At least 51 people have been killed and 235 wounded after Russia struck a military institute with two missiles in the central town of Poltava in Ukraine, Paralel.Az reports citing Reuters.

Photographs posted on social media showed several bodies lying on the ground covered in dust and debris, with the badly damaged side of a large building behind them. Reuters could not immediately verify the images.

"The Russian scum will definitely be held accountable for this strike," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app.

He ordered a full and prompt investigation, saying the strike with two ballistic missiles damaged a building of the Military Institute of Communications.