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Russia fired rockets at towns to the west of Europe's largest nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine early on Monday while the capital Kyiv banned rallies this week to commemorate independence from Soviet rule for fear of Russian attacks.

Artillery and rocket fire close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor complex, on the Russian-occupied south bank of the Dnipro River, has stirred fears of a nuclear disaster and calls for the surrounding area to be demilitarised.

Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for the repeated shelling, some of which has grazed the plant. It was seized by Russian forces shortly after they invaded Ukraine in February but is still run mainly by Ukrainian technicians.

Overnight Russian rocket salvoes into Nikopol, across the Dnipro from Russian-occupied Enerhodar where the Zaporizhzhia plant is situated, and nearby Krivyi Rih and Synelnykovsky districts injured at least four people, regional Governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram on Monday.