Ukrainian officials said a Russian strike on a grocery store and cafe in the eastern region of Kharkiv had killed dozens of people on Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strike had slammed into the Kupiansk district of the region bordering Russia, where Moscow's forces have been pushing to recapture territory they lost last year to Ukrainian troops.

"The brutal Russian crime of hitting an ordinary grocery store with a rocket is a completely deliberate terrorist attack," Zelenskyy said on social media.

The Ukrainian prosecutor general said at least 49 people were killed.

The head of the Kharkiv region Oleg Sinegubov said the strike hit a cafe and shop around 1:15 pm local time (1015 GMT) in the village of Groza.

The village is 30 kilometers west of Kupiansk, a frontline town, and is estimated to have had a population before the start of the conflict of around 500 people.

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"Rescuers are working on the scene," he said, adding that a six-year-old boy was among the dead and one child had been injured.

Zelenskyy warned European leaders that Russia could rebuild its military capabilities and attack other countries within five years if the continent were to waver in its support for Kyiv.

Zelenskyy, attending a summit of the European Political Community in Spain, also said he remained confident of continued U.S. and European financial aid despite "political storms" in Washington and elsewhere.

In an emotional speech, Zelenskyy described how Ukrainian children in the eastern city of Kharkiv were learning remotely or attending classes in subway stations because of air raids.

"Until there is a fully effective air defense system, children cannot attend school," he told the gathering in the city of Granada.

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