Russian strike kills 50 gathered for wake in east Ukraine

A Russian strike on Thursday killed at least 50 people gathered for a wake at a shop and cafe in an eastern Ukrainian village, officials said.

Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said the victims had gathered to remember a deceased villager in Groza in the Kharkiv region which has a population of 330.

He said a six-year-old child was among the victims, adding that 60 people had been attending the event in the village, more than 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the front line.

"Unfortunately the toll in the village of Groza has risen to 50," he said, adding that initial evidence showed an Iskander missile had been used.

Footage published by the Ukrainian police showed a large area of rubble and bodies being taken away by emergency workers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted an image of a woman kneeling over the body of someone apparently killed in the strike, with other corpses around her.

"The search and rescue operation is ongoing," Klymenko said. "There may still be people under the rubble".

Zelensky, who was attending a European summit in Spain, condemned the attack on social media.

"The brutal Russian crime of hitting an ordinary grocery store with a rocket is a completely deliberate terrorist attack," he wrote.

The attack took place in the Kupiansk district of the war-battered region bordering Russia, where Moscow's forces have been pushing to recapture territory they lost last year to Ukrainian troops.

'True evil'

The head of the Kharkiv region Oleg Sinegubov said the strike took place around 1:15 pm (1015 GMT).

The village is west of Kupiansk, a frontline town in the region where officials have recent ordered mandatory evacuations after an uptick in Russian strikes.

Zelensky's advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said the attack had "no military logic".

"This is a reminder to anyone who is willing to smile and shake hands with war criminal Putin at international conferences," he said, referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"A reminder to all those who want to sell something to Russia and return to bloody business as usual," he said, adding: "Putin's Russia is a true evil".

Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said the strike showed Ukraine needed more air defence "to protect our country from terror. We are discussing this with partners".

Large swathes of the Kharkiv region were captured by Russian forces in the early days of their invasion launched in February last year.

Ukrainian forces recaptured much of the border territory during a lightning offensive late last year, but the regional capital, also called Kharkiv, is still subjected to routine shelling.