Residents of Kiev should be prepared to live under a persistent threat of air attacks, with the time between an alert and an actual strike potentially shrinking to just seconds, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has warned.

Kuleba said people need to adapt to a reality in which an air raid warning may be followed by an explosion within roughly 30 seconds.

He stressed that the danger is not limited to the Ukrainian capital and also affects other parts of the country.

The former minister drew particular attention to the border regions of Sumy and Kharkov. According to him, Russian forces do not necessarily need ballistic missiles to maintain a constant threat in those areas, as conventional aerial bombs can also be used for strikes.

Kuleba said civilians should recognize these conditions and take them into account in their everyday lives. He added that he does not expect the situation to change in the near future.

Overnight into August 16, Russian forces carried out a series of missile strikes on military targets in Kiev and Krivoy Rog. Industrial, military and warehouse facilities were hit, along with a major metallurgical enterprise.