agency said a residential building in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv had caught fire after being hit by a missile.

Maxar Technologies, a space technology company, released images showing a large deployment of Russian ground troops moving in the direction of the Ukrainian capital from about 64 kilometers away.

According to Maxar, the deployment included hundreds of military vehicles and spanned more than 5 kilometers.

New 📸 @Maxar satellite images show a 3.25-mile convoy of Russian ground forces with 100s of military vehicles NE of Ivankiv, Ukraine and moving toward Kyiv (40 miles away). Contains fuel, logistics, armored vehicles (tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery). pic.twitter.com/Z75iNhy7Jw

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 27, 2022

The convoy was located northeast of Ivankiv, Ukraine, and carried fuel, logistics, and armored vehicles such as tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and self-propelled artillery.

Earlier, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent to Crimea reported that "the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the government in Ukraine has lost its legitimacy." 

Meanwhile, Al Mayadeen’s correspondent to Kiev quoted the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Berdyansk as announcing that "all official buildings in the city fell into the hands of the Russian forces."

Russia launched a special operation to demilitarize and "denazify" Ukraine on Thursday, in response to requests from the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics for assistance in combating Ukrainian troops' aggression. The special operation is only targeting Ukrainian military facilities, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, and the civilian population is not at risk. Moscow has stated that it has no intention of occupying Ukraine.