A Russian airstrike on the city of Novgorod-Siversky, in northeastern Ukraine, left at least three people dead and 12 injured overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, local emergency services announced on Thursday. AFP.

"There are three people killed and twelve injured following a strike" on Novgorod-Siversky, said a spokesman for relief, giving an initial assessment.

“Today, around 00:10 and 00:23, the enemy carried out an air strike, probably from a (fighter) Su-30SM,” the Ukrainian forces said in a statement.

“The (Russians) hit critical infrastructure, including schools. Other administrative buildings and residential houses were also damaged,” Cherniguiv region governor Vyacheslav Chaouss said earlier in the morning.

He accompanied his message with several photos, on which we saw completely destroyed buildings, charred cars and a cloud of smoke emerging from the rubble.

Novgorod-Siversky, which had 15,000 inhabitants before the war, is located about 50 km from the Russian border, in an area which had been relatively untouched since the Russian retreat from the region at the end of March.