Kiev, 3 September 2024 (dpa/MIA) - At least 41 people have been killed and more than 180 injured in a Russian missile strike in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram on Tuesday.

Two ballistic missiles targeted "an educational institution and a nearby hospital" in the area, Zelensky said.

A building of the telecommunications institute was destroyed, according to the president.

"We continue to urge everyone in the world who has the power to stop this terror: Ukraine needs air defense systems and missiles now, not sitting in storage," Zelensky said.

Unverified images circulating on social media showed dead bodies lying in front of a heavily-damaged multi-storey building, said to be the military institute for telecommunications and informatization of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute in Poltava.

According to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, at least 25 people were rescued from the rubble. In the neighbouring residential area, windows were destroyed and facades damaged by the blast wave.

Ukraine has been fending of a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two years, relying heavily on weapons and air defence systems supplied by Western partners.

Zelensky has been calling on his allies almost every day to ramp up deliveries to allow Ukraine to better protect Ukrainian cities against airstrikes.