The reason for the bright flash in the sky over Kiev on April 19 was a meteor, the International Meteor Organization reported on its website on April 24.

“Although it did not become clear right away, the flash <…> was a purely natural phenomenon, namely, a very bright fireball,” follows from the article.

The object flew at an altitude of 80 km over the capital of Ukraine at a speed of 29 km per second, and then exploded. The flight of the meteor lasted about five seconds.

The authors of the material specified that a meteor with an estimated initial mass of 200–300 kg exploded at an altitude of 38 km into many fragments.

A video with a bright flash that lit up the sky over Kiev and the region appeared on the Web on the evening of April 19. In the administration of the Kyiv region, the planned fall to Earth of a space satellite of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was named as the cause of the phenomenon. However, a NASA spokesman later denied the report. He stated that at the moment the satellite is in orbit and the risk of harm from it to anyone on the planet is low.

The head of the Kyiv city military administration, Sergei Popko, said that day that an air raid alert had been issued in the city to avoid casualties from falling debris.