Russia's defence ministry has said the two ballistic missiles it fired at the Ukrainian city of Sumy yesterday were aimed at a meeting of Ukrainian military officers.
The missiles killed 34 civilians including two children.
Some 34 people were killed in the attacks and 117 injured, most were on the street and in their cars, returning home from Palm Sunday services.
The Kremlin this morning said it only attacked military targets, while the Russian defence ministry said it had been targeting a meeting of Ukrainian commanding officers.
The ministry then accused Ukraine of using civilians as "human shields".
There has been no independent verification of Russia's claims
The latest Russian attacks on the Kharkiv region of east Ukraine have killed four elderly residents, local officials said.
Russia's forces have gained ground in the Kharkiv region, home to Ukraine's second largest city, which was also targeted in overnight Russian drone attacks.
The head of the region said Russian forces had shelled the town of Kupiansk, a rail hub that was captured by Russian forces in 2022 and then liberated.
"A 68-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman died as a result of artillery shelling," Governor Oleg Synegubov said.
He added in a social media post that a 77-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man were killed by Russian rockets.
Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight with 62 drones and eleven people were wounded in the southern city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Zelensky urges Trump to see Ukraine war devastation
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Donald Trump to visit his country to better understand the devastation wrought by Russia's invasion.
"Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead," he said in a CBS '60 Minutes' interview.
With a visit to Ukraine, the US President "will understand what (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin did," Mr Zelensky said.
"You will understand with whom you have a deal," he added.
Mr Zelensky's invitation follows the heated row at the White House in late February between him, Mr Trump and US Vice President JD Vance, which played out in front of the press.
Mr Vance at the time accused Ukraine of hosting foreign leaders on "propaganda tours" to win support.
Mr Zelensky repeated his denial of that allegation, and told CBS that if Mr Trump chose to visit Ukraine, "we will not prepare anything. It will not be a theatre."
"You can go exactly where you want, in any city which (has) been under attacks," he added.
Mr Trump is pushing for a quick end to the more than three-year war, with the United States holding direct talks with Russia despite its unrelenting attacks on Ukraine.
The United States has also held talks with Ukrainian officials on a potential truce, while European nations are discussing a military deployment to reinforce any Ukraine ceasefire.
Ukraine has previously agreed to a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire but Russia has turned it down.
"Putin can't be trusted. I told that to President Trump many times. So when you ask why the ceasefire is not working - this is why," Mr Zelensky said.
"Putin never wanted an end to the war. Putin never wanted us to be independent. Putin wants to destroy us completely - our sovereignty and our people," he added.
Mr Zelensky spoke to CBS on Friday in his hometown Kryvyi Rih, where a Russian strike earlier this month killed 18 people, including nine children.
As negotiations continue over ending the war, Mr Zelensky said that a just peace would be "to not lose our sovereignty or our independence," and pledged to eventually reclaim any territory currently held by Russia.
"We, no matter what, will take back what is ours because we never lost it - the Russians took it from us," he added.
Read more: 34 people killed, 117 injured in Russian strike on Ukrainian city of Sumy
