LVIV, UKRAINE (REUTERS, AFP) - At least 33 bodies were recovered from rubble in the wake of air strikes by Russian forces on the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Thursday (March 3), the Ukrainian emergency services said in an online post, updating a previous estimate of 22 killed.

Rescue work has been temporarily suspended due to heavy shelling in the area, it said.

Earlier, governor Viacheslav Chaus said at least nine people had been killed in an air strike that hit homes and two schools.

Ukraine’s emergency services said 18 people had also been injured in the attack, updating an earlier toll.

The town of Chernihiv lies 120km north-east of Kyiv, which the Russian forces have been trying to invade from the north.

Chernihiv’s deputy mayor Regina Gusak told AFP that the city was hit by a Russian “bombing attack”.

Ukraine’s emergencies service released images showing plumes of smoke coming out of heavily damaged apartments, with debris scattered across a yard and rescuers carrying bodies on stretchers.

“Russian aircraft also attacked two schools in the Staraya Podusivka area (of Chernihiv) and private homes. Rescuers are working in the area,” Chernihiv's governor said on Telegram.

Since it invaded Ukraine a week ago, Russia has said that it does not target civilian areas, despite widespread evidence to the contrary.

Ukraine says at least 350 civilians have been killed since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his attack.

The strikes came as Ukraine and Russia officials gathered for talks on a ceasefire on the Belarus-Poland border Thursday.

Putin on Thursday vowed to carry on with his advance in Ukraine in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The Russian leader has showed no signs of backing down even as a barrage of Western sanctions is set to destroy Moscow’s economy.

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