In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on April 13, 2025, a Ukrainian rescuer works to extinguish a fire at the site of a missile attack in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Handout / UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE / AFP

Ukrainian officials on Sunday said there were "many dead" after a Russian missile strike on the northeastern city of Sumy, which has come under intense attack from Moscow's forces in recent weeks.

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

"Many dead today as a result of a missile strike," the acting mayor of Sumy, Artem Kobzar, said on social media, adding that "the enemy has struck civilians again".

Unverified images on social media showed burnt-out cars and plumes of smoke rising into the air.

Sumy lies some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border.

Kyiv has warned for weeks that Moscow could mount an offensive on Sumy.

Last month Russia claimed the capture of a village in the Sumy region for the first time since the early days of its 2022 invasion.