21 killed in Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine's Sumy

This is another deadly attack on civilians that came after White House special envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to promote ceasefire talks, Xinhua news agency reported.

The attack also left other 34 people injured, including five children, the statement added.

The Sumy Regional Military Administration said that two ballistic missiles launched by Russian forces struck the city centre, damaging residential and non-residential buildings.

Rescue operations were still underway as of midday local time.

Sumy lies close to the Russian border and has come under increasing attack for weeks.

The strike hit Sumy's city centre two days after Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and in spite of US President Donald Trump's call for Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.

In a statement on Sunday, Ukraine's state emergency service said that "Russia hit the city centre with ballistic missiles. Right when there were many people on the street".

"People were injured right in the middle of the street, in cars, public transport, and in houses," emergency services said as rescue operations were ongoing.

"According to preliminary data, 21 people have been killed."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the international community to deliver a "firm" response to the attack.

Zelensky called for a "strong response" from Europe and the US.

"Enemy missiles hit an ordinary city street, an ordinary life: houses, educational institutions, cars on the street," he said on social media.

"And this is on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday, the feast of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem," wrote Zelensky.

Amid the Witkoff-Putin meeting in St. Petersburg on Friday, Zelensky added: "Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs."

Local authorities in Sumy published footage of bodies strewn on the street and people running for safety, with cars on fire and wounded civilians on the floor.

The attack came despite Trump publicly voicing anger at Moscow this month for "bombing like crazy" in Ukraine and calling on it to "get moving" on ending the more than three-year-long war.

Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukraine in recent weeks.

In early April, a Russian attack on the central city of Kryvyi Rig killed 18 people, including nine children.

Sumy has been under increasing pressure since Moscow pushed back much of Ukraine's troops from its Kursk region across the border.