Ukraine's Air Force has shot down a drone that it claims had lost control over central Kyiv.

On Thursday evening, there were several explosions in the area around the President's Office as air defense tried to shoot down a missile.

Andriy Yeermak, the chief of staff to Ukraine's president, initially claimed that it was an enemy drone that had been shot down.

But the air force later admitted it was Ukrainian and had been destroyed to avoid "undesirable circumstances".

In a press release, the company said that the Bayraktar TB2 UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) had lost control at around 20:00 (17:00 GMT), during a flight scheduled, in the Kyiv area.

It said that the decision was made to shoot the UAV down because "the uncontrolled presence in the skies of the capital of UAVs could have undesirable consequences".

The drone that fell did not cause any injuries or casualties, the report said.

"It's a pity, but this is technology, and such cases happen," the statement said. "It is probably a technical malfunction, the reasons are being established."

Videos of efforts to shoot down the drone had been shared widely on social media. Cheers could be heard when the drone was finally taken down.

City military administration head Serhiy Popko said a fire was brought under control in a building where the drone was brought down in the Solomyanskyi district, west of the city center.

The incident comes after Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin on Wednesday aimed at assassinating President Vladimir Putin, who was not in the building at the time.

On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US was "undoubtedly" behind the alleged attack, without providing evidence.

US National Security spokesman John Kirby called it a "ludicrous claim".

Ukraine has said it had nothing to do with the alleged attack on the Kremlin and has accused Moscow of staging the incident in order to escalate the war.