KYIV (Reuters) -Russia launched a wave of air attacks on Ukraine early on Sunday, with air defence systems repelling all missiles and drones on their approach to Kyiv, the capital's military officials said.

"According to preliminary information, not a single air target reached the capital," Serhiy Popko, the head of the military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app early on Sunday.

"Air defence destroyed everything that was heading towards the city already at their distant approaches."

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Russia has repeatedly attacked Kyiv since May, chiefly at night, ahead of a long-expected Ukrainian counteroffensive to reclaim territory, in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to inflict psychological distress on civilians.

Reuters witnesses reported hearing several blasts in the Kyiv region, but not in the city, from what sounded like air defence systems hitting targets.

All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts for nearly three hours.

There were unverified Ukrainian social media reports of blasts heard in Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine, near the central city of Kropyvnitskyi and in the northeastern region of Sumy. There was no immediate official information about the reports.

(Reporting by Gleb Garanich in Kyiv and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Daniel Wallis and William Mallard)