The alert was issued in the wake of “ever heavier missile attacks on Kyiv and across all Ukrainian territory”, the ministry said on its “Viaggiare sicuri” (Travelling safely) website.

“All travel to Ukraine, in any capacity, is strongly discouraged,” it said, urging anyone going for work to take “appropriate risk prevention and mitigation measures” and exercise “maximum caution”.

Russia launched its biggest swarm of drone attacks for months against Ukraine on Monday, and Kyiv says it will soon launch a counteroffensive to try to reclaim territory from Moscow’s invasion forces.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Kevin Liffey.)