Twenty-four people have been killed and 19 injured in a Russian air strike on a village in eastern Ukraine, local officials say.

The victims were ordinary civilians collecting their pensions in Yarova, Donetsk region, said President Volodymyr Zelensky. Regional head Vadym Filashkin stated that emergency services were working at the scene, urging residents to evacuate to safer regions.

Yarova is located near Slovyansk, a major city in the region, and only a few kilometers from the front line as Russian forces make incremental advances.

If confirmed, this attack would represent one of the heaviest tolls on Ukrainian civilians in weeks, 42 months into Russia's full-scale invasion.

On another front, there were 23 casualties in air strikes on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, at the end of August.

In a recent offensive, Russia conducted its largest air assault in the war thus far, hitting key government buildings, something Zelensky condemned as a ruthless tactic extending the war.

Graphic footage from the Yarova attack was shared online by Zelensky, declaring that the situation was beyond words. There has been no immediate reaction from the Russian military.

According to Ukrainians, the air strike occurred around 10:40 local time (07:40 GMT) as pensions were being distributed, with most victims being the elderly.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported that a guided air bomb was dropped on the village.

Images from the strike's aftermath showed a damaged postal service vehicle typically used for pension distributions. The head of the Ukrposhta service raised concerns about compromised coordinates leading to the attack.

Yarova is strategically important, positioned on a railway line between Lyman and Izium, and mere kilometers away from Russian advancing forces.

Local authorities are now deliberating on how to continue pension distributions in light of safety concerns, as they plan to relocate payments to safer areas.

Emergency services reported that 22 individuals have already been evacuated, while further Russian shelling in Donetsk has resulted in additional fatalities.

Zelensky urged the global community to respond decisively, indicating that the world must not remain silent amidst ongoing atrocities.