Several killed in Sumy after Russia attacks northern Ukrainian town

There were deaths and injuries in northern Ukraine after a Russian missile attack on the town of Sumy, according to official reports, although it was unclear how many people were affected by the Thursday afternoon attack.

A hospital and a school were damaged in the afternoon attack, according to Ukrainian media reports.

"The Russian state will definitely be held responsible for this evil," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address.

Earlier, a drone crashed into the Severstal steelworks in the northern Russian city of Cherepovets, coming close to a blast furnace, Vologda regional governor Georgi Filimonov said on Telegram.

No one was injured. The blast furnace was not damaged and the steelworks are still operating as normal, he said.

The Severstal press office said that the blast furnace had been shut down for planned repairs, according to Russian media reports.

There was no indication that the drone had come from Ukraine. The key industrial centre, mostly known for being home of the country's largest steel manufacturing plant, is some 900 kilometres from Ukraine.

However, the report comes a day after Ukrainian combat drones hit a mining company with an ironworks in Russia's Kursk region near the border, causing a fire.

The Kursk-based ironworks in the Kursk region belongs to the Metalloinvest holding company owned by Russian-Uzbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who is subject to sanctions.

Severstal is at the heart of the business empire of billionaire Alexei Mordashov, who was also a major shareholder in the travel group Tui before EU sanctions were imposed in 2022.

In attempting to fend off the Russian invasion Ukraine has increasingly been targeting Russian industrial facilities used to support Moscow's war efforts, including oil refineries and gas terminals. The range of Ukrainian-made drones has increased enormously since the war began.

Kiev, fighting off a full-scale Russian invasion now in its third year, heaily relies on help from Western supports in its struggle to claw back land seized by Moscow.

The Ukrainian army is increasingly on the defensive due to a lack of ammunition. Russia, on the other hand, has ramped up its defence production and also receives ammunition from North Korea and Iran.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for more and stronger weapons in order to repel the Kremlin's forces.

On Thursday, the Czech Republic said it had received sufficient pledges from other countries to be able to finance the purchase of 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine from third countries outside the EU.

The Czech government will next update all 18 states about the next steps, said Czech President Petr Pavel, according to news agency CTK.

The ammunition is to reach Ukraine within the next few weeks.

Pavel said during the Munich Security Conference in February that around half a million rounds of 155 mm calibre and 300,000 rounds of 122 mm calibre had been secured from abroad. The ammunition might come from countries such as South Korea, South Africa and Türkiye, according to speculation.

Norway recently announced that it would provide up to 1.6 billion Norwegian kroner ($15 billion). Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Denmark and Lithuania and others have also pledged money for the ammunition supplies.

The Czech plan is seen as a response to the stalling of an EU plan to supply 1 million rounds to Ukraine.

Separately, the Lithuanian army delivered 155 millimetre artillery shells to Ukraine as part of its efforts to assist Ukraine in fighting off the Russian invasion, the Defence Ministry reported.

"We are sending what Ukraine currently lacks the most. We listen to their requests and continue our support," Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas said. The number of shells sent was not reported.

Lithuania has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia's invasion began in February 2022.