Ukraine's air force has shot down one of its own drones which it says had lost control above central Kyiv.

There were explosions for around 15 to 20 minutes on Thursday evening as air defence attempted to shoot it down in an area near the president's office.

Ukraine presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak initially said 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 statement, it said the Bayraktar TB2 UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] had lost control around at 20:00 (17:00 GMT) in the Kyiv region, during a scheduled flight.

It added that it had taken a decision to shoot it down "since the uncontrolled presence of UAVs in the sky of the capital could lead to undesirable consequences".

There were no casualties or injuries from the falling drone, it 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 Solomyanskyi district, west of the city centre.

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.

• ·After seven months in airport limbo, some good news
• ·Man assaulted by 'NINJA' with sheath of samurai sword is panhandler who triggered a bomb scare in New York City by planting two rice cookers in subway station three years ago: Attacker is still on the run
• ·ITV Sport technical boss Roger Pearce who was in charge of Qatar World Cup coverage dies in Middle East state 
• ·'We heard seven super loud bangs... everyone was screaming': Seattle high school students reveal terror in class when gunman burst in and shot one dead - as shooter is caught at adjacentby bus speak
• ·British woman is found dead along with Swedish man in a tourist acomponentment in Portugal, sparking police investigation 
• ·Carlos Correa and the Twins 'are finalizing a $200m, six-year pact... pending PHYSICAL' after $315m Mets deal unraveled and Giants scrapped $350m contract over concerns about his surgically repaired leg
• ·Husband of missing Massach utilizetts mom Ana Walshe is charged with murder
• ·Twitter banned Trump when 'activist' employees compared him to Hitler and Head of Policy said his term 'American Patriots' could be 'coded' as an incitement - notwithstanding execs saying he did NOT violate policy and while dictators could keep accounts
• ·'What a shaker': LA is hit by 4.2 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Malibu waking residents who describe it as 'like a train going by' 
• ·Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets will each donate $500,000 to ca utilizes 'that work to eradicate intolerance' as the guard finally admits 'I am aware of the negative impact of my post towards the Jewish community'
• ·Andrew Tate arrested in alleged human trafficking probe in Romania
• ·Ho utilize Democrats vote to make Trump's tax returns PUBLIC - after four-year battle - while peak Republican claims decision has 'unleashed a perilous new weapon' that threatens 'average taxpayers'
• ·Young American Sebastian Korda books his spot in a first EVER Grand Slam quarterfinal as he survives grueling fifth-set tiebreak to beat No 10 seed Hubert Hurkacz at the Australian Open
• ·Pregnant Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is sentenced to 11 years in federal priconsequentlyn for multimillion-dollar blood testing fraud conspiracy
• ·President Xi dons army fatigues as he inspects military command centre after announcing China will be focusing on preparations for war, sparking renewed fears of Taiwan invasion
• ·'I am deeply consequentlyrry to have ca utilized you pain': Kyrie Irving FINALLY apologizes for linking to an anti-Semitic film on consequentlycial media after his Nets team suspended him and Anti-Defamation League REJECTED his $500k donation