Global leaders have condemned a “criminal” Russian attack that killed 51 Ukrainian villagers gathered in a cafe for a funeral wake, in one of the deadliest strikes of the war.

An official said the dead included a six-year-old boy and people from nearly every household in the northern village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region.

A cafe and a shop were struck early on Thursday afternoon (local time) in the small village of about 330 people.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said residents had been holding a memorial service for a local resident.

“From every family, from every household, there were people present at this commemoration. This is a terrible tragedy,” Klymenko told Ukrainian television.

Seven people were also in hospital after the attack, which appeared to be the most devastating Russian strike on a residential area in weeks.

Photos from the scene show bodies and body bags lying in rows on the ground after dozens of dead victims were pulled from the rubble.

A man mourns over a body of his wife who died in the Russian attack. Photo: Getty

Some photos showed bodies lying alongside slabs of concrete and twisted metal, and others showed rescue workers carrying away covered bodies.

Klymenko said it was not immediately clear whether Russian forces, who invaded Ukraine 19 months ago, had shelled the village or had fired a missile.

He said the strike was clearly very targeted and that Ukrainian security services had launched an investigation into the matter.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was attending a summit with European leaders in Spain, said “the Russian terror should be stopped”.

“This was a fully deliberate, demonstrative, and brutal terrorist attack,” said Zelensky.

“As of now, more than 51 people have been reported dead. My condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones! Assistance is being provided to the wounded.

”Russia needs this and similar terrorist attacks for one reason only: to make its genocidal aggression the new normal for the entire world. And I thank every leader and every nation that supports us in the defence of life!”

Tweet from @ZelenskyyUa

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres “strongly condemned” the attack, saying strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure “must stop immediately”.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said it was a “war crime” and “had brought Russian atrocities to yet another grim level”.

Russia has frequently carried out air strikes since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive in the south and east that it says is gradually making progress.

Moscow did not immediately comment on the events in Hroza. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians, many have been killed in attacks that have hit residential areas as well as energy, defence, port, grain and other facilities.

-with AAP