Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said 19 people were rescued from the building, but three were confirmed dead. Rescue operations are underway, he said.
Klitschko later said that a pregnant woman and her husband were among the dead.
NBC News has not verified the reports.
Rescuers are scrambling to clear rubble looking for people missing after several floors appeared to collapse. The air smells of fire and smoke, and dust from the rubble.
Speaking to NBC News at an intersection near damaged buildings, Kyiv resident Anna Frolova said the morning was “off to a bad start” because she thought the Russians were “fed up” with last week’s strike on critical infrastructure in her city. “It turns out they didn’t have enough money, and now they’re also attacking residential buildings and people are dying. It’s scary,” said Frollova, 52.
“I feel fear, pain, anger and hatred,” she added, vowing to stay in the capital despite the strike. “I don’t know, hate these people who allow this to happen in the 21st century. This medieval war.”
After the first round of air raid alerts ended around 9:30 a.m. local time (2:30 a.m. ET), On a sunny, mild day, life seems to have returned to relative normality quickly. As the threat of another swooping drone dissipated, the city center was filled with cars and people, only the warnings would be back soon.