A Russian drone strike on a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad has killed at least five people and injured 67 others, Ukrainian officials say. One source put the death toll at four and the number of wounded at 60.

Of those injured, eight are children, according to regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha, who announced the figures in a Telegram post.

Images released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine show firefighters directing water hoses at burning vehicles amid clouds of smoke on a street in Pavlohrad.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered his condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the Thursday attack. "The Russians used drones to kill people who were simply standing near shopping centres," he said in a statement.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the drone attack as a "tactic of coercion." "Russia believes that relentless attacks on civilians can exhaust Ukrainians and force Ukraine into concession," he said.

Pavlohrad is a logistics hub near the central city of Dnipro. The city has come under heavy attack previously, with two people killed in a strike on warehouses there last month.

The Pavlohrad attack is part of a broader pattern of strikes on civilian sites far behind the front lines. Ukrainian officials say a Russian drone attack on a mall in Sumy on Wednesday killed two people and wounded 20. On Thursday, Russian aerial bombing in Sumy reportedly injured eight people, including three children.

In Zaporizhzhia, capital of the partially Russian-annexed region of the same name, a shopping mall was almost completely destroyed on Monday, according to its owners. The mall was closed at the time and there were no immediate reports of casualties.

One of the deadliest recent attacks on a shopping centre occurred last month, when Ukrainian officials say Russian drones killed at least 16 people and injured 130 in the city of Kryvyi Rih.