Toll in Russian strike on Ukraine's Poltava rises to 55

The death toll from a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Poltava rose to 55 with over 300 wounded, Ukrainian officials said Thursday after a two-day search and rescue operation.

The strike hit the Poltava military communications institute on Tuesday, said Ukrainian officials, who did not specify how many of the victims were military or civilians.

Already on Tuesday, the official death toll stood at 51, making it one of the single deadliest strikes of the two-and-a-half-year war.

"Emergency and rescue operations at the scene of a missile attack on an educational facility in Poltava have been completed," Ukraine's interior ministry said Thursday.

"Fifty-five people were killed and 328 were injured. Experts are currently identifying the recovered bodies," it added.

The attack triggered widespread condemnation. Washington denounced it as "another horrific reminder of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's brutality".

It also prompted criticism in Ukraine after unconfirmed reports said the strikes had targeted an outdoor military ceremony. Many commentators blamed officials for letting the event take place despite the threat of attacks.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered an investigation into the circumstances of the strike.

Russia said a missile attack it launched on the Ukrainian city of Poltava had targeted a Ukrainian army "training centre" and that the strike had achieved its "objectives".