Russia warns it will begin missile strikes against parts of Kyiv. Western officials have warned Putin's forces may step up attacks against civilians.

• Russia plans to launch missile strikes in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Russian state media reported.
• Russia's defense ministry urged those living near the targets to flee their homes.

Russia said it will launch missile strikes in parts of the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv as it urged those living near the targets to flee their homes, Russian state media reported on Tuesday.

Russia's defense ministry was quoted by Moscow-controlled news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS, as saying that Russian forces are set to strike the site of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and a special operation unit in Ukraine.

"In order to thwart informational attacks against Russia, [Russian forces] will strike technological objects of the SBU and the 72nd Main PSO [Information and Psychological Operations] Center in Kyiv," Russia's defense ministry said, according to TASS.

The ministry added, "We urge Ukrainian citizens involved by Ukrainian nationalists in provocations against Russia, as well as [Kyiv] residents living near relay stations, to leave their homes," TASS reported.

The Russian defense ministry claimed there is no threat to the civilian population.

However, Western officials have warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces may step up attacks against civilians as Russia's military has faced fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces since Russia launched its broad attack on the country last week.

"There are ... some risks that come as a consequence of Russia's lack of progress," a Western official told Insider on Monday.

"I fear the way in which Russia is frustrated in achieving its aims on the ground is leading to the use of more indiscriminate fires and as a consequence we're going to see an increase in civilian casualties," the official said.

US officials also told reporters on Monday that they fear Putin will ramp up his invasion given the lack of success on the ground.

"They have been slowed and they have been frustrated by their lack of progress on Kyiv, and one of the things that could result is a reevaluation of their tactics and the potential for them to be more aggressive and more overt in both the size and the scale of their targeting of Kyiv," a senior defense official said, according to CNN.

Meanwhile, explosions have rocked Kyiv, as well as Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia's deadly missile strike on Kharkiv's Freedom Square on Tuesday a "war crime" and "state terrorism."