Kiev, 5 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) - On a day when Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelensky pleaded with European powers for continued support for his country's defence against a Russian onslaught, Moscow fired missiles onto a cafe and a store in Kharkiv, killing at least 49 civilians.

A 6-year-old girl died in the attack and seven were injured, Ukrainian authorities said.

Thursday's bloodshed showed that Russia "deliberately and barbarically attacked civilian targets – a café and a store in the village of Hroza in the Kupiansk district," the Foreign Ministry in Kiev said on the platform X.

The attack occurred around 1:15 pm (1015 GMT) when many civilians were in the area, according to Oleh Synyehubov, the military governor in the region.

More people were in the area at the time of the attack than usual because they were attending a memorial service for a fellow citizen at the café, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said, according to local media.

Every family in the small town of about 330 people was affected by the devastating Russian shelling, he added. Rescue efforts are under way.

Zelensky called the attack a "demonstratively cruel Russian crime," according to his Telegram post. He said Russian terror must be stopped and those who help Moscow circumvent sanctions are complicit in the crime.

The attack occurred in the region around the city of Kupyansk, which was liberated from Russian occupation by Ukraine last autumn during its offensive in the north-east of the country.

At that time, the Ukrainian military also succeeded in crossing the Oskil river and partially advanced into the neighbouring Luhansk region. In the meantime, however, the Russian armed forces have regained the initiative. Fierce fighting has been raging again east of the Kharkiv region for weeks.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, a hospital in the southern region of Kherson was severely damaged by Russian shelling, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, wrote on Facebook.

The fourth floor of the hospital in the city of Beryslav was "completely destroyed" and the others partially damaged, the governor wrote.

The driver of an ambulance suffered a broken leg and a head injury, while a doctor's assistant suffered bruise, he said.

Attacks on hospitals are considered war crimes.

Photo: MIA archive