Officials say three people were killed by Russian shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, on Monday.

Prosecutors said one shell fell on a children’s playground and killed a man and a woman.

The head of a medical emergency centre, Viktor Zabashta told Interfax-Ukraine news agency that another strike on a humanitarian aid distribution point killed one person and injured six more.

AFP journalists in Kharkiv heard a series of constant explosions throughout the morning.

Six people were killed and 24 injured during shelling of the city on Sunday, according to the latest toll from the governor. Three more people were killed in shelling in the surrounding region.

Kharkiv, a 1.5 million-person city, was the scene of severe fighting for several days at the commencement of the Russian onslaught, but it has always remained under Ukrainian control.