Ukrainian officials said at least 17 people were killed and many others wounded in a Russian missile strike on a busy market in the eastern city of Kostyantynivka, sparking immediate condemnation from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the United Nations, and Kyiv's allies.

A video of the attack, posted on social media by Ukrainian officials, showed people falling in the streets in the area where the missile hit in the industrial city, which is near Bakhmut and the front line of the war.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said 17 people died and 32 were injured, adding that the search and rescue operation had been completed. Zelenskiy said a child was among the dead.

"This Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible," Zelenskiy said, describing the missile strike as a deliberate attack on a "peaceful city."

Denise Brown, the UN's humanitarian envoy for Ukraine, denounced the attack as "despicable," and the European Union condemned it as "heinous and barbaric."